IPR QUIZ MCQs

 Indian laws , international treaties and agreements governing IPR

1) Indian laws related to IPR -
 Trademark Act, Copyright Act, Design Act, and Patent Act.
o TRADEMARKS ACT, 1999

o The Copyright Act 1957, The Copyright Act 1957 was the first post-
independence copyright legislation in India and the law has been amended six
times since 1957.[4] The most recent amendment was in the year 2012, through the
Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012.[5]

o The Design Rules, 2001 - Designs (Amendment) Rules 2008 and Designs
(Amendment) Rules 2014. The last amendment in Designs Rules came in to force
from 30th December, 2014, which incorporates a new category of applicant as
small entity in addition to natural person and other than small entity.

o The Patent Act,1970 – 1972 - The Patents Act has been repeatedly amended in
1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 respectively. These amendments were required to make
the Patents Act TRIPS compliant. TRIPS stands for Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights.

2) International treaties and agreements governing IPR - Article 27 of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
o Paris Convention for Industrial Property, 1883 - It was among the first
treaties to recognize various principles of international trade like National
Treatment, Right of Priority, Common rules etc.
o Bern convention for literary and artistic works, 1886 - It provided for a
copyright system. It doesn’t provide for any formality to claim protection.
Protection is automatically accorded to any creation, provided work is
original and other conditions under the treaty are fulfilled. It means that your
work, if original, is already protected. You can claim that you have copyright.
o Madrid Agreement, 1881 – Governs the international recognition of
trademarks. Made international fillings easy and cheap.
o Patent cooperation treaty, 1970- It was earlier not possible for an entity to
claim protection in different countries by single application. This was made
possible as it aimed for co-operation, and it was open for all parties to the
Paris convention.
o Budapest Treaty of 1980 – It made possible patenting for microorganisms.
Claimant is required to deposit his invention on micro-organisms with an
Authority – ‘International depository of Micro-Organisms’ under WIPO. He
shall make all the adequate disclosures.
o Trademark Law Treaty, 1994 – Harmonized administrative procedures and
introduced ‘service marks’ in ambit of trademarks. Earlier trademarks were
accorded only to goods.
o The Hague agreement concerning the International Deposit of
‘Industrial Design’ 1925 – It created the International Design Bureau of
WIPO.
o International Union for protection of new varieties of plants, 1961 – This
provides breeders and farmers the right to new plant varieties.

o Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property – It is a

landmark and most comprehensive treaty on Intellectual property. While
earlier treaties’ subject matters were specific, TRIPS deal with 8 kinds of
property rights – Patents, Trademarks, trade dress, Copyrights, Industrial
Designs, Plant Varieties, Integrated Circuits and layouts, and Geographical
Indication. Further, almost all countries are party to TRIP. In earlier treaties
only limited countries participated. It also provides an enforcement
mechanism which was not available in WIPO treaties. It mandated all
member countries to make their domestic laws compliant to TRIPS. India
passed certain laws and amended others. India’s IPR regime now stands fully
compliant to TRIPS. For E.g., India amended patent law in 2005 to provide
‘product’ patent protection. Earlier protection was available only to
‘processes.

o World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of

Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) - Adopted on April 15, 1994
at Marrakesh and entered into force on January 1, 1995. The TRIPS
agreement covers various types of intellectual property and provides
guidelines for minimum standards for protection, procedures and remedies
for enforcement of IPR rights and for issues related to dispute settlement.
India became a member on January 1, 1995.

o Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization

(WIPO) - Adopted on July 14, 1967 at Stockholm and entered into force on
 April 26, 1970. WIPO was established under this Convention with two main
objectives - to promote the protection of intellectual property worldwide and
to ensure administrative cooperation among the intellectual property Unions
established by the treaties that WIPO administers. India became a member on
May 1, 1975.

 Government and International Bodies Responsible for regulating IP law.

1) In India - The Department for Industrial Property and Promotion
o Patents - The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and
Trade Marks (CGPDTM) generally known as the Indian Patent Office, is
an agency under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal
Trade which administers the Indian law of Patents, Designs and Trade
Mark.
o the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, (Office of
the Registrar of Trademarks), Ministry of Industry and Commerce,
Government of India

2) International bodies -

3) What is the term of copyright for an author of book?

 Life of author and 60 years – as per section 22 of The Copyrights
Act,1957
4) TRIPS 1986-1994 Uruguay rounds of GATT