Call for Papers Indian Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The Indian Journal of Intellectual Property Law, a NALSAR University of Law publication, is calling for final contributions for the third issue of its journal. The Journal has an erudite Board of Advisors, and two successful editions already out.


Completely organised by a board of Student Editors under the patronage of the Vice Chancellor and Hon'ble Justice UC Banerjee (Retd.), the IJIPL is now looking for articles by students, practitioners and academicians for its next issue to be released in July 2010.


The call for papers, submission guidelines as well as previous editions of the Journal can be found on the IJIPL website.http://www.nalsar.ac.in/IJIPL/Home/Home.html

IPLex (Intellectual Property Law Blog): As per BSA report dated 12th May 2009, Software Piracy rate goes down to 68% in India

IPLex (Intellectual Property Law Blog): As per BSA report dated 12th May 2009, Software Piracy rate goes down to 68% in India

As per BSA report dated 12th May 2009, Software Piracy rate goes down to 68% in India

Monetary value of software piracy losses increases to US$2.7 billion

New Delhi - May 12 2009The personal computer (PC) software piracy level in India registered 68 percent in 2008, a one point drop from 69% in 2007. However dollar losses caused by software piracy continued to increase, rising to US$2.7 billion in 2008 compared to losses of US$2 billion in 2007.

These are among the findings of the Sixth Annual BSA-IDC Global Software Piracy Study released today by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The study was conducted by IDC, the information technology (IT) industry’s leading global market research and forecasting firm.

In 2008, the rate of PC software piracy dropped in slightly more than half (57) of the 110 countries studied, remained the same in nearly one third (36), and rose in just 16. However, the worldwide PC software piracy rate rose for the second year in a row, from 38 percent to 41 percent, mainly because PC shipments grew fastest in high-piracy countries such as China and India, overwhelming progress in these and other countries.

In another sign of the scale of the problem, the monetary value of “losses” to the software industry from PC software piracy broke the $50 billion level for the first time. Worldwide losses grew by 11 percent to $53 billion in non-adjusted dollars, although half of that growth was the result of the falling US dollar. Excluding the effect of exchange rates, losses grew by 5 percent to $50.2 billion.

“We are continuing to make significant progress against PC software piracy, which helps not only the software industry, but also the wider economy and society,” said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman. “The bad news is that software piracy remains so prevalent all over the world, undermining local IT service firms, giving illegal software users an unfair advantage in business, and spreading security risks.”

Jeffrey J. Hardee, BSA’s Vice President and Regional Director, Asia Pacific, said, “We are seeing mixed results in Asia Pacific with eight economies showing a decline in the PC software piracy rate, no change in seven and an increase in three. The average PC software piracy rate in Asia Pacific increased to 61 percent, up from 59 percent the previous year, with losses reaching over $15 billion. This increase in the average piracy rate is attributed to the mathematical outcome of more rapid growth of PC markets in economies of higher piracy rates. Even if piracy were to go down in every high-piracy country, their growing market share for PCs could drive the regional average up.”

“We are pleased that countries like China are moving in the right direction in bringing down their PC software piracy levels, and many governments across the region have continued to show their support with joint awareness campaigns, enterprise software legalization initiatives, enforcement actions and stronger legal remedies, but challenges still remain. One fertile ground for PC software piracy, especially in emerging markets, is the rapidly growing “white box” user base – typically consumers and small businesses – that buy locally assembled computers from non-brand-name vendors that bundle pirated software with their PCs,” said Hardee.

“The availability of pirated software on the Internet, which ironically is facilitated by increasing broadband penetration in the region, is also a major concern,” added Hardee. “On top of this, it is surprising how often we find that managers fail to institute policies and procedures in their organizations to manage their software assets to prevent the use of unlicensed software in the workplace and to gain efficiencies by carefully integrating their software assets to maximize productivity.”

Negative Impacts Go Far Beyond Software Industry

Software piracy affects much more than just the global software industry. For example, for every $1 of software sold in a country, there is another $3 to $4 of revenues for local IT service and distribution firms. A 2008 IDC study predicted that lowering PC software piracy by 10 points over four years would create 600,000 additional new jobs worldwide. That projection has been confirmed by actual experience in China and Russia, the new study says.

Software piracy also lowers tax revenues at a time of increased pressure on governments to provide essential services. According to the 2008 study noted above, reducing piracy by 10 points would generate $24 billion in higher government revenues without a tax increase.

