Question

What are Intellectual Property Rights?

· Why are they important?

· Why be concerned about IPR on a global level?

· What can or should firms do to protect their IPR?

Answer 1

What are Intellectual Property Rights?

Intellectual property is the product of the human intellect including creativity concepts, inventions, industrial models, trademarks, songs, literature, symbols, names, brands,....etc. Intellectual Property Rights do not differ from other property rights. They allow their owner to completely benefit from his/her product which was initially an idea that developed and crystallized. They also entitle him/her to prevent others from using, dealing or tampering with his/her product without prior permission from him/her. He/she can in fact legally sue them and force them to stop and compensate for any damages.

Why are they important?

Intellectual property rights reward creativity and human endeavor, which fuel the progress of humankind. Some examples:

1. The multibillion dollar film, recording, publishing and software industries – which bring pleasure to millions of people worldwide – would not exist without copyright protection.
2. Without the rewards provided by the patent system, researchers and inventors would have little incentive to continue producing better and more efficient products for consumers.
3. Consumers would have no means to confidently buy products or services without reliable, international trademark protection and enforcement mechanisms to discourage counterfeiting and piracy.

Why be concerned about IPR on a global level?

• We live today in a world in which the economic health of nations and the competitiveness of firms is determined largely by the ability to develop, commercialize, and most importantly, to appropriate (or capture) the economic benefits from scientific and technological (S&T) innovations. Intellectual property rights (IPRs), such as patents and copyrights, are an important means used by firms to help protect their investments in innovation. They are legal instruments that have been used by governments for centuries to encourage industrial development and economic growth.
• IPRs protect investments in innovation by granting the innovator a temporary monopoly on the use of the innovation. This prevents rapid imitation that could cut into the innovator's returns and decrease the incentive to innovate. By restricting imitation, however, IPRs arguably raise the cost of the new technology and restrict its availability. This may, in turn, retard further progress in the technology by preventing other firms from developing new innovations or improvements that build on the original innovation in a cumulative way. If the new technology has productivity-enhancing effects when used in economic activity, these too may be retarded by the protection of the original innovation.

What can or should firms do to protect their IPR?

• Make time to get smart on intellectual property. Educate yourself and team on the basics of trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. Investing a day or two early on will save headaches later.
• Reduce costs by doing your own IP searches first. Start with a Google patent search at google.com/patents.
• Work with an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and ask for a fixed rate to file.
• Save money by working with a patent attorney from a different geography. Ivy-league lawyers in Wisconsin are just as good as Ivy-league lawyers in New York City. The cost savings may be upwards of 50%, and sometimes more.
• Patents aren't your only asset. Conduct an audit to identify all your registered and unregistered trademarks and copyrights.
• Invest in well-written non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Make sure your employment agreements, licenses, sales contracts and technology transfer agreements all protect your intellectual property too, right from the get-go.
• File as fast as you can. A patent application holds your place in line. You will have 12 months from that initial submission to expand upon your filing. And remember, US patents can take more than five years to issue.
• Investigate international patents if key competitors are outside the US. A US patent will not protect you against competitors in Europe, never mind China.
• Think hard about the future. From your vantage point, what does the future look like? Use this information to devise your patent strategy, and to figure out which of your work needs to be legally protected. From there, your patent applications should flow.