Introduction:
India has established itself as a talent hotspot in the fields of information technology (IT) and software development. Intellectual Property (IP) and software are two sides of the same coin. IP refers to a variety of software ownership rights in the software business. Different techniques of safeguarding these ownership rights are available under the law. Patents, copyrights, trademarks, and copyrights are all examples of intellectual property in software. Financing relies heavily on property rights. Intangible or intellectual property often accounts for more than half of a company’s worth, as opposed to tangible assets. When it comes to intangible products like software, they don’t fully serve their intended purpose until legal safeguards give them more tangible worth.
Because innovators are more inclined to share their innovations and goods if they believe their intellectual property rights will be protected, intellectual property protection typically fosters technical breakthroughs. More innovations contribute to higher advancement, which helps society as a whole. Intellectual property rights are one of the fastest developing fields of law and play a major role in the advancement of the global economy and there has been a significant increase in the demands of IP officials and knowledge holders, throughout the world.
Overview of Intellectual Property & Intellectual Property Rights
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO), intellectual property is defined as “property that is generated or produced by the human mind.” In nature, it is non-physical and intangible. Inventions, works of literature, art, designs, signs, names, and photographs, among other things, are examples of intellectual property[1].
Intellectual property has a long history, and it has grown in popularity in recent years. It was increasingly recognized in the world legal system in the 19th century, particularly at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Intellectual property rights are a type of exclusive ownership granted by the law to authors, inventors, and creators, who are granted a set of rights to safeguard their work from unlawful use. It is a type of restriction imposed by the law on the use of one’s mind. IPR can simply be defined as an ownership right to a nontangible item that is the result of a person’s intellect.
IP might be even more valuable than a company’s tangible assets. Intellectual property can be represented as a competitive advantage, and as a result, the companies that own the assets are actively conserved and safeguarded. A proficient and equitable IP system benefits everybody – including ordinary clients and shoppers.
Development of Intellectual Property in Software Industry (India)
Intellectual property rights have developed to the point where they now play a vital role in the evolution of the Software Industry over the past years. At the global level, the World Trade Organization’s peaceful settlement of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) elevates the protection and application of IPRs to the level of profound international commitment. It is widely held that, in today’s global competitive climate, enhanced intellectual property protection boosts incentives for the Software industry.
In the past, the Indian software sector had a different business model. Indian software companies now do not compete on the premise of being the lowest-cost vendor of entry-level bespoke software services. The historical Indian advantage of plentiful, low-wage, low-cost labor that is technically educated and English-speaking is eroding.
As demand catches up with supply in India, wages are rising, and other nations, particularly Ireland and Israel in Europe and China and the Philippines in Asia, are building their competitive labor pools. Government income tax rebates on export revenues and marketing help from non-resident Indians in the United States, in the future, will be less important.
Intellectual Property and Software Industry
The Question or issue or say relation that can be identified from the Intellectual Property and Software industry is its Protection. There is no one IP that can secure the complete software. Both copyright and patent, for example, provide legal protection. Nonetheless, each has a distinct function. Some owners may choose to secure only a portion of their software, while others may choose to protect the entire package. For example, one might choose to trademark the software’s name. This will safeguard the owner from another software company using the same name.
The software industry is built on intellectual property rights. Patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and trademarks are the four categories of intellectual property rights that apply to the software. Patents, copyrights, and logos can all be used to protect software program product innovations. The software is protected by patents and copyrights. Trademarks, on the other hand, protect the names or symbols that are employed to create a distinct identity in the marketplace, not the technology. Each procures a unique level of legal security. The technology or the software itself can be protected through patents, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Patent
A software patent protects the software’s functionality and a software owner can apply for a utility or design patent. A utility patent covers the software’s functionality and a design patent, as the name implies, protects the software’s aesthetics. A patent grants an exclusive monopoly on the right to create, use, and sell a qualified invention for twenty years. Software patents can be incredibly effective economic tools. They can protect program features that aren’t covered by copyright or trade secret laws. For example, patents can be granted for editing capabilities, user-interface features, compiling techniques, operating system techniques, program algorithms, menu arrangements, display presentations or arrangements, and program language translation methods incorporated in a software product.
Copyright
A copyright provides the owner with a variety of protections. It grants the right to make copies of the software code to the owner.
Any copies of the copyrighted software code can be sold by the owner. Copyright law would safeguard the source and object code, as well as certain remarkable original components of the user interface, in the case of software. A copyrighted software program’s owner has certain exclusive rights (with some exceptions): the right to copy the software, make derivative or modified versions of it and distribute copies to the public by licensing, sale, or other means.
Exclusive rights granted under copyright law, like patents, are meant to reward the “author” of the copyrighted work’s creative and inventive efforts. The exclusive right to administer replication protects the owner of copyrighted software against competition that would arise if the program’s code was copied exactly. Indirect copying, such as unauthorized translation of the code into a new programming language, is furthermore safeguarded under copyright law.
Unlike patents, independent development of a copyrighted work is a defense to a copyright infringement charge.
Trade Secrets
A trade secret is a formula, pattern, process, technique, or mechanism that is not widely known or discoverable by others, is kept secret by its owner, and provides the owner with a competitive advantage. Many aspects of software, including code and the ideas and concepts expressed in it, might be classified as trade secrets. This protection is in effect as long as the protected ingredient is still considered a trade secret. Contrary to patents, trade secret protection does not apply to software parts that can be discovered through legal means such as reverse engineering or independent development.
Trade secrets, unlike patents and copyrights, are subject to theft rather than “infringement.” If the owner can show that the trade secret was not widely known and that reasonable precautions were made to keep it confidential, the trade secret’s legal prominence as a protectable intellectual property right will be upheld.
Understanding the nature of the intellectual property rights involved and how to appropriately use the different types of legal protection to protect those rights is crucial to maximizing the economic value of a software asset[2].
Trademark
A trademark can be used to protect a software’s name, logo, slogan, or tagline. They aid in the development of the software’s brand and prevent third parties from abusing the owner’s reputation. Trademarks can protect a software’s name, brand, and taglines, as well as prevent competitors from using similar names. Software makers are protected by trademarks, but not the code that operates the software package. To ensure that the mark is protected and unique, the owner should seek the advice of a trademark attorney.
Conclusion
As a result of the rapid spread of the microcomputer and the development of the Internet over the last 20 years, the global computer software industries have been changed. As a result, despite their unclear and fluctuating legal status, formal instruments for intellectual property protection have taken on a far larger importance. Despite the fact that computer software has been there for nearly 50 years as a result of innovative endeavors, the application of intellectual property rights to these items is relatively recent. The change from a very open intellectual property environment to one in which formal protection, particularly patents, plays a key role is fascinating to observe in the computer software sector. The relationship of intellectual property systems, innovation, and industrial development is further complicated by cross-national disparities in patent systems, as well as cross-national differences in the structure of software industries and markets.
References:
[1] WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook: Policy, Law and Use, (2008) (Nov. 9, 2021, 19:41 PM) https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/489/wipo_pub_489.pdf.
[2] Eric Freibrun, Intellectual Property Rights in Software – What They Are and How to Protect Them ARTICLES (Nov. 10, 2021, 22:34 PM) https://freibrunlaw.com/intellectual-property-rights-software-protect/.
0 Comments