Question

How might considerations of fair competition be used either for or against the protection of intellectual property? Give an example.

Answer 1

Intellectual Property is defined as any original work exhibited in a tangilble form that can be legally protected. The basic idea behind intellectual property is to earn incentives for creativity. The work of artist or creator is protected through intellectual property rights so that no other person can immitate and benefit from it. Therefore, IP rights protects the the way IP is used, accessed or distributed.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an organization of the United Nations which lay down laws to enforce IP rights which includes:

• literary, artistic and scientific works;
• industrial designs
• inventions
• industrial designs
• trademarks,service marks, commercial names,
• protection against unfair competitions

Intellect Property is divided into two parts:

(1) Industrial Property i.e. Patents, trademarks and industrial designs

(2) Copyright

Arguments

IP must be protected to promote creativity and to help the creator benefit from their work. For example, an artist create painting after months of labour backed by the his own creativity deserves to earn an income for his creative masterpeice. If we study another example of scientist developing a unique formula after a long research have complete rights over his invention through Intellectual Property.

An innovation is accelarating with such a pace that it raise new challanges for the sustainable development. A great concern here is the interaction of intellectual property (IP) and competition. IP rights intends to protect the kowledge of innovators by imposing the charges on the use of that knowledge so that it can benefit the innovators in the form of income.

IP rights help in gaining the monoploly in the market for the limited time frame. It also help the customer in identifying the original product, logo and brand which ultimatly reduce the transaction cost. Anti-trust laws help in promoting the favourable enviornment for the innovators and protect them from dominant firm in delaying innovation.

Now, we look into the 1980s, Diamond v. Chakrabarty case, the SCOTUS determine that a live, human made microorganism is a patentable subject matter under US law. According to this case 35 U.S.C.provides for issuing a patent to a person who invents or dicovers any new or useful manufacture or composition of matter. This case plays a vital role in the biotechnological rights and boost the industry for new inventions.

Thus, IP play an important role in the society as part of innovation system, and analysing its interaction with competition is important. There must be a balance of rules to govern these institutions. IP system is known for the international agreements. In contrast, regulation of competition is rather a local approach with no major international regulatory standardization. Thus, it is necessary to develop policies to make IP and competition closer for the benefit of stackeholders.