UNIT 4

TEXT 4.1 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

Industrial property has long been recognized and used by industrialized countries, and is being used by an ever increasing number of developing countries, as an important tool of technological and economic development. Many developing countries are aware that it is in their best interest to establish national industrial property systems where they do not exist, and to strengthen and upgrade existing systems which, inherited from their historical past, are no longer adequately responding to new needs and priorities.

The term “industrial property” was first used in the French law and was defined as the type of ownership of an invention and trademark. The object of regulation of industrial property rights in accordance with Article 996 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus is relations arising from the creation and use of inventions, utility patents, industrial designs, plant patents and the trade secrets protection (know-how), means of individualization of participants in civil turnover, goods, works, services (commercial names and designations, trademarks and service marks, geographical indications).

Industrial property can be divided into two main areas:

•One area can be characterized as the protection of distinctive signs, in particular trademarks (which distinguish the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings) and geographical indications (which identify a good as originating in a place where a given characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin). The protection of such distinctive signs aims to stimulate and ensure fair competition and to protect consumers, by enabling them to make informed choices between various goods and services. The protection may last indefinitely, provided the sign in question continues to be distinctive.

•Other types of industrial property are protected primarily to stimulate innovation, design and the creation of technology. In this category fall inventions (protected by patents), industrial designs and trade secrets. The social purpose is to provide protection for the results of investment in the development of new technology, thus giving the

43

incentive and means to finance research and development activities. A functioning intellectual property regime should also facilitate the transfer of technology in the form of foreign direct investment, joint ventures and licensing. The protection is usually given for a finite term (typically 20 years in the case of patents).

Industrial property rights make it possible for the creators of innovations (goods, processes, apparatus, etc.) to establish themselves more readily, to penetrate new markets with a minimum of risk, and to amortize the investments made in the research that led to the innovations in the first place. In a practical sense, these innovations become the spearhead of some of the most advanced technology. This is becoming more and more apparent in a modern world increasingly dominated by technology.

45

Vocabulary

I.Answer the following questions.

1.What is “industrial property”?

2.Where was the term “industrial property” first used?

3.Into what areas can industrial property be divided?

4.What opportunities do industrial property rights provide for the creators of innovations?

II. Match the words with their definitions.