Intellectual Property and its Emerging Protection Through Cyber Security

Abstract

Intellectual Property can be explained that any property which is created from the consumption of the human intellect. The increasing use of the internet raises concerns regarding the security of intellectual property rights, which is crucial in the current environment. The massive expansion of infrastructure required for Internet availability is currently unaffected by the nation, so this requirement can be achieved in a few years. Everyone in the world has access to the internet.

This research paper explains the Intellectual Property by:

• Understanding of Intellectual Property
• Relation between Intellectual Property and Cyber Space
• Challenges of Intellectual Property Protection in Cyber Space
• Role of Cyber Security in Protecting Intellectual Property
• Emerging Protection in Intellectual Property through Cyber Security

The research paper discusses about how to secure intellectual property through cyber security with the growing globalisation and industrialization, as well as the rising technological invention and the authorised protection of artistic creation by the creators. 

Keywords: Intellectual Property, Copyright, Patent, Trademark, Trade Secrets, Cyber Security

Introduction

In the era of digital world where all the information and intellectual property is accessible to anyone in just one single click the emerging threat of getting hacked is increasing rapidly. The rise of the digital platforms and the digital content which is attainable on these platforms surges the infringement of an individual intellectual property. The content of various kind including elements of copyright, trademark and patent became easily available to one and all across digital platforms, on the other, there arose instances of violation of intellectual property owing to theft of such content which in turn resulted in complications of piracy and infringement of the rights accruing from such intellectual properties.[1]

Cyber theft is also one of the unforeseen outcomes to feasible accessibility and exposure to vast digital content. Hence, protecting Intellectual Property has become quite challenging due to the availability of vast amount of information which is available and shared in the online world. As a result, the evolving field of Intellectual Property has made it essential for the protection through Cyber Security.

Research Methodology

The researcher has selected to describe the comprehensive subject with the relation of the Intellectual Property and Cyber Security and its protection with the evolving digital technologies which can be prevented from infringement of property and cyber-crime.

In this methodology primary sources are the books on Intellectual Property Rights, Cyber Security and also various author’s review who has been given many thoughts on the relation between Intellectual Property and Cyber Security.

Secondary sources are the website, magazines, blogs etc. these sources explain the recognition of the Intellectual Property which fundamentality is associated with Cyber Laws. Also, Cyber Security for the protection of such Intellectual Property which liberate to foster creativity and innovation.

Review of Literature

Intellectual property is the innovative work of the human intellect. A right to intellectual property is an invisible/intangible right to a product of a man’s brain such as a new invented product i.e., property of the mind as against a right for material things/tangibles i.e., goods such as a right to the invented goods. An intellectual property is at times described as knowledge goods.[2] Intellectual Property provides certain exclusive rights to the proprietor of the intellectual property. The Intellectual Property Laws and various associated laws guarantees the owner that their rights over such intellectual property is not violated or exploited by using inappropriately.

The Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)1995, the agreement sets the minimum standards to be approved by the members. Members had the freedom to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the agreement under the legal system and practices. The TRIPs lay down precise provisions relating to the scope and terms of the IDR and the rights accruing to the right holder, as well as minimum standard and norms for the enforcement of those rights.[3]

There are various intellectual properties that are recognized by the members of the TRIPs Agreement. These are the following:

• Patent: It is a form of intellectual property that can be issued or given to the creator for any scientific invention. Here, the scientific invention is a scientist discovery. This discovery is basically an invention rather than the realisation of something already existing. Patents in the aspect of technology can be owned by the individual and they can restrict the accessibility of other individual to the technology without prior authorization

• Trademark: A trademark is any mark which represents the manufactured product used for trade. The objective of the trademark is to help the consumer differentiate between products of similar nature. Mark can be of different types such as device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, words, letters, numerals, shape of goods, packaging or combination of colours.
• Geographical indications: The goods which are naturally found, cultivated or manufactured in a particular region or locality and these goods have certain characteristics such as aroma, taste or some specific quality. Geographical Indications is an indication which identifies such goods which is either manufactured or originated from the certain locality or region that has reputation or other characteristics.

• Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits: It is a form of intellectual property recognized by the TRIPs Agreement under Section 6 that specifies the protection of layout designs of integrated circuits globally. As the computer software technologies are rapidly growing the hardware designing has also taken up its roots for development with Intellectual Property. The Layout Designs and Integrated Circuit should be creation of individual original work.

• Trade secrets: It is important information an individual holds about the employed organization relating to manufacture, management, or administration. This trade secret may protect the organization from unfair competitiveness between their rivalry. Commercially trade secrets plays a vital role in the growth of the business. Breach of the trade secret by an individual results in violation of intellectual property. Confidentiality of such secret is to be protected for unfair commercial usage.

• Copyrights: It protects the individual creation of artistic and literary work. Objective of copyright law is to protect the individual’s right for their creation of the original work and to prevent the exploitation and unauthorised usage of the creative work. Copyright law balances between public interest and digital environment to protect the creation of the author, composer, artist, designer, etc. In the digital age the infringement of such copyright occurs when an individual illegally downloads songs, videos, video games and digital content for improper use.

Salmond says, the unnatural product of a man’s brains may be as valuable as his hands or his goods. The law, therefore, gives him a proprietary right in it.[4] Intellectual Property Rights encourages economic, social, scientific and cultural development in a society for promoting individual for the creation and innovation of technologies. Hence, with the latest technological adoption the interrelation between intellectual property rights and cyber law is rapidly developing.

• Intellectual Property and Cyber Space

The interrelation between Intellectual Property and Cyberspace is not simple and it changes with the evolving nature of technology and creativity in the digital age. Cyberspace, which includes the interconnection of computer networks and digital content creation has significantly impacted the creation, protection, and enforcement of intellectual property. Some of the relationship between intellectual property and cyberspace are as follows:

1. Digital Creation and Distribution: The virtual evolution has altered how highbrow creations are produced, shared, and accessed. Cyberspace provides a platform for creators to distribute their work efficiently. Digital content along with e-books, song, software, and videos can be easily allotted across the territory.

2. Challenges of Enforcement: The worldwide nature of cyberspace creates problems for the software of intellectual belongings rights across all the territory. Digital piracy, counterfeiting, and unauthorized distribution of copyright paintings has come to be a critical problem. Intellectual Property owner regularly conflict to tune and take felony motion in opposition to infringement of rights because of these activities that could arise in numerous territories simultaneously. 

3. Digital Piracy and Copyright Infringement: Cyberspace has given rapid rise to digital piracy, in which copyrighted content is unlawfully reproduced, dispensed, or accessed online. File-sharing systems, torrent web sites, and social networking websites have made it less complicated for customers to get admission to and distribute copyrighted fabric without right authorization, without thinking about the financial pursuits of creators and copyright holders.

4. Online Platforms and Intellectual Property Protection: Online systems and social media have become area for Intellectual Property protection and infringement. Platforms should stability between man or woman original content material and preventing copyright violations. Some systems have automated content material recognition structures to locate and deal with copyright infringement.

5. E-Commerce and Trademarks: The boom of e-commerce in cyberspace promotes speedy improvement of trademarks. Domain name disputes, trademark infringement in online marketplace structures are challenges confronted with the aid of the trademark in our on-line world.

6. Domain Name Disputes: Domain names are important to online identity and branding. Cybersquatting a form of trademark infringement entails registering domains just like hooked up logos to earn profit from the situation.

7. Cybersecurity and Trade Secrets: Protecting change secrets and techniques and private statistics is essential in our on-line world. Business businesses need to enforce cybersecurity measures to save you unauthorized get entry to, robbery of treasured exchange secrets and private information.

8. Blockchain and Intellectual Property Management: Emerging technologies like blockchain provide potential answers for highbrow assets control. Blockchain is a generation that transfers value to the people in community. Blockchain makes use of the financial price as a commodity.

As technology continues to advance, new problems and opportunities for intellectual property in cyberspace will emerge. The rise of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual reality may impact creation, enforcement, and protection of intellectual property. Hence, the relationship between intellectual property and cyberspace is continuously evolving. The emerging opportunities for creativity and innovation poses significant challenges for the protection of intellectual property rights.

