Intellectual Property Law in England Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Intellectual Property Law in England - Essay Example However, it is essential to note that the legal relationships between different objects, individuals, and the state are not easily justifiable. According to Ayn Rand (1966), he states, "patents are the heart and core of property rights, and once they are destroyed, the destruction of all other property rights will follow automatically, as a brief postscript.†1 Over the years, intellectual property has continuously changed to a widespread and significant form of ownership title. There is also the introduction of ‘Post Industrial Society’ identified in Naisbitts text Megatrends.2 This scenario has caused a strain on customs and laws that have been enacted to protect intellectual property since many industries are indulging into manufacturing and manipulation of the existing goods to enable use of information, which in turn liberates the production. The presence of immensely enhanced information-handling technologies combined with the huge role information is providin g in our society there is a lot of theft or piracy of information. This leads us to the issue of Patent, Copyright, and trade secrets, which have led to numerous suits in academic, and several industries. The public has, therefore shown a lot of concern over the validity of intellectual property institutions. ... Intellectual Property Law in England Intellectual Property Rights can be defined as the rights given to a person over what is usually a unique creation of their own minds. The creator is given exclusive rights to use this creation for a given period. This law encapsulates a whole range of intangible assets, which include music, Assets, artistic work, discoveries, and even factory trade secrets. The law is there to avoid infringement of these rights by other parties for personal benefit while at the same time maintaining the competitiveness of the market. Introduction of these laws has brought about many disputes in the business world. Some of the cases that are leading in the English law that deal with copyright law include Exxon Corp. v. Exxon Insurance Consultants International Ltd..4 In this case, the court ruled that a name invented or otherwise, does not incorporate a copyright and an infringement to a trademark can only occur when the infringing party actively takes part in the market segment. Another important case is Kenrick v. Lawrence 5 In this case; the courts laid out the extent for which a work is granted copyright protection and it also indicated the point where expression converts to an idea in which case the latter is not protected, but the expression is protected. There are several other laws such as Aerotel v Telco and Macrossan's Application6 and that the English uses for reference in deciding cases that are related to intellectual property. The British Statute of Anne7 was the first statute established to regulate copyright through the courts and the government instead of being governed by private parties.