Unit-5

LAW RELATING TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual property is the product of the human intellect including creativity concepts,
inventions, industrial models, trademarks, songs, literature, symbols, names, brands, etc. It is
an intangible asset.
IPR are those legal rights which
a) Grant and allow to the owners of Intellectual Properties to benefit from the fruits of their
intellectual endeavour by creating a monopoly over these properties. Such benefits are not
always natural rights but require recognition by a statute
b) Aim at protecting the creations of the intellect, such as inventions, the appearance of
products, literary, artistic and scientific works and signs, among others.
c) Cover the privileges given to individuals who are the owners and inventors of a work, and
have created something with their intellectual creativity. Individuals related to areas such as
literature, music, invention, etc., can be granted such rights, which can then be used in the
business practices by them.
d) Provide the creator/inventor the exclusive rights against any misuse or use of work without
his/her prior information. However, the rights are granted for a limited period of time to maintain
equilibrium.
e) Do not differ from other property rights. They allow their owner to completely benefit from
his/her product which was initially an idea that developed and crystallized.
f) Entitle the creator or inventor to prevent others from using, dealing or tampering with his/her
product without prior permission from him/her. He/she can in fact legally sue them and force
them to stop and compensate for any damages.
g) Allow the owner can sell, buy or license his intellectual property just like physical property.
Although one has to register IPR at legal authority in some presentable or tangible form to claim
their benefits.
a) Give special rights to its inventor and or creator to sustain and harvest economic benefits
which further motivates skill and societal developments

TYPES OF IPR
Intellectual property is divided into two categories:
1. Industrial Property, which includes:
(a) patents,
(b) trademarks,
(c) industrial designs and models
(d) Geographic indications
(e) Trade Secrets

2. Artistic/ creative Property, which includes:

(a) Copyrights - Literary works namely novels, poems, etc. artistic and scientific works,
(b) Performer rights--Plays, films, musicals, cartoons, paintings, photographs, statues and
architectural designs, phonogram recordings by producers, and rights of broadcasters over
radio and TV programmes
1. PATENT
A patent is an exclusive right granted by law to an inventor or assignee for an invention. It has
following characteristics:
1) It provides the patent owner with the right to decide how or whether the invention can be
used by others. In exchange for this right, the patent owner makes technical information about
the invention publicly available in the published patent document.
2) It prevents others from commercially benefiting from patented invention without permission,
for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of patented invention.
3) It gives the owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, and
importing an invention for a limited period of time, in exchange for the public disclosure of the
invention.
4) It is an invention is a solution to a specific technological problem, which may be a
product or a process and generally has to fulfill three main requirements: it has to be new, not
obvious and there needs to be an industrial applicability. To enrich the body of knowledge and
stimulate innovation, it is an obligation for patent owners to disclose valuable information about
their inventions to the public.
5) It prevents an invention from being created, sold, or used by another party without
permission.
Patents are the most common type of intellectual property rights that come to people’s minds
when they think of intellectual property rights protection.
A Patent Owner avails following rights:
i) To commercialize his/her/its patent,
ii) To buy or sell the patent
iii) To grant a license to the invention to any third party under mutually agreed terms.

There are three different categories that patents can fall under:
1) Utility: A utility patent protects the creation of a new or improved product, process,
composition of matter, or machine that is useful. An example of utility patent: Method for a driver
assistance system of a vehicle
2) Design: A design patent protects the ornamental design on a useful item. An example of
design patent: Electric bicycle
3) Plant: A plant patent protects new kinds of plants produced by cuttings or other asexual
means. An example of plant patent: Crapemyrtle plant named ‘CM1’
PATENTABLE INVENTIONS
The patentability of any invention needs to fulfill following criteria:
1. Usefulness: invention must have industrial applicability or applied for practical purpose.
2. Novelty: invention must be new technology which has not been published or available in prior
art of the country or elsewhere in the world before the date of patent filing.
3. Non obviousness: Invention which can be done by any ordinary skilled person is obvious and
cannot be patentable. Hence invention must not be obvious for patentability.
NON- PATENTABLEINVENTIONS
As per Section 3 of the Patent Act, 1970 the following are not patentable:
a) Frivolous invention
b) Invention against the natural laws
c) Inventions which are not fair to health of human, animal, plant life, environment as well as
contrary to public order or morality
d) Discovery of any living thing; discovery of any non living substances occurring in nature;
e) Formulation of any abstract theory;
f) Discovery of any scientific principle
g) Substance or chemical obtained by mere admixture resulting in the aggregation of the
properties; mere arrangement or rearrangement of known devices
h) Invention relating to atomic energy and related to security of India.
2. TRADEMARKS
A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from
those of other enterprises. It has following characteristics:
a) It is a sign that individualizes the goods or services of a given enterprise and distinguishes
them from those of competitors.
To fall under law protection, a trademark must be distinctive, and not deceptive nor illegal
b) It is an another familiar type of intellectual property rights protection.
c) It is a distinctive sign which allows consumers to easily identify the particular goods or
services that a company provides. Some examples include KFC, the Apple logo, and so on.
d) It can come in the form of text, a phrase, symbol, sound, smell, and/or color scheme.
e) Unlike patents, it can protect a set or class of products or services, instead of just
one,product or process.
f) It is a recognizable sign, design or expression which distinguishes products or services of a
particular trader from similar products or services of other traders.
FORGERY AND COUNTERFEITING OF TRADEMARKS
Forgery of a trademark means a complete transfer being identical from the unique brand or
transferring the main parts thereof making the forged brand greatly identical to the original one.
Whereas Counterfeiting a trademark means making a brand similar in total to the original one in
a manner that might mislead the public in connection with the source of goods that are marked
by the brand in question.
3.INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
An industrial design constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. It has following
characteristics:
a) It may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article, or of
two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color.
b) It is the aesthetics and ergonomics of a product.
c) It consists of three-dimensional elements, such as the creation of the product’s shape, or two
dimensional ones, such as graphics, patterns and colors.
d) It consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or
combination of pattern and color in three-dimensional form containing aesthetic value.
e) It can be used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft.
f) It is what makes a product look appealing, and as such, it increases the commercial value of
goods.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN RIGHTS
An industrial design right (sometimes called “design right” or design patent) protects the visual
design of objects that are not purely utilitarian.