According to an economic impact study of software piracy conducted and published by IDC last year, in India, reducing software piracy by ten percentage points over a four year period could generate an additional 43,000 new jobs, US$3.1 billion in economic growth, and US$200 million in tax revenues. There was further good news for local vendors, where the study also predicted an additional US$2.7 billion in revenues to local vendors alone.

Mr. Keshav Dhakad, Chair of the BSA India Committee said, “Software piracy levels in India are witnessing a gradual decline, and this can be attributed to the various intellectual property (IP) awareness efforts being driven by governments, industry and the judiciary. However, as the size of the Indian PC market grows, the impact of software piracy on the local economy continues to increase, with 2008 seeing a 35% increase in losses amounting to $2.7 billion. This is a direct threat to the competitiveness of the Indian IT industry, the country’s ability to attract new investments, innovation and the creation of job opportunities. Though the Indian domestic software industry has the potential to realize tremendous growth, it continues to be challenged by high software piracy rates. We are hopeful that the new government, together with the state governments, will take positive steps in driving anti-piracy initiatives, such as the formation of a national anti-piracy taskforce, the setting up of special IP courts, the promotion of IP rights and the training of enforcement officials,” added Mr Dhakad.

"It is encouraging to see a gradual decline in the software piracy rate in India, as reflected in the 6th BSA - IDC Global Software Piracy study, where the rate fell 6 percentage points in 5 years. Although, software piracy in India should be brought down at a faster pace, a slow and gradual decline is also indicative of the positive efforts taken by the government, industry and judiciary in helping raise awareness and supporting the fight against software piracy," said Mr. Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM. “NASSCOM realizes that software piracy is a serious threat to the growing Indian IT industry, eroding the potential for job creation, economic growth and increasingly important for domestic product innovation. Indian IT industry is moving towards product development and thus protection of IPR and reduction of software piracy should be taken seriously by all stakeholders. The findings of this study published by BSA - IDC reinforce the need for urgent collaborative effort between the government and industry to tackle software piracy in India through stronger policy, awareness and enforcement initiatives to help enhance India's economic and IT competitiveness."

Software piracy also increases the risk of cyber crime and security problems. For example, the recent global spread of the Conficker virus has been attributed in part to the lack of automatic security updates for unlicensed software. In a 2006 study, IDC found that 29 percent of Web sites and 61 percent of peer-to-peer sites offering pirated software tried to infect test computers with “Trojans,” spyware, keyloggers, and other tools of identity theft.

Impact of Global Recession Is Mixed

The global economic recession is having a mixed impact on software piracy, the study says. Victor Lim, Vice President, Asia/Pacific Consulting Operations at IDC, notes that consumers with reduced spending power may hold on to computers longer, which would tend to increase piracy because older computers are more likely to have unlicensed software loaded on them. However, pocketbook pressures are spurring sales of inexpensive “netbooks,” which tend to come with legitimate pre-loaded software; and spurring businesses to implement software asset management (SAM) programs to increase efficiencies and lower IT costs.

“Reduced buying power is only one of many factors affecting software piracy,” Lim says. “The economic crisis will have an impact – part of it negative, part of it positive – but it may not become fully apparent until the 2009 figures come in.”

Among the study’s other key findings:

China’s piracy rate has dropped 10 points in the last five years, a result of more vigorous enforcement and education, as well as vendor legalization programs and agreements with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and resellers. The government, for instance, has mandated that PC manufacturers in China only ship PCs with legitimate operating systems.
India’s rate has dropped 6 points in five years, despite its sprawling PC market, of which consumers and small businesses account for 65%. While consumer PC shipments grew more than 10% last year, shipments to other categories dropped 7%.
Hong Kong’s PC software piracy rate declined by 3 percentage points in 2008, the largest drop in the region, while the piracy rate in Australia and Japan, two of the more mature markets in the APAC region, dropped by 2 points.
While emerging economies account for 45 percent of the global PC hardware market, they account for less than 20 percent of the PC software market. If the emerging economies’ PC software share were the same as it is for PC hardware, the software market would grow by $40 billion a year. Lowering global piracy by just one point a year would add $20 billion in stimulus to the IT industry.
Lowering global piracy by just one point a year would add $20 billion in stimulus to the IT industry.
Spreading Internet access will increase the supply of pirated software. Over the next five years, 460 million people in emerging countries will come online. The growth will be highest among consumers and small businesses, which tend to have higher rates of piracy than businesses and government agencies.
The lowest-piracy countries are the US, Japan, New Zealand, and Luxembourg, all near 20 percent. The highest-piracy countries are Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, and Zimbabwe, all over 90 percent.
“Fortunately, experience has shown that we can reduce software piracy through a combination of consumer education, strong intellectual property policies, effective law enforcement, and legalization programs by businesses and government agencies. The progress seen in many APAC economies is proof that this anti-piracy blueprint works – and that governments, businesses and consumers all benefit,” said Hardee.

