The study of intellectual property is frequently rendered difficult by the insufficiency of readily available teaching material in this area. Particular attention has been paid to the subject of international cooperation in intellectual property, including a discussion of the principal multilateral treaties which deal with the protection of intellectual property.
THE SYSTEI\1 OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Industrial Property
In addition, industrial property includes trademarks, service marks, commercial names and designations, including indications of source and. The Paris Convention provides that "the protection of industrial property has as its object 1 patents, 2 utility models, 3 industrial designs, 4 trademarks, 5 service marks, 6 trade names, 7 indications of source or 8 appellations of origin, and 9 the repression of unfair competition" {Article 1(2)).
Copyright
Those rights, that protection, are described in the patent law of the country in which the patent for invention was granted. What has been said before in respect of the manufacturer will, then, apply to the distributor.
SOI\1E CONSIDERATIONS ON TIIE ROLE OFINTELLECTUALPROPERTY
Trademarks began to assume thcir present-day role in the course of the last cen. In this connection, it is necessary that the development objectives of the country concemed be reflected in the patent system of that country.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ININTELLECTUALPROPERTY
Infringement
Contributory Infringement
Defences to Infringement and Revocation 4.11 Compulsory Licenses 4.11 Compulsory Licenses
- Insufficient working of a patent 4.11.2 Interdependent patents 4.11.2 Interdependent patents
- The national interest 4.12 Utility Models
The Paris Convention on the Protection of Industrial Propcrty .1 Independence of patents
- Right of inventor to be mentioned 4.14.3 Importation and maintenance of patents 4.14.3 Importation and maintenance of patents 4.14.4 Failure to work and compulsory Iicenses
- Grace period for payment of maintenance fees 4.14.6 Patents in international traffic 4.14.6 Patents in international traffic
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
International Bureau of WIPO, The Exclusive Righi of an Owner of the Patent for Invention, BLTC/. This might be quite important, particularly where the owner of the patent for invention is a foreigner. The exclusive right gives a possibility to the owner of the patent for invention to authorize others to carry out the protected act.
Of course, such a limitation is possible only within the duration of the patent for invention. The second act covered by the exclusive right of the owner of the patent for invention is the use of the product. Any product that corresponds to the description of the invention claimed in the patent for invention is a patented product.
The putting on the market must be made by the owner of the patent for invention or with its or bis authorization. The date of the grant of the patent for invention is indicated in the patent for invention. It is on the date of the grant of the patent for invention that the exclusive right of exploitation starts.
Utility Models
In most cases of public interest, it should be sufficient for the State to authorize, against the will of the owner of the patent for invention, any entity or person designated by the Government, to perform any of the acts which are covered by the patent for invention. In each specific case, the Government will decide which of those acts may be performed. The difference between this measure and expropriation of the patent for invention lies in the fact that, in the case of Government authorization to pcrform certain acts, the ownership of the patent for invention is not transferred, whereas it is trans.
As in the case of expropriation, the owner of the patent for invention must receive reasonable compensation, whose amount could be fixed by the Patent Office. To take the examp1e of medical equipment, it might be necessary to import that equipment very quickly in case of a sudden epidcmic. If the owner of the patent for invention is not willing to import or to conclude a license contract for importation on reasonable terms, the Government might dccide to ask another entity to import the apparatus or might decide to import it itsclf.
Once the epidemic has bcen brought undcr control, there is no reason to maintain the measure, and the owner of the patent for invention will recover the full rights attached to the patent for invention.
Inventor's Certificates
In this respect, the fate of a particular patent for invention in any given country has no influence whatsoever on the fate of a patent for the same invention in any of the other countries. For instance, a provision in a national law starting the term of the patent for invention from the (foreign) priority date, and not from the filing date of the application in the country, would be in violation of this rule. Others-and that tendency seems to be increasing--enforce the naming of the inventor during the procedure for the grant of a patent for invention on an ex officia basis.
Immediate Joss of the patent for invention in the event that one annuity is not paid at the due date would be too harsh a sanction. If the payment is not made during the grace period, the patent for invention will lapse retroactively, that is, as of the original due date of the annuity. Temporary or accidentai entry of the patented device into the country in such cases constitutes no infringcment of the patent for invention.
With the PCT, it has become possible to file a single international application which has the same effect as filing separate applications with the Patent Office of each of the countries party to the PCT that are designated in the application. Before this application is considered by the Offices of the countries designated in the i,!.pplication ("•the designated Offices"), it is subjected to an "international search". Those Offices then proceed either to grant or to refuse a patent in respect of the application.
