The world economy is slowly but surely moving towards the knowledge economy, innovations and new inventions are increasingly intangible in nature. This makes it difficult for the innovator or the inventor to apply for patents for these new kinds of innovations. This changed scenario led to the development of the concept of IP.
As more intellectual advancement takes place in a developed country, the perils of intellectual theft are frequently faced by them. The situation is worse of in a matured economy than a growing one. A still not-much-publicised career is that of a Patent Attorney OR Manager.
Mind business
Intellectual property, also IP, is all about allowing people to own their creativity and innovation like they hold any physical property. IP protects innovation and ideas, thus paves way for intellectual work to flourish without any hindrance. Whatever comes under creations of the mind is called IP.
IP Management
Dividing IPR Management across industries would be as follows:
IT and Telecom Technology.
Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology
Energy, Oil and Gas Technology
Of these three options, currently the most business is focused on IT, Telecom, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology. However industry players believe that the next 20 years will belong to IPR Management to the Energy field. There are many other forms of patents based on industry.
Within each of these paths, it can further be divided into the following roles.
* Commercialization analysis
* Identifying useless IPR
* Determining the royalties
* Market dynamics of technology sub-segment
Work
The role of an IPR specialist is to help the inventor gain patents on his invention. The inventor can be a large corporation, a small business a team of scientists and even a lone inventor that's working out of his garage. The first step taken by the IPR specialist is to understand the invention itself. he then researcher whether such technology already exists in some form. After this he goes about understanding how best the invention can be patented so that maximum monetization is achieved. The final step is to file the patent with the Patent Office.
The IPR Specialist in India does about 80 percent of his peer in the US. This is because in India the specialist does not pursue litigation. Once Indian courts see more action in the IPR space, we can expert more IPR specialists that can apply their skills in court.
The thrill is picking up an unstructured problem and then fixing it. The work culture is extremely young and therefore they energy is enormous. They interact with people dealing in R&D for over 20 years, CFOs and CTOs, and so the level of interaction is at another level all together," he says. illustrating the high points of job.
Skill Sets
An IPR specialist needs to degree in science or engineering and then supplement this with a degree in law. Considering that IPR Management covers a number of industries, specialists fro/for each industry is required. If the professional is moving laterally from, let's say, being a telecom engineer and into IPR Management of telecom technologies, then he comes with a certain amount of skill sets already. From here he would have to gain the legal acumen to understand how to apply his skills in IPR Management.
Training of a fresher usually takes two to three years.
The brand of your graduate or PG college helps only initially. After about two years this disparity disappears and growth is based purely on performance. A thorough knowledge of a technology field will always be preferred to high scores in tests. Experience gained on the first jobs in specific domain, like telecom or biotechnology, can be applied in the respective fields within IP management.
History
The first intellectual property law was passed in Venice in 1474 which protected the investor's interest against copying of their creation. England soon followed suit to grant intellectual property rights to its inventor for a limited period. With increase in international trade, intellectual property theft was on the rise. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) allowed individuals in one nation to obtain protection globally. The Paris Convention and the Berne Convention brought in the intellectual property regime that we understand today.
World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO), the leading body governing Intellectual Property rights issues defines Intellectual Property as "Creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce."
IP is not limited to, domains like Software, Architectural and Industrial design, Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Music, Literary Pieces. Intellectual property encompasses the entire gamut of intellectual inventions that cannot be quantified.
Intellectual property can broadly be sub-divided under two categories - Copyright and Industrial property.
- Copyright includes primarily artistic and literary creations like Photography, Poems, Painting, Plays, Novels including films, music, photographs, performing arts, radio or television programmes, Architectural Designs, Music and Sculptors.
With the advent of the Internet and the developments in digital technologies, copyrighting of movies and music are in demand. But patenting and copyrighting is not only limited to entertainment industry because almost everything is at a risk of being replicated. Access to all important information has made IPR a must-have in the present world. There is an increasing need to control and stop intellectual theft because one company's brain drain is benefiting the other.
b Industrial Property caters to commercial domains like patents, geographical indications Industrial Designs, New Technologies, Processes and Methodologies and Trademarks.
Software piracy is one of the menaces that are taking place in developing countries like Russia, Vietnam, China, India and other South Asian countries which are causing a huge loss to the software companies. Hence patenting becomes important for the software companies.
Eligibility
Anyone who is at least a graduate in science, technology or engineering can become an IPR attorney. There is no need to already have a law degree to become an IPR attorney. Students have to pass an exam to be registered as a patent attorney. The exam would be held every year in November, comprises two papers (100 marks each) followed by a viva voce (100 marks). If the candidate does not have a degree in law, a qualifying exam is conducted at the patents office in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi.
