What is the career in the field of Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright law?
In today’s innovation-driven world, where corporate giants clash regularly over ideas and trademarks, copyright laws play and important role. They protect intellectual property (IP), which can be defined as any intangible property that is a product of creativity, and is covered by copyrights, patents and trademarks. With authors, musicians inventors and entrepreneurs lining up to protect their work, careers in intellectual property rights (IPR) are booming.
How it works
Intellectual property law enables individuals to claim exclusive rights and financial gain from what they invent or create, which is a benefit to both creators and the public. IP lawyers procure the right to new ideas and protect the existing creations. The job involves applying for patents, obtaining copyrights and defending it in case of infringement.
What are the job prospects?
There is a lot of patenting activity in countries across the world. And so, the field offers a plethora of jobs ranging from an IPR attorney, who has specialized in copyright infringement law, to patent specialists involved in preparing patents. Intellectual property lawyers also assist in licensing inventions, transferring proprietary technology, drafting licensing agreements, negotiating settlements, and conducting IP due diligence.
What is IP?
Intellectual property is any tangible commodity that is a product of creativity.
What are patents?
A patent is a right granted by the government to inventors in order to exclude others from copying or sharing their products without their permission.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device that is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others.
What is a GI tag?
A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin because of which they posses qualities or a reputation. GIs are part of the intellectual property rights that come under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. In India, GI registration is administrated by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act of 1999. GIs are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuff, handicrafts, and industrial products.
What to study?
People from different academic backgrounds can study law. Most law schools offer copyright law as a specialization with the law degree. Some offer separate short-term postgraduate diplomas on the subject.
Where:
- The Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur; and Amity Law School, New Delhi: Bachelor of Law (LLB) with specialization in Intellectual Property Rights.
- N.C. Banerjee Centre for Intellectual Property Rights Studies, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad: IP specialization in LLM and PG Diploma in Patent Law.
- Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Intellectual Property Studies, Mumbai: PG Diploma in Patent Law and Practice and PG Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Management.
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