A duty to respect the IPR (intellectual property rights) is foundational for an engineer as a part of honesty and integrity.
Intellectual property refers to creations of the intellect that can be protected in several ways. The three majar parts of of IPR are:
A) Patents: patents are the highest form of intellectual property rights, by which patent registration is granted to novel products or processes.
By these registrations the creator of the product/process, for a particular time period enjoys the exclusive right of benefit from the product.
If the creator authorises another person to use the product it is known as “licensing”, and the value that is given to the creator for the use of its
invention is known as “Royalty”. In Indian laws the patents act 1970 is the governing framework under which patents are registered. When the
time period in which the creator can enjoy the product excusively expires and he has to share the invention with others it is known as
“compulsory licensing”
B) Copyright: the registration of copyright happens not for inventions, but modifications that are unique in nature. Upon registration as
copyright, any person who wants to use the registered work has to aatain the right to copy that work from the original creator. The Indian
copyright act 1957 governs a framework of copyright registration and provides copyright registration for the following works:
1.Painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving photograph, etc.
2. Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works.
3. Cinematographic flims.
4. Sound recordings.
5. Software developments.
C) Trademarks: this form of IPR protects the unique trademarks for goods and services, so that they can be used exclusively by the owner of the
enterprise. The trademarks act 1999 governs the regulatory framework for the registration and protection of trademarks in India.
When any person uses the intellectual work of the other without prior permission or licensing, it is called plagiarism. It is not necessary that the
work copied must be original or patentable. Plagiarism is most frequently seen in research and testing where works of other authors are attributed
as one’s own.
