Recently, the Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology was locked out of his Twitter account for an hour allegedly over a notice received for violation of the US’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) 1998.
It is a law passed in the US and is among the world’s first laws recognising Intellectual Property (IP) on the internet.
Every year World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated on 26th April.
Intellectual property rights (IPR) are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
The main purpose of intellectual property law is toencourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods &strike the right balance between the interests of innovators & wider public interest.§ These rights are outlined in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Indian Laws which Cover Intellectual Property
Patents Act, 1970 (as amended in 2005).
Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design Act, 2000.
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Right Act, 2001.