21.1. INTRODUCTION pai “The adage ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ underlines the basic fact that all human endeavour, specially in the worldly domain, is directed at fulfilling some human need. The returns from almost all humen endeavours can ultimately be translated into monetary gains. Thus, monetary profit isthe single most important, in most cases the only, motive behind man's relentless toil, inventiveness and ingenuity. Quite often, the motive of profit may be shrouded in the garb of charity from both! individuals and, more so, of foundations and other organizations. I Societies and governments have long recognized this basic fact and have devised various ways to reward their inventors so that they were encouraged to work with greater zeal and devotion to develop »; newer more useful inventions. The earliest record of such a measure dates back to 7th century BC. in >, the Greek colony of Saberis, south of Italy; the discoverer of a food recipe was given the ive right to use this recipe for one year. The first law on patent was passed in Venice in 1474, which gave *! monopoly rights to artisans for their inventions. In 1623, the House of commons of U.K. passed the )y, Act of Properietariship. ha In an ideal situation, an inventor should get a reward that is proportionate to the benefit accruing |e to the society from his invention. The inventor and society will ordinarily stand opposite each other 0” the questions of the proportion that should go the inventor and the quantum of the benefit accruing ©" likely to accure from the invention. In any case, the inventor and the society need er and should, in the best interest of themselves, be appreciative of each other’s positions and aspin 21.2. HISTORY OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN INDIE dge In India, innovations and novel techniques were retained within the famili on bet re was no other system of protecting their ae the 30 ent of India introduced the Act of Protection of | this 1852. Later, Patents and Designs wasoj in 1872. In 1883, the Protection of Inventions Act was introduced; it was consolidated as ions and Designs Act in 1888, On August 15, 1947, the Indian Patents and designs came under management of Controller of Patents and Designs. The currently operative patents act, the Indian Patents Act (1970), was introduced in the jiament in 1965, was modified in 1967 and was passed in 1970. Protection of designs is covered by Indian Patent and Design Act (1911) with amendments in 1978 and amended tules in 1985. ark protection is in force since June 1, 1948 under the 1940 Act; this Act was amended as m Trade and Merchandise Marks Act (1958), which came in force on November 25, 1959. The ight laws in India [The Indian Copyright Act (1957), ammended in 1999] are as per jonal standards. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY dictionary meaning of property is ‘estate whether in lands, goods or money’; such property is referred to as tangible, material or physical property. The ownership of and the associated rights 1 property are protected by the laws of the land, In contrast, intellectual property is an idea, ign, an invention; a manuscript, etc,, which can ultimately give rise to a useful sct/application. The development of such a property, as a rule, reqilires intellectual inputs, ity and innovativeness; it also demands considerable monetary and other resources. Therefore, inventor of an intellectual property would like to ensure at least a fair reward for his invention. But jor problem with intellectual properties is that they can be copied, imitated or reproduced, this es the returns to the original inventor. The foregoing discussion recognizes the right of an or to derive economic benefits from his invention (i.e., intellectual property); this right is called right (IPR). The IPR, however, is recognized by the governments only so long as the detriment of the society. PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS jf PR ay fake Several forms depending mainly on the type of intllectul property Sought; each form of protection has its own advantages and Pitfalls. The fare a8 follows: (1) trade secrets, (2) patents, (3) plant breeder's ri ights owning an intellectual property does not di t disclose the propert guarded secret to promote his business imerests, it is called wade ie best guarded seeret of SaY, patents. (3) The costs of filing, ne improving upom the product process, etc. is _ of some suffer from the followi Howin, Bade tecret itself is a gag : (3) Nondisclos iginal inventig Which often outweigh their Offers no protection from innovation does not give others east delays, progress inthe Or at |i BIOTECHNOLoGy EL ow of a trade secret, and sosiety/nation/humanity is the loser in such cases. (4) It cannot be applied gt ‘many inventions, e.g., equipment designs, plant varieties, books, ete. 21.4.2. Patent A patent is the right granted by @ government to an inventor to exclude others from imitating manufacturing, using or selling the invention in question for commercial use during the specif period. Patents are granted for (1) an invention (including a product), (2) innovation/improvernent } an invention, (3) the process/product of an invention and (4) a concept. 21.42.1. Patent Requirements. The chief requirements for the grant of a patent areas follows: (7) novelty, (ii) inventiveness, (iii) industrial application and usefulness, (iv) patentability, (») disclosure. 1. Novelty. The invention must be new and should not be already known to the public. 2. Inventiveness. The invention should not be obvious to a person skilled in the art, and should represent an innovation. 