• Challenges of Intellectual Property Protection in Cyber Space

1. Data Breaches and Hacking: Data breaches and hacking targets intellectual property that poses grave pitfalls to invention, business competitiveness, and the overall digital frugality. Similar attacks involve unauthorized access, theft, or manipulation of valuable intellectual property means, including patents, copyrights and trade secrets. Breach of intellectual property can give researcher with inside information, development, newly discovered inventions which might give a competitive edge to the other association. It can also lead to fiscal losses, change in market share and decreased revenue due to fake products or pirated content.

2. Online Piracy and Counterfeiting: Online pirating means unauthorized usage of some other existent’s copyright work by sharing and consuming the content it includes music, video, software, books, digital artwork, etc. Counterfeiting means manufacturing of the product without the authorization and violating the rights of the proprietor in such a way that its resemblance is nearly identical. Justice Pratibha M. Singh of Hon’ble Delhi Court in Sirona Hygiene Private Limited vs. Parulben Navnath Chothani Trading as Shiv Enterprise &Ors[5]., stated, “The sale of fake/ knock- off products has come on the internet and needs to be arrested in order to cover the possessors of the trademarks as also the customer who buy these products.”

3. Bigwig pitfalls: Whistleblowing is a simpler term for Bigwig pitfalls. The workers of the association are frequently revealed with the sensitive information about the business which they’re generally obliged to keep them confidential. It refers to the pitfalls held by an existent within association who has legal access to sensitive Intellectual Property means possessed by the association which could be misused or exploited by them for unauthorized conduct. These pitfalls include the confidentiality, integrity, and financial value of intellectual property, leading to fiscal, reputational, and legal consequences faced by the association.

• Role of Cyber Security in Protecting Intellectual Property

The rising technological generation brings out pivotal need of protecting Intellectual Property means as it could imminence the possessors right. With digitalization, the protection of valuable creations, inventions, and non-public information should be priorly defended for the interest of individualities, businesses, and governments. Cybersecurity takes measures similar as firewalls, discovery system and access controls to help unauthorized individualities from gaining access to sensitive information. Also, it helps to cover to maintain the confidentiality of confidential information.

Encryption and Access Control is one of the measures taken by the cyberspace to cover Intellectual Property. To apply encryption ways which can protect the intellectual property from unauthorized access and help from violation of rights. In this only the authorities and have the access to the information and they can change it or modernize it consequently, others don’t have the liberty to pierce similar contentions without previous authorization.

The IDS or Intrusion Detection System and Firewalls are the monitoring software system that can descry similar unauthorized access in retrieve the information. These systems continuously observe the network and detect any unauthorized consumption of the Intellectual Property. Firewalls are the software that is a security system which prevents similar unauthorized access and suspicious exertion from precluding any kind of content which can be caused by similar crimes. Another one of the measures is a Secure of file Transfer. It’s one of the software programs which makes use of certain rules for a covered document sharing along with Secure train Transfer Protocol (SFTP) or Virtual Private Network (VPN) to partake similar confidential files. Educating the business enterprise and their associates which include all of the workers, cybersecurity and its practices, social pitfalls, and the significance of securing intellectual property which is likely to help the bigwig pitfalls and mortal crimes.

• Emerging Protection of Intellectual Property through Cyber Security

The developing technologies and globalization have a positive effect on the growth of Innovation and creation new technology in Intellectual Property. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine literacy is one of the arising ways to protect Intellectual Property from some of the misuse, violation and illegal use of the property. There’s no universal description of artificial intelligence. AI is generally considered to be a discipline of computer wisdom that’s aimed at developing machines and systems that can carry out tasks considered to bear mortal intelligence. Machine literacy and deep literacy are two subsets of AI. In recent times, with the development of new neural networks ways and tackle, AI is generally perceived as a reverse for “deep supervised machine literacy”.[6]

Systems that use artificial intelligence (AI) may examine enormous quantities of data to find patterns and abnormalities, aiding in the early identification of probable contraventions or cyber pitfalls in intellectual property. These patterns identify the violation with the help of Machine Learning algorithm to ameliorate the accuracy of intrusion detection system. Artificial Intelligence can help the patent examiner to assay the patented invention. Machine Learning can help with the patent operation and help the examiner in relating any violation to compare from all the formerly issued patent under the authorities. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning helps the innovator and the protection of similar intellectual property to assay, assess, and help from abuse of the technologies and creation. It’s important to note that Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning give multitudinous openings to intellectual property, there also are situations and issues to deal which includes the records sequestration, bias in algorithms, and the capability for process relegation. As generation maintains to boost, the interrelation of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Intellectual Property is probable to produce new openings for invention and safety with the developing world.

