IPRs worldwide

Abstract

In short, an intellectual property is a creation of the mind. It is defined as an intangible thing. To understand it properly, we need to understand the concept of property. In the beginning of history, man was no different from other animals and had nothing to own. But they had one rare thing: a brain that could think and evolve with time. This physical brain that was capable of producing intelligence made mankind create and use skills to acquire the basic needs like food, shelter, and protection. No sooner than later, they found the ways to own food, shelter, and protection. This ownership required marks to identify various things that they owned. These marks were the origins of trademarks. Now, in the course of the struggle to make human lives better, the inventors invented and discovered many things. But the question was how to identify the inventor(s). That was the beginning of the concept of patents that enabled the inventor(s) to possess their inventions. However, there were views that patents were useless in an egalitarian, greedless society where people do not contest for owning more and more to get richer in terms of money and property. As often people preferred to keep certain information private amidst a certain group or family to have an advantage or safety from other groups or families, they needed secrecy. This tendency in a capitalist world became the well-known trade secrets that could be protected under IP laws. To satiate the ever-inquisitive human mind, the man created various forms of art, entertainment, and design in the course of his historical journey. To honor the minds behind these creations and to prevent the misuse and distortion, they felt a need to protect the originality of the prototypes and their inventor(s) or creator(s). This was the origin of copyright. So, in this chapter, I will take the readers on a tour of various intellectual property rights prevailing in the present world.