Intellectual Property Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Intellectual Property Law - Research Paper Example With mounting pressures by judicial criticism, intellectual property was regulated under common law and the Statute of Monopolies enacted in 1623 rendered illegal all monopolies except those for a defined term of years; this forms the basis of modern patent law (World Intellectual Property Organization, p.1). The exact origin of intellectual property law is still unknown. However, it is a fact that, terms like intellectual property was used during the initial half of seventeenth century in Britain. The history of intellectual property rights in the modern era started in Germany in 1867. North German Confederation is believed to be the first country which formulated intellectual property laws in the modern era. â€Å"The North German Confederation first used the term â€Å"intellectual property† in 1867, providing for legislative protection in its constitution†(Furst). Since then, intellectual laws evolved in different forms at different parts of the world. Different cou ntries have different types of intellectual property laws. ... Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of â€Å"original works† and includes such things as literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual creations, both published and unpublished. Copyright does not protect ideas. It only protects the specific and original expression of the idea (Pipers) For example, Windows is the operating system developed by Microsoft. It should be noted that plenty of people, including Bill Gates, worked on the development of Windows operating system. This product is protected with the help of copyright laws. It is illegal to use pirated copies of Windows on computers. Even in China, Microsoft succeeded in winning some cases with respect to copyright violation of its products. â€Å"A local court in Shanghai ruled that Dazhong Insurance must pay Microsoft 2.17 million yuan ($317,900) as compensation for using pirated Microsoft software, NetEase.com reported†(Stan) â€Å"Patents are used to protect new pro duct, process, apparatus, and uses providing the invention is not obvious in light of what has been done before† (European Generic medicines Association). It should be noted that new products are developed only because of the huge efforts undertaken by somebody. Once a new product is developed, it is easy for others to copy it. In other words, leaders and followers are in the market. Leaders always generate new ideas and innovate new products whereas followers try to copy those ideas and innovations. In order to avoid such illegal copying, all new products and services developed by somebody can be protected with the help of patent laws. Patent rights are usually given only for a particular period of time. The owner of a patented product should disclose the innovation to the