Start-ups are a major source of India’s future economic development and its establishment as a superpower on the world stage. Innovation almost always finds its roots in a company that is fresh and not bogged down by dated ways of doing things. However, it is highly important for start-ups to ensure that they have stringent protections in place overall intellectual property they own, as it is very easy for someone else with greater resources to exploit their IP and become much more successful off the back of stolen work. The Government of India has recognized the importance of facilitating start-ups with protecting their IP, and has launched the Scheme for Facilitating Start-Ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP), to nurture innovation, promote awareness about IPRs and encourage IPR protection among start-ups.

Patents

A patent is a form of intellectual property right granted over inventions to the inventor, which gives the inventor an exclusive right for making, selling, using, or importing the patented product, in exchange for a full disclosure of his invention to the Government.

The patent right is a territorial right, i.e. it is only applicable in India. However, international patents can and should be obtained from the Patent Offices located in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi.

A patent application must be filed with the Indian Patent Office in accordance with the Patents Act. However, since 2007, the Patent Office has made the online filing of patents available to anyone at the website www.ipindia.nic.in. This is a much more convenient way of filing a patent application and is the recommended method of doing so.

There are a few criteria that make an invention patentable which must be kept in mind:

1. It should be novel.

2. It should have an inventive step or should be non-obvious.

3. It should be capable of industrial application.

4. It should not fall under any category mentioned in section 3 or 4 of the Patents Act.

To know more about Patent Law, see the video below -

Designs

The Designs Act, 2000, defines the term design as any combination of shapes, lines, patterns, etc. either two dimensional or three dimensional, which have been made by either manual, mechanical, or chemical industrial processes, and where the finished article holds purely aesthetic value and no functional value. This definition excludes trademarks under the Trademarks Act.

Sometimes artists use industrial means and methods to create their visual art. The objective of the Designs Act is that the originator of the design is not deprived of the benefits arising from it due to other people applying it to their goods.

There are a few conditions for a design to fall under this Act:

1. It should be new or original, but the novel factor can be the application of an existing shape or pattern on a new product. For example, a cigarette lighter in the shape of the well known Qutub Minar will qualify as a design.

2. The design should refer to the shapes, patterns, etc. applicable to an article.

3. The design should be applicable to an article by some industrial process. Designs of a more artistic nature that are not produced in bulk (paintings, sculptures, etc.) do not fall under the ambit of this Act.

4. The design should be a visible element of the article. For example, the interior pattern of a cupboard will not fall under this Act as it is not generally sold for the interior design.

5. If any part of the article is made in a way that serves a function, it will not be considered a design.

Trademarks

A trademark in layman’s terms can be called a brand name. It is a visual symbol or name used by a business undertaking on goods and services to distinguish it from other similar goods and services. A trademark has many important functions for a business:

• It identifies the goods/services and their origin

• It guarantees the quality of the goods/services

• It can be used to advertise the goods/services

• It helps to create a brand image for the company with respect to its goods/services

Any person who is the proprietor of a trademark can apply for the registration of the trademark. The application must contain the trademark, the goods/service it is attached to, the name and address of the applicant or the attorney (if any), and the period for which the mark has been used. This application can also be made online at https://ipindiaonline.gov.in/trademarkefiling/user/frmNewRegistration.aspx.

There are many benefits to registering a trademark, some of which are:

• The owner has an exclusive right to use the trademark in connection to the goods or services with which the mark is associated

• He can approach the appropriate court if his trademark is infringed and misused by someone else selling the same class of goods or services.

To know more about the benefits of trademarks, see the video below -

Copyrights

Copyrights are exclusive rights granted to the creator or owner of any literary, musical, artistic, or dramatic work, which grant them the exclusive ownership of that work and the right to gain benefits from it in whatever way they choose. Computer software is protected under copyright in India, and therefore this is a very important protection for start-ups as a lot of start-ups are in the field of IT.

Copyright grants multiple rights to the person who owns it.

• Economic rights – Under economic rights, the owner has the right to sell and reproduce the work. He can make the work accessible to the public for a fee or for free if he chooses to do so. He has the exclusive right to make adaptations stemming from the work, and he can claim damages from anyone who infringes on his copyright. These rights extend for the lifetime of the owner and for 60 years after his death.

• Moral rights – The owner has a right to prevent any damage or unauthorized alterations to the work. These rights ban any changes that put the honor and reputation of the owner at risk. These rights are perpetual in nature.

Registration of copyright is not necessary as copyright is vested in the author as soon as the work is created. However, it is highly recommended as there are several benefits to registering your copyright.

1. Proof of ownership – Registration establishes a record of the ownership of copyright which can be used as evidence in the event of any dispute

2. Filing infringement suit – Registration grants the right to a copyright owner to file a suit if his copyright is infringed

3. Right to assign – Once a copyright is registered to someone, he can then assign the whole right or part of it to anyone he likes

4. Right to claim statutory damages – In the event of an infringement suit in the case of registered copyrights, the court can award special damages such as attorney fees and legal costs.

For knowing more about, what is Copyright Law, see the video below -

Intellectual property is a vital part of any business, and safeguarding intellectual property by these methods should be one of the top priorities of start-ups. IP holds a lot of value, and if it falls into the wrong hands, it can be hugely detrimental to the success of a start-up.

Apart from the legal steps for registering and safeguarding IP, companies can also implement internal measures to ensure that sensitive information does not get leaked. Employee contracts should have confidentiality agreements, and high-value IP should not be openly shared and discussed within the company. Also, collaboration with other businesses is an integral part of running a company. In such events, care must be taken to protect every use of IP through appropriate licensing or non-disclosure agreements. These steps, along with a robust legal backing through registration of all intellectual property owned by the company can go a long way in protecting the IP of a start-up.

To know more about, how startups can grow their business with the help of intellectual property, see the video below-

BY -

Shivalik Chandan