On the morning of February 5, 2022, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council mentioned in a meeting with THE Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Deng Hongsen, who came to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, that the protection of intellectual property rights is the protection of innovation. With the rapid development of the mainland's science and technology economy, the protection of intellectual property rights has been deeply valued, so only by doing a good job in popularizing the law can we keep up with the pace of the times.
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What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property rights, (Intellectual Property, IP) literally translated as intellectual property, is the property formed in accordance with the law, the property rights enjoyed by the right holder of intellectual property rights in accordance with the law include the monopoly exclusivity of the specific intellectual achievements protected by intellectual property rights, that is, the right to prohibit others from disposing of or using the protected intellectual achievements according to law. The right holder has the right to obtain reasonable compensation from the infringer for the infringement.
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What is the significance of the existence of intellectual property?
The purpose of the existence of intellectual property is to enable the original author of intellectual achievements to receive economic returns commensurate with their contributions. That is, the function of various types of intellectual property rights, such as patents, is to redistribute the commercial benefits realized by the intellectual achievements they protect and realize the transfer of interests to the right holders.
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What does IP involve?
Intellectual property rights mainly include patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, geographical indications, integrated circuit layout designs, new plant varieties, etc.
In addition to patents, trade secrets, and copyrights, intellectual property rights related to technology include at least integrated circuit layout designs and new plant varieties.
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What are the definitions of each item?
Patent protection of technical solutions means that the right holder enjoys monopolistic exclusivity over the protected technical solutions, that is, the right to prohibit others from implementing the patented technical solutions in accordance with the law.
Trade secrets refer to information held by the right holder that can be used commercially for commercial benefits, and that has adopted confidentiality measures and is not known to the public. Technical secrets refer to technical information constituting trade secrets.
Copyright, also known as copyright, is a property formed in accordance with the law, and the property rights enjoyed by the copyright owner in accordance with the law include the monopolistic exclusivity of the original expression in the relevant work, that is, the right to prohibit others from using the original expression in the work by copying, performing, etc. in accordance with the law. The right holder has the right to obtain reasonable compensation from the infringer for the infringement. Copyright also involves a variety of complex derivative rights. In general, the original expression protected by copyright must have an aesthetic meaning, and the work involved is an artistic work, not a technological innovation or an industrial product. However, as a widely accepted exception, software code is regarded as a special written work, which belongs to the subject matter of copyright protection to prohibit unauthorized software reproduction, plagiarism, etc. Copyright also involves technical, industrially related text, art, and multimedia works, such as design drawings and product specifications.
Integrated circuit layout design refers to the original layout design of the geometric arrangement and connection of the electronic components used to manufacture the integrated circuit. To obtain the right to design the layout of an integrated circuit, an application must first be submitted to the competent administrative authority, and the right shall be granted after examination.
New plant varieties refer to new plant varieties with novelty, specificity, consistency and stability obtained through artificial breeding or the development of wild plants. To obtain the right to new plant varieties, an application must first be submitted to the competent administrative authority, and the right shall be granted after examination.
Trademarks and geographical indications mainly play a role in identifying the source and quality of products or services, and do not directly involve the protection of technology. Geographical indications can be thought of as trademarks in a broad sense. Trademarks that have not been administratively registered are widely used and are also protected by certain laws. However, a registered trademark obtained by filing an application with the competent administrative authority has a more secure right and can obtain more complete and effective protection.
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Are intellectual property rights protected by law?
All kinds of intellectual property rights exist based on national legal definitions, and rights are protected by law.
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How are intellectual property rights protected?
All kinds of intellectual property rights are property and can usually be transferred, sold, leased, donated, abandoned, or inherited.
The specific intellectual achievements protected by various types of intellectual property rights refer to the specific objects in the intellectual achievements that meet the requirements of statutory form, and the commercial use of these objects can generate commercial benefits.
For reasons such as operability, patents cannot protect the full connotation of technological achievements, and patents only protect technical solutions, so that the protection effect is partially extended to the technical achievements including patented technical solutions. Similarly, intellectual property rights cannot protect the full connotation of intellectual achievements, and various types of intellectual property rights only protect specific objects that meet the formal requirements, so that the protection effect is partially extended to the intellectual achievements that include these objects.
An intellectual achievement that contains technological achievements can usually be protected using different types of IP portfolios. Although this combination of protection still does not cover the full connotation of intellectual achievements, it can make protection more layered and perfect.
Different types of IP have different characteristics. For example, the acquisition of a patent right requires the right holder to file an application with the patent office, which can only be obtained after examination and approval and publication; while trade secret protection is naturally enjoyed by the right holder, there is no application, examination and registration procedure, and once the trade secret is disclosed, it will no longer constitute a trade secret, which means that the right is damaged and lost.
In order to balance the interests between the public and the creators of intellectual achievements, for all kinds of intellectual property rights, the laws of various countries will basically make exemption provisions under the principle of fairness, that is, when certain conditions are met, the public can make fair use of these intellectual property rights, and the fair use of acts does not require the permission of the right holder, does not constitute infringement or can be exempted from infringement liability. For example, some limited-scale non-commercial use, educational and scientific use, personal use, etc. The specific conditions and scope must be professionally screened with reference to the corresponding national laws.
Conclusion: The functional characteristics of various intellectual property rights are different, so please take what you need.
With the eyes of intellectual property
See the world
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