Unit 1 of Intellectual Property Laws (syllabus: Module I — the nature and kinds of intellectual property, the justifications for protecting it, the international framework, and the Indian statutes taken together). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- What exactly does the law protect when it protects intellectual property?
- What is the economic case for intellectual property, and what does it cost?
- What are the characteristics of intellectual property rights, and why is trade mark the apparent exception to the time limit?
- How is intellectual property classified, and what does the WIPO Convention list actually settle?
- How does a trade secret differ from a patent, and what protects undisclosed information in India?
- Why did TRIPS change everything when Paris and Berne had existed for a century?
- What are the two basic rights guaranteed by the Paris Convention, and why is reciprocity excluded?
- What are the three basic principles of the Berne Convention?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, 1967, s. Article 2(viii)
- Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, 1994, s. Articles 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 4 and 9.1
- Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, 1883, s. Articles 2, 3 and 4
- Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886, s. Articles 1 to 21