The BSA-IDC Global Software Piracy Study covers piracy of all packaged software that runs on personal computers, including desktops, laptops, and ultra-portables. The study does not include other types of software such as server- or mainframe-based software.

For more details or a copy of the complete study, visit www.bsa.org/globalstudy.

About BSABusiness Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world. BSA programs foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce. BSA members include Adobe, Agilent Technologies, Altium, Apple, Aquafold, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, CA, Cadence Design Systems, Cisco Systems, Corel, CyberLink, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, Dell, Embarcadero, Frontline PCB Solutions - An Orbotech Valor Company, HP, IBM, Intel, Intuit, McAfee, Microsoft, Mindjet, Minitab, NedGraphics, PTC, Quark, Quest Software, Rosetta Stone, SAP, Scalable Software, Siemens, Sybase, Symantec, Synopsys, Tekla and The MathWorks.

About IDCIDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 45 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

technolex( Cyberlaw Blog): New Anti-Piracy Law in France

technolex( Cyberlaw Blog): New Anti-Piracy Law in France

SPICY IP: Indian "Bayh Dole" Conference at NUJS in September

SPICY IP: Indian "Bayh Dole" Conference at NUJS in September

technolex: Three Indicted in Largest Hacking and Corporate Identity Theft Case in History

technolex: Three Indicted in Largest Hacking and Corporate Identity Theft Case in History

There Should Be a Tough Punishmemt for Software Piracy

As per the recent developements and views from BSA( Business software Alliance)we can say that due to weak law on software piracy there are only few convictions so far but because of our current justice system, some cases are still on appeal while some individual who have been convicted opted to go on probation.
cases.
According to senior officials of BSA of Anti-Piracy Asia-Pacific,from the last 12 months, the BSA hotline has received over 500 calls from reporters who gave valuable information regarding organisations using pirated software.In India as per the recent survey around 50 % organisations are using pirated softwares.We can say that these calls in the BSA hotline only prove that peoples are now started to realize the importance of fighting software piracy.
What i feel that to implement a tougher law against copyright infringement, adding that it has been more than 5 decades since the Copyright Act was passed in most of the countries.Now various business groups are already in talks with the Supreme Court (SC)and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of USA to come up with special rules on intellectual property cases.

Whether Market experimentation can be protected as Intellectual Property

Whether Market experimentation can be protected as Intellectual Property? Why don’t intellectual property theory and property rights theory more generally support the idea of Intellectual property protection for market experimentation? In certain cases exclusive rights have been used to encourage market experimentation. Exclusive franchise agreements are a widely employed means by which franchisors encourage new franchisees to risk developing a business in new geographic locations.Likewise British “patents of importation,” which provided exclusive rights for the importer of a technology already existing outside of Britain, were permissible for several years. USA took the leading role to promote market experimentation by rejecting the patents of importation. The current systems of intellectual property have several doctrines that are difficult to explain unless the relevant intellectual property rights are recognized as partially supporting the goal of encouraging market experimentation. Few observers said that there are companies in USA which do not produce any actual products but merely obtain and enforce patents. The traditional theory of the patent system believes in the basic idea that for obtaining exclusive patent rights is against the disclosure of the technology set forth in the patent document itself. Some patentee who makes a sufficient disclosure and obtains a valid patent cannot be playing with the system. So when the patent system will have two goals one spurring the disclosure of technological information and the other fostering actual investment in real-world market experiments—then the concern over patent trolls proves logical. It means that the law can be more liberal to organizations that have both made technological disclosure in patent specifications and taken risk in making investments in new technology based businesses.

