The earliest copyright and patent laws were enacted in India during the British colonial era in the middle of the 19th century, marking the beginning of the country’s history of intellectual property rights. IP rights have seen significant expansion and growth over the years, becoming a topic of such importance that it now significantly influences the growth of the global economy. Similar to this, the real estate business places a high value on intellectual property rights. Among those industries where a good reputation and cutting-edge ideas are crucial is construction. Therefore, effective IP enforcement and protection not only serves to deter competitors but, more importantly, may increase a construction firm’s value and reputation in addition to all else.
One of the industries with the highest international recognition is real estate. After the agricultural sector, the real estate industry in India is the second largest employer. There can be seen an approximate increase in the real estate market from INR 12,000 crore (US$1.72 billion) in 2019 to INR 65,000 crore (US$9.30 billion) in 2040. By 2030, the Indian real estate industry is anticipated to exceed US$ 1 trillion in value.
In India, the word “IP” refers to any type of creation that a person or company has legal control, including brands, inventions, designs, and other types of creations. Practically all companies have some sort of intellectual property that they can consider as an asset of the company. The preservation of these intellectual properties is very necessary in today’s global period. First, inventors are granted exclusive rights to exploit their intellectual property (IP) for their own financial and practical gain. The pricing of the innovation, the marketing and distribution methods, and a myriad of other ways to make money and get a good return on investment are all completely up to the creator.
What are Intellectual Property Rights and its Type?
Intellectual property rights give creators legal protection for their original ideas, inventions, or the aesthetic appeal of their products, as well as for their creative creations, scientific discoveries, and other innovations. Intellectual property rights are any and all rights connected to intangible assets that are owned by a person or business and are safeguarded against unauthorized use.
Industry and business can be directly and significantly impacted by intellectual property rights (IPRs). IPR owners have the ability to defend their rights and prohibit the production, usage, or selling of a product to the general public. An innovator may recognize and profit from their creation by using intellectual property, which is a legal protection. Additionally, it is a legitimate technique to earn money for a protracted length of time. First, inventors are granted exclusive rights to exploit their intellectual property (IP) for their own financial and practical gain. The pricing of the innovation, the marketing and distribution methods, and a myriad of other ways to make money and get a good return on investment are all completely up to the creator.
Advantages of Intellectual Property Rights
Some of the advantages of intellectual property rights are:
- Increases market value – IPRS may help you create revenue through the licensing, sales, and even commercialization of the goods and services they are designed to protect. In the end, this will increase market share and contribute to higher earnings. Intellectual property rights that have been registered and safeguarded can help increase a company’s worth in the event of a sale, merger, or acquisition.
- Turn ideas and concepts into assets that can assist in providing income – Though ideas don’t have much value on their own, protecting them with rights to intellectual property will assist you develop them into widely popular goods and services. It is possible to generate a consistent flow of royalties and supplementary money by copyrighting or licensing the patents.
- Opportunities for export business – Intellectual property increases a company’s productivity in the export market. These artworks and logos may be used by the owner of the IP right to market goods and services abroad. Additionally, it may aid in the exportation of the exclusive items or achieve a franchise agreement with the foreign firm.
- Securing them encourages the author – Due to the fiercer market rivalry, some individuals are constantly ready to steal another’s ideas in order to profit financially and advance their businesses. Therefore, the companies and businessmen should safeguard their original concepts and inventions. IP properties must also be protected until they have been illegally used against any third parties.
Why is IPR protection necessary for the Indian Real Estate Industry?
- It encourages creativity and innovation in the industry: A sense of security is provided by IPs like copyrights and patents, which protect the creators of the work. There is a high presence of various unique designs which are made by the designers or the architects and engineers on the daily basis in the real estate industry; these can be protected with the help of IP rights and can motivate the creators of the work. The legal protection provided by various IPs help in encouraging the development in the industry like for example the development can be seen in methods of construction, building of different types of designs and other sustainable practices. These will in the end benefit the owners of the IP as their work will not be just unique but also protected legally from any infringement in future.
- Helps in attracting foreign investments:The Indian real estate industry attracts a lot of foreign investments. There has been an increase in the amount of the investment since last few years. The IP protection helps in providing the foreign investors an assurance that the project they are investing is protected legally and is a legitimate project. When a project is backed by the IP protection the investors will willing invest funds in the industry. IP protection will help in promoting an environment of trust and stability which will be an attractive for investors looking for investing opportunities in the real estate industry.
- Helps in preserving the marketing and branding efforts made: In any industry branding and marketing plays a very vital role. For establishing a strong place in the market branding and marketing are very important. Intellectual property rights help in protecting the logos, brand names, and symbols which stop others from adopting a similar to yours. This can also help in creating long term clientele and establishing a known and trusted brand identity.
