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5. OTHER LAWS & REGULATIONS 5.1 Intellectual Property Rights( IPR)
IPR is a collective term and includes the following
• Patents
• Copyrights
• Trade Marks
• Registered Industrial Design
• Protection of Integrated Intellectual Design
• Geographical Indications
The IPR regime in India is essentially regulated through the following laws:
• The Patents Act, 1970
• The Patents( Amendment) Act, 1999
• Patents( Amendment) Act, 2002
• The Patents( Amendment) Ordinance 2004
• Patents( Amendment) Act, 2005
• The Patents( Amendment) Rules, 2006
• Copyright Act, 1957
• The Trade Marks Act, 1999
• The Design Act, 2000
• The Design Rules, 2001
• The Geographical Indication of Goods( Registration and Protection) Act, 1999
• Geographical Indications of Goods( Registration and Protection) Rules, 2002
Patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications are administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks which is under the control of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
5.2 Competition Act
The MRTP Act dealt with some issues of competition, antitrust and merger, but was too limited in the present scenario of liberalization and globalization. The main focus of the MRTP Act was to check the concentration of economic power with a few controlling monopolies and prohibit monopolistic and restrictive trade practices. The government of India enacted a modern competition law in the form of the Competition Act, 2002 and established the Competition Commission of India( CCI) to carry out the objectives of the Act. Once the Competition Act is enforced in totality, it would repeal the MRTP Act and would dissolve the MRTP Commission established under the MRTP Act.
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