PATENT INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION
Range of Patent Documentation 5.2 Content of Patent Documents 5.2 Content of Patent Documents
- Bibliographie information 5.2.3 Technical information 5.2.3 Technical information
- Form of documents
Patent Documents as a Source of Technological Information 5.4 Rote of Patent Information in the Transfer of Technology 5.4 Rote of Patent Information in the Transfer of Technology
- Introduction
- Use by government authorities
- Use by research and development institutions 5.4.4 Use by universities 5.4.4 Use by universities
- Use by industry
International Patent Classification (IPC)
International Patent Documentation Center (INPADOC) 5.7 CAPRI System 5.7 CAPRI System
- Use by research and development institutions
Also, patent rights granted on the basis of the patent document must permit a clear, unambiguous definition. The number of the pages of a patent document varies according to the complexity of the invention and to the technical field. Patent documents as a general rule contain a description of the invention, a summary of the invention, drawings and daims.
The activities of Siemens, a leading German firm in the sectors of electrical and electronics engineering, is an illustrative example of the use of patent information. By the end of 1982, some 13 million patent documents were provided with the classification symbols of the IPC. Sorne of these gazettes contain abstracts or reprints of the first daims and most important drawings of patent documents as well.
The CAPRI System (Computerized Administration of Patent Documents Reclassified according to the IPC) provides for the international exchange of inventories of patent documents published in the past which have been reclassified according to the IPC, and storage and processing of the said inventories by INPADOC. This is dramatically i11ustrated in the field of patent documentation, since approximately 90% of the basic inventions-advance. The appropria te place to which the bulk of the patent documents received has to be channelled in the PIDC is the "patent search file" section.
TRADE1\1ARKS
- Introduction
- Scope of Trademark Law
- Signs which may serve as trademarks
- Products to which trademark protection extends 6.2.3 Collective marks and certification marks 6.2.3 Collective marks and certification marks
- Policy Considerations in Trademark Law .1 Interests of traders and consumers .1 Interests of traders and consumers .2 Trademarks and economic development
- Requirement of distinctiveness
- Requirement of absence of misleading character and of absence of violation of public order or morality of public order or morality
- Special cases
- Acquisition of Trademark Rights 6.6 Use Requirements 6.6 Use Requirements
- Removal for non-use
- Collective marks and certification marks
- Policy Considerations in Trademark Law
- lnterests of traders and consumers
- Protected acts (a) Use of the mark
Moreover, undcr the law of the United States of America the registration of a trademark in the Principal Register has the advan. The legaJ consequences of such a development are not entirely the same in the various countries of the world. Registration thus offcrs the possibility of carefully planning the marketing of the products or services for which the trademark is to be used.
Such a procedure gives an opportunity to any interested party to oppose the registration of the trademark. The opposition procedure starts with the publication, by the Office, of the trademark for which registration has been applied. Under the laws of ail countries, the effèct of the registration of a trademark is limited in time.
Renewal is a simple procedure, only requiring a request by the registered owncr of the trademark and the payment of a fee. There may be a visible similarity or an audible similarity or a pronunciation in the language of the country where the tradcmark is to be protected. The first case concerns the use of the protected trademark in connection with entirely different products or services.
That is to say, he cannot prevent use of the trademark by third parties in relation to those goods. It is to be noted that, under the Madrid Agreement and the Trademark Registra .. tion Treaty, the use of the International Classification is obligatory.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
- Introduction
- The Nature of lndustrial Designs .1 Introduction
- Design features having no utility 7.2.3 Design features affecting utility 7.2.3 Design features affecting utility
- The interests of the dcsigning company 7.3.3 The public interest
- Mode] Law for Developing Countries on Industrial Designs 7 .5 Conditions for Protection
- l Introduction 7,.5.2 Novelty
- Similarity to previous designs 7 .6 Registration of lndustrial Designs
- Rights to legal protection 7.6.2 Registration procedure
Mass production, however, relies ta a large extent on the production of identical items for its efficiency and for these items to be saleable they needed not on]y to meet the pub]ic's expectations as to their utility but also to appeal in their appearance to the taste of the potential purchaser. A firm could profit by quickly producing large quantities of articles that appealed in appearance to the taste of the public but could find it difficult to sell these large quantities if they did not have such appeal. Thus, since the advent of the industrial revolution, increasing attention has been paid by both industry and governments to the maximization of the benefits that the appearance of articles may provide both to industry and to the consumer.
The ornamental aspect may consist of the shape and/or pattern and/or colour of the article. The main aspects of the definition of an industrial design can be conveniently considered separately. A definition of one type of industrial design covers those factors of appearance which do not add to the utility of an article but which do affect the appeal of the article to potential purchasers.
Within these by no means exhaustive parameters the manufacturer has a wide dcgree of latitude in the choice of the particular form his wares will take. Sorne elements of an article may, whilst adding to the appeal of the article, dctract from or add to its utility. It can be seen from these examples that certain design features of an article may perform a useful purpose whilst also affecting the appeal of the article to the potential customer.