Trademark and Indian real Estate Industry
What is a trademark?
Trademarks can be used to prevent the usage of a name of the company, names of the products, brands like as logos, as well as the slogans. Trademarks are used to avoid consumer confusion with items from other companies. A trademark ensures a brand’s legitimacy and helps it keep its individuality in the marketplace. Trademark owners have the legal right to prevent unauthorized 3rd parties from utilizing their trademarks to promote their goods or services. The only objectives here are the growth of the brand and fostering client trust. A trademark gives customers the idea that the products or services are linked to it. Customers can assume the quality of the products or services based on the value of the brand when they recognize the brand among the various other goods.
Trademark class 36
Multiple categories of different goods and services are created, and those categories are then divided up into distinct trademark classes. Each class that must be used to apply for or register a trademark corresponds to a certain type of products or services. The trademark’s Class 36 relates to real estate-related services.
Importance of Trademark in the Indian Real Estate Industry
- All partners benefit from a sense of assurance and confidence brought about by trademark registration.
- Brands with registered trademarks are valued by upstream and supply chain business partners because they reduce the possibility of future issues.
- A real estate company’s name frequently denotes the brand value of its product in terms of building quality.
- To prevent brand dilution, it is crucial that the registration be the same as a trademark.
- The building’s external design can also be trademarked since the need for graphical representation is also met.
Copyright and Indian Real Estate Industry
What is copyright?
A mechanism for protecting intellectual property is called copyright, and it often applies to written works, musical compositions, visual arts such as paintings and sculptures, volumes of poetry, screenplays, etc. It gives the only authority for the author of the work to explicitly copy, reproduce, or publish it in order to profit financially. It does not directly call for copyright registration.
Relation of Copyright and the Indian Real Estate Industry
The (Indian) Copyright Act, 1957[1] governs Indian copyright law. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886, and the Universal Copyrights Convention are both completely reflected in Indian law, which is on par with the international norms outlined in TRIPS and updated in 1999, 2002, and 2012, respectively.
Under the Act, a “work” is primarily defined as an original artistic creation, which may be
- A painting,
- A sculpture,
- A drawing which can include a map, a diagram, a plan or a chart,
- An engraving,
- A photograph,
- A piece of architecture or artistic craftsmanship,
- A play or a book,
- A computer program,
- A table or a compilation,
- A song, or a sound recording, or a motion picture.
Under Section 13 of the Copyright Act, architectural designs and individuals are protected in India. According to this, copyright laws may provide protection for architectural designs, buildings, and their drawings. The real estate business has the authority to copyright architectural plans, and blueprints, the design documents such as process protocols, adaptations, and elevations. This can also include BIM.
Patent, Industrial Design and Indian real Estate Industry
What are patent?
Inventions are shielded by patents. These discoveries might include brand-new, practical methods, tools, products, and material compositions, as well as their advancements. A patent is a privilege given for a brand-new, practical innovation. The only authority to commercially exploit an innovation for the duration of a registered patent belongs to its owner.
How do patents serve in the Indian real Estate Industry?
In essence, patents safeguard original, new innovations. Construction companies must preserve their ideas in order to maintain the competitive edge as they adopt new technologies and machinery. Whereas a utility patent safeguards a building’s design, a design patent safeguards its aesthetic elements. A design patent is given for innovations that result in a brand-new, innovative, and fundamental design for manufactured goods.
Conclusion
In conclusion, like any other industry intellectual property rights are also very significant for the Indian real estate industry. But we can observe that the awareness relating to the intellectual property rights is not very prominent in the real estate industry. There are many intellectual properties that can be used to protect stages and goods which are essential in the real estate industry. The real estate industry can use intellectual property rights like trademark, industrial design, patents and copyrights for their protection. In the current evolving landscape it is significant for the Indian real estate industry to protect their goods and services with intellectual property rights, this will support not just the innovation but also the development of the industry in the future years.
Frequently Asked Questions
The intellectual property rights in the real estates are: • With the help of trademark, the real estate owner can protect their business name as the graphical representation of their brands as well. • With the design, the building structures and its unique designs can be protected. • With the copyright, all the important plans and drawing which are utilized in the real estate industry can be protected. • Patent can protect the vital machines or any other raw materials used in the construction.
The intellectual property can provides the legal exclusive rights to the owner of the IP to deal with the work however they want and can safeguard their work for a predetermined amount of time. These rights can be exploited by the owner.
The five most common intellectual properties are: 1. Patent 2. Copyright 3. Trademark 4. Trade Secrets 5. Industrial Designs
• Encourages innovation and creativity • Protects the intellectual assets • Provides economic incentives • Consumer protection • Forster healthy competition • Technology transfer • International trade
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