Page 83 - DMGT547_INTERNATIONAL_MARKETING

International Marketing

Notes The only products or the processes which countries are permitted to exclude according to
trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPS Agreement of WTO) are (i) diagnostic,
therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals (ii) plants and
animals other than micro-organisms (iii) essentially biological processes for the production
of plants and animals other than non-biological and micro-biological processes.
Copyrights and Related Rights: The subject matter of copyright protection includes works
in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever the mode or form of expression.
For a work to enjoy copyright protection, however, it must be an original creation. The
idea in the work does not need to be new but the form, be it literary, artistic or scientific,
in which it is expressed, must be the original creation of the author. Copyright owners
have the reproduction rights (copying and reproducing the work); performing rights
(performing the work in public, e.g. play or concert); recording rights (making a sound
recording of the work); motion pictures rights (making a motion picture often called a
cinematography work); broadcasting rights (broadcasting the work by radio or television)
and translation and adaptation rights.

Trade mark: This is a sign that serves to distinguish the goods (as does the service mark
with regard to services) of industrial or commercial enterprise from those of other
enterprises. Such a sign may consist of one or more distinctive words, letters, names,
numerals, figurative elements and combination of colours. Such a sign may combine any
of the above mentioned elements. As the basic purpose of a trade mark is to distinguish,
the laws of most countries provide that any product to be marked should be distinctive.

Industrial designs: It cover the ornamental features of the products including shapes,
lines, motives and colours. Industrial designs are protected mainly in consumer articles of
which textiles, leather and leather products and motor cars are a few examples. The designs,
thus, need to be either novel or original to qualify for protection. The owner of the
protected designs has exclusive rights to its use and can even prevent third parties who
have not obtained his or her consent from making, selling or importing articles bearing
or embodying a design which is a copy or substantially a copy of the protected design.
Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits: Except when it provides otherwise, the TRIPS
Agreement requires countries to protect the layout designs of integrated circuits in
accordance with the Washington Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated
Circuits (1989). Additional provisions stipulate, inter alia, that importing or selling articles
incorporating a protected integrated circuit without authorisation from the right holder
shall be considered unlawful. However, acquisition of an article by persons who do not
know it incorporates an unlawfully reproduced layout design does not constitute an
unlawful act. Innocent infringers may sell or dispose of stock acquired before they became
aware that the use of the layout design is unlawful. However, they shall be liable to pay
the right holder a reasonable royalty. Geographic indications aim at informing the
consumer that a good has the quality, reputation or other characteristic, which is essentially
attributable to its geographic origin. The TRIPS Agreement provides that the countries
shall not permit registration of trade marks containing a misleading indication of the
geographic origin of goods.

Example: The most common example of this is 'champagne', a term associated with
wine produced in a certain region of France. In principle, therefore, it is not permissible to call
wine produced elsewhere as 'champagne' even though the wine may be regarded in the producing
countries as comparable to French champagne.

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