The importance of intellectual rights in today's economy By Manuel Márquez

When we have something we can see, measure or weigh it; It is easy to identify it and
distinguish it from the others due to its physical characteristics, especially when
transferring your property or if someone has taken it without our consent.
We can also take risks with ideas.
Or vice versa: If we are the inventors of a good idea applicable in industry or
commerce and we do not give it adequate parentage.
If we do not protect it and do not say that this idea is ours, it would be left without due
protection and ownership to be able to defend it from whoever intends to keep it or
from whoever intends to copy it or seek to obtain economic benefits without our
consent.
Thus, ideas or intangible assets, like things or personal property or real estate, can be
protected by giving them ownership, which makes them subject to being sold,
assigned, inherited, to remain as collateral in banking transactions or to be licensed to
change of royalty payment.
When successful ideas are exposed in commerce and generate profit, many want to
copy them. It's like a beautiful car when it doesn't have an owner and is abandoned:
there will be no shortage of people who want to take it home. Or on land without care
and protection there will be no shortage of those who want to build there.
Nor does commercial success happen overnight.
Regardless of its cost in economic resources, time and dedication are required to
achieve market positioning of the product or service, as well as its recognition by
consumers.
If we do not have true protection of our technology, our commercial images or our
intellectual expressions in general, we run the risk of losing all the effort incorporated
into our businesses. Hence the importance of intellectual property.
Economic importance of intellectual property
More than 50 percent of the GDP of developed countries is made up of income
generated from the exploitation of technology, big brands and design; in other terms,
added value.
What is intellectual property?
Intellectual property (IP) relates to the creations of the mind: inventions, literary and
artistic works, as well as symbols, names and images used in commerce.
Legislation protects IP, for example through patents, copyright and trademarks, which
allow recognition or profits for inventions or creations. By balancing the interest of
innovators and the public interest. The IP system seeks to foster an enabling
environment for creativity and innovation to flourish.

In the highly competitive global economy, businesses increasingly depend on your

ideas, knowledge and innovations.
Intellectual property helps safeguard these valuable assets, so that companies are
rewarded for their successful inventions and business initiatives. Therefore, it is
essential to understand how to protect your intellectual property. At the beginning there
is always a brilliant idea.

MEXICO GDP 2020

Mexican economy contracted 8.5% in 2020; the biggest drop since 1932.
The estimate of Mexico's GDP, from Inegi, showed that last year the effects of the
Covid-19 crisis caused economic activity to fall 8.5% in its year-on-year comparison.
Primary activities were the only sector that achieved progress during 2020.

STUDY LAUNCHED ON THE INFLUENCE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE

MEXICAN ECONOMY
• The European Union, through the IP Key project
Latin America, in collaboration with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI),
presented the study.
"The economic contribution of intellectual property in Mexico"
It quantifies, for the first time, the economic contribution in the country of the industries
that protect trademarks, patents, designs, designations of origin, among other sources
of industrial property.

Industries that opted for intellectual property contributed to 47.8% of the

Mexican GDP
From 2010 to 2019, industries that protected their brands and inventions contributed
47.8% of the national GDP, which represented 24.2 billion pesos (mp).
"In the study, automobile manufacturing, oil extraction, audio and video equipment
manufacturing, beer production, among others, stand out among the top 10 industries
with the greatest intellectual property," explained Pedro Duarte, Leader of the IP Key
Latin project. America in interview for Forbes Mexico.
The sectors that use industrial property played a key role in foreign trade, representing
more than 70% of merchandise exports and imports.
Likewise, the study indicates that 54% of the industries in Mexico are intensive in some
Intellectual Property Right (IPR), of a total of 822 productive activities analyzed in the
Mexican economy, in 2019, 445 industries intensive in the use were identified. of
trademarks, patents, designs or designations of origin.
Betting on industrial property not only translates into job creation but also promotes
more resilient and better paid positions. In 2019, 17.6 million jobs were generated,
representing 33.6% of total jobs.
"Jobs that are connected to intellectual property are generally higher-level jobs and in
stronger companies; while you cannot make a connection between Covid and the
resilience of companies, you can say that companies that use intellectual property
intellectual property are official and not informal and have high added value and good
level employment".
MAIN FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