5.TRADE SECRETS
Trade secrets are IP rights on confidential information which may be sold or licensed. The
unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of such secret information in a manner contrary to
honest commercial practices by others is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the
trade secret protection. It has following characteristics:
a) It is any information of commercial value concerning production or sales operations which is
not generally known. The owner of a trade secret must take reasonable measures to maintain
its confidentiality.
b) It is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information
which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an
economic advantage over competitors and customers.
c) Any invention or knowledge which in not innovative (not patentable) but useful for business
and provides economical benefits can be kept as trade secret.
d) This novel or creative information is also kept as trade secret when registration of patent,
copyright, industrial design, etc are pending or in process.
e) There is no formal government protection granted; each business must take measures to
guard its own trade secrets (e.g., Formula of its soft drinks is a trade secret for Coca-Cola.)

Trade secrets have three elements:

1. Subject matter must be a secret capable of adding economic value
2. The owner must take reasonable precaution to keep it secret
3. In case of breach, the owner must prove that the competitor got information in a wrong
manner.
6. COPYRIGHT
Copyright is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and
artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and
films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings.
It has following characteristics:
a) It is a form of IPR concerned with protecting works of human intellect.
b) The domain of copyright is literary and artistic works, might that be writings, musicals and
works of fine arts, such as paintings and sculptures, as well as technology-based works such as
computer programs and electronic databases.
c) It gives the creator, of an original work, exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time.
d) It may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms, or “works”
e) It does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they
are expressed
Copyright covers following types of works:
1. Literary and scientific works: novels, poems, reference works, newspapers, plays, books,
pamphlet, magazine, journals, etc.
2. Musical work: songs, instrument musical, choruses, solos, bands, orchestras, etc
3. Artistic works: such as painting, drawings, sculpture, architecture, advertisements, etc.
4. Photographic work: portraits, landscape, fashion or event photography, etc
5. Motion pictures: it includes the cinematography works such as film, drama, documentary,
newsreels, theatrical exhibition, television broadcasting, cartoons, video tape, DVDs, etc
6. Computer programes: computer programmes, softwares and their related databases, Maps
and technical drawings
ADVANTAGES OF IPR
Intellectual property rights are advantageous in the following ways -
i) These provide exclusive rights to the creators or inventors.
ii) These encourage individuals to distribute and share information and data instead of keeping it
confidential.
iii) These provide legal defense and offers the creators the incentive of their work.
iv) These help in social and financial development.
IPR IN INDIA
In India, intellectual property rights are recognised under following statutes:
1) The Patents Act, 1970;
2) The Trade Marks Act, 1999;
3) The Copyright Act, 1957;
4) The Designs Act, 2000;
5) The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999;
6) The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design Act, 2000;
7) The Biological Diversity Act, 2002;
8) The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001.

Copyright Act, 1957

Why Copyright??

Copyright ensures certain minimum safeguards of the rights of authors over their creations,
thereby protecting and rewarding creativity.

Meaning of Copyright: Section 14 of the act defines copyright as:

1. In case of literary, dramatic or musical work:

a) Reproducing the work in any material form which includes storing of it in any medium by
electronic means,

b) Issuing copies of the work to the public which are not already in circulation,

c) Performing the work in public or communicating it to the public,

d) Making any cinematograph film or sound recording in the respect of work,

e) Making any translation or adaptation of the work.

2. In case of a computer programme:

a) To do any of the acts specified in respect of a literary, dramatic or musical works,

b) To sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for commercial rental any copy of the
computer programme.

3. In the case of artistic works:

a) To reproduce the work in any material from including storing of it in any medium by
electronic or other means, depiction in three dimensions of a two dimensional work and
depiction in two dimensions of a three dimensional work,
b) Communicating the work to the public,

c) Issuing copies of work to the public which are not already in existence,

d) Including work in any cinematograph films,

e) Making adaptation of the work, and to do any of the above acts in relation to an adaptation of
the work.

4. In the case of cinematograph film:

a) To make a copy of the film, including photograph of any image forming part thereof or
storing of it in any medium by electronic means or otherwise.

b) To sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for such rental, any copy of the film,
c) To communicate the film to the public.

5. In the case of sound recording:

a) To make any other sound recording embodying it “including storing of it in any medium by
electronic or other means,
b) To sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for such rental, any copy of the sound
recording, c) To communicate the sound recording to the public.

Term of Copyright:

Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works enjoy protection for the life time of the author plus
60 years beyond i.e. 60 years after his death. In case of joint authorship which implies
collaboration of two or more authors in the production of work, the term of copyright is to be
construed as a reference to the author who dies at last.

In case of copyright of posthumous, anonymous and pseudonymous works, cinematograph

films, sound recordings, works of Government, public undertakings and international
organization, the term of protection is 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next
following the year in the work has been first published.

The act has given broadcasting reproduction right to every broadcaster which is valid for 25
years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in the broadcast has been
done.
Copyright Board:

Section 11 of the act provides for the establishment of the Copyright Board and empowers
Central Government to constitute the same consisting of Chairman and 2 other members.

It has many important functions, such as:

Settlement of disputes,

Granting of licenses, etc

Copyright Licenses:

I. Licenses by Owners of Copyright:

Section 30 of the act empowers the owner of the copyright in any existing work or the
prospective owner of the copyright in any future work to grant any interest in the right by license
in writing by him or by his duly authorized agent. However, in the case of a license relating to
copyright in any future work, the license shall take effect only when the work comes into
existence.

II. Compulsory License withheld from public:

Section 31 provides that of at any time during the term of copyright in any Indian work which
has been published or performed in public, a complaint is made top the Copyright Board that the
owner of copyright in the work has refused to republish or allow the reproduction of the work or
has refused to allow the performance in public of the work and by reason of such refusal the
work is withheld from the public or has refused to allow communication to the public by
broadcast of such work or recording, on terms which the complainant considers reasonable, the
Copyright Board, after giving to the owner of the copyright in the work a reasonable opportunity
of being heard and after holding such inquiry as it may deem necessary, may, if it is satisfied that
the grounds for such refusal are not reasonable, direct the Registrar of Copyright to grant to the
complainant the license to republish the work.

