Authored By: Avishikta Biswas, B.A.LL.B, Heritage Law College
“CREATIVITY IS THE FUEL OF INNOVATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IS ITS PROTECTION” – VICTOR HUGO
Human minds are the source of creativity and innovation. The cognitive ability of humans has given humans the ability to innovate which results in numerous inventions and discoveries. Innovations not only make our lives easy but also are a great contributor to economic growth. Innovation is the driving force that leads to economic growth. Innovations of man must be given an incentive, so that people are encouraged to invest more time and for further innovations. The higher the rate of innovations the greater the economic growth. Hence every society promotes innovation.
Innovations and creativities of the human mind should be protected and incentivized in order to prevent unwanted usage which in turn will motivate people to invest more in innovations and creations. Here Intellectual Property Rights come into the picture. Intellectual Property Rights are a set of legal rights granted to the inventor of a product or creation. These rights grant protection to the inventor of a creation. It’s the creation of the human mind. Intellectual Property Rights are a great incentive for inventors. They encourage invention and innovation by providing rights and incentives to innovations. The innovators and creators get rewards for their inventions. These rights play a crucial role in the economy. By providing these protections and incentives, they facilitate investing time, money and effort in research and development which in turn fosters innovation.
There are many influential people in the field of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. The first recorded patent was awarded in the 15th century, and it went to Italian architect and designer Filippo Brunelleschi in 1421. Patents have been awarded to many more famous inventions like Thomas Edison who had many patents for his numerous inventions like the light bulb, the first telephone was invented and patented by Alexander Graham Bell, the first patent for Maglev went to Brookhaven National Laboratory (US). These are just a few names who patented their innovations which are used so widely in recent times, there hundreds of people who make inventions and innovations in various fields and all these are eventually protected by Intellectual Property Rights.[1]
There are different kinds of intellectual property rights, some are mentioned hereinafter:
- Trademarks – A trademark is an intellectual property consisting of a symbol, name, word, phrases, signs etc. which distinguishes one brand from the other. For e.g.: the” M” logo Mc Donald’s, the” half eaten apple” of Apple Inc.
- Copyrights – Copyright (or author’s right) is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works.[2]
- Patents – Patents are exclusive rights granted to the makers of inventions. It prevents others from using their inventions commercially for a limited period.
- Geographical indications – identifies a good or product which originates from a particular region.
- Industrial Designs – In a legal sense, an industrial design constitutes the ornamental aspect of an article. An industrial design may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape of an article, or two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines, or color.[3]
Intellectual Property Rights prevent others from using their innovation for commercial purposes without the permission of the owners. Intellectual Property Rights include Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks etc. Intellectual property rights provide legal protection to the inventors, as a result individuals are motivated to invest more time in inventions and creations. Without protection against unwarranted use of inventions, people won’t invest time in inventions. Intellectual property rights also give rewards to the inventors and creators, which in turn help in further innovations, and eventually promote economic growth.
Intellectual Property Rights are a legal protection that gives innovators the confidence and security to share their innovations publicly, without such protections these inventions would run a risk of unauthorized usage which would eventually prevent people from sharing their ideas and innovations. People would be reluctant to share their inventions, ideas and creations with the world for fear of unauthorized use. Without proper protection from unauthorized use there will be people who would use other peoples’ inventions, ideas etc. for their commercial gain and there would be no legal remedy. The protections guaranteed as Intellectual Property Rights would ensure that people share their innovations, ideas and knowledge with the world at large. These protections ensure that there is a safe environment where people can share their innovations and ideas, this accelerates innovation and drives investments.
Intellectual Property rights not only act as a protection against unauthorized use but also give various rights, as a result people are motivated to invest more time and money in various activities which ensure further innovation. By providing the inventors exclusive rights to their creations, they are encouraged to invest in research and development which in turn helps in promoting innovation. They help in protecting the interests of the inventors and creators of the works, these rights ensure that creators get benefits for their hard work and investments.
As we know there are various kinds of intellectual property rights, each of these intellectual property rights promote innovation and creativity in some sort of way. These have been talked about hereinafter.