Course Area
The IP Law course generally comprises of Biotechnology patent policy, Chemical and Biotech patent policy and practice, Comparative and International Intellectual Property seminar, Comparative patent law seminar, Computer law, Copyright Law, Electronics and Computers' Policy and Practice, International and Comparative Patent Law, International and the Country's regulation of foreign trade, Licensing of Intellectual Property Rights, Patent Enforcement, Patent law, Trademark law, Unfair Trade Practices
Colleges, Institutions and Universities
Study Here
• Institute of Intellectual Property Studies (IIPS), Mumbai- 1 year PG diploma in patent law and a four-month certificate course on IPR
• Institute of Intellectual Property Development (IIPD), New Delhi
• Bioinformatics Institute of India- Noida- A PG diploma in IPR
• Nalsar University of Law, Bangalore
• Symbiosis Law College, Pune
• ICFAI Law School, Pune/Mumbai/Goa
* National Law School
* National University of Juridical Science
* Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law at IIT, KGP
* University of Delhi – law school,
* Indian Institute of Managements,
*Indian Law Society (ILS) Pune
Prospects
With the advent of the Internet, the world has witnessed two tectonic shifts in the market dynamics - Free flow of Information and Globalization of the world Economy. In addition to the obvious positive aspects of instant access to the global storehouse of information, this boon brought along it its own set of evils. The major drawback being, information ceased to be proprietary. New innovations were quickly assimilated and applied in business organizations without benefiting the inventor. And since national economies became more interlinked, manufacturing powerhouses from emerging economies threatened companies that invest a large amount of their top-lines in research and development.
IPR attorneys are integral part of in-house teams of business organizations formed with the sole aim of identifying and stopping copyright and IP infringements. IPR attorneys are also being actively employed by a whole range of organizations like Specialty Law Firms, Corporate houses, Government and Self -supported Think Tanks, Law Enforcing bodies, Universities and Independent Research Organizations, Faculty at Law schools.
If somebody wants to become a patent attorney and be recognized as one he or she has to first register oneself. Generally the same methods are followed to become a patent attorney everywhere in the world. The completion of the course and the at least two years of practice under professional supervision can ensure a bright career for the IPR attorney.
Patent Attorneys set up their own consulting units similar to lawyers. An attorney’s regular day generally involves all those mentioned above and for maintaining certain standard of efficiency and professional integrity in the field the Patent Act has prescribed qualifications and norms for their registration. Only those who satisfy that qualification and are registered under the Patent Act are allowed to practice as Patent Attorneys in India. They are legal advisors, specialist in their fields, who advise their clients regarding protection of their intellectual property and also perform the following on their behalf by:
- Drafting of patent applications
- Manage correspondence with the patent office on the objections raised
- Represent the applicant at the hearings
- Filing opposition proceedings
- Defending the application against opposition
Public Sector
• Government agencies, R & D units in Pharmaceutical Industry, Cosmetics & beauty product, all design departments/units, Agri based units, law firms, research organisations, voluntary organisations, publishing houses, all media units, software industries.
Private Sector
• Corporate houses hire intellectual property lawyers as in-house counsellors, various MNCs, Knowledge Process Outsourcing companies etc.
India is set to jump into the bandwagon of the global patent regime and national patent laws, thus needing a vast pool of people with expertise in patents, copyrights and trademarks. Generally speaking, intellectual property rights (IPR) is the current buzz in India. At the same time, the Indian market is facing a huge deficit of talent in the field with just 607 registered patent attorneys.
With the arrival of new patent regime, the need of skilled people to fight for a business’ or individual’s intellectual property would jump manifold to fight with the global business houses. A good patent attorney will have to lead businesses towards suitable research and development to always remain ahead of their rivals.
Work
An IPR attorney is primarily responsible for safeguarding the commercial interests of his or her client. He protects the Intellectual Property Rights of individuals as well as organizations. As a part of this job, the IPR attorney is responsible for assessing if any given innovation, improvement or invention can be patented or not. He is responsible for creating draft patent applications, and protect the client in case of an infringement.
The specific works include:
• To enhance the work environment for higher innovativeness for all those who are responsible for innovation and to explore.
• To guide the technology transfer in a competitive manner.
• Protection and safeguard of the Intellectual Property.
• Securing IP rights for original innovations.
• To maintain patent databases, dissemination of related information and train people on finding patentable inventions.
• Providing legal assistance to innovators and help them in drafting and filing patent applications.
• Coordinating with various IPR organisations and attorneys,
• To create awareness about protection of Intellectual property.
Skills Required
To be a successful IP Attorney, a grasp of the law with a good knowledge of IT and technologies is essential. The internals and workings of technology, products and processes would come handy while doing research. Knowledge of technology is more important than the law itself, since the IP attorney is dealing only in the Copyright Act and nothing else, unless of course he or she is practicing in other forms of law.
Sensing intellectual theft and trying to curb the situation is very important for an IP Attorney. If the situation goes out of hand an IPR attorney should have a sound knowledge of law to bring the responsible persons to books.
A good writing, presentation skill and research oriented are few of the soft skills which are looked for in an IPR Attorney.
Remuneration
The remuneration of an IPR attorney is quiet high but to be frank it depends on the industry where one is seeking a job. For those who start, the salary will depend on the base qualifications. A BSc graduate can hope to start with around Rs 8,000, while an MSc student can reach about Rs 10,000 as the starting salary. In case of a B. Tech, BE or an M. Tech, the starting salary may touch around Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000.
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