III. Statutory License for broadcasting of literary and musical work and sound recording:

Section 31D provides that any broadcasting organization desirous of communicating to the
public by way of a broadcast or by way of performance of a literary or musical work and sound
recording which has already been published may do so subject to the fulfillment of prescribed
conditions.

IV. Termination of License:

Section 32B of the act deals with termination of licenses and provides that if any time after the
granting of a license, the owner of the copyright in the work or any person authorized by him
publishes a translation of such work in the same language and which is substantially the same in
content at a price reasonably related to the price normally charged in India for the translation of
works of the same standard on the same or similar subject, the license so granted shall be
terminated.

V. Other Licenses can be by way of License in unpublished or published works, benefit of

disabled,etc

Ownership of copyrights
In the Copyright Act, 1957, the owner possesses the negative rights which are to prevent others
from using his works in certain ways and to claim compensation for the usurpation of that right.
In this Act, there are two types of rights given to the owner:

● Economical rights;
● Moral rights.

Economic rights
This right is also known as the Exclusive Rights of the copyright holder provided under Section
14. In this Act different types of work come with different types of rights. Such as:
In the case of original literary, musical, and dramatic work:

● Right to reproduce;
● Right to issue copies;
● Right to perform at public;
● Right to make cinematography and sound recording;
● Right to make any translation;
● Right to adaptation; and
● Right to do any other activities related to the translation or adaptation.

In the case, of computer program work:

● Right to do any act aforesaid mentioned; and

● Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work.

In the case of artistic work:

● Right to reproduce;
● Right to communicate;
● Right to issue copies;
● Right to make any cinematography and sound recording;
● Right to make an adaptation; and
● Right to do any other activities related to the translation or adaptation.

In case of a cinematograph film work:

● Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work; and
● Right to communicate.

In the case of a sound recording work:

● Right to communicate;
● Right to issue copies; and
● Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work.

Moral rights
In addition to the protection of economic rights, the Copyright Act, 1957 conjointly protects the
ethical rights, that is due to the actual fact that a literary or inventive work reflects the temperament
of the creator, just as much as the economic rights reflects the author’s need to keep the body and
the soul of his work out from commercial exploitation and infringement. These rights are supported
by Article 6 of the Berne Convention of 1886, formally referred to as a world convention for the
protection of literary and inventive works, whose core provision relies on the principle of national
treatment, i.e. treats the opposite good as one’s own.

Section 57 of The Copyright Act,1957 recognize two types of moral rights which are:

● Right to paternity– which incorporates the right to assert the authorship of the work, and
right to forestall others from claiming authorship of his work; and
● Right to integrity- which incorporates right to restrain, or claim of damages in respect of
any distortion, modification, mutilation, or any other act relates to the said work if such
distortion, mutilation or alternative act would be prejudiced to claimant honor or name.

Authorship and Ownership in copyright

Section 17 of this Act recognizes the author as the first owner, which states that subject to the
provision of this Act, the author of a work shall be the first owner of the copyright therein:

● In the case of literary or dramatic composition, the author,

● In the case of musical work, the musician,
● In the case of creative work apart from photography, the artist,
● In the case of photographic work, the artist,
● In the case of cinematographic or recording work, the producer,
● In case of any work generated by any computer virus, the one who created.

However, this provision provided to bound exception:

● In case of creation is made by the author underemployment of the proprietor of any

newspaper, magazine or any periodic, the said proprietor,
● In the case where a photograph is taken, painting or portrait is drawn, cinematograph is
made for the valuable consideration of any person, such person,
● In case of a work done in the course of the author’s employment under the contract of
service, such employer,
● In case of address or speech delivered on behalf of another person in public, such person,
● In the case of government works, the government,
● In the case of work done under direction and control of public undertaking such public
undertaking, and
● In the case of work done in which provision of Section 41 apply, concerned international
organizations.

Assignment of copyright
The owner of the copyright can generate wealth not only by exploiting it but also by sharing it
with others for mutual benefit. This can be done by the way of assignment and licensing of
copyright.

Only the owner of the copyright has the right to assign his existing or future copyrighted work
either wholly or partly and as a result of such assignment the assignee becomes entitled to all the
rights related to copyright to the assigned work, and he shall be treated as the owner of the
copyright in respect of those rights.

Mode of the assignment agreement

As per Section 19, these conditions are necessary for a valid assignment:

● It should be in writing and signed;

● It should specify the kinds of rights assigned and the duration or territorial extent; and
● It should specify the amount of royalty payable if required in any case.

It is also provided that, if the period is not mentioned in the agreement it will be considered as five
years and if the territorial extent is not stipulated in the agreement, it will be considered as
applicable to the whole of India.

Disputes related to the assignment of copyright

According to the Copyright Act, 1957, the appellant board where the receipt of the complaint by
the assignor and after holding necessary inquiry finds that the assignee has failed to make the
exercise of the rights assigned to him, and such failure is attributed to any act or omission of the
assignor, may by suitable order, revoke such assignment. However, if the dispute arises with
respect to the assignment of any copyright then that appellate board may also order the recovery
of any royalty payable.

Operation of law in assignment

According to The Copyright Act, 1957, where under a bequest a person is entitled to the manuscript
of any literary, dramatic or any other kind of work and such work has not been published before
the death of the testator, unless the contrary is proved such person shall be treated as the owner for
such work.

Infringement and remedies

Where a person intentionally or unintentionally infringes the rights of the copyright holder, the
holder may be subject to the following remedies available under this Act.
Civil remedies
These remedies are given under Section 55 of the Copyright Act,1957 which are:

Interlocutory injunction

This is the most important remedy against the copyright infringement, it means a judicial process
by which one who is threatening to invade or has invaded the legal or equitable rights of another
is restrained from commencing or continuing such act, or is commanded to restore matters to the
position in which they stood previous to the relation. Thus for granting the interlocutory injunction,
the following three factors are considered as necessary:

● Prima facie case, an assumption of the court that the plaintiff can succeed in the case and
became eligible for relief.
● Balance of convenience, in it the court will determine which parties suffer the greater
harm, this determination can vary with the facts of each case.
● Irreparable injury, it is difficult to decide and determine on a case by case basis. Some
examples of it include- loss of goodwill or irrevocable damages to reputation, loss of
market share.

