Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): As Business Inducer

Property considered as one of the important asset for any individual or organization. Few decades back, the value of tangible assets was more than the intangible assets. The reason behind this low value of intangible assets was ignorance or lack of proper tools for their identification. But by the change of century, the ratio of the value between tangible and intangible assets had been reversed. So it becomes important for any organization to keep track the magnitude, quality and applications of the intangible assets of the organization. This can be done only with the help of Intellectual Property Audit.

What is IP Audit?

IP Audit is a systematic evaluation of IP Assets available in the organization or it is an examination of inventory of information related to any particular technology which may be owned, used or acquired by the organization. IP Audit helps to assess and manage risk, remedy problems and implement best practices in IP Asset Management. Once the audit is completed, then a register should be kept of your IP rights.

Why IP Audit?

· Helps in gathering information useful in understanding the updates of concerned business and market;

· Powerful tool for preparing strategies to manage and maximize return on its intellectual property investment;

· Helps to assess and manage risks so as to be able to implement best practices in solving problems;

· Helps in designing R & D and Marketing strategies to minimize the exposure from defects discovered in the IP Audit.

When to Commence IP Audit?

An IP Audit should be commenced:

· To know the status of the IP Portfolio;

· Before a significant acquisition or merger of a technology or product;

· To ensure that the intellectual property is properly protected and enhances the acquiring organization’s existing intellectual property interests;

· At critical junctures in a company’s life cycle to ensure the continuing adequacy of such procedures and to detect defects therein;

· To check the risk of infringement with the development of a major new product;

· In response to a change or new development in the law;

· When an organization sets up an intellectual property license or licensing program;

· In connection with new programs or policies of the market.

Where one should search for IP Audit?

IP Audit includes following issues to assess:

· Issued Patents

· Patentable Ideas / Information / Technologies

· Company’s owned technologies

· Direct or Indirect Agreements

· Direct or Indirect Licensing

· Technologies Imported or Exported

· Infringed Technology

· Trade Secrets

· Industrial Designs

· Know-How Manuals

· Government Contracts

· Published Papers / Journals

· Business Method Data

Uncovering and understanding of these assets will often provide a company with extra revenue streams other than those involving licenses and royalty payments. These revenues streams can come from Joint Ventures, Research and Development sharing, and distribution agreements in those jurisdictions that may have been inaccessible up until now.

Conclusion

Finally, we can conclude that Intellectual Property (IP) can be the best source of building revenue and to get competitive edge over competitors for various organizations but the need is to identify and utilize that IP in your organization and this can be possible only with regular Intellectual Property (IP) auditing. In the words of an intellect - “if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.

Monday 6 February 2012

DEKLA: An Extending Hierarchy of IPC

By Arun Kumar ‘aru’

Introduction of DEKLA

German Patent classification System (DEKLA) introduced in order to organize and index the technical information given in the German patent document. This classification system helps in retrieving the German patent document for studying a particular area of study.

German Patent classification System (DEKLA) is an extended and modified version of IPC system which provides a hierarchical system for the classification of German patents and utility models on the basis of their area of technology. For example, regular IPC code for ashtrays is: A24F 19/00 but in DEKLA A24F 19/00 A is used for ashtrays with moving mechanism¹.

Evolution of DEKLA

DPMA classifies German patents and utility models documents according to IPC but use further sub-division of IPC to store more information related to particular technique so that prior-art can be accessed easily. These sub-divisions are called DEKLA and comprise 40,000 sub-divisions in addition to IPC (i.e. 110,000 total sub-divisions).

All incoming patents in German jurisdiction don’t be given DEKLA codes but it solely depends upon the German patent examiner to assign DEKLA codes to patent documents if they feel the IPC code on any particular document is not satisfactory and unable to cover the technology of the invention. Due to this reason, only few patent documents have DEKLA codes.

This shows DEKLA classification can’t be used in comprehensive search of patent data but can be used as an additional source for narrower searching of patent data in addition to IPC support.

Construction of DEKLA

The DEKLA classification like IPC is an arrangement of technical knowledge in a descending hierarchical order of section, class, subclass, main group, sub-group and DEKLA codes. The DEKLA symbols are a capital letter or a number or their combination and add after IPC codes. DEKLA groups extend the dot hierarchy of the relevant IPC group. They are placed at least one hierarchical level lower than the respective IPC group.

