MISUSE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS - IMPACT OF TRIPS

Intellectual Property is one of the properties entertained and exercised by human beings. Intellectual Property is a legal concept which refers to creations of the mind for which exclusive rights are recognized. The Intellectual Property Law protects the Intellectual Property owners from the infringement and counterfeiting. The recognition of these rights is a new trend. The most important feature of the property is that the owner or proprietor may use his property as he wishes and that nobody else can lawfully use his property. The main reason behind this is to give an incentive for innovation, research and development. In the absence of IPR protection, other firms would be able to take a free ride on the research and development investment made by the inventor firm. The Intellectual Property Laws work towards creating monopolistic rights. They guarantee an absolute right to the creators and owners of work which are a result of human artistry. Also, they prevent commercial exploitation of the innovation by others. IP protection provides incentives for innovation and technological diffusion. The implementation of Intellectual Property Rights has been recognized by more and more sections of the society as a result of the campaigns awareness programmes undertaken by the Government, industry and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The object of Intellectual Property Law is to protect the creator, inventor or author of an intellectual property. But, due to his monopolistic control over his invention could provide him an opportunity of tilting the market equilibrium, like fixing the price, dominating and exploiting the market understanding etc. The author considers that this may leads to unfair advantage to the Intellectual Property owners. The author tries to encapsulate various provisions in TRIPS to control misuse of Intellectual Property Rights that help in controlling, governing the possible misuse or over-use of these rights.