Intellectual Property Rights in India Legal Regime: Special Reference to Patent Right (Report‪)‬

The continual process of learning, creating "new knowledge" and further transforming it into "value-added knowledge" with "fair distribution of its benefits" is fundamental to the progress to all knowledge driven industries (Lanjour, 2004). The emergence and growth of information society in the last decade, where knowledge based industries are accorded increasing importance, forms the background to the contemporary debates regarding the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The notion of the intellectual property as its simplest suggests that ideas and knowledge can be parcelled into separable and transferable knowledge objects, which enjoy similar characteristics to material property (Lerner, 1995). Intellectual property is the property, which is derived from the work of individual's intellect or mind that have some commercial value. Thus, intellectual property rights, very broadly are the rights granted to creators or owner of the work that are result of human intellect or mind. Broadly, these rights are divided into two categories: industrial rights, which include Patents (innovations), Trademarks, Industrial Designs, Trade Secrets and Geographical Indication of source; and Copyright, which includes Literary and Artistic Work such as Novels, Poems, Plays, Films, Photographs, Musical Work, Painting, Sculptures and Architectural Designs (WIPO,2000). The basic idea underlying patents, trademarks and other forms of intellectual property rights is to provide incentives and rewards to the right holders (1), and on the other hand, facilitating access to, and widespread diffusion and adoption of the fruits of creativity and innovation (2).