3. Industrial Application and Usefulness, The subject matter of the patent must have an industrial application, either immediate or in the future, and this application should be useful to the society/nation, ammended as Indian Patents (amment for some specified medicines/drugs. i any new form or Purified natural compounds like azadirachtin. ified fror in in 1980, the American Supreme Court ule ae goatee tmicroorganism can be patented under the American patent lew on mater" (Diamond vs Chakraborty cas). In this patent the «new strain of Pseudomonas, deived from natal tg treating oil spills. Subsequently, 21.6.3). A patent entitled “Basmati Rice Line photoinsensitive rice having all the desirable (U.S.A.) in U.S.A. on Sept. 2, and Grain’ for a features, such @ manner that it covers the complete range of ete a ; i oi tire ger basmati, the world famous quality rice of India and Pakistan. seme : AS a result, any new basmati evolved by any breeding method in India (or elsewhere) is bound to fall within the range of, eg. Pm! height, maturity in size, grain quality, Cie» PrOlected by the above patent, Therefor fect at least the ee ..tabilit i ity Of a subject matter depends not only on the patent laws of Currently accepted interpretati pretation. The implicati i Patent act of a country meen ications and interpretations ofthe varions ; a ipecialist patent attorneys, wh he 38. who are helpful in filing of p E aa, Contesting/defending such applications and in enforcing the rete aoe, the inventors. Therefore, the objective of this discussion is | ihe eae Of patents and other forms of px roledion nian limited to give the reader a ction available for intellectual properties so that exe P could be obtained for achieving the desired protect, Pesporier So iat expen The deposited material concerning its novelty etc. o the authorized following purposes. (1) Its used as a reference in cases of disputes orized use. (2) Further. it serves as a source for the microorganisms, atent may be viewed as a contract between the society and the inventor wherein the inventor his invention in return for the protection granted to him by the society to contral the ial aspects of his invention to the extent that it is not detrimental to the society. The of an invention gives an opportunity to other inventors to improve upon the various features tion so that it becomes more efficient and/or useful. This, in turn, results in scientific and progress of the society/nation ea ‘a basic limitations imit ent. A patent is limited both in time and space. The two basi Hip sbeton af tie ed (2 limitation of space. A patent is valid for a specified period fare (1) limitation of time and (2) limitation of s a forage peri the date of its award; in most countries this period is 15-20 years; es the ct s protection for 7 or 14 years. There is a strong ‘The Indian Patent Act (1970) grants prot : fsa stn Ee se rotection period on the grounds that in several cases, e.g.. Ee ae era and scaling up) up to 10 years from the time patent is ical, it may take (in avraches market, The patent holder, therefore, should be allowed og pine te ee min additon ‘a patent is valid only in the country of its ji is invention. a pa ah / 10 benef ro ev this ste imation in space. group of natons may sere Fee ie oe member country, gin European Economic Commu oe ae Oa iyarded by WTO wil be valid in ll member counties act files a property prepared application (aconding te Proced: i inventor files a ure of Patenting. Ao verre concerned county. The application is Sra aed ) with the patent oT abe for patenting it is returned t te inventor alone , false suitable fo itis z a a Se may witndraw the application moi nd ae therefor rn ie abjections raised dy the patent of it, a a an explanation o! vention along with adequate details es eee filing table for patenting, the im ns India, this is done 18 months after the GF formation of all concerned: in Ind i information wishes to challenge the award of patent who wis a he expiry of thi ‘months in India. : immediately after U ; pestis for isnot challenged the patent is ama eateraizaent ent application is not ch are a competent authority 0 : | But if a patent is cl ase heard by ation ts era Re teate challenging themes of patent. Ths if sent spicton ~—r ee sion is taken Oe main features of the invention st a contest following its‘The inventor can not now resort to the option of trade secret. Therefore, it is in the interesy inventor to ensure, before filing a patent application, that the application is not likely to be least on account of a contest by a third party. Tete, 21.4.3. Copyright Certain intellectual properties are not patentable; they are protected by copyright. Examples of au properties are authored and edited books, audio and video cassettes, etc. A person holding copyright to, say, a book has the right to exclude others from reproducing the book in any form, copyright of a book may be held by the author, editor or the publisher. Recently, computer so has been included in the list of copyrightable properties [protected under the Information Technology Act (2000)]. The copyright is limited both in time and extent: it provides protection for a specif period, and only from reproduction as such of the copyright material either in toto of in pag however, does not prevent another person from using either the idea or the information contained i copyright material. In case of biotechnology, copyright protection is available for DNA sequences. one may get around this protection by designing alternative sequence to encode the same pro taking advantage of genetic code degeneracy. 21.4.4. Plant Variety Protection (PVP) a Plant varieties and animal breeds are developed through years of painstaking and sci planned work. These entities, therefore, should be regarded as intellectual properties of the b who have developed them. It may be argued that these entities are essentially derived from n occurring lines, but they usually represent a considerable reorganization of the existing property and grant a protection to them through a patent or a suitable form of plant breeders igi (PBR) (Section 21.7). In US.A., the following three different systems are available for protection of IPR relaled plants. The Plant Patents Act (1930) covers varieties of asexually propagated crops, ¢.g., OT and fruit trees. The Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 is US version of the plant breeders system followed by European Union and several other countries. The Utility Patents Act (1985) originally meant to cover man-made industrial inventions and processes. ‘Nonobviousness’ is tht criterion of utility patents. Patents to plant varieties are now being granted under the provisions act (during 1997-98, 55 patents were granted to maize varieties and 40 for soybean varie patents are considered to be the most powerful and the most expansive in scope of their single patent may cover several varieties, an entire species/genus, genes/proteins OF processes. . =