 54% of industries in Mexico are intensive in some Intellectual Property Rights

(IPR).
 Of a total of 822 productive activities analyzed in the Mexican economy in 2019,
445 industries were identified that were intensive in the use of trademarks,
patents, designs or designations of origin.
 In 2019, it is estimated that 47.8% of the national GDP has emanated from
industries with IPR. The contribution to employment of IPR-intensive industries
has been more than a third (33.6%) of the total employment positions in
Mexico.
 Directly, IPR-intensive industries contributed 20.5% of total paid jobs in 2019. In
this way, the volume of jobs offered that year was 10.7 million positions.
 Industries that protect their intellectual property generate more average added
value per worker (1,079.2 thousand pesos annually) than in the rest of the
economy (443.2 thousand pesos.
The economic importance of intellectual property
• In 1985 the value of tangible assets represented 50 percent of the market value of
companies.
• Fifteen years later, the book value of tangibles represented 20 percent or less of a
company's market value, and the remaining 80 percent was attributed to the value of
intangibles, a dominant proportion of the value of the company. sale of a firm.
• Within the structure of intangibles, on the one hand, technology (understood as
knowledge applied to goods and services) stands out, represented in:
Patents

 The utility models

 Product designs
 The company secrets

• And on the other hand, the distinctive signs, namely:

• Brands
• Tradenames
• Domain names
Assets that the entrepreneur uses to compete in the market; the copyright reflected in
computer programs, databases, manual articles, among others.
Copyright
In legal terminology, the term copyright is used to describe the rights of creators over
their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music,
paintings, sculpture and films to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps
and technical drawings.
Patents
A patent is an exclusive right granted over an invention. In general terms, a patent
empowers its owner to decide whether the invention can be used by third parties and, if
so, in what way. In return for this right, in the published patent document, the patent
owner makes the technical information related to the invention available to the public.
Brands
A brand is a sign that allows one company's products or services to be differentiated
from those of others. Brands date back to the times when artisans reproduced their
signatures or "marks" on their products.
Industrial designs
An industrial design (industrial drawing or model) constitutes the ornamental or
aesthetic aspect of an article. Design can consist of three-dimensional features, such
as the shape or surface of an item, or two-dimensional features, such as patterns,
lines, or colors.
Geographical indications
A geographical indication is a sign used for products that have a specific geographical
origin and whose qualities, reputation or characteristics are essentially due to their
place of origin. Generally, the geographical indication consists of the name of the place
of origin of the products.
Trade secrets
Trade secrets are IP intellectual property rights in confidential information that can be
sold or licensed. The unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of such secret
information in a manner contrary to honest business practices by others is considered
an unfair practice and a violation of trade secret protection.

Intellectual property (IP) is divided into two categories:

1. Industrial property (which includes patents, utility models, industrial designs,
integrated circuit designs, business secrets, distinctive signs, geographical indications
of origin and plant varieties or varieties).
2. Copyright (which includes literary and artistic works, such as novels, poems and
plays, films, musical works, drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, architectural
designs and computer programs).
Rights related (or related) to copyright:
They are defined as the rights of performers over their performances, including those of
sound recording producers over their recordings, and those of broadcasters over their
radio and television programmes.
For Romero Corral Abogados (sf), both rights (industrial and copyright) are
compatible (and at this point it is worth saying that they are complementary) since they
can be applied independently or jointly; These specialists refer to a hybrid system,
since the border between these two jurisdictions is not clear, that is, we are faced with
a relationship or connection of both protections.
They constitute the backbone of International IP Law and are administered by
WIPO.
- The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
- The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
- The UPOV Treaty (Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants).

