Essay on “Patents Rights” Complete Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Patents Rights

A patent is a legal right whereby an inventor, or such other appropriate person, is entitled to prevent others from using, making, selling or importing the patented invention. The period of validity of a patent is usually limited to 20 years from the date of the filing the application for the patent. Further, a patent is a national right, which is limited to the specific nation where it has been granted. The person to whom the patent is granted is known as the patent holder or the patentee.

Additionally, in exchange for the grant of the patent, the patentee must disclose the secret of his invention to the Registry of Patents. The disclosure must be made in a clear and sufficient manner such that any member of the public skilled in its technology) would be able to perform the invention based on the disclosure.

In principle, this exchange is intended to benefit both the patentee and the public, in that : It provides the patentee an exclusive legal basis to receive payments from whosoever wishes to use his invention. It is this legal basis that serves as an incentive, particularly for the continued research into new drugs. The benefit to the public is that, as a result of the disclosure, the public would be able to make free use of the patented invention, upon the expiry of the patent.

However, there is arguably a negative side to the grant of a patent. The patentee often has the sole control over the price of the patented product. This, in turn, poses a risk of abuse of the patent. However, the legal regimes that govern the grant of patents also contain provisions that serve as checks and balances against the abuse of patents.

Wherever they might be found, whatever knowledge they might embody, patents and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) today are no different from the “patentes” and “charters” issued by the European monarchs to merchants some 500 years ago. Trade Related Intellectual Property rights (TRIPs) agreement is to date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property and patents.

The areas of intellectual property that it covers are: copy-. right and related rights, ‘i.e., the rights of performers, producers (of sound recordings and broadcasting organisations); trademarks including service marks; geographical indications including appellations of origin; industrial designs; patents including the protection of new varieties of plants; the layout-designs of integrated circuits; and undisclosed information including trade secrets and test data.

In respect of each of the main areas of intellectual property covered by the TRIPS Agreement, the Agreement sets out the minimum standards of protection to be provided by each Member. Each of the main elements of protection is defined, namely the subject-matter to be protected, the rights to be conferred and permissible exceptions to those rights, and the minimum duration of protection. The Agreement sets these standards by requiring, first, that the substantive obligations of the main conventions of the WIPO, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention) and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Berne Convention) in their most recent versions, must be complied with.

Their also exist set of provisions which deal with domestic procedures and remedies for the enforceme0 of intellectual property rights. The agreement lays down certain general principles applicable to all IPR enforcement procedures. In addition, it contains provisions on civil and administrative procedures and remedies, provisional measures, special requirements related to border measures and criminal procedures, which specify, in a certain amount of detail, the procedures and remedies that must be available so that right holders can effectively enforce their rights. The Agreement makes disputes between the WTO members about the respect of the TRIPS obligations subject to the WTO’s dispute settlement procedures.

In addition, the Agreement provides for certain basic principles, such as national and Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) treatment, and some general rules to ensure that procedural difficulties in acquiring or maintaining IPRs do not nullify the substantive benefits that should flow from the Agreement. The obligations under the Agreement will apply equally to all Member countries, but developing countries will have a longer period to phase them in. Special transition arrangements operate in the situation where a developing country does not presently provide product patent protection in the area of pharmaceuticals. which persons must thus benefit

The criteria for determining from the treatment provided for under the Agreement are those laid down for this purpose in the main pre-existing intellectual property conventions of WIPO, applied of course with respect to all the WTO members whether or not they are party to those conventions.

In respect of the national treatment obligation, the exceptions allowed under the pre-existing intellectual property conventions of WI PO are also allowed under TRIPS. Where these exceptions allow material reciprocity, a consequential exception to MFN treatment is also permitted (e.g., comparison of terms for copyright protection in excess of the minimum term required by the TRIPS Agreement as provided under Article 7(8) of the Berne Convention as incorporated into the TRIPS Agreement). Certain other limited exceptions to the MFN obligations are also provided for.