Intellectual Property: Omnipresent, Distracting, Irrelevant? by William Cornish – 1st Edition 2005

In this age of global trade, Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) have increasingly become a significant element of the economic policy of both the developed and the developing countries. The laws relating to IPRs are still in their nascent stage and full of loopholes and dichotomy. On the other hand, the advent of newer technologies has necessitated the existence of well-defined and efficient laws relating to IPRs. For example, free and ready access to material via Internet and other digital resources has threatened the copyrights of publishers, computer programmers and those into record and film production. Similar issues exist in the field of laws relating to trademark and patent rights.

In this book, the author has analysed the subject in its entirety dealing with the above issues in a comprehensive manner. He has emphasised on the need to update the existing laws and introduce newer ones to match the fast pace of the evolving technology. The book contains numerous references to controversial cases in the western world and thus could prove handy for lawyers while dealing with similar cases in the Indian context. A must read for lawyers, judges, Law students and all those who want to protect their right to intellectual property.

Table of Contents:

• Table of Legislation
• 1. Inventing
  • Intellectual Property
  • ‘Inventing’
  • Patents: Basic Elements
  • Medical Patents
  • Exclusive Rights to Explore
  • Biotechnology and Genetics
  • Genetics and Patent Theory
  • Contribution to Advances in Genetic Medicine
  • Towards Medical Applications
  • Compulsory Licensing and Crown Use
  • Rules of Competition
  • Inhibitions on Research, as Distinct from Commercialization
  • Who determines Patents Policy
  • Second-tier Protection: Petty Patents and Database Rights
• 2. Creating
  • Copyright and Patents
  • An Asset for Authors?
  • Digitized Works: The Threat
  • Installing Copyright Discipline: The Conquest of Napster
  • Answers within the Technology
  • Legitimate Material
  • Unlicensed Provision of Copyright Material: Substantial Taking, Exceptions, and Limitations
  • Will Copyright become Irrelevant
  • Copyright as a Protective Wrapper
• 3. Branding
  • Trademark Registers
  • Rights Dependent on Trading
  • The Merits of Branding
  • Registration as a Fetter for Others
  • Proportional Geometry
  • Functions: What Should be Protected and Why
  • What does Function Analysis Achieve
  • Investment and Advertising as ‘Functions’
  • When to Draw the Line
  • Trade Reputation and Registration
  • Cumulation and Convergence
• Index