Mareva injunction

This is a particular form of the interlocutory injunction which restrains the defendant from
disposing of assets that may be required to satisfy the plaintiff’s claim or for removing them from
the jurisdiction of the Court.

Anton Piller order

This order is passed to take into possession the infringed documents, copies and other relevant
material of the defendant, by the solicitor of the plaintiff

John Deo’s order

In this order, the Court has the power to injunct rather than those impeded in the suit, who may be
found violating the rights in the field of copyright. Thus this order is issued against the unknown
person, who has allegedly committed some wrong, but whose identities cannot entertain the
plaintiff.

Pecuniary remedies
There are three types of pecuniary remedies provided:

1. An account of profit, which lets the owner seek the sum of money made, equal to the profit
made through unlawful conduct.
2. Compensatory damages, which let the copyright owner seek the damages he suffered.
 3. Conversational damages, which are assessed to the value of the article.

Criminal remedies
For infringement of copyright, the criminal remedies provided under Section 63:

● Imprisonment, not less than 6 months which may extend up to 3 years;

● Fine may not be less than 50,000 which may extend up to 2,00,000;
● Search and seizure of copyrighted goods; and
● Delivery of copyrighted goods to the copyrighted owner.

In the case of repeat offenders, minimum punishment terms of 1 year and fine of 1 lakh however,
the highest punishment will be the same as the first time offender.

Exceptions
This act shall not constitute copyright infringement in cases of:

Fair Dealing
Fair dealing is the statutory limitation on the exclusive right of the copyright owner which permits
reproduction or use of copyrighted work in a manner that otherwise would have constituted
infringement. This law is given under Section 52 of the Copyright Act,1957 according to which
the free uses can be made for any work except computer program for the purposes:

● For private and personal use including research,

● For criticism and review,
● For reporting of current events or issues including lectures in public,
● For broadcasting in cinematographic films or by posting photographs,
● For reproduction and reporting of any judicial proceeding,
● For reproduction, or publication of any kind of work prepared by the secretariat of a
legislature,
● For reproduction of any kind of work in a certified copy made or supplied accordance with
any law,
● For reading and recitation of any literary or dramatic work in the public domain,
● For publication of any non-copyright matter bonafide intended for the use of educational
institutes, and
● For recording any sound by the owner of the right in the work.
●

COPYRIGHT PERTAINING TO SOFTWARE

In India the Copyright Act, 1957 grants protection to original expression and computer software
which does not have a technical effect is protected under copyright law(In India, computer
software does not form the subject matter of patent).

For a copyright protection, computer software needs to be:

1. Original and sufficient effort and skill must be put into impart it originality. But a program
which only generates multiplication tables or algorithms may not suffice the degree of effort
required for protection.

2. the work should be first published in India or if the work is published outside India the author
on the date of publication should be a citizen of India1.

3. In case of unpublished work2, the author on the date of making of a work should be a citizen
of India or domiciled in India.

The Government accords the same protection to a foreign copyright author's work which is
published in any other country which is a member of Berne Convention or UCC, as the
protection provided to an author who is a citizen of India.

Author's Right

The Copyright Act protects the author's economic and moral rights in the copyrighted work as
stated in section 14 and 57 respectively, including the rights in computer software/programmes.
In the case of computer software/programmes, the copyrights owner is entitled to reproduce the
work, issue copies of the work to the public make any cinematographic films or sound or
adaptation of the work, apart from the right 'to sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale
or for commercial rental any copy of the computer software/ programmes. Such commercial
rental does not apply in respect of computer software/programmes where the computer
programme itself is not essential object of the rental.

Computer Program- A Literary Work

Section 2 (o) defines 'literary work' and includes computer programs, tables and compilations
including computer databases. Section 13 provides the categories of work in which the copyright
subsists which includes original literary work. The author of a work is the first owner of
copyright in the work. However in case of employer-employee if a work is made in course of
employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship, the employer shall be the first owner
of the copyright in the above of any contract to the contrary4. These provisions of the copyright
law are applicable mutatis mutandis (=with the necessary changes having been made) to computer
software/ programmes as well.

Infringement of Copy right and Legal Remedies for the Computer software
Section 51 defines infringement of copyright and states that a person infringes copyright of
another if he unauthorizedly commits any act which only the copyright folder has exclusive
rights to do.

Piracy on internet
Online piracy is the practice of downloading and distributing copyrighted content digitally without
permission, such as music or software

Types of piracy
Piracy, when elaborated in terms of software, can be classified into 5 types, those being –

● Counterfeiting: It is the illegal acquisition, duplication, and distribution of any

copyrighted material, which directly imitates the copyrighted product. The nature of the
distribution of the said product may be a sale, or not. The most common way of distributing
such pirated works is through compact discs.
● Internet Piracy: Internet piracy is the act of downloading a file from the internet, or by
procuring an online software through a compact disc. Methods of conducting internet
piracy are websites offering free downloads of software, auctions selling illegally obtained
software or P2P servers which transfer programs.
● End-User Piracy: This form of piracy involves the user illegally reproducing software
which he isn’t authorized to do. An example would be a user using one license to the
software and installing it on multiple systems, or upgrading an already pirated software.
● Client-Server Overuse: In a computer network, when the number of clients exceeded the
number prescribed in the server license, then it is termed as overuse piracy.
● Hard-Disk Loading: This occurs when a business sells new computers with illegal copies
of software loaded onto the hard disks to make the purchase of the machines more
attractive.

Piracy in movies
The act of illegally acquiring, copying, reproducing and then distributing film media, without
having any legal right or license to do so, is considered movie piracy. The most common
occurrence of this is the distribution of these movies on websites. Traffic for these sites tends to
spike whenever a new blockbuster movie releases as a pirated version will very likely be hosting
these movies in a downloadable format on their servers.

Piracy in software
Software piracy describes the act of illegally acquiring, copying, reproducing, and distributing
software without a license to do so. Software piracy has become much more rampant in this
generation of technology, as most software has converted into a one-user license i.e. it can only be
redeemed once by one user for his use alone. Distributing this software, such as sharing with a
friend, or via the internet, is illegal.

