INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR)

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): Like other forms of property, intellectual

property is also an asset which can be bought, sold, exchanged or gratuitously
given away. Owners of intellectual property also have the right to prevent the
unauthorized use or sale of their property.

According to The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

<http://www.wipo.int/>, “Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind:
inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs
used in commerce”.

Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property,

which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic
indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works
such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as
drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights
related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances,
producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their
radio and television programmes.

According to The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

<http://www.wipo.int/> “Copyright and related rights protect the rights of authors,
performers, producers and broadcasters, and contribute to the cultural and
economic development of nations. This protection fulfils a decisive role in
articulating the contributions and rights of different stakeholders and the relation
between them and the public. The purpose of copyright and the related rights is
twofold: to encourage a dynamic creative culture, while returning value to creators
so that they can lead a dignified economic existence, and to provide widespread,
affordable access to content for the public.”

Copyright is basically the individual right of an author to dispose of his / her

work in return for remuneration. According to Christopher Scarles, “subject to
certain exception, it is ownership of and right of control over all possible ways of
reproducing a work”.

1. International Context

a) Berne Convention: The international convention for protection of literary and

artistic works was first signed at Berne on 9th September, 1886, which later on
came to be known as “Berne Convention”. It guaranteed protection for the life of
the author plus fifty years after his death. The convention was revised and
amended more than seven times.Berne remained essentially European. It could not
attract the U. S. A. So, most civilized states except the U. S. became signatories to
it.

b) Universal Copyright Convention (UCC): In the early 1950s UNESCO set

about devising a union that would combine Berne and Montivideo convention and
the outcome was the establishment of Universal Copyright conventions in 1952. U.
S. joined it in 1955.

Paris Revision of 1971: In 1971 both Berne and UCC was revised. This is what
goes by the name of Paris revision of 1971. This has made some realistic
concession to the developing countries with regard to reproduction and translation
of material having great educational value.
c) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): The World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is
dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual
property (IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation and
contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest. WIPO
was established by the WIPO Convention in 1967 with a mandate from its Member
States (Till 2009 there were 184 Member States, i.e. over 90 percent of the
countries of the world) to promote the protection of IP throughout the world
through cooperation among states and in collaboration with other international
organizations. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

2. Indian Context: The earliest statutory law in India concerning copyright was
the Indian copyright of 1847 which was passed by the Governor General of India.
In 1911 the law of copyright was codified in England and was made applicable to
all Majesty’s dominions including India. The Governor General of India enacted
the Indian Copyright act of 1914 to make some modification to the provision of the
1911 Act. The copyright of 1914, granted copyright to an author for the whole of
his life and fifty years after his death.

The provision of the copyright act of 1914 were again modified after
independence and the copyright act which is in force even today was passed in the
Indian Parliament in 1957 and known as Copyright Act, 1957. The copyright act of
India of 1957 had been amended in August 1983 with the specific purpose of
incorporating the provisions of the Paris text of 1971 of the Berne convention
concerning the grant of compulsory licenses for translations and reproduction of
foreign work for educational purposes. The copyright was further amended in 1984
in order to overcome the problem of wide spread piracy in India. The act was
further modified in 1992 and 1994 (No. 38 of 1994). The Copyright (Amendment)
Act, 1999 officially published in: The Gazette of India, 30/12/1999, No. 49. In
accordance with the copyright act of 1957, a copyright office and a copyright
board were set up in New Delhi under the auspices of the Government of India of
which the copyright board serves as a civil court with the power of adjudicating
disputes arising out of claims and counter claims. The copyright board serves as a
civil court and its judgment can be challenged only in the high court of the area
and in no other lower court.

The legislation covering intellectual property rights in India are

i) Communication: Communication Bill, 2000;
ii) Copyright: The Copyright Act of 1957 (last amended in 1994);
iii) Designs: The Design Act 1911;
iv) Information Technology: Information Technology Act 2000;
v) Patent: The Patent Act 1970 (changes bought in 1994);
vi) Trade Mark: The Trade Merchandise Mark Act 1958, etc.

India signed the Berne convention in 1886 when it was part of the British
Empire. India also signed the Universal Copyright convention in 1952 of its own
choice as a free country.

3. Intellectual Freedom: According to American Library Association, every

individual has the right to both seek and receive information from all points of
view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas
through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be
explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive, and
disseminate ideas.

According to Canadian Library Association, the fundamental right is to have

access to all expressions of knowledge, creativity and intellectual activity, and to
express their thoughts publicly.
RESEARCH DESIGN

Research Design: Research design essentially refers to the plan or strategy of

shaping the research, or as Hakim (1987) puts it “design deals primarily with aim,
purposes, intentions and plans within the practical constraints of location, time,
money and availability of staff”.

a) Definition: According to Scltiz, Jahoda, Deutsch, and Cook “a research design

is an arrangement of the essential condition for collection and analysis of data in a
form that aims to combine relevance to research purpose with economy in the
procedure”.

Suchman has pointed out that “a research design is not a highly specific
plan to be followed without deviation, but rather a series of guide posts to keep one
handed in the right direction”.

