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TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT

Written by:
Prachi Sethi
Published on
02-Aug-21

Both copyright and trademarks are intellectual property rights which help their owner/inventor/developer to enjoy the use of their innovation for a limited time. Businesses that want to register intellectual property must identify how they differ, and then get the necessary registrations to safeguard their respective intellectual property rights. A right to copyright is accorded to authors of literary, musical, dramatic, artistic and film and sound recording productions. No names and brands, no slogans or short words or short phrases, no storylines, procedures or factual facts are protected under copyright. Copyright does not also cover concepts or ideas. The copyright of sound recordings, the cinematographic and computer software are therefore utilized to safeguard the originality of individuals such as writers, painters, dramatists, designers, artists, architects, producers. A trademark is a phrase or a visual sign used by any business to identify its goods or services from other comparable goods or services which may come from another company. The applicant must submit a trademark request for the registration of a trade mark in the required format to the appropriate Trademark Registrar. The brands, company names, slogans and much more are typically employed to protect trademarks. THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK IN INDIA IS AS FOLLOWS:  Applicable Law: Trademarks Act, 1999 is applicable to the Trademarks and is protected by the same whereas on the other hand the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 is applicable to the copyrights and is protected by the same.  Usage: The literary, musical, theatrical and creative production is usually protected by a copyright, including films and sound recordings. The Copyright Act can register everything of a software or a program or tables and databases as a literary work on the other hand trademarks are typically used to protect brand names, business names, slogans and more by people, business and non-commercial institutions, but an idea or software or concept cannot be trademarked.

 Registrar: The Copyright Office, the Higher Education Department and the Ministry for the development of human resources supervise the assessment and acceptance of a copyright application on the other hand the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Marks, Ministry of Commerce and Industry shall monitor and accept an application for a trademark.  Validity: The general rule is for copyright is to last 60 years. Copyright: The term for the 60-year period is calculated from the year after the author's death for an original literary, theatrical, artistic and musical works. The term of 60 years must be calculated from the date of publishing for a movie, photo, sound recording, posthumous publications, anonymous and pseudonymous publications, the governmental activity, and the work of international organizations on the other hand registration of trademarks must be effective for 10 years from the date of submission. By submitting a trademark renewal application this validity might be increased at the end for 10 years.  Importance: Any other person utilizing your invention without authorization is protected by copyright on the other hand a trademark is created to make your business, mark or symbol unique and distinctive.  Applicability: Copyright is applicable all around the globe as it protects and applies to creations in art and literature on the other hand trademark is restricted to a certain region.  Requirements to be Protected: A work must be original, creative and fixed in a tangible medium to be able to get protection under Copyright law on the other hand to avail protection under the trademark law a mark must be distinctive (i.e., that is, it must be capable of identifying the source of a particular good).  Rights Granted: The rights provided under the copyright are to regulate the reproduction, creation of derivative articles, distribution and public presentation and display of the copyrighted articles whereas on the other hand the rights granted under the trademark are right to use the mark and to prevent others from using similar marks

in a way that would cause a likelihood-of-confusion about the origin of the goods or services.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE COPYRIGHT Limitations and exceptions to copyright laws are provisions which authorize the use of copyrighted artworks for public interest purposes without prior permission or permission of the owner. In general, copyright limits and exemptions are subject to a 3-step test laid out in the Bern Convention on literary and creative protection. A restriction or exemption to copyright is only permitted under the Berne Convention if-  Special cases covered.  Is not in conflict with the routine use of labor.  The legitimate interests of the author are not arbitrarily prejudiced. The Fair Dealing Doctrine is an exemption to legislation, which normally protects any work deemed as copyright by the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 ('Act'). The legal theory allows a person to utilize any work protected under the Act with restricted use of the work such that the sanctity and originality of the work, and the registered owner of the work, are maintained. The definition of "fair dealing" varies on many conditions and facts. In India, the Court is using fundamental common sense to assess on a case-by-case basis what can become a fair deal. Copyright is a major limitation of the copyright owner's exclusive right. The court has interpreted the effect of it on the copyright owner on a number of occasions. Where there are no major economic impacts, the usage can be fair deal. The fair nature of the dealing depends on the following four factors:  the purpose of use;  the nature of the work;  the amount of the work used, and  the effect of use of the work on the original. For some activities that are not in breach of copyright or deemed copyright infringing exemption is offered by Article 52 of the 1957 copyright law in India. In particular, it is not a software for computer applications that fairly deal with a literary, musical, dramatic or aesthetic piece for the reasons of:

 Standard limits and exceptions range in scope and quantity from country to country.  Together with research, private usage.  Criticism or review.  Current events being reported in any press media.  By a film, or by broadcasting, or by any photography.  Reproduction of the judiciary or judicial procedure report.  Publishing or replication in any piece produced by the Legislative Secretariat of a musical, literary, dramatic or creative work.  The replication, in a certified copy created, in conformity with or provided for in force in any legislation, of any literary, musical or dramatic work.  The publishing in the collection, comprised mostly of non-copyright, is authentic for the benefit of education.  Sound making if done with or via a license or agreement of the right owner in the work. CONCLUSION Copyright and Trademarks are both intellectual property rights which help their owner/inventor/developer to enjoy the use of their innovation for a limited time. Businesses that want to register intellectual property must identify how they differ, and then get the necessary registrations to safeguard their respective intellectual property rights. The criteria to establish the fair use of such work as a copyrighted work is actually different from one instance to another, since such circumstances are more important than the legislation per se. Although in the Indian situation, Section 52 of the Copyright Act in 1957, the government has tried to make this idea legislation more flexible and accurate, for the time being, it is the public which is legitimate to rely on this provision. India has been successful for now since the idea that the entire copyright protection exception is to create a creativity and growth that can be transformed and articulated in many other ways in order to encourage people to achieve this degree of creativity by taking careful account of the original copyright work.