A) Patents: This refers to innovations – new or improved product and processes which are meant for industrial applications. This is a territorial right which requires registration for a limited time. Patent is a contract between an inventor as an individual and the society as a whole. The inventor has exclusive right to prevent anybody making use of and/or selling a patented invention. Of course, this is only for a specific duration till the inventor discloses the details of invention to the public.
B) Copyrights: A copyright is a very particular and exclusive right even for reproduction of an original work. This is for material, aesthetic material, literacy, music, film, sound recording, broad casting, software and multimedia. This offers automatic right for safeguarding any original creation, which is not in need of registration but with limited time. It does not require the lawyer’s help for settlement.
C) Trademarks: Trademark is for broad identity of specific goods and services allowing differences to be made among different trades. This is a territorial right, which requires registration, but without any time limit. Lawyers are needed for guidelines. A trademark is an identification symbol which is used in the course of trade to enable the purchasing people (buyers) to distinguish one trader’s goods from the similar goods of other traders. These marks also symbolize distinctly the quality of the products. These marks are in the form of certain ‘wordings’ or can be in the format of logos, designs, sounds, etc. Examples: NIIT, Kodak.
D) Trade secrets: A trade secret means information, which is kept confidential as a secret. This is generally not known in the relevant industry, offering an advantage to its owner over other competitors. Unlike other types of Intellectual property, this trade secret is fundamentally a “do-it-yourself’ type of protection. For engineers, inventors, and designers, the trade secrets are to be maintained secretly. Such trade secrets include some formulae, programmes, methods, progresses or data collections etc. If there is any improper disclosure or use of the trade secret by another person, the inventor may claim and recover damages resulting from illegal use.