New Begining of Cyberlaw in Newzealand Mr.Frank March, a senior special advisor with the IT and Telecommunications Policy Group at the Ministry of Economic Development has been appointed as a president of the Internet Policy making body of Newzealand. The said organization also administers domain names. The organisation (Internet NZ) uses the fees it receives from users who register .nz domain names to fund its advocacy work. The current issue in Newzealand is copyright, but content filtering, access guarantees, and the right to free speech, is also debated from the last few years. Social networking is already raising a whole new set of moral and personal security and privacy issues.” The group is actively involved in the IPV6 steering group (the next generation of internet protocol), and funds a Cyberlaw fellowship. This is a very encouraging development in Newzealand which further boost the cyberlaw in the country

ITIP MASALA: Patenting of Life forms and food security

ITIP MASALA: Patenting of Life forms and food security

Patenting of Life forms and food security

Does Granting Patent On Life Forms In Developing Countries Ensure Food Security? In fact many developing countries have been facing economic challenges, achieving basic food security. Hence, food security, as component element of sustainable development, is prominent on the domestic, as well as the international agendas of many countries from the South. In the ongoing debate of food security , thus, several strategies have been proposed in developing countries. It has been suggested that the path to sustainable food security in developing countries should emphasize, among other things, a transformation process that can move agriculture from its subsistence level through improved traditional farming, market and cash oriented agriculture by application of modern biotechnology and genetic engineering to the agricultural production process. It is said that it can be possible by enhancing IPRs on life forms and processes. Accordingly, developing countries are being encouraged for the application of IPRs to life forms and processes. But it also has its negative aspects which can create new problems. For eg. Threat to soil fertility, unnatural change in the gene structure may give rise to some new problems. Balancing of the rights of the plant breeders and farmers.

RIAA has got big success agaisnt Music Piracy

Beware Before Downloading Music on Internet. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has got big success in the new strategy by working in association with Internet service providers to stop illegal music sharing. Yesterday a Boston University student, Tenebaum, who admitted illegally downloading, 30 songs, hundreds of tunes over Kazaa's file-sharing software was ordered to pay $675,000 to four record companies. The recording companies were Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and subsidiaries of Sony. The case is only the second time an individual has gone to trial for illegally downloading music. In June, 2009, a federal jury ordered Jammie Thomas-Rasset to pay record companies $1.92 million for illegally downloading 24 songs. The argument of Tenebaum’s attorney that he was just a kid doing what kids do on the Internet. The said argument was not accepted by the court and made him liable The court awarded lesser amount, $22,500 per track, than it could have awarded to as much as $150,000 per track, or $4.5 million. The RIAA argued that "real people" have been damaged by the illegal downloading of copyrighted music. So it brought legal action against thousands of individuals it claimed were guilty of music piracy. Tenenbaum was connected to that sweep. Tenenbaum's lawyer is planning to appeal against the jury's decision. Tenenbaum have decided that he would file for bankruptcy if the verdict is not overturned. This can be a good lesson for the Indian Music Industry as now it is losing many Billion Dollars annually due to music piracy.

Soon IP Law in Bagladesh

Policy to protect country’s intellectual properties soon Currently there is no law in the country to protect various local intellectual properties. So the Bangladesh government is planning to introduce an intellectual property policy to protect the country’s intellectual properties and encourage people to build a knowledge-based society.To protect innovations and other merit-based works as well as to encourage others in such works. The government has drafted a new law relating to ‘geographical indications’, under which, the country’s unique things like Hilsha, Neem, Jute and cultural assets etc will be patented. Mr. Barua chaired the sessions in the two-day meeting as the chairman of the 49 least developed countries (LDCs) in a High Level Forum on the Strategic Use of Intellectual Property for Prosperity and Development’, held in Geneva on July 23-24. Some 78 representatives from 33 countries attended the meeting and announced a joint declaration.. The Bangladsh has requested the WIPO for promoting public private partnership (PPP) to ensure development-friendly intellectual property utilisation in the LDCs. This really a great step taken by the Banladesh Govt in particular and LDC in genral which will further boost the fast development in IPR .

