IPR IN MANUFACTURING SECTOR

The manufacturing sector has been comprised of a group of diverse and highly innovative businesses and companies. This is the sector that has been undergoing changes and major transformations with respect to certain market forces, technological innovations, and other developments. With the recent advancements and trends, there are industries that have started adopting Intellectual Property Rights in their domains from protecting their products against any kind of infringement. Nowadays, every food processing unit, automobile industry, and the channels of media and entertainment have their own legal counsels specialized in the field of intellectual property rights. Now the question is Why do they have legal counsels specifically in the field of intellectual property rights? Subsequently, because they want their manufactured products, trademarks, and other rights subsisting originality to be protected.

In other words, intellectual property rights have been referred to as the system of rights which accords the owner or the proprietor with basic rights of exclusivity over their work with some forms of originality and creativity. These assets of creativity and originality contribute to the success of the business when these new products, innovations, creations, and inventions are protected through strong intellectual property rights. The domain of intellectual property rights includes within its ambit patents, trademarks, copyrights, goodwill, know-how, industrial designs, trade secrets, and geographical indications. Subsequently, there has been a set of valuable intangible assets which are owned and legally protected by manufacturing companies from any type of illegal use or exploitation. These rights have been mentioned as protective rights because they prevent any kind of replication, exploitation, piracy, or illegal use by potential companies.

The domain of intellectual property rights creates value for customers and businesses and helps in providing protection to the new products, innovations, techniques, and inventions with respect to manufacturing industries. These protective rights provide assistance for creating opportunities for both the stockholders and businesses for the purpose of investing in research and development that would be benefitting their creative activities. There are business manufacturing units that do not disclose their formulas so as to protect them from any kind of exploitation. For example, the popular brand of Coca-Cola involves a formula for its manufacturing, and the companies have protected their secret formula through the protection of trade secrets. Even though there has not been specific legislation pertaining to the protection of trade secrets, the unique example of Coca-Cola has been an exception, as the manufacturers provide protection to their formulas of trade secrets.

The introduction of smart contracts has also helped in creating new opportunities for further improving the process of protection to Intellectual property rights. The digitalization of technologies or the process of manufacturing is a necessity for ensuring the protection of intellectual property because it requires an analysis of more complex data. The manufacturing firms demand protection in terms of intellectual property rights for the purpose of saving their intangible assets. If the firms do not adopt protection for their innovations and products, then those new and original products would be easily available for copying, which would result in the distribution of those products by the third parties at a minimal marginal cost. For example, the brands such as Intel, Dell, Apple, Rolex, and many more can claim protection on their manufactured products by protecting the trade names and trademarks under the regime of the trademark. Under the regime of patents, the manufacturing pharmaceutical companies Lupin Limited, Paramo and Dr. Reddy, and Mankind can be provided protection on their new innovations as they possess the qualities of novelty, industrial use, and innovation.

Henceforth, it can be stated that the regime of trademarks, trade secrets, and patents have a huge relevance in the manufacturing sector in terms of providing protection to their respective manufactured and formulated products.