Intellectual Property Essay Example
1) Compare and contrast the differing protection offered by the law of patents and the law of copyright. In your opinion, are these differences accidental or do they have a sound commercial or legal basis ?
Intellectual property rights are exclusive rights for their owners. Third parties are then generally prohibited from the use or exploitation of what is excluded by these rights. It is to be clarified that it is intended to focus solely on copyrights and patents. Trademark, confidentiality and designs, the other main types of intellectual property are beyond the scope of this essay. There is one simple way to comprehend the two concepts of patents and copyrights. On the one hand patent are rights over an invention. An invention is the result of reasoning. It is the production of some new or improved process or products that are both not obvious for a person skilled in the field and useful. On the other hand, copyrights are rights that protect art in general, art being any products of human's creative activities provided that more than trivial work has been done. The patent law can be seen as a monopoly created by parliament. In the year 1623 the Statute of Monopolies declared that all monopolies are void and of no effect. But an exception was made for the future grand of patent for the term of fourteen years to the first inventor provided it was not contrary to reason of raising price or restrictive of trade. Nowadays, it is basically the same principles that are applied. The copyright law can be seen as a way to restraint trade granted by Parliament. In 1709, the Copyright Act gave an author the exclusive right of printing his work for fourteen years. If the law has extended, the same concepts are still applied. The first point is the difference between what is ruled by patent and copyright. Patent law is protecting inventions. Patent Act 1977 defined an invention as something new thus which does not form part of the state of the art (s.2(1))1. The state of
Intellectual property rights are exclusive rights for their owners. Third parties are then generally prohibited from the use or exploitation of what is excluded by these rights. It is to be clarified that it is intended to focus solely on copyrights and patents. Trademark, confidentiality and designs, the other main types of intellectual property are beyond the scope of this essay. There is one simple way to comprehend the two concepts of patents and copyrights. On the one hand patent are rights over an invention. An invention is the result of reasoning. It is the production of some new or improved process or products that are both not obvious for a person skilled in the field and useful. On the other hand, copyrights are rights that protect art in general, art being any products of human's creative activities provided that more than trivial work has been done. The patent law can be seen as a monopoly created by parliament. In the year 1623 the Statute of Monopolies declared that all monopolies are void and of no effect. But an exception was made for the future grand of patent for the term of fourteen years to the first inventor provided it was not contrary to reason of raising price or restrictive of trade. Nowadays, it is basically the same principles that are applied. The copyright law can be seen as a way to restraint trade granted by Parliament. In 1709, the Copyright Act gave an author the exclusive right of printing his work for fourteen years. If the law has extended, the same concepts are still applied. The first point is the difference between what is ruled by patent and copyright. Patent law is protecting inventions. Patent Act 1977 defined an invention as something new thus which does not form part of the state of the art (s.2(1))1. The state of