Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.
The importance of intellectual property in India is well established at all levels- statutory, administrative and judicial. India ratified the agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This Agreement, inter-alia, contains an Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) which came into force from 1st January 1995. It lays down minimum standards for protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in member countries which are required to promote effective and adequate protection of intellectual property rights with a view to reducing distortions and impediments to international trade. The obligations under the TRIPS Agreement relate to provision of minimum standard of protection within the member countries legal systems and practices.
The Agreement provides for norms and standards in respect of following areas of intellectual property
Patents
Trade Marks
Copyrights
Geographical Indications
Industrial Designs
Patents
The basic obligation in the area of patents is that, invention in all branches of technology whether products or processes shall be patentable if they meet the three tests of being new involving an inventive step and being capable of industrial application. In addition to the general security exemption which applied to the entire TRIPS Agreement, specific exclusions are permissible from the scope of patentability of inventions, the prevention of whose commercial exploitation is necessary to protect public order or morality, human, animal, plant life or health or to avoid serious prejudice to the environment. Further, members may also exclude from patentability of diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods of the treatment of human and animals and plants and animal other than micro-organisms and essentially biological processes for the production of plants and animals.