Online Piracy
Online piracy is still a new arena in the world of piracy as compared to its offline older brother,
and it has only grown more intricate with advancements in technology. Any piece of digital
content, be it movies, music or games, are now accessible online through the BitTorrent client
service, which strings together several pieces of the data from a swarm of users, then downloads
and compiles them onto the user’s computer. It’s simple, efficient, widely used, and difficult to
crack down on.

Pirating movies
Movie piracy has become a more controlled art in recent times, from shaky recordings on
camcorders to dedicated sites, apps, and add-ons to physical hardware, piracy has grown more
subtle yet more dangerous as a practice. In the UK, over a third of people who are above the age
of 16 pirate movies.

The method of pirating movies and uploading them online has also grown more intricate and
difficult to track. Pirates often make use of BitTorrent to upload their files and store them online.
The data travels to the user who requests the file is supplied with the file through the contribution
of a huge group of seeders i.e. pirates who upload the files in bits and pieces. However, with the
recent crackdown on online piracy, and links for pirated files being shut down, pirates save files
offline, and these same games and movies are then sold via optical discs at grey markets.

Law for piracy

Surprising as it may be, there is no definitive international law that governs piracy as a whole, at
least for the digital equivalent of piracy. Under international law, the statute of piracy only covers
‘physical’ piracy, i.e. the actual looting and plundering of goods and valuables via ship-borne
thieves.

Copyright
Copyright is one tool to prevent the intellectual property of a person from being pirated. It is the
legal right granted to a creator of any intellectual property to be able to reproduce and redistribute
his work, at his discretion. Although back then, and even today, copyright doesn’t exactly prevent
piracy, it does protect the legal interests of the party negatively affected and prescribe legal
consequences for the perpetrator, in the event that copyright infringement(piracy) does occur.

Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent and penalize
copyright infringement.
Filming a movie
An act of piracy that involves recording a movie or a video, especially without prior authority from
the creator or purchased license to do so. The most notable method of movie piracy is known as
camcorder piracy, in which a camcorder or a small recording device is often snuck into a theatre,
and the entire movie, recorded onto the camcorder, is distributed online via the internet, either on
pirated sites for free or sold on gray markets.

Websites to pirate movies

Websites that host pirated content are one of the most popular sources to acquire pirated content,
as most of these sites offer the content for free, which sees them experience a lot of network traffic
due to their popularity, and the sheer number of users accessing their domains to get their hands
on the latest pirated songs, games or movies.

While several governments have encouraged ISPs(internet service providers) to block these sites
by default on their services, these sites are still regularly visited through the use of VPNs(Virtual
Private Networks). Some of the most popular sites to pirate movies are –

● The ‘YTS’ domains

● The Pirate Bay
● Torrentz2

Law of copyright in India

To handle copyright and copyright infringement related disputes, the Indian Constitution has the
Copyright Act, 1957, which acts as the main statute for all copyright-related laws in India. Under
section 13 of the Act, copyright protection is conferred on literary works, dramatic works, musical
works, artistic works, cinematograph films, and sound recordings.

The Copyright Act, 1957 handles protection of copyrighted material via classification of the same
into two categories of rights, those being –

● Economic Rights: The scope of this Act falls under originally conceptualized work
including literary works, dramatic works, musical works, artistic works, cinematograph
films, and sound recordings. The owners of these intellectual properties and works are
given exclusive rights which they can exercise when it comes to the reproduction and
distribution of these works, and to have a share in the profit of any sales of the product
made by a licensed third-party.
● Moral Rights: Section 57 of the Act splits moral rights into two basic rights, right of
paternity and right of integrity. The former enables the original creator of the intellectual
property to be able to claim ownership of it and prevent any others from claiming
ownership. The latter enables the creator to restrict any and all ‘distortion, mutilation or
 other alterations of his work, or any other action in relation to said work’ which may
damage his reputation.

Piracy in India
India is one of the few countries that has multiple dominant box office film industries, in
Bollywood, Hollywood, and Tollywood. As such, piracy is a much more dominant force
considering there is a lot more material to pirate which the local audience would be interested in.
Internet users often use VPNs to visit torrent sites which host songs, games, movies and the like.
Local vendors at technological hubs often carry compact discs with pirated movies and games,
which are sold at cheap prices. Modding video game hardware to play pirated discs is also a
booming industry in India.

Pirating movies in India

Considering the viewership of cinema in India with the three major cinema industries, the traffic
of sites that host pirated content is also considerably higher in the country. While the above-
mentioned torrent sites, which are the most used across the world, are relatively popular in India,
people often tend to visit piracy sites that host Bollywood or Tollywood content exclusively. Some
of these sites are –

● Filmywap
● Todaypk
● Bolly4u
● Tamilrockers

Punishment for piracy

Illegal downloading of movies
The Union of India recently issued an amendment to the Cinematograph Act, 1952, in order to
clearly define the punishment which can be faced by pirates who, without the written authorisation
of the copyright owner, use any recording device to make or transmit a copy of a film. It is not
necessary for the film to be fully recorded, or even distributed via the internet. If the perpetrator
attempts to record the movie while inside the theatre, he is guilty under the act.

The punishment for this is generally imprisonment, a fine, or both. This punishment can also
extend to those who download said pirated movies.

Charges for piracy

Since the crime of piracy is not limited to only the movie industry, the punishment specified above
isn’t the only one dealt to pirates. It varies with the industry in which they are committing an act
of piracy. The most notable forms of punishment are covered in the provisions of the Copyright
Act, 1957 and Information Technology Act, 2000. The punishments specified are as follows-

● Copyright Act: If a person uses a pirated computer program, or a program that has been
manufactured or acquired through copyright infringement, on any computer device, he
shall be liable for imprisonment no less than 7 days, extending up to 3 years, and a fine no
less than Rs. 50 thousand, which may be extended up to Rs. 3 lakh.
● IT Act: If a person gains access to a computer, a network of computers, or computer
systems, then proceeds to view, copy and extract the data present on the computer, either
through digital means or through a removable storage medium(pen drive or hard disk),
without prior authorization from the owner of the computer, he is liable to pay damages as
compensation which can go up to a sum of Rs. 1 crore. Any person who downloads said
stolen data will also be liable for the same amount.