Linking of News and Copyright Law in India

Due to the google case ( Rescuecom Corp., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Google Inc., Defendant-Appellee April 3, 2009) there has been significant debate regarding whether news stories are protected by copyright law. The Associated Press of USA has taken action to prevent bloggers and other news site from using their stories. Specifically they have taken legal action against All Headlines News for using AP stories without their permission and they have implemented a new system to track digital articles. In addition, a federal judge in USA , proposed a ban on websites accessing or linking or paraphrasing a news article without the site’s consent. Now the question is whether it is possible to copyright a news story It is a general rule that ideas, factual information or news stories are not copyrightable. Only the original creations of the mind for e.g literary, dramatic or musical works etc are copyrightable. Stories that report facts and information are not creations of the mind and lack originality. As a result, the copyright laws have never extended to news stories. India’s Copyright Act 1957, Section 52 ,under the Fair Use provisions, “the copying of something for research or academic purpose or reproduction a criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship.” So when a blogger or website, paraphrases, quotes or does surface linking back to a news item, without obtaining the consent of the news source, currently, it is not a violation of copyright law. How to properly cite the copyrighted material The law is stricter when it comes to copyrighted material. A blogger or website can directly quote, paraphrase or do surface linking back to copyrighted material if: a. The site or blogger have taken the prior permission from the copyright owner during the posting the copyrighted material. b. If the copyrighted work is licensed under a creative common license, then the blogger or author is free to share, copy, and distribute the work if the blogger attributes the work to the copyright owner and does not use the work for financial gains or commercial purposes. c. Simply acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material is not a substitute for obtaining the copyright owner’s permission. (Taking Note by the Bloggers) Copyright infringement is now very easy and has become very common on the internet and copyrighted works are required to be protected. But re-posting news stories that are simply a reiteration of facts is not copyrightable material and should be reproduced and shared for the public benefit. If the copyright protection will be extended to news, it will restrict the free sharing of information. That will frustrate one of the basic object of the copyright and will be an antithesis to the doctrine of fair use.

Rescuecom Corp. v. Google, Inc., No. 06-4881 Appeal by Plaintiff Rescuecom Corp. from a judgment of the United States District Court 13 for the Northern District of New York (Mordue, Chief Judge) dismissing its action against 14 Google, Inc., under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. 15 Rescuecom’s Complaint alleges that Google is liable under §§ 32 and 43 of the Lanham Act, 15 16 U.S.C. §§ 1114 & 1125, for infringement, false designation of origin, and dilution of 17 Rescuecom’s eponymous trademark This case is about deceptive similarity due to linking by a search engine called google. In an action by the plaintiff as per the Lanham Act, for trademark infringement,trademark dilution, false designation of origin, district court's dismissal for failure to state a claim is vacated and remanded. In this case plaintiff's allegations was that the Google recommended and sold some trade marks which was deceptively similar to the plaintiffs mark. The dfendants advertisers triggers the appearance of plaintiff's advertisements and links in a manner likely to cause consumer confusion when a Google user launches a search of plaintiff's trademark.This is the commercial use of the mark and a fit case under the Lanham Act. Read Rescuecom Corp. v. Google, Inc., No. 06-4881 Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Argued: April 3, 2008 Decided: April 3, 3009, Errata Opinion: July 28, 2009

WIPO has launched aRDi, to coordinate all the stake holders for developmnet of IPR .

