Intellectual property is a collection of rights that generate wealth for all by providing incentives for new products, processes, creative works and services.
Products that we use every day like Philips® light bulbs, Nancy Drew© books and
Intellectual property creates wealth directly by allowing individuals and businesses with new inventions, creative works and brands to create a niche in the market place. Indirectly, patents disclose these new inventions to the public. These ideas are often the basis for more new inventions, products, services and businesses. When intellectual property rights expire, the public may freely enjoy and build upon the underlying inventions, creative works and trademarks for eternity. Wealth continues to grow, based on these contributions.
Do you like to read? The advent of the printing press allowed printers to make and widely distribute copies of books. Previously, books were hand-copied and only available to the rich. The press also spurred the first copyright law in
The vibrant music, movie, literature and artistic industries of the
How important is a job? The first modern patent law was passed in
Strong patent laws provide incentives for new inventions that create wealth in the market place. For example, the United States Supreme Court clarified that living things are patentable under
Do you like soup? Trademarks have evolved from the earliest of times, when humans used marks to designate ownership. Cave drawings from as early as 5000 B.C., for example, show bison with symbols on their flanks. In 3500 B.C., Mesopotamian commodities were identified with cylindrical seals (www.lib.utexas.edu).
Today, trademarks are used in all aspects of commerce. They bring consumer recognition to products and add value to businesses. When Nestle purchased a British chocolate company named Rowntree in 1988, it paid half a billion pounds for its factories and stock. However, it paid 2 billion pounds for its trademarks (www.wipo.int). Coca-Cola® has been ranked by BusinessWeek as the most valuable brand in the world, at $67 billion. Products such as
Intellectual property owners may exercise their rights flexibly or enforce them vigorously, depending upon their business model or philosophy. Owners may have the option of excluding others from selling a product, reproducing a book or using a trademark, for example. On the other hand, intellectual property rights must be positively exercised. The failure to do so, whether intentional or not, may result in others using an invention, creative work or trademark.
To illustrate the great versatility of intellectual property rights in the market place, four models are provided here. First, the IBM® model makes part of a company’s intellectual property portfolio available to the public. IBM® announced last year that it was making 500 of its patents freely available to anyone working on open-source projects such as the Linux® operating system. IBM® is the largest patent holder in the
Second, the Cohen and Boyer model issues an unlimited number of licenses for a reasonable up-front payment and a moderate royalty. Intellectual property rights may be licensed in whole or in part. Licensing arrangements have the flexibility to take into account the needs of the parties involved. For example, they may be exclusive, non-exclusive, territorial (that is, different people can use a product in different parts of a country), and they may creatively address the issue of royalties.
In 1980, Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer patented a blockbuster method of replicating DNA. They licensed their invention out to more than 370 companies with a $10,000 up front payment, an annual advance of $10,000 and earned royalties of .5 percent to 3 percent of sales, depending upon the type and sales volume of the products.
Third, the Warhol model enforces intellectual property rights only against potential infringers who are seeking commercial gain. Andy Warhol had a successful career as an artist by building upon the works of others. He took advantage of the flexibility that other intellectual property owners demonstrated when he built upon popular icons such as
Fourth, companies following the vigorous enforcement model seek to defend many or all of their intellectual property rights. This model is particularly important to entities like The Walt Disney Company that have made large investments in research and development or creative works, or those that rely significantly upon brand recognition.
Intellectual property holds the key to the future. Of foremost importance is the preservation and advancement of the standards for the protection of intellectual property. Without intellectual property protections, we may not have
In October, Dominic Keating became the first
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"
Tags :Intellectual Property Rights