Part I Flashcards
Basis of the Intellectual Property Law or RA 8293
Section 2. Declaration of State Policy. - The State recognizes that an effective intellectual and industrial property system is vital to the development of domestic and creative activity, facilitates transfer of technology, attracts foreign investments, and ensures market access for our products. It shall protect and secure the exclusive rights of scientists, inventors, artists and other gifted citizens to their intellectual property and creations, particularly when beneficial to the people, for such periods as provided in this Act.
It is also the policy of the State to streamline administrative procedures of registering patents, trademarks and copyright, to liberalize the registration on the transfer of technology, and to enhance the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the Philippines.
Brief Historical Background
Intellectual Property Law started in medieval Europe. At first, only select guilds or associations were given the power and authority to control trade, business, new inventions. But then this suppressed creativity and innovation more than it encouraged it.
In 1623, the Statute of Monopolies was passed, which stopped the granting of monopolies by the government. The true and first inventor of intellectual property had exclusive control over his invention for a period of 14 years.
In 1710, Statute of Anne was passed. It was the fist copyright law.
The practice of marking works and products was at its height in the Roman Empire but the first law concerning trademarks was adopted by the British Parliament in 1266 under the reign of Henry III. Under this act, every baker had to put his mark on the bread he produced. Over time, the purpose of trademarks evolved from mere identification of maker to consumer protection.
Patent came from the latin word “litterae patentes” which means an open letter. The first system was developed in Renaissance Italy. It is said that the Venetian Patent Statute of March 19, 1474, established in the Republic of Venice is the first statutory patent system in Europe, and may be deemed to be the earliest codified patent system in the world.
In 1883, with respect to industrial property such as trademarks and patents, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property was concluded. In the case of copyright, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works was also concluded in 1886.
In 1893, the United International Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property (also known as Bureaux Internationaux Reunis pour la Protection de la Propriete Intellectuelle) was established to administer the above-mentioned 2 treaties. The bureau evolved into the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which was founded in 1967 and became a specialized United Nations agency in 1974.
It is said that the first law on intellectual property in the Philippines that was enforced was the Patent Law of Spain, which was promulgated by the Cortes on March 27, 1826 and which was extended to the Philippines.
History of IPL in the Philippines
Patent Law of Spain (March 27, 1826)
RA 165 “An Act Creating a Patent Office, Prescribing its Powers and Duties, Regulating the Issuance of Patents, and Appropriating Funds therefor” (1947)
RA 166 “An Act To Provide For The Registration And Protection Of Trade-Marks, Trade-Names And Service-Marks, Defining Unfair Competition and False Marking And Providing Remedies Against The Same, And For Other Purposes” (1947)
PD 49 “Decree on Intellectual Property”»_space; governed copyright (1972)
Sec. 13, Art. XIV of the 1987 Constitution “The State shall protect and secure the exclusive rights of scientists, inventors, artists, and other gifted citizens to their intellectual property and creations, particularly when beneficial to the people, for such period as may be produced by law.
World Trade Organization
Provides for a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements and settle trade disputes to ensure the smooth flow of trade
TRIPS Agreement
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement
- provides a minimum standard for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights
- the most wide-ranging and far-reaching international treaty on intellectual property and marks the most important milestone in the development of international law in this area
- most comprehensive international treaty on intellectual property rights as it brings intellectual property rules into the framework of the WTO (Dr. Carlos Correa)
- took effect in 1995
Treaties in response to internet and technology
- WIPO Copyright Treaty
- WIPO Performances and Phonogram Treaty
known together as “Internet Treaties”
» address the challenges posed by today’s digital technologies, in particular, the dissemination of protected material over digital networks such as the internet
> > require countries to provide a framework of basic rights, allowing creators to control and/or be compensated for the various ways in which their creations are used and enjoyed by others
> > ensure that copyright owners are adequately and effectively protected when their works are disseminated through new technologies and communications system such as the Internet, and that existing rights continue to apply in the digital environment
RA 8293
Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines
- took effect on January 1, 1998
- provided the legal infrastructure for the promotion, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights
- created the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines and defined its powers and functions
RA 9150
for the protection of layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits (2001)
RA 9502
Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008
- amended certain provisions of the Intellectual Property Code such as provisions on the patentability of drugs and medicines, parallel importation of patented drugs and medicines, and special compulsory licensing for patented drugs and medicines
RA 10372
amended the Intellectual Property Code to comply, among others, with the requirements of the WIPO Internet Treaties, particularly on the protection of technological measures and rights management information
also provides additional limitation on copyright, particularly for visually and reading impaired individuals, and grants enforcement functions to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines
Importance of Intellectual Property
It is important not only in the domain of creators, authors, and inventors but also in the political and economic sphere of the country.
