"INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPRs)
"IPRs rights refer to the property that is a creation of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. About a century ago, Paterson J said {University of London vs. University of Tutorial Process Ltd. 1916(2) Ch 601},
'What is worth copying, is prima facie worth protecting'
This is the genesis of all intellectual property rights.
"These rights are of various kinds but IPRs. The computer industry is affected by the following areas of IPRs:
"Copyright
Undisclosed Information or Trade Secret
Patents
Trademarks
Layout - designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits
"The first three have an impact on computer software. The fourth one (trademarks) and the fifth one (layout-designs) are more relevant to the Internet and to computer hardware respectively rather than to computer software. The three that have an impact on the computer software are broadly:"