Prevention of piracy
While the legal consequences associated serve to act as an effective deterrent against piracy, they
are not nearly enough to act as a solid preventive measure, considering actual prosecutions against
digital pirates are few and far in between. This is because most intellectual property owners tend
to just get a cease-and-desist(termination) order against sites which host pirated content, which are
just orders to take down the download links for the content.

Therefore, there are, while loosely-defined, some effective ways to prevent piracy, i.e. deter users
themselves from seeking out and downloading pirated content. These are as follows –

● Price Regulation: By offering digital goods and services at a lower, realistic price,
producers can hope to at least lessen the number of users pirating their content by a wide
margin. It won’t stop piracy completely but reducing the incentive for people to make use
of pirated content will certainly prevent piracy to a large extent.
● Barriers to Entry: This is a mode of prevention that rests more within the jurisdiction of
the government. Most governments instruct and encourage ISPs to restrict entry into sites
which host pirated content, mostly by blocking the sites on their servers. Directly barring
users from accessing these sites helps reduce the pirate users by a large amount, as most
don’t have the technical know-how i.e. how to use VPNs which is required to circumvent
the sites being blocked.
● User Confrontation: A lot of TV and streaming services often use a combination of both
the above-listed methods, but with some real-time interaction with the users. Pirate users
often get real-time messages which notify them that the producer is aware of them using
pirated content. Game developers often use this to troll pirate gamers in hilarious, game-
breaking ways.
● Cooperation between industries: The above-listed methods to prevent piracy, while
working great on their own, often fail and fizzle out when there is one bad link in the chain.
That one bad link can be a producer who is lenient with his content being pirated or doesn’t
know about the extent of piracy. That is why, all of the above methods, if executed
 systematically and efficiently by all relevant producers at once, can be one of the biggest
deterrents to pirates.

Camcorder Piracy
Camcorder piracy refers to the method of piracy used in pirating movies. This involves the pirate
recording the entirety of the movie while in the theatre using a camcorder. These movies are
generally referred to as ‘Cam print’ movies. Keep in mind, camcorder piracy is not limited solely
to the use of camcorders. Any device capable of recording video qualifies under camcorder piracy.

Despite the quality of these pirated movies being very poor, with constant shaking, foreign audio,
and low video pixels, these movies are downloaded in large quantities, largely due to the timing
of their upload, which is usually a couple of days after the release of the movie. A lot of these
movies are often repacked into optical drives for sale in black markets via local vendors.

Need to prevent camcorder piracy

While not as prevalent of a force as it was in the early 2000s, camcorder piracy is still a huge threat
in the cinema industry, especially in the Indian box office. Since Bollywood and Tollywood often
come out with lower-grade, cheap entertainment movies to make a quick buck out of the middle
to lower classes, these movies are quick to be pirated via camcorder recording and are spread wide
over the internet.

This causes major damage to the movie industry considering the more the movie is pirated, the
lesser net earnings are made by the box office. A lot of studios never even get back their original
investment in the production of the movie. If the loss through piracy is bad enough, it can lead to
a loss of jobs due to low earnings, and the black market sales of such pirated products can also
help sponsor organised crime. Therefore it can have a hugely adverse impact on the economy in
general.

Reporting piracy: how to go about it

Reporting acts of piracy is perhaps one of the most overlooked techniques which helps in
preventing piracy. While few, there are associations that exist to counteract piracy and shut it
down. However, they need surveillance and vigilance from their users in order to do so. Some of
these associations which offer online piracy reporting services are –

● Software and Industry Information Association: This domain serves as an extension of

the SIIA, a regulatory authority based in Washington, DC that extends its services across
the globe. These strive to deal with acts of computer and software piracy at an
organisational level.
● Recording Industry Association of America: The RIIA deals exclusively in cases of
music theft and piracy in the United States to protect artists from losing revenue through
illegal music distribution and sales.
 ● Copyright Alliance: The Copyright Alliance is a unique organisation in terms of its
function, as, instead of directly attempting to put a stop to any rights of copyright
infringement, it notifies the producers of the content themselves, so that they may take
appropriate action as they see fit.

Aside from these organisations, there is a lot more that you can do at a local level. Other than
condemning piracy yourself and refusing to take part in it, you can also act as a deterrent for movie
piracy, by reporting any and all suspicious activity, which may be camcorder recording, to the
nearest security official.

How do movie pirates make their money?

Movie pirates can be categorised into two types – ethical and unethical, which is ironic considering
their main bread and butter is unethical by itself, but there is more to that story.

Ethical pirates mostly upload and make their pirated content available just for the sake of spreading
entertainment and making content available early, and for free. Most of them do not have profit as
a primary objective and earn revenue only to pay for their website’s server costs and to keep it
running. This is mostly done through ads that pay per click, and since most pirated content sites
involve a lot of clicking by a lot of users, they generate a lot of money.

Moving on to the unethical pirates. These pirates do not have user entertainment and convenience
as their agenda. They actually operate in cooperation with cybercriminals who set up malware on
the website’s body. This malware actually steals user data, and the pirate who hosts the site gets
paid a hefty sum.

Pirates also earn money through streaming i.e. they stream their pirated content on specialised
‘Kodi boxes’, the sales of which earn them money.

BitTorrent: How does it work?

BitTorrent, at its core, is a communication protocol, much like HTTP or IP. It serves as a mini-
client that hosts a P2P connection. These connections are then used to host and distribute data and
electronic files.

The functioning of BitTorrent is completely based on the P2P connection system. In BitTorrent’s
case, the two peers are the ‘leechers’ and the ‘seeders’, and the combination of both in the
BitTorrent system is known as a ‘swarm’. Inside this swarm, there is no central server. All the data
circulated is amongst the leeches and the seeders. Once a user enters the swarm, it is connected
simultaneously to all the computers inside the network, depending on what file it wants to
download. The client then starts downloading bits and pieces of the same file from different
‘seeder’ computers, which are then simultaneously compiled into one file locally on the leecher’s
system.
This entire process is monitored through tracker files present within torrents. These trackers, while
not influencing the downloads themselves, allow the client service to keep reconnaissance on
which files are being downloaded and through what system.