- social and economic standpoint
- progress and development through inventiveness, innovativeness, and creativity - business area
- the development of new products, technologies, and solutions to address the growing needs and problems of the society are encouraged and incentivized - intellectual property and innovation are key elements in terms of competitiveness
- widely distributed and enforceable property rights are key institutions that promote development
- recognition and respect of IPR sets the foundation for our artists, inventors, authors, scientists and creators to come up with their intellectual creations and commit them for the development of their respective enterprises and the society
4 major factors of production
- land
- labor
- capital ** (intellectual property as intangible asset)
- management
Intellectual Property Law
deals with laws to protect and enforce rights of the creators and owners of inventions, writing, music, designs and other works, known as the “intellectual property.” There are several areas of intellectual property including copyright, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets.
Kinds of Intellectual Property Rights
a. Copyright and Related Rights
- exists over “original and derivative intellectual creations in the literary and artistic domain protected from the moment of their creation
b. Trademarks and Service Marks
- any visible sign capable of distinguishing the goods (trademark) or services (service mark) of an enterprise and shall include a stamped or marked container of goods
c. Geographic Indications
- indications which identify a good as originating in the territory, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin
d. Industrial Designs
- any composition of lines or colors or any three-dimensional form, whether or not associated with lines or colors, provided that such composition or form gives a special appearance to and can serve as pattern for an industrial product or handicraft. It must be new or ornamental.
e. Patents
- any technical solution of a problem in any field of human activity which is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable. It may be, or may relate to, a product, or process, or an improvement of any of the foregoing
f. Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits
- is synonymous with ‘Topography’ and means the three-dimensional disposition, however expressed, of the elements, at least one of which is an active element, and of some or all of the interconnections of an integrated circuit, or such a three-dimensional disposition prepared for an integrated circuit intended for manufacture
- Integrated Circuit — a product, in its final form, or an intermediate form, in which the elements, at least one of which is an active element and some or all of the interconnections are integrally formed in and/or on a piece of material, and which is intended to perform an electronic function
g. Protection of Undisclosed Information (n, TRIPS)
- means protection of information lawfully held from being disclosed to, acquired by, or used by others without their consent in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices so long as such information: (i) is
secret in the sense that it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration and assembly of its components, generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question; (ii) has commercial value because it is secret; and (iii) has been subject to reasonable steps under the circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information, to keep it secret
Trade Secret is a plan or process, tool, mechanism or compound known only to its owner and those of his employees to whom it is necessary to confide it. The definition also extends to: (i) a secret formula or process not patented, but known only to certain individuals using it in compounding some article of trade having a commercial value; or (ii) any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information that: (1) is used in one’s business; and (2) gives the employer an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not possess the information
What are the distinctions among trademark, patent and copyright?
Trademark - Any visible sign capable of distinguishing the goods (trademark) or services (service mark) of an enterprise and shall include a stamped or marked container of goods
Tradename - The name or designation identifying or distinguishing an enterprise
Copyright - Literary and artistic works which are original intellectual creations in the literary and artistic domain protected from the moment of their creation
Patentable Inventions - Any technical solution of a problem in any field of human activity which is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable
What is a geographic indication?
It’s an indication which identifies a good as originating in the territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
What is a patent?
A statutory grant which confers to an inventor or his legal successor, in return for the disclosure of the invention to the public, the right for a limited period of time to exclude others from making, using, selling or importing the invention within the territory of the country that grants the patent.
According to WIPO, intellectual property has 2 categories
a. Industrial Property: includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source
b. Copyright: includes literary and artistic works
such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.
Rights related to copyright include those of
performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs
Sec. 13, Art. XIV, 1987 Philippine Constitution
SECTION 13. The State shall protect and secure the exclusive rights of scientists, inventors, artists, and other gifted citizens to their intellectual property and creations, particularly when beneficial to the people, for such period as may be provided by law.
Republic Act No. 165
An Act Creating a Patent Office, Prescribing its Powers and Duties, Regulating the Issuance of Patents, and Appropriating Funds Therefor
Republic Act No. 166
An Act to Provide for the Registration and Protection of Trade-Marks, Trade-Names and Service-Marks, Defining Unfair Competition and False Marking and Providing Remedies Against the Same, and For Other Purposes
PD49
Decree on the Protection of Intellectual Property
Republic Act No. 8293
Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines
An Act Prescribing the Intellectual Property Code and Establishing the Intellectual Property Office, Providing for its Powers and Functions, and for Other Purposes
Republic Act No. 10372
An Act Amending Certain Provisions of Republic Act No. 8293, Otherwise Known As the “Intellectual Property Code Of The Philippines”, and for Other Purposes