-Another body is presented, the World Trade Organization (WTO), which includes in its
annexes the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).
- The member countries of this Agreement undertake to protect IP rights, in accordance
with the provisions of both Conventions (Rangel, 2011).
In Mexico, the PI is governed by three laws that are practically adjusted to the
provisions and criteria of the agreements, conventions and international organizations
mentioned above:
i) Industrial Property Law
ii) Federal Copyright Law I
iii) Federal Plant Varieties Law

WIPO (2017) mentions that Plactúan rights are very similar to any other property right,
that is, they give the creator or owner the possibility of enjoying the benefits derived
from their invention or work; This may also choose to sell, rent, assign and/or protect its
intellectual property.

Industrial design
The WIPO Academy (2010), in its IP induction course, describes what it is... An
industrial design (industrial drawing or model): is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of
an article that must be able to be reproduced by industrial means. This can consist of
two-dimensional features (drawing) such as the lines or colors of an object, or three-
dimensional features (model) such as the shape or surface of an object.
Industrial designs include a wide variety of products from industry and crafts: from
watches, jewelry, fashion clothing, technical and medical instruments, to household
appliances, computers, televisions, cameras, furniture, electrical appliances, vehicles,
airplanes and structures. architectural, but also textile prints and toys.
artistic works
Artistic works (forms of human expression) that belong to copyright and can be works
of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving or, plastic or applied works of
art (WIPO Academy, 2010).
Industrial Design or Artistic Work
For the firm of Viramontes Mojica y Asociados (2000), cumulative protection refers to
the fact that a distinctive sign, an invention, a design or a work, can be protected by
various simultaneous legal figures and that, in addition, are regulated by different laws.
Schmidt (sf), for his part, points out that the different forms of protection intersect
several times, making it possible to protect the same object by two or more specific
rights.
Let's look at one more example: an object can be presented that, due to its shape or
configuration, is registered as an industrial design; However, over time this design can
also be recognized as a three-dimensional trademark (trademark protection) as it is an
innovative design that serves to be distinguished from other products on the market. n.
Once again there is the possibility of cumulative protection (Standing Committee,
2002).
Another case: The body of a car could be, at the same time, a work and an invention;
The same thing happens with computer programs: On the one hand they are
considered works and on the other patents, (Schmidt, sf). One more assumption is the
ergonomic computer keyboard to provide greater speed and comfort when typing
(utility model) and which also presents a more attractive exterior appearance than the
conventional one (industrial design or work of applied art) (Permanent Committee.

One of the most complete examples is presented by Cruz (sf), who shows the
accumulation of protections that an object has available in certain circumstances, in
particular the Tripp Trapp chair:
(i) three-dimensional brandindustrial property
(ii) work of art-copyright
(iii) patent-industrial property
(iv) industrial design-industrial property.

There will be cases in which an invention can be protected in two instances:

As a patent and industrial secret or (Viramontes Mojica y Asociados, 2000). Campillo
(sf) clarifies that there are situations in which a distinctive sign (slogan, advertisement,
commercial phrase) also manifests itself as a work of art, that is, an advertising work or
advertising art, and therefore enjoys copyright and industrial rights.
The same happens with musical art applied in commercials or advertising messages.
Viramontes Mojica and Asociados (2000) clarify that, according to the type of
intellectual creation, the modalities of commercialization, exploitation or dissemination,
the most appropriate protection strategy will be established to avoid plagiarism, and
prevent piracy or unauthorized reproduction. authorized.
An administrative strategy suggested by Viramontes Mojica and Asociados (2000) is
that when the intellectual creation is elaborated, finished and fixed on a material
support, the object must be registered uniformly, for example, a work which is
considered both brand and industrial design.
In the case of Mexico, registration applications are first submitted to the National
Copyright Institute; Afterwards, two more must be submitted to the Mexican Institute of
Industrial Property.