Patents grant inventors exclusive rights to their inventions for a limited period of time. The inventors and creators of inventions are given protection so that people won’t use their inventions for unauthorized usage, in a world where no protection would be granted to these people then in that scenario, anybody could copy the works of others or gain from the works of others. The guarantee of legal remedies in case of unauthorized usage of their intellectual property rights gives a sense of protection to the creator which will motivate such person to spend more time in investing time and money in inventions and other creations. Copyright grants creators of original works of authorship the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and perform their works, as such copyrights incentivize creativity and innovation. Copyright protection allows creators to profit from their works and encourages them to continue producing new content. In a world without such protection, the creativity of the human mind would be subject to unauthorized copying and unfair gains to some other person. Trade secrets are confidential valuable information of businesses like some formulas or unpublished promotional matters. By protecting valuable know-how, processes, and data from unauthorized use or disclosure, trade secret laws encourage companies to invest in research and development activities that generate innovative solutions and products. Industrial designs protect the visual appearance of products, such as their shape, color, or ornamentation. By protecting the industrial design rights promote innovation in product designing. Trademarks are symbols, phrases etc. which differentiate one product from the other, innovation and creativity is promoted by investing time and efforts in coming up with symbols and other forms of signs to differentiate their products,
Creators and inventors get the rights to profit from their work and their creations. They are entitled to rewards for their creation, these work as a boost for individuals for more innovations and creativity. They provide incentives for individuals and organizations for their work. Individuals and organizations invest more when they are assured that their work will generate returns and that they will be protected.
Every country’s progress is indirectly related to how strong the Intellectual Property Laws of a country are. The stronger the intellectual property laws of a country the lesser the chance of misusing other people’s innovations. The strong INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY laws motivate individuals to invest more on innovations, which eventually develops the economy.
India is a member of various international Intellectual Property related treaties or organizations which helps in the enforcement and development of Intellectual Property Rights. India has laws regarding various intellectual property rights like The Copyright Act, 1957. Even though India has many laws and regulatory bodies governing the Intellectual Property Rights of the country, yet it faces many hurdles like lack of proper implementation, the processes are too lengthy to name a few. However, the government has undertaken various procedures and steps to strengthen the IP laws of the country.
Despite strong legal frameworks and safeguards, protected works can be duplicated or copied leading to losses. Intellectual Property Rights has been an incentive for innovation and development, but it has also created hindrance to innovation. Strict Intellectual Property laws prevent spread of knowledge, overly strict Intellectual Property laws prevent further innovation and creativity over existing ideas and development.
Therefore, it is important to have a balance between protecting the rights of the inventors through Intellectual Property Rights and promoting innovation. The IP laws should not be so stringent that they turn out to be hindrance to free flow of ideas and restrict knowledge and information. It should ensure the free flow of ideas and creativity and there should be less stringent restrictions. However, even after these limitations, Intellectual Property Rights remains the key driving force for innovation and creativity. The rights, protection and incentives guaranteed by Intellectual Property Rights motivates people to invest more in research and development which in turn fosters innovation.
References
- Julia Brüggemann, Intellectual property rights hinder sequential innovation. Experimental evidence, SCIENCE DIRECT, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048733316301159
- Pedro CunhaNeves, Oscar Afons, Diana Silva and Elena Sochirca , The link between intellectual property rights, innovation and growth : A meta-analysis, SCIENCE DIRECT, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264999321000274
- Martin Douglas Hendry, The impact of IP law on innovation and creativity, VIRTUOSO LEGAL, https://www.virtuosolegal.com/faq/the-impact-of-ip-law-on-innovation-and-creativity/
- Will Kenton, What is Intellectual Property, and what are some types?, INVESTOPEDIA, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/intellectualproperty.asp
[1] Jay Bennet, 15 Patents That Changed The World, POPULAR MECHANICS (Mar. 25, 2022), https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/design/g20051677/patents-changed-the-world/
[2] Copyright, WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION (WIPO), https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/
[3] Industrial Designs, WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION (WIPO), https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/
Cite this article as:
Avishikta Biswas, “The Role of Intellectual Property Laws in Fostering Innovation”, Vol.5 & Issue 5, Law Audience Journal (e-ISSN: 2581-6705), Pages 591 to 596 (02nd May 2024), available at https://www.lawaudience.com/designer-babies-an-analysis-of-legal-and-ethical-considerations.