WIPO has launched a new public-private partnership – Access to Research for Development and Innovation (aRDi): A futuristic approach to IPR. Now the least developed countries affirmed their commitment to integrate IP in their national development strategies to guard both artistic and commercial intellectual properties. While all countries have different levels of research and development expenditures, they all welcomed the assistance of the WIPO in the pursuit of developing viable and strong IP infrastructures to benefit their societies and to encourage innovation We are in an era where most of the peoples are trying to steal, an artist, a musician nor an inventor will share their ideas for fear that an ethical standard is missing when it comes to stealing. In an alternate situation, the three might be safe to discuss their creations knowing that the ethical standard will not be challenged. All three, acting in their own best interest, would agree that in the quest of producing original work, protection of intellectual property is one of the solitary means they have when thinking over whether or not there is an economic incentive to develop their idea and to share it with the public, while retaining the right to control reproduction or adaptation. Now the protection depends on policy decisions and developing intellectual property infrastructures. The informed inventor is more than likely worried about his industrial property rights and deciding on the merits of the invention to determine whether or not to pursue a trademark or patent. Several least developed world countries are actively collaborating with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in order to secure the interests of one of their most valuable assets: their originators. Products and services have brought prosperity to many innovators around the world who can develop their idea in a conducive environment. I believe that intellectual property is a key element in reducing the knowledge gap and the digital divide. WIPO is doing a great job by working closely with developing and least developed countries to facilitate their integration into the global knowledge economy to help them realize their creative potential. In the ongoing century Knowledge has become a base for economic development in many countries around the world. Foreign ministers from least developed countries, senior government officials and heads of regional intellectual property organizations adopted a ministerial declaration that urged the WIPO to increase capacity-building assistance and support least developed countries in becoming more viably competitive. In order to increase access to the knowledge contained in scientific and technical literature, the WIPO has launched a new public-private partnership – Access to Research for Development and Innovation (aRDi). Research institutes, universities, and industrial property offices in least developed countries will benefit from free access, while industrial property offices in certain developing countries will benefit from low cost access, to this literature. Most of the countries at the forum ( aRDi) are concerned about the knowledge gap and digital divide and its negative consequences in their own countries. Ethiopia, firmly sees the stark reality of the division of the world along the lines of technological capability. Mali, may want to breathe life into the talent pool of inventors in Mali who show significant talented, however the reality of the situation is that there are significant stumbling blocks in implementing those inventions without a strong IP infrastructure. Nepal is defending the traditional realm by presenting the importance of measures to protect traditional expressions of culture and knowledge. In developing national development policies, are acknowledged that “strategic use of intellectual property is critical,” while questioning the readiness of least developed countries in taking full advantage of IP. Tanzania has provided a positive progress report depicting a more prosperous outlook where newly established comprehensive copyright laws have generated opportunities for the growing entertainment industry. Strengthening IP has resulted in more prosperity measured by the industry’s positive contribution to the country’s gross domestic product. Still, Tanzania faces industrial property challenges in the sphere of science and technology. Maldives aims to graduate from least developed country status in December 2010 and simultaneously be in full compliance with international IP obligations. Some prominent science and technology publishers are partnering with WIPO in the aRDi program. For e.g. the American Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences, , Springer Science + Business Media, World Health Organization, and the UN Environment Programme. Oxford University Press etc. This is a very nice step taken by the WIPO to integrate all the stake holders for the protection and development of the Intellectual Properties. The seriousness shown by most of the least developed and developing countries and at the same time the kind of support provided by the developed countries will definitely give a new direction to the growth of IPR in coming future.

IPR week in China

In fact, China is lagging behind in software development due to IPR. It's not about English-language skills, it's not about technical capabilities (in hard skills sans apps integration, China can easily match India; only in soft skills like project management does India do better). For software developmnte sector, there is an adequate supply of English-capable engineers. What about cost issues? . It may not be as cheap in Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen as some American firms would like, but it's still cheap compared to numerous global alternatives, and let's not forget that BJ, SH and SZ are not the only options in China. So it's not about English or technical skills, or costs. It's really about IPR.IPR: A Real Concern in China; "IPR Week": IPR is recognized as the greatest bottleneck to innovation in China. To some (re: many Americans), China makes a good living by copying others. Now china's tech policy community think that up to what extent it can go on copying, china have to invent its own technology. China also knows that if it wants to attract FDI in high tech sectors, they have to prioritise the IPR issues, although foreign concerns are not the driving force behind advancements in IPR protection. So what's the driving force? Answer: Protection of domestic innovation, i.e., innovations by Chinese companies within China's borders. "IPR Week," on the other hand, is much more for show to Westerners. It was a report on a conference session held in Beijing that featured five companies from south China. Their topic: How Western firms abuse IP laws to keep Chinese companies off their domestic turf!! Bottom line: According to the Chinese, foreign companies and countries bully Chinese companies by taking advantage of their domestic court systems, challenging Chinese firms with Section 337 actions.Ok, this may be one way of looking at the world.One problem with IPR protection in China is a lack of awairness regarding IPR basics. Often Chinese firms are not able to recognise what is legal, what is illegal. For example (as this is good one), many Chinese companies really don't know that they can't use existing technologies still under patent protection to create a newer technology without paying royalties to the patent holders of the existing/core technologies. This absolutely stuns the Chinese. However, the biggest impediment to IPR protection has nothing at all to do with the WTO, WIPO, or the legal systems in China or the USA. Fact is, the greatest challenge to Intellectual Property protection in China is culture. The common consensus among mainlanders is that it will take few generations for Chinese to fully appreciate IPR. If a company want to enter the China market? Good for it. Yes it can do it without using Chinese service providers? It'is in for a big surprise. Sure,it can service MNCs in China without too much interference from some entity of the Chinese government. But if it has grander visions of broader market penetration, it might already know that there are unwritten rules to playing in the China market. Some American firms believe that they can best control their IP developed in China by running a captive operation. Probably true, although not likely the best way to start. ODCs - offshore development centers - are a better way to go. This is where the Jack Bauer analogy comes to mind. Security, security, security. Physical and data. Don't take any unnecessary chances. Chinese companies tend to rely on Rent-a-Cop guards and easily crackable access card. Sorry, but this isn't enough.Physical and data security is best ensured through a combination of CCTV video surveillance, biometric access control and verification systems, intrusion detection, perimeter protection, keyloggers, no removable media, restricted Internet access, document destruction, randomized polygraph testing, counter-eavesdropping and zero-day exploit shields. Sounds like something out of Ft. Meade? Perhaps. But most of these measures are a lot easier to implement than they may sound. The condition in India is also not much beter than China, but it is improving day by day. Because the recent data of NASSCOM and BSA reflects that the software piracy in India is fast reducing.