The worldwide knowledge is classified in eight broader sections:

A HUMAN NECESSITIES

B PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

C CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY

D TEXTILES; PAPER

E FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS

F MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING

G PHYSICS

H ELECTRICITY

The construction of DEKLA can be understood with following example:

Section: A HUMAN NECESSITIES

Class: A47 FURNITURE

Subclass: A47B Tables, desks, office furniture, cabinets, chests of drawers,

general details of furniture

Main group: A47B 47/00 Cabinets, racks or shelves, characterized by features related to the dismantling or assembling of individual parts of the

same

DEKLA one-dot subgroup: 47/00 A • without frame-related shelf or furniture tops

DEKLA two-dot subgroup: 47/00 A1 • • composite plate using a slotted plug- shelf or

furniture panels

DEKLA three-dot subgroup: 47/04 A1 • • • composite plate using a slotted plug-shelf or

furniture panels

Group A47B 47/04 A1 actually concerns “furniture like tables, desks, office furniture, cabinets, chests of drawers etc. characterized by features related to the dismantling or assembling of individual parts with- out frame-related shelf or furniture tops specifically composite plate using a slotted plug-shelf or furniture panels”.

nB � e t �s. �Z. ifically composite plate using a slotted plug-shelf or furniture panels”.

Wednesday 11 January 2012

With the upcoming technologies, the global economy is growing very fast due to the year-by-year under profit balance-sheet of corporate multi-national companies. The same growth is not seen in various National and SME’s. One reason behind this poor growth in National and SME’s is lack of awareness about the hidden IP in their organizations. These organizations if make aware about those hidden IP’s which if get protection can earn huge revenue for the organization.

Introduction of IPR

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) refers to a set of exclusive rights which are product of our intellect or capability of mind. Intellectual Property (IP) is an intangible form of assets which can be broadly divided into two categories: a) Industrial property which covers inventions (patents), discoveries, trademarks, trade-secrets, industrial design, symbol, geographical indications of source; and b) Copyright which includes literary, musical and artistic works covering poems, novels, play-games, films, albums, drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures.

IPR vs. Business World

Intellectual Property (IP) can generate business if it is market driven, significant, economical and inventive. IP when protected legally and have market demand can become a valuable business asset. The strategic utilization of these assets can enhance the market value of the organization.

a) Business from Patents

Patent is a set of exclusive rights given by the government (excluding others from selling, using or making the invention) to an inventor or its assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention.

Intellectual Property (IP) in the form of Patents can help in changing innovative ideas into products which can generates business for the organization. For example, patents of novel drugs, novel and inventive mobile-phones technologies etc.

b) Business from Trade-Secrets

Any confidential business information which provides competitive edge to the organization over its competitors can be considered as trade secret. Trade secret includes sale methods, distribution methods, consumer profiles, advertising strategies, list of supplier and clients, and manufacturing process of the products.

One can earn huge compared to their competitors by protecting their IP in the form of Trade-Secret. Organization can maintain their trade-secret by limiting it to one person or by signing non-disclosure agreement with their employees e.g. Coca-Cola maintaining the secret of their flavor till-date and only two persons are familiar with that particular flavored compound.

c) Business using Trademarks / Service marks

Trademark is name, word, phrase, logo, symbol or a combination of these elements which distinct products, services of any individual or business organization from its competitors. Its unregistered symbol is ™ or ℠ and registered symbol is ®.

Trademark represents the face of any business organization in the form of quality products or better services and ultimately effecting sale of entrepreneur IP asset e.g. Coca-Cola, Horlicks, Xerox, Cadbury, Nestle etc.. Any organization can go for the licensing or franchising or assignment or transfer of its reputed trademark / service-mark to any third party against any fixed amount of money. For example, franchising of McDonalds, KFC etc. over the globe.

d) Business using Licensing Agreements / Technology Transfer

A patent owner only has the right to use, sale, transfer, license and mortgage the patent. A license to use the patent can be with or without the transfer of any interest in the patent.

Inventor or owner of the patent can seek a high amount as royalty for licensing the patent to any third party or for transferring the know-how of the patented technology. The loyalty can be as advance single payment or yearly payment. The research organizations or those organizations which are not capable to commercialize the patented technology can license / transfer know-how of their patented technology.

e) Business using Copyright

One can prevent others to use his/her copyrighted ideas and can license / transfer his/her copyright to any third person or publishing house against a sum of money as royalty. The publishing house can produce a large number of copies for selling in global or territorial market and can earn good revenue.

f) Business from Industrial Designs / Design Patents

Industrial designs (ID) mean design applied to any industrial article or product. Industrial Design is a combination of creative art and applied technology to improve the artistic and market value of the product. Designs are patentable only in United States of America while designs are registerable in Kenya, Japan, South Korea and Hungary. In India, designs are protected under copyright act. Some examples of design are: bottle design, motorbike design, motorcar design, computer icon design, photo-frame design etc.

Organizations in the business world are constantly trying to improve the product’s marketability and production which can be easily achieved by using attractive and easily useable industrial design of their products e.g. design of soft-drinks bottle. The resulting increase in sales of the product increase revenue of the organizations.

Conclusion