IPR Essentials: A Beginner's Guide to Intellectual Property Rights

On 14.8.2024 an awareness on IPR was organized on the title “IPR Essentials: A Beginner's Guide to Intellectual Property Rights” by the Entrepreneurship Development Cell and IIC in association with the Electronics and Communication Engineering department. The session was handled by Dr. R Prem Ananth, IIC Convener, IIC Innovation Ambassador for "Design thinking & Innovations", Assistant professor, Francis Xavier Engineering College. 41 students and 1 faculty participated in the program. This event was coordinated by Mr Pradeep T Rajan, Assistant Professor, Department of ECE, Francis Xavier Engineering College.

The guest speaker began the session by explaining the concepts of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) as legal protections granted to creators and inventors, enabling them to safeguard their innovations. He emphasized that these rights allow the inventors to control the use, distribution, and commercialization of their intellectual property, thereby fostering an environment where innovation and creativity can thrive. He said IPR is broad in scope, encompassing a variety of intellectual properties, including inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and commercial designs. He highlighted the importance of IPR in encouraging individuals and companies to invest in research and development.

The speaker then elaborated the different types of IPR, using relevant examples to illustrate each. He explained that patents are exclusive rights granted for inventions, giving the patent holder the legal rights to prevent others from making, using, or selling the invention without permission. For instance, a pharmaceutical company that develops a new drug can apply for a patent to protect its formulation, ensuring that competitors cannot produce generic versions until the patent expires. Next, he discussed the trademarks, which protect brand names, logos, slogans, and other identifiers that distinguish one business's goods or services from another's. He said Trademarks can be a word, phrase, symbol, or design representing the brand's identity. He provided the example of the Nike "swoosh" logo, which is a trademark symbolizing the brand’s identity and is legally protected to prevent other companies from using a similar logo.

He also explained copyrights, which protect original works of authorship, including literary, musical, and artistic works such as books, music, films, and software. Copyrights grant the creator exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and display their work. For example, a novel written by an author is automatically protected by copyright, allowing the author to control how the book is published, distributed, and adapted into other formats like movies.

Furthermore, the speaker explained the trade secrets, which includes confidential business information that provides a competitive advantage, such as formulas, practices, processes, or designs. Unlike patents, trade secrets are not registered but are safeguarded through confidentiality agreements and other protective measures. He cited the famous example of the Coca-Cola recipe, a closely guarded trade secret that the company protects to prevent competitors from replicating the drink. He concluded the session by discussing real-world examples, such as Apple Inc., which is renowned for its extensive portfolio of patents. These patents cover everything from the design of Apple products to the underlying technology, allowing the company to maintain a competitive edge in the technology market and protect its innovations from being copied by competitors.