Decision regarding what, where, when, how much by what means

concerning an enquiry or a research study constitute a research design. So a
research design or a plan is a tentative outline of the proposed research work. The
plan is not a very specific one. It is simply a set of guideline to keep the scholar on
the right track.

b) Need of Research Design: The need of research design are-

i) It may result in the desired type of study with useful conclusion;

ii) It reduces inaccuracy;
iii) Helps to get optimum efficiency and reliability;
iv) Minimize wastage of time;
v) Minimize uncertainty confusion and practical haphazard associated with any
research problem;
vi) Helpful for collection of research material and testing of hypothesis;
vii) It is a guide post for giving research a right direction.
c) Characteristic of Research Design: Some of the characteristics of research
design are-
i) Regularity: State character or fact of being regular.
ii) Verifiability: To ascertain text, the truth or accuracy of anything opens for
verification.
iii) Universality: A state or quality of being universal or general.
iv) Predictability: To predict or tell before with moderate accuracy.
v) Objectivity: Not subjective or unbiased.
vi) Systematization: In a coherent or orderly manner.
d) Components of Research Design: A practical research design has the
following steps, however these are not independent but rather they are
interdependent and overlapping in a sense.
i) Title of the Study: The title or name o topic of research should be brief. In order
to sharpen the focus if necessary a subtitle may be added to the main title.
ii) Stating Problem: Stating the problem which surrounds the specific problem will
provide a focus on the chosen topic for research.
iii) Review of Literature: A review of the literature should be made.
iv) Area and Scope of Study: The area and scope of the study should be stated.
v) Objectives of the Study: The objective of the study should be clearly mentioned.
vi) Formulation of Hypothesis: Though it is not mandatory a few hypothesis
should be taken.
vii) Definition of Concept and Terminology: The concept and terminologies likely
to be used in the research should be clearly defined.
viii) Methodology: There are several methods of investigation and collection of
materials. A researcher is free to adopt one or several method.
x) Determining Tools of Data Collection: Determining tools of data collection and
formulation of schedules or questionnaire.
x) Sampling Design: A complete coverage of the unit of the universe selected for
research is not possible. So, sampling design deals with the method of selecting
items to be observed for the given study. Sampling design means determining the
research participants.
xi) Determining Techniques for Data Analysis: The collected data should be
processed and organized.
xii) Limitation: Limitation in terms of gap in the data, sample should ascertain.
xiii) Interpretation of Results: The processed and organized data are interpreted
for drawing inferences.
e) Limitation of Research Design: The following are some of the limitations of
research design-
i) Non availability of sufficient data;
ii) Non availability of resources like money, manpower, etc.;
iii) Inadequate time in the formulation of research design;
iv) Poor skill and ability of the research scholar;
v) Unforeseen development during the course of design, which are uncontrollable
as well.
The research design is a tentative statement, so the design is subject to
change in the light of the material available or experience gathered while pursuing
the actual work.
Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis testing was introduced by Ronald Fisher, Jerzy Neyman, Karl
Pearson and Pearson’s son, Egon Pearson. Hypothesis testing is a statistical
method that is used in making statistical decisions using experimental data.
Hypothesis Testing is basically an assumption that we make about the population
parameter.
Key terms and concepts:
 Null hypothesis: Null hypothesis is a statistical hypothesis that assumes that
the observation is due to a chance factor. Null hypothesis is denoted by; H0:
μ1 = μ2, which shows that there is no difference between the two population
means.
 Alternative hypothesis: Contrary to the null hypothesis, the alternative
hypothesis shows that observations are the result of a real effect.
 Level of significance: Refers to the degree of significance in which we
accept or reject the null-hypothesis. 100% accuracy is not possible for
accepting or rejecting a hypothesis, so we therefore select a level of
significance that is usually 5%.
 Type I error: When we reject the null hypothesis, although that hypothesis
was true. Type I error is denoted by alpha. In hypothesis testing, the normal
curve that shows the critical region is called the alpha region.
 Type II errors: When we accept the null hypothesis but it is false. Type II
errors are denoted by beta. In Hypothesis testing, the normal curve that
shows the acceptance region is called the beta region.
 Power: Usually known as the probability of correctly accepting the null
hypothesis. 1-beta is called power of the analysis.
 One-tailed test: When the given statistical hypothesis is one value like H0:
μ1 = μ2, it is called the one-tailed test.
  Two-tailed test: When the given statistics hypothesis assumes a less than or
greater than value, it is called the two-tailed test.
Statistical decision for hypothesis testing:
In statistical analysis, we have to make decisions about the hypothesis. These
decisions include deciding if we should accept the null hypothesis or if we should
reject the null hypothesis. Every test in hypothesis testing produces the
significance value for that particular test. In Hypothesis testing, if the significance
value of the test is greater than the predetermined significance level, then we
accept the null hypothesis. If the significance value is less than the predetermined
value, then we should reject the null hypothesis. For example, if we want to see
the degree of relationship between two stock prices and the significance value of
the correlation coefficient is greater than the predetermined significance level, then
we can accept the null hypothesis and conclude that there was no relationship
between the two stock prices. However, due to the chance factor, it shows a
relationship between the variables.