IPR is an abbreviation for Intellectual Property Rights that is legally bestowed upon for innovators to protect their intellectual innovations. IPRs are classified into three types: patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
- Patents – Patents are a collection of exclusive rights awarded to an inventor or licensee for a limited time in exchange for the general disclosure of the innovation. Patents safeguard inventions and processes by prohibiting others from creating, using, selling, or importing the patented invention without authorization. The usual patent period is 20 years from the date of innovation.
- Copyrights – A copyright is a legal right that allows the creator of an original work to use and distribute that work exclusively. A copyright claims to protect unpublished as well as published works, and it prohibits anyone from copying or reproducing the work without permission.
- Trademarks – A trademark is a representation, term, or phrase that identifies and distinguishes one company’s source for products or services from that of another. Trademark protection prevents others from using a similar brand as well as any other similar looking or phonetically close trademark that could be ambiguous and could confuse the consumers.
These three categories of intellectual property rights (IPR) are critical for preserving creators’ and inventors’ rights, as well as stimulating innovation and creativity in a variety of industries.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are significant for a number of reasons, including:
- Innovation protection: Intellectual property rights (IPR) provide a legal framework for protecting innovative ideas, inventions, and creative works, allowing inventors, artists, and creators to retain exclusive rights to their achievements.
- Promotion for invention and originality: Intellectual property rights (IPR) encourages innovation and creativity by providing innovators and inventors with the regulatory safeguards and protects exclusivity. This in turn is financially rewarding for their innovation and efforts in creating new ideas and technologies.
- Economic growth promotion: Economic growth is aided by intellectual property rights (IPR) as it encourages investment in research and development and fosters a competitive environment driving innovation with improvisation in the features, and quality of goods and services.
- International trade promotion: International trade is aided by intellectual property rights (IPR) and it provides a standard legal framework for protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) across nations and geographic areas.
- Consumer protection: Consumers are protected from counterfeit or fraudulent products by intellectual property rights (IPR), and provides the source of the genuine and authentic products.
In the Biopharmaceutical industry, intellectual property rights (IPR) function essentially for various reasons:
- Promotes innovation: Due to the expensive expense of generating new and novel medicines, pharmaceutical companies require robust research developmental programs that ensure intellectual property rights (IPR). It promotes investment in research and development. Patent protected novel medicines provide exclusive rights to recover the research cost and provide funds to continue to develop novel medicines.
- Safeguards investments: The cost of development of a new drug to market is huge. Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection keeps the competitors away from duplicating and offers exclusivity for a certain period. This helps the innovator company to consolidate its reputation as we recover the investment in Research and Development (R&D).
- Offers a competitive edge: Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection can provide a competitive advantage to pharmaceutical companies, especially when an innovative drug significantly outperforms old therapies.
- Supports the wellness of the public: Intellectual property rights (IPR) encourages innovation and development of novel medicines for unmet medical needs. Thus patients can benefit from new therapies.
Intellectual property rights (IPR) can offer significant advantages that fosters innovation and creativity while also safeguarding the interests of society as a whole. There is a need to strike a balance between the requirement for Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and the need to ensure that all patients have access to life-saving medications.