Is piracy a felony?
To determine if an act of piracy is a felony or not, we must establish the structural difference
between what crime and felony are. While crime is a generic definition of what is an illegal activity
that harms others, a felony is an extension of the definition of crime.

A felony is determinable only through the seriousness of the original crime. A felony can be
anything that warrants a punishment of more than one year’s imprisonment or the death penalty.

Any crime which warrants a lesser punishment is classified as a misdemeanor.

Therefore, if we analyze the punishments doled out in cases of piracy, the punishments can be
extended up to 3 years along with a monumental fine in India. The length of the punishment given
alone is enough to classify piracy as a felony.

Rules, Acts and Laws excluding Copyright Act

Information Technology Act
While the Copyright Act acts as a general supervisor to monitor acts of piracy and punish the
perpetrators accordingly, the Information Technology Act’s scope of piracy only extends to the
unauthorized use of computers or a network of computers. Any data then copied or reproduced
from that system onto an external storage device counts as an act of piracy.

The punishment for piracy, when governed under the Information Technology Act, is direct
payment of damages, which may amount to compensation up to Rs. 1 crore.

The determination of how much the pirate will have to compensate is quantified through these
factors –

● The amount of gain or unfair advantage, wherever quantifiable, made as the result of the
default
● The amount of loss caused to any person as a result of the default
● The repetitive nature of the default.

Internet Service Providers, however, are exempted from the provisions of this Act, if they can
prove that they had no existing knowledge of the act of piracy committed.

Trademark Act
A trademark is the primary identification mark of intellectual property and is represented by the
universal symbol (TM or ®), used by a particular organisation, which signifies that the intellectual
property is unique and under their sole ownership. Trademarks can either be registered or
unregistered, although being registered offers many more legal remedies.

The owner of a registered trademark can file a suit to protect the intellectual property registered
under it from any infringement or unauthorized use of the trademark. They can file an action of
infringement which is a statutory relief, which can either be an injunction to prevent unauthorized
use of the trademark or enable the claim of damages by the injured party.

In the case of an unregistered trademark, the owner can file a suit under the action of passing off
for the same remedies as an action of infringement, except the benefits are limited to only the
geographical area in which the owner operates.

Conclusion
The menace of piracy, despite having faced many obstacles to try and curb it, is still going strong
as a practice and has a farther reach than ever. More devices are optimised to use pirated content,
and in hydra-like fashion, for every site taken down, two more take its place.

This isn’t to say that piracy is immortal. More governments are becoming more vigilant in regard
to how big threat to piracy is. The current situation is very volatile, as there is no way to tell if
piracy will grow weaker with the increasing crackdown on it, or will remain omnipotent.

As a producer, one can only enforce the methods available to them. They can’t stop it, but the most
they can do is try to reduce the harm done to them as much as possible.

The Patents act, 1970

What is a Patent?

A patent is an exclusive privilege given to the author by the State to prohibit anyone from
utilizing, creating, and selling an invention for a specified duration of time. It applies to a
monopoly right on an invention. However, not all inventions are patentable and nor is it essential
that inventions be protected solely by patent. Other forms of intellectual property rights can
protect the final product which results from an invention. The primary objective for enacting
patent law is to encourage inventors to make a greater contribution to their field by granting them
exclusive rights to their inventions. In India, an innovation referring to a new product or
procedure that involves the inventive phase and is capable of industrial use can be patented.
Nonetheless, this does not, therefore, come under the scope of innovations which are non-
patentable as provided for in sections 3 and 4 of the (Indian) Patents Act 1970. A patent
application can be filed, either alone or jointly, by true and first inventor or his assignee.

The Patents act, 1970

The history of patent law in India begins with the enactment of the Indian Patents and Designs
Act in 1911. Subsequently, in 1972, the current Patents Act 1970, came into effect, amending
and consolidating the established patent legislation in India. The Patent Act essentially is based
on the Justice Ann report ‘s recommendations, an Ayyangar Committee led by Iyengar
Rajagopala. One of the recommendations was the granting of process patents in relation to drug,
drug, food, and chemical inventions. The Patents Act, 1970 was amended once again by the
Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 concerning the extension of product patents in all areas of
technology including food, medicine, chemicals, and microorganisms.

Patents act is the subset of the Intellectual property laws and a branch which deals with new
inventions. According to the Patents Act 1970, there are two types of patents i.e. product patents
and process patents. The product patent is the end result or the output produces of a product and
the process patent is the journey of a patent being produced. Under the Patent Act, both
processes and products are entitled to qualify as inventions if they are new, involve an inventive
step, and are capable of industrial application.

For e.g. Paracetamol Tablets can be considered as a product patent while the manufacture of the
tablets is the process patent. In the patents, there is no transfer of rights and nor is the concept of
Moral or Economic rights. The prime example being that the medicines or the vaccines created
by the first country for the COVID-19 will have to share it with the other countries as well.

Under section 2(1)(j) of the Act, ‘invention’ is described as a new product or method requiring
an inventive phase capable of industrial usage. The word ‘industrial application’ applies to an
invention capable of industrial application which implies that the invention is capable of being
produced or used in the industry. Some of the preconditions of the invention are that it would be
new, i.e. the technology submitted for patenting was not in the public domain or is not part of the
state of the art. The term Patent is defined under Section 2(m) of the Act.

Who is a Patentee?
Patentee is an individual who is registered in the patent registry as the grantee or patent
proprietor for the time being. The patentee shall have the right to deal with his property in the
same manner as the owner of any other movable property dealing with his property.

Rights of Patentee

Section 48 of the Act, talks about the rights granted to a patentee.

 ● A patentee has the exclusive right to make use, exercise, sell or distribute the patented
article or substance in India, or to use or exercise the method or process if the patent is
for a person. This right can be exercised either by the patentee himself or by his agent or
licensees. The patentee’s rights are exercisable only during the term of the patent.
● A patentee has the discretion to transfer rights or grant licenses or enter into some other
arrangement for a consideration. A license or an assignment must be in writing and
registered with the Controller of Patents, for it to be legitimate and valid. The document
assigning a patent is not admitted as evidence of title of any person to a patent unless
registered and this is applicable to assignee not to the assignor.
● A patentee has the right to surrender his patent, but before accepting the offer of
surrender, a notice of surrender is given to persons whose name is entered in the register
as having an interest in the patent and their objections, if any, considered. The application
for surrender is also published in the Official Gazette to enable interested persons to
oppose.
● A patentee has a right to institute proceedings for infringement of the patent in a District
Court having jurisdiction to try the suit.

