The Importance Of IPR Protection

Introduction

IPR protection was not a major issue of international trade until the 1990s - and for good reason. Before the end of the Cold War and the advent of accelerated globalization and the information revolution in the 1990s, IPR protection has remained essentially domestic rather than global, question. However, since the 1990s, IPR protection has become increasingly important in international trade in general and in trade relations between developed and developing countries in particular. Several trends have made IPR protection a critical business and national strategy for companies and governments.

The globalization of technology and human resources with the rapid increase in foreign direct investment and improvements in technology,

The rapid pace of innovation in both technology and business practices, led to an explosion of claims on IPR. Yet patent systems governing the granting of intellectual property rights to companies are out-of-date and incomplete in some respects, critical and are far from being harmonized among developed economies. In addition, although the number of patent applications has increased dramatically, government resources devoted to consideration of these requests have not caught up. For example, the US Patent and Trademark Office issues approximately 1,000 patents every working hour, nearly 160,000 in 2003. On average, the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) received 355,000 applications a year and approves 160 000 (a rate of 45 percent approval). Half of US patents are awarded to foreign candidates. From 1998 to 2003, 900,000 patents were issued, 1.6 million applications. But rising workload seems to have outgrown the PTO. Today, more than 800,000 applications are being

A more serious problem is the so-called "disharmony between nations." Although the United States may be the most innovative company in the world, the US patent system is generally regarded as the date up to less and contains several original provisions are deemed inefficient and against-productive. in comparison with European and Japanese systems, four features of the US patent system are:

1. First inventor to the first applicant. The United States is the only country in the world that requires the so-called proof of the date of invention in granting patents. In Europe and Japan, however, the system is called the "first-to-file." - Patents are granted to the applicant who files the first The American system is accused of encouraging litigation because it is often more difficult to establish the date of the invention.

2. Only the United States require the so-called "best way" to implement an invention, which provides another potential cause of disputes while the benefits of the "best mode" remains