TRIPS Full Form

The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement is an agreement that came into action in the year 1995 under the agreement of the World Trade Organisation. TRIPS became the world’s first multilateral agreement that focuses on providing intellectual property rights to various creators, manufacturers, artists, broadcasters, producers, etc. Intellectual property rights are the rights that are provided to these creators so that their creation is not being copied or being used without their permission. Any individual that tries to disrupt the originality or authenticity of the product will be liable to a number of consequences. There are basically four types of intellectual property rights, which includes patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright.

What are Intellectual Property Rights?

According to the legal aspect, every human being has certain rights. However, in the field of a business or company establishment, there are a number of intellectual property rights that are needed to be considered. These intellectual property rights are those legal rights that are provided to an individual or group of organisations that are involved in a company or business establishment collectively. The basic principle of providing these property rights is to prevent the authenticity of the product and prevent it from being copied. Intellectual property rights are the basic foundation of preventing a product from getting infringed.

Types Of Intellectual Property Rights:

Any individual who can be an artist, producer, broadcaster, etc., who is producing or manufacturing a product requires a property right over them. There are basically four types of intellectual property rights. They are.

1. Patent: Patent is a right that provides the owner or the creator that no one can use their product without their consent. Any individual using the product without permission is liable to consequences. There are different types of patent rights, which includes utility, patent, design patent, plant patent, etc.
2. Trademark: Trademark is a descriptive or symbolic representation of the source of the product. A trademark can be in words, numerical form, symbol, signature, colour etc. One of the best examples of trademarks is the Apple logo for Apple Inc.
3. Copyright: Copyright is basically a right provided to the product or the creative work which is original or is a new innovation. It gives the right to the producer or creator of that product to maintain the authenticity of the product and prevent it from being copied.
4. Trade secret: A trade secret is one of the basic aspects of the Intellectual Property Rights laws because it contains the secret of a business or a company. A trade secret includes a number of confidential documents, information, data, design methods, etc. Protecting a trade secret is necessary to protect the business from suffering a great loss.

What are TRIPS?

TRIPS stands for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The World Trade Organisation put a light on the intellectual properties of the growing economy and industrialisation. Considering the aspect of this growing field of business and companies all over the world, The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) came into existence. The agreement of TRIPS was initially signed in Morocco in the year 1994. TRIPS became the first major multilateral agreement that was signed during the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. The agreement of TRIPS came into the act on January 1st, 1995, and it became mandatory to follow the rules and functions of the agreement for all the members of the World Trade Organisation.

Key Features of TRIPS:

The key feature of the trips is concern about several intellectual property rights, which includes the enforcement of several acts related to patent, copyright, trademark and trade secrets. There were a number of acts that were implemented under the agreement of TRIPS. Some of the basic facts that were introduced are:

1. The Patents Act, 1970.
2. The patents rule, 2003.
3. Trademark Act, 1999.
4. Copyright Act, 1957.
5. International Copyright Order 1999.
6. Geographical indications of Goods Act, 1999.
7. New Design Act 2000.

Apart from these acts, there were a number of acts enacted, and amendments of previous acts were made all over the years. However, the agreements of TRIPS had faced a number of criticism all over the years by a number of governments, without considering the flexible intellectual rights provided under this agreement.

CONCLUSION

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is one of the most recognised agreements which came into action in the year 1995. It is one of the multilateral agreements which focuses on implementing various intellectual property rights to the owners, producers, or manufacturers all over the world. An intellectual right is a basic necessity for any creator to protect its creation from getting infringed, copied, or stolen. The rights that are considered under the intellectual property rights are patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret. To ensure these intellectual property rights to the creators and the manufacturers, the TRIPS have enacted a number of acts throughout the years.