IPR in Telecom Sector: Relevance
- GS 3: Issues relating to intellectual property rights.
IPR in Telecom Sector: Context
- Recently, the Department of Telecommunications has been discussing a strategy road map to promote intellectual property rights in the telecom sector.
IPR in Telecom Sector: Key points
- The roadmap could include the setting up of a Sovereign Patent Fund and a Bharat Technology Bank.
- The roadmap would also include taking measures to reduce the long delays in obtaining a patent.
- The department has also been discussing a proposal to set up a Digicom Intellectual Property Management Board.
- Digicom Intellectual Property Management Board would facilitate IPR licensing and IP management in the telecom sector.
IPR in Telecom Sector: Importance of the roadmap
- A roadmap for IPR promotion in telecom sector is long overdue as India takes 5-8 years for giving telecom patents compared with 1-2 years in the US and 3 years in China.
- It could increase India’s share in global supply chain for telecom equipment, which is currently less than 1 percent.
Intellectual property rights meaning
- Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are legal rights that protect creations and/or inventions resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.
- Intellectual property rights protect the use of information and ideas that hold importance for the creators.
- The term Intellectual property rights covers the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.
- The most common IPRs include patents, copyrights, marks and trade secrets.
- Intellectual Property Rights examples: Any industrial or copyright works.
Intellectual Property Rights types
Copyright
- Copyright is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works.
- Copyright covers: books, music, paintings, sculpture and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings.
Patents
- A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention.
- A patent provides the patent owner with the right to decide how the invention can be used by others.
- In exchange for this right, the patent owner makes technical information about the invention publicly available in the published patent document.
Trademarks
- A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises.
- Trademarks date back to ancient times when artisans used to put their signature or “mark” on their products.
Geographical indicators
- Geographical indications and appellations of origin are signs used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, a reputation or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of origin.
- Most commonly, a geographical indication includes the name of the place of origin of the goods. For example: Darjeeling tea, Tezpur litchi, Kashmir saffron etc.
Trade secrets
- Trade secrets are IP rights on confidential information which may be sold or licensed.
- The unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of such secret information in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices by others is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret protection.
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