Requirements to Qualify as Invention

● The invention must be new i.e. the invention must be novel, meaning that the Invention
must not be in existence;
● The invention must be non-obvious i.e. the invention must be a significant improvement
to the previous one; a mere change in technology will not give the right of the patent to
the inventor;
● The invention must be useful in a bonafide manner i.e. invention must not be solely used
in any illegal work and is useful to the world in a bonafide manner.
● An Invention must involve an inventive step;
● The invention must be capable of industrial application or utility;
● The invention shouldn’t come under the inventions which are not patentable as defined
under Section 3 and 4 of the Patent Act of 1970.

Under Section 2(l) of the act, the Novelty or the new invention or the new product is any
invention or the technology and is not anticipated by the prior publication in or outside India.
The novelty shall not fall in public domain or form part of any prior act. Patents can be globally
registered. The patent is always given for new inventions. It shouldn’t have been invented in our
country or outside of our country so that it becomes a novelty. If a pen is invented, and it has not
been anticipated anywhere else, then it’d be considered a novelty. The patent is entitled to the
one who files the application first and not to the one who has invented it first. Section 3 is the
exception to the patents and needs to be learned thoroughly and everything in the world is
patentable except few.

What is Prior art?

Existing knowledge in the field of claimed invention or knowledge is called the Prior Art. To
satisfy the criteria of novelty, it should be: –
 1. Any invention or technology.
2. It should not have been anticipated.
3. It should not be a prior art or an art of the public domain.

Term of Patent

In India, the duration of each patent is 20 years from the date of filing the patent application,
irrespective of whether it is filed with provisional or full specification. However, in the case of
requests submitted under the Patent Cooperative Treaty (PCT), the 20-year period begins from
the international filing day.

Patent can be qualified only if all three criteria are fulfilled respectively i.e. of Novelty, Inventive
Step and being Capable of Industrial application, failure of any of the three will result in the
patent as unqualified and thus, the application for the same will be rejected.

What cannot be patented?

Section 3 deals with the exceptions of which subject matters are excluded from the patents.

1. An invention, that is frivolous or that claims anything obviously contrary to well

established natural laws;
2. An invention, the primary or intended use of which would be contrary to law or morality
or injurious to public health;
3. The mere discovery of a scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory;
4. The mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance or of the mere
use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new
product or employs at least one new reactant;
5. A substance obtained by a mere admixture resulting only in the aggregation of the
properties of the components thereof or a process for producing such substance;
6. The mere arrangement or rearrangement or duplication of known devices, each
functioning independently of one another in a known way;
7. A method of agriculture or horticulture;
8. Inventions relating to atomic energy.
9. Any process for the medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic or other treatment of
human beings or animals.
10. Plants and animals in whole or any part thereof other than microorganisms.
11. Mathematical or business method or a computer program per se or algorithms.
12. literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, cinematographic works, television
productions and any other aesthetic creations.
13. Mere scheme or rule or method of performing mental act or playing game.
14. Presentation of information.
15. Topography of integrated circuits.
16. An invention which in effect, is traditional knowledge or is based on the properties of
traditional knowledge.

Compulsory License
Compulsory Licensing is one of the most important aspects of the Indian Patents Act 1970,
subject to certain conditions being fulfilled. At any period after the expiry of three years from the
date of the sealing of a patent, any interested party may, subject to the following conditions,
apply to the Patent Controller for the issuance of a compulsory patent license. If a person grants
permission to use any product, then it would be called a voluntary license. The first stage is
taking a voluntary license. There are three grounds on which you can ask for the compulsory
license. The license can be asked for any time after 3 years of the grant of the patent. Any person
can ask for a compulsory license. Be it a natural person, artificial person, or a company.

Grounds for granting of compulsory license

● The reasonable demand shall be there.

● The product shall not be reasonably in public domain.
● The patented invention is not worked in the territory of India.

If any country makes the vaccine for the COVID 19, the other countries shall be given the
vaccine for the same. Public health is the agenda for the WHO and the TRIPS. The Government
has released a norm that the process of the vaccine shall be granted as a compulsory license for
the other countries. PPP is the triangle of public health, patent, and pandemic and it is a relative
issue in this crisis.

Section 88 talks about the powers of the controller regarding the compulsory license. In
considering the application, the nature of the invention shall be seen by the controller and
whether the invention has the ability or not.

Infringement of patents

Patent infringement is a crime concerning the unlawful use, produce, sell, or offer or sell of the
subject matter or proprietary invention by another. There are several various patent forms of
utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. The fundamental principle underlying patent
infringement is that unauthorized persons are not able to use inventions without the consent of
the proprietor. Patent infringement occurs directly or indirectly.

Direct patent infringement: The most common form of infringement is direct infringement,
where the Invention that infringes patent claims is actually described, or the Invention performs
substantially the same function.

Indirect patent infringement: It is divided into two types: –

● Infringement by inducement is any activity by any third party that causes another
person to infringe the patent directly. This may include selling parts that can only be used
realistically for a patented invention, selling an invention with instructions to use in a
certain method that infringes on a method patent or licenses an invention that is covered
by the patent of another. The inducer must assist intentional infringement, but does not
require intent to infringe on the patent.
 ● Contributory infringement is the sale of components of material that are made for use
in a patented invention and have no other commercial use. There is a significant overlap
with indications, but contributor violations require a high level of delay. Violations of the
seller must have direct infringement intent. To be an obligation for indirect violations, a
direct violation must also be an indirect act.

Remedies

● Monetary Relief: It is a form of compensatory damages are available to prevent patent

infringement.
● Equitable relief: Orders are issued by the court to prevent a person from doing anything
or Act. They might be in two forms – preliminary injunction which are orders made in
the initial stage of lawsuits or lawsuits that prevent parties from doing an act that is in
dispute (such as making a patent product). A permanent injunction is a final order of a
court that permanently ceases certain activities or takes various other actions.