The Intellectual Property Rights are Private Rights

The intellectual property rights are private rights and the right holder can assign, license, transfer or sell the rights to others depending upon his commercial and other interests. During 2004-05 to 2008-09, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has assigned / licensed 11 patents to United States (US) based companies. The information in respect of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Indian Institutes of Technology is being compiled. This information was given by Shri Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today

South Korea going to open its legal service market in phases from September 2009

South Korea is planning to open its legal services market in phases from September, with the full-fledged opening scheduled for 2016.Domestic law firms face fiercer competition from foreign law firms that are superior to domestic players in manpower, experience and international connections. Lawyer Kim Byoung-jai, who represents one of the Korea's leading law firms, Lee & Ko, shrugs it off. ``No matter who will come, we are ready to beat them all,'' Kim said in an interview with a Korean News Paper. ``We have prepared for the expected upheaval for years so that we will not face any problem even if other countries law firms make entry into the Korean market in the coming days.'' His confidence is justified because the firm never fallen behind foreign competitors overall. Lee & Ko has shown exceptional performances in four major branches of law practice: corporate management; banking, financing and securities; litigation and international arbitration; and intellectual property. It employs more than 800 staffers including 246 lawyers, 56 patent attorneys, and dozens of experts in the fields of labor, tax, and customs. ``I believe only those competitive in the four segments as a whole will survive in the future,'' he said. ``Unsuccessful firms will either be degenerated into boutique law firms or merged by a competitor.'' A boutique law firm is a collection of attorneys typically organized in a limited liability partnership or professional corporation specializing in a niche area of law practice. ``We are ready to provide the best, tailor-made solutions, no matter what our client's problems are,'' Kim said. ``I believe only those competitive in the four segments as a whole will survive in the future,'' he said. ``Unsuccessful firms will either be degenerated into boutique law firms or merged by a competitor.'' For instance, in the late 1990s when the Korea saw its foreign exchange reserve dry up, one of the pre-conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency aid funds was the sale of a leading domestic bank to overseas investors. At that time, the government had neither sufficient knowledge nor experience in pushing ahead with such a big deal. It looked for a reliable Korean law firm and Lee & Ko was designated to handle the M& A deal.``A cautious approach was necessary in proceeding with the deal since it was one of the key agendas deciding the Korea's destiny,'' he recalled. Since then, Lee & Ko has played a key role in handling a slew of large-scale M& A deals involving Hanwha, LG and other major conglomerates there. A series of tough experiences in the past paid off in recent years, he said. The Legal 500, a renowned international legal journal, chose Lee & Ko in the 2008/2009 edition as one of the leading law firms in South Korea in the 13 areas of legal practice including M& A, banking and finance, and intellectual property. With internationally acknowledged capacity, the firm is working on widening its business scope to central Asian countries including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia as well as Vietnam, India and the Philippines.

Master of Intellectual Property Law Programme by IGNOU

IGNOU, have started Master Programme in Intellectual Property Law(MIPL). This is a new specialist Master degree in Intellectual Property Law which has been developed by IGNOU in collaboration with leading Australian universities - Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Now there is good opportunity for working peoples to join a master programme in IPL. In future we require lot of qualified peoples in the area of IPR. The step taken by IGNOU is appreciated.