Unit 3: Ownership & enforcement of IP rights
Intellectual Property Right and EDP notes · PTU syllabus (BSTD 602-20)
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Unit summary
Rights matter only if owners can use, transfer and defend them. This unit covers the objectives, rights, assignments, infringement and defences for patents, copyright, trademarks and designs, civil and criminal remedies, and border measures.
After this unit you can
- Explain rights granted for each form of IP
- Explain assignment of IP
- Identify infringement and defences
- Describe civil, criminal and border remedies
PTU syllabus topics
- Objectives
- rights
- assignments and infringement defences for patents
- copyright
- trademarks and designs
- civil and criminal remedies
- border security measures
Purpose
Compensate the owner
Punish the infringer
Remedies
Injunction, damages, account of profits
Fines, imprisonment, seizure
Border measures
Customs can detain suspected counterfeit imports
Seized goods can support prosecution
Topic 1
Rights and assignments
Patent
Make, use, sell, import the invention
In writing and registered with the Patent Office
Copyright
Reproduce, distribute, adapt, communicate to the public; moral rights
In writing; specifies rights, territory and duration (5 years and India by default)
Trademark
Use the mark for registered goods; prevent similar marks
With or without goodwill; recorded
Design
Apply the design to articles; prevent copies
In writing; registered
Topic 2
Infringement and defences
Patent
Making or selling the patented product without consent
Invalidity, non-infringement, experimental use, prior use
Copyright
Copying a print or photograph
Fair dealing (research, criticism, reporting), independent creation, expiry
Trademark
Deceptively similar logo on goods (counterfeits); passing off for unregistered marks
Honest concurrent use, descriptive use, prior use
Design
Copying a registered pattern or shape
Design not new, prior publication, registration cancelled
Example
A brand registers a printed motif as a design; a mill copies it on bedsheets → design infringement (piracy of design) — remedies under Section 22 of the Designs Act.
Topic 3
Civil and criminal remedies
- Injunctions
- Interim and permanent orders to stop infringement
- Damages or account of profits
- Monetary compensation
- Anton Piller orders
- Search and seizure of evidence
- Delivery-up and destruction
- Infringing goods destroyed
- Criminal remedies
- Copyright and trademark offences — imprisonment and fines; police search and seizure (not for patents and designs)
- Commercial courts
- Fast-track IP disputes
- Border measures: owners record their rights with Customs under the IPR (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007; customs can suspend clearance of suspected counterfeit or pirated imports.
Key terms
- Assignment
- Transfer of ownership of an IP right
- Infringement
- Unauthorised use of a protected right
- Fair dealing
- Permitted use of copyright works for specific purposes
- Passing off
- Misrepresenting goods as another's using an unregistered mark
- Injunction
- Court order stopping an activity
Quick revision
- Exclusive rights and assignment rules for each IP.
- Infringement examples and defences.
- Injunctions, damages, Anton Piller, destruction, criminal penalties.
- Customs border measures.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.What rights does a patent give?
- Q2.What is fair dealing?
- Q3.What is passing off?
- Q4.Name two civil remedies for infringement.
- Q5.For which IP forms are criminal remedies available?
- Q6.How do customs protect IP?
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain ownership and assignment of IP rights.
- Q2.Explain infringement and defences for patents, copyright, trademarks and designs.
- Q3.Explain civil, criminal and border remedies.
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