Blockchain technology can also potentially assist with creating a register of unregistered Intellectual Property rights such as unregistered design rights and copyright as it can easily provide evidence of the time of creation, rights management information (if applicable) and jurisdictional requirements.[7] Blockchain technology helps with the enrolment of design and trademarks to minimize the procedures and lengthy process. When a trademark operation fails to demonstrate that the mark is distinctive by nature, for in case, it’ll be essential to show that the mark has come distinctive through operation. Substantiation and information of the factual operation of a trademark in trade, as well as the frequency of similar use, could be fluently participated and made accessible on a blockchain, assuming the necessary changes in law were made to allow similar use to be added to and recorded on the sanctioned register, for illustration. It would save a lot of time and money if trademark possessors agreed to make this data accessible to the public.

Hence, the necessity to protect and help the abuse of the digital content and all the vast copyrighted information available by the authors on social networking point consequently, Cyber Laws were formed to direct the consumer from misappropriate operation. Emendations in the Cyber laws with arising technological invention in Intellectual Property secures the formulators and generators right available to them granted under Intellectual Property Rights. Due to the mindfulness, reach, and vastness of cyberspace, content on the internet, particularly that containing intellectual property, needs to be fully shielded in order to avoid or remedy any abuse. Technology advancements have increased the possibility for new issues to arise, which could lead to for strict regulations and laws in order to guarantee equal treatment for all parties involved. Presently, before than ever, cyberspace needs to be constrained by accurate legal regulations. In India, with the growth of private sectors the challenges are continuously arising with every newer technology patented and promoted in the request to the buyers. 

Method

All the study and research on the topic is purely based on prominent content that has taken form books on Intellectual Property Rights, Cyber Laws, Cyber Security, blog, and many other sites that have relevant content related to this topic.

Suggestion

With the enormous rise in the technological advancement in the Cyberspace and Intellectual Property Right have a rising interrelation to protect the inventors and creators. Digital globalization has linked the people all around the world through information and communication technology.

• There is a need to bring more stringent laws to protect the inventors of the technology and the creators to prevent the misappropriate usage of their intellectual property without their authorization. It can harm the inventors and creators monetary, reputational, misuses any many more.

• The relation between Cyberspace and Intellectual Property should be promoted amongst all the people around the world and all of them should be enlighten about the progress it brings to the society.

Conclusion

In this research the relation of the Intellectual Property and Cyber Security is explained to understand the need to enlighten the advanced technologies which is a blessing the people for protecting their hard work and efforts. Along with that the cybercrimes it brings in the society are aimed to be eliminated with all the protection emerged such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain technology, Intrusive Detective System, Firewall, etc., to prevent the misappropriate consumption of their intellectual property. Cyberspace is a futuristic world that is realistic and dynamic while technically only existing in computer memory. In cyberspace, one can communicate with new people, read, write, learn, watch videos, look at art, buy and sell products, investigate government documents, send e-mails, download apps, and obtain technical support. Cyberspace is an evolving entity that is always changing as more content is posted, accessed, and as more individuals join the pioneers of this brave new era.

Shweta Divedi

Sinhgad Law College, Pune

---

[1] Somu, C.S. (2006) ‘Intellectual property rights in Cyberspace’, Paradigm, 10(1), pp. 62–68. doi:10.1177/0971890720060110.

[2] Ahuja, V.K., Intellectual Property Rights In India. 2015th edn.

[3] Bhandari, M.K. Law Relating to Intellectual Property Rights. 2021st edn. CLP’s.

[4] Salmond: Jurisprudence, p. 422

[5] CS (COMM) 260/2022

[6] https://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/frontier_technologies/ai_and_ip.html

[7]Blockchain: Transforming the registration of IP rights and strengthening the protection of unregistered IP rights, WIPO Magazine