Intellectual Property Laws: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright and Designs
Part B of Paper 6 is this hub's only intellectual-property content, covering the four core IP statutes — patents, trademarks, copyright and designs — plus geographical indications as a related fifth right. Each statute has its own registering authority, its own eligibility test, and critically, its own term of protection — the single fact these five rights are most often mixed up on, and therefore the fact worth anchoring most precisely.
1. Patents Act, 1970
A patent protects a genuinely new invention, and is granted only where three conditions are all met: novelty (the invention is not already part of the "prior art" — publicly known anywhere in the world — as of the priority date), an inventive step (a technical advance that would not be obvious to a person skilled in the relevant field), and industrial applicability (the invention can actually be made or used in an industry).
Section 3 of the Act lists categories of subject matter that are not patentable even if otherwise novel and inventive — the most famous of these, Section 3(d), bars patents on the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance that does not enhance the substance's known efficacy, a provision specifically aimed at preventing pharmaceutical "evergreening" (extending patent protection by patenting minor variants of an existing drug).
A granted patent lasts 20 years from the date of filing, uniformly across every field of technology, with no extension mechanism for ordinary patents. Compulsory licensing under Section 84 becomes available 3 years after grant, allowing a third party to apply for a licence to work the patented invention where reasonable public requirements have not been satisfied, the invention is not available at a reasonably affordable price, or the patented invention has not been worked in India.
2. Trade Marks Act, 1999
A trademark protects a distinctive sign — word, logo, shape, or combination — used to distinguish one trader's goods or services from another's. Registrability turns on the mark being genuinely distinctive and not falling foul of the Act's bars: Section 9 (absolute grounds) excludes marks that are non-distinctive, purely descriptive, or deceptive; Section 11 (relative grounds) excludes marks that conflict with an earlier registered or well-known mark.
Trademark classification follows the international Nice Classification system — 45 classes, covering goods (classes 1-34) and services (classes 35-45), so a single mark can be registered separately, and independently, in each class relevant to the trader's actual business.
Registration is valid for 10 years, and — unlike a patent — is renewable indefinitely in successive further 10-year blocks, meaning trademark protection can in principle last forever, as long as the mark continues to be used and renewal fees are paid.
3. Copyright Act, 1957
Copyright protects original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, along with cinematograph films and sound recordings, automatically on creation — no registration is required for copyright to exist, although registration provides useful evidentiary benefits.
The term of protection differs by category of work, and this is the single most tested numeric fact in this chapter. For literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, the term is the life of the author plus 60 years, counted from the calendar year following the author's death — a figure raised from the original 50 years by the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, and unchanged since.
For anonymous or pseudonymous works, cinematograph films, sound recordings and photographs, the term is 60 years from the year of publication (rather than being tied to an author's lifespan at all, since these categories often have no single identifiable individual author, or the work is commercially/technically produced rather than personally authored).
4. Designs Act, 2000
A design registration protects the visual appearance of an article — its shape, pattern, ornamentation or configuration — as applied to that article, distinct from any protection of the article's underlying function (which would instead be a patent question, if patentable at all).
Design registration currently lasts for an initial period of 10 years, extendable by a further 5 years on renewal — 15 years total, the maximum available. A proposed reform under discussion would restructure this into a "5 + 5 + 5" renewable model (still totalling 15 years), but this restructuring is not yet enacted law — the current, correct answer to a term-of-protection question remains the 10-plus-5 structure.
5. Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999
A Geographical Indication (GI) protects the name of a product whose quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin — classic Indian examples include Basmati rice, Darjeeling tea and Banarasi sarees. The Act has been in force since 15 September 2003, and GI registration, like a trademark, is valid for 10 years and renewable perpetually in further 10-year blocks on payment of the renewal fee.
Worked Examples
Example 1. An inventor develops a genuinely new industrial process that is not obvious to a skilled practitioner and can be applied in manufacturing. Which three conditions must this invention satisfy to be patentable, and for how long, if granted, does the patent last?
Novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability — all three must be satisfied. If granted, the patent lasts 20 years from the date of filing, uniformly regardless of the field of technology.
Example 2. A pharmaceutical company seeks a fresh patent on a minor reformulation of an existing, already-patented drug, without demonstrating any enhancement to the drug's known therapeutic efficacy. Is this patentable under Indian law?
No — Section 3(d) of the Patents Act specifically bars patenting the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance unless it enhances the substance's known efficacy, a provision aimed precisely at preventing this kind of pharmaceutical "evergreening."
Example 3. A registered trademark owner wants to know how long the registration lasts, and whether it can ever expire permanently. Explain the position under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
Registration is valid for 10 years, but unlike a patent, it is renewable indefinitely in successive further 10-year blocks — so trademark protection does not have to expire permanently, and can in principle continue forever, provided the mark is used and renewal fees are paid.
Example 4. An author dies in 2026, having written a novel. Until what year does copyright protection for this novel last?
Until the end of 2086 — the term is the life of the author plus 60 years, counted from the calendar year following the author's death (2027), so protection runs through the end of 2086 (60 years after 2026).
Example 5. A film production company wants to know the copyright term for its cinematograph film, as distinct from a novel written by an individual author. Explain the difference and state the applicable term.
A cinematograph film's copyright term is 60 years from the year of publication, not life-of-author-plus-60 — this is because a film (like a sound recording or an anonymous/pseudonymous work) does not have a single identifiable individual author in the same sense a novel does, so the Act ties its term to publication rather than to an author's death.
Example 6. A company registers the visual shape and ornamentation of a new product under the Designs Act, 2000. What is the current maximum total duration of this protection, and is a proposed "5+5+5" alternative structure currently in force?
The current maximum total duration is 15 years — an initial 10-year period, extendable by a further 5 years on renewal. The proposed "5+5+5" restructuring (still totalling 15 years) has not yet been enacted, so the current, correct answer to a term-of-protection question is the 10-plus-5 structure, not the proposed alternative.
Example 7. A group of farmers wants to protect the name of a regionally distinctive agricultural product whose special quality is attributable to its specific place of origin. Which IP right applies, and how does its renewal structure compare to a trademark's?
A Geographical Indication (GI) under the GI Act, 1999 applies. Its renewal structure matches a trademark's — an initial 10-year registration, renewable perpetually in further 10-year blocks — unlike a patent (fixed 20 years, no renewal) or a design (maximum 15 years, no further renewal beyond that).
Summary
The Patents Act, 1970 protects genuinely novel, inventive, industrially applicable inventions for 20 years from filing, with Section 3(d)'s anti-evergreening bar and Section 84's compulsory-licensing route (available 3 years after grant) as the topic's most distinctive features.
The Trade Marks Act, 1999 protects distinctive marks (classified across 45 Nice classes) for a renewable 10-year term that can in principle last forever, while the Copyright Act, 1957 protects original works automatically on creation for life-of-author-plus-60-years (literary/dramatic/musical/artistic works) or 60-years-from-publication (films, sound recordings, anonymous/pseudonymous works, photographs) — the 60-year figure set by the 2012 amendment.
The Designs Act, 2000 protects an article's visual appearance for a maximum of 15 years (10 plus a 5-year renewal, with a "5+5+5" restructuring proposed but not yet law), and the GI Act, 1999 protects place-based product names on the same renewable 10-year structure as a trademark.
