INTRODUCTION TO

INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY LAW
 Intellectual Property
 Intellectual Property is a property that
arises from the human intellect. It is a
product of human creation.

 Intellectual Property is the creation of the

human intellectual process and is
therefore the product of the human
intellect or mind.
 Intellectual Property

 It is an intangible form of property.

 It is a personal property.

 It is based on information.
 Objects of Intellectual
Property
 The objects of the rights covered by
the concept of intellectual property
are evidences of human creativity.
-the form of the work;
-the invention; and
-the relationship between a
symbol and a business.
 Protection of Intellectual
Property

 Venetian Patent Law of the 19th March

1474
‘…each person who will make in this city
any new invention that is not made before
in our dominion have to be registered’.
 Protection of Intellectual
Property

It being forbidden to any other in any

territory and place of ours to make any
other tactic in the form and similarity,
without the consent and license of the
author up to ten years.’
 Why Protect Intellectual
Property
Protectinvestment in time, money or other
resources used to create new contribution to
technology, commerce and entertainment.

 Governments encourage Creators to disclose

their creations to the public in order to promote
the progress of science and useful arts which are
the engines of development- investors demand
this guarantee
 Why Protect Intellectual
Property

 Encourage economic growth

 Provides incentives for technological

innovation, and

 Attracts investment that will create new

jobs and opportunities.
 Intellectual Property Laws
1. Patents
 A patent describes an invention for which
the inventor claims the exclusive right.

 It must be new
 Have an inventive step
 Be Industrially applicable
 Whoever invents or discovers “any new and useful
process, machine, manufacture, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improvement
thereof” may apply to obtain a patent.
 Patents can be obtained on almost any invention
made by humans, abstract ideas, and natural
phenomena. For example, new pharmaceutical
drugs are often patented.
 The key requirements for a patent are that the
claimed invention is novel, useful, and
nonobvious, and that the inventor is the first
person to file a patent application.
 The process for obtaining a patent from Patent
and Trade Office (PTO)—called “patent
prosecution”. The patent application must
contain a written specification that describes the
claimed invention such that a person skilled in
the relevant field is able to make and use the
invention. During prosecution, a patent examiner
at the PTO is to review the claimed invention to
determine if the invention is
 (1) useful, and nonobvious;
 (2) directed at patentable subject matter; and
 If the PTO grants the patent the patentee
has the exclusive right to make and use the
invention for a set term, usually 20 years
from the date that the application was filed.
Any other person wishing to practice the
invention needs permission from the patent
holder during this period.
 Patentable Subject Matter
 Human necessities: agriculture, foodstuff,
tobacco, personal or domestic articles,
health and amusement.
 Performing operations and transporting:
separating, mixing, shaping, printing and
transporting.
 Chemistry and metallurgy.
 Textiles and paper.
 Patentable Subject Matter
 Fixed constructions: building, earth moving
and mining.
 Mechanical engineering, lighting, heating,
weapons, blasting including engines or
pumps and engineering in general.
 Physics: instruments and nucleonics.
 Electricity.
 Unpatentable Subject Matter
 A discovery, scientific theory or
mathematical method;
 A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic
work, or any other aesthetic creation;
 A scheme, rule or method for performing
any mental act, playing a game or doing
business, or a program for a computer;
 2. Trade and Service Marks
 A trade mark is a sign used on, or in
connection with the marketing of,
goods or services.
 Used “on” the goods means that it

may appear not only on the goods

themselves but on the container or
wrapper in which the goods are when
they are sold.
 In general, any “word, name, symbol, or
device” may be used as a trademark to
identify a particular business’s goods or
services. Familiar examples include brand
names and logos such as NIKE and its
familiar swoosh. However, generic terms
(i.e., the name for a particular type of
good) or deceptive terms may not be
registered or protected as trademarks.
 Registration Procedure
 Application for search.
 Application for registration.

 Examination of trade mark.

 Advertisement of trade mark.

 Certificate issued/hearing set.

 Live of a Trade Mark
 The law provides that non-use of a mark
for consecutive 5 years is ordinarily
considered proof of an intention to
abandon it.

 Delay in enforcement of a mark may

cause lose of rights.
 2. Copyright

Protection of cultural, artistic and literary

written works such as novels, articles,
musical works, paintings, cinematographic
work, photographic and computer
programs.
 The key requirements for a copyright are
that the work is independently created, at
least minimally creative, and fixed in some
tangible form. Copy right does not extend
to ideas, processes, systems, discoveries,
or methods of operation. Copyright
attaches once awork is created and fixed
in a tangible medium of expression(e.g.,
recorded in a computer file or on a piece
of paper).