How Intellectual property Law Courses can Supercharge your law career

Intellectual property rights (IPR) are the intellectual rights related to intangible assets that belong to an individual or company and are protected from unauthorized use. Therefore, Intellectual property laws protect the owner of an idea from someone else using their ideas without permission. IPR allows creators of trademarks, patented inventions, or copyrights to profit from their creative efforts. More than 50 million patents are estimated to have been generated globally by 2021. The IPR industry is a billion-dollar industry with patents and intellectual property generating humungous revenues for corporations. Pharmaceutical patents provide billions of dollars in revenue; the Harry Potter series generates millions of dollars in royalties, and the trademarks of the biggest technology companies exceed $100 billion in value today. 

Today IPR field is growing exponentially; let’s delve a bit more into details about how this field is growing and how law professionals can opt for intellectual property law courses to give wings to their careers.

The growing importance of Intellectual Property Law

We are in an era of innovation. In 2020 alone, the number of patent applications worldwide exceeded 3.27 million. Intellectual Property Rights have great significance for economic development. Strict enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) significantly impacts economic growth. The IPR laws spur further innovation since they incentivize original creators by providing exclusive rights to their creations/innovations and protecting their interests. This encourages additional investment in research and information creation.

Developed nations like the US and Japan exemplify the value addition of intellectual property law, with economic growth increasing fivefold since introducing these laws.

Intellectual Property Rights in India

The Economic Survey 2020-21 states that the patent filing in the country increased by 30% between 2015 and 2019, whereas the number of grants increased by three times. Since the introduction of the Patents Act in the 19th century, there has been significant progress in the field. The first major step toward intellectual property rights was the signing of the TRIPS agreement in 1994, followed by the Madrid Protocol in 1996. 

Since the introduction of patent laws in the 19th century, the field of patents has progressed further. The first significant step toward intellectual property rights was the signing of the TRIPS agreement (The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) in 1994, followed by the Madrid Protocol (the primary international system for facilitating the registration of trademarks) in 1996. The Government also introduced the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy in 2016 to encourage creativity and entrepreneurship and to review and strengthen current intellectual property law. The Patents Amendment Rules 2020 (New Rules 2020) recently introduced new changes to the patent law.

Driving the innovation engine in the country through IPR

India is fast becoming the hub of R&D activities. According to a 2018 Centre for American Entrepreneurship (CAE) study, India ranks among the top three countries in start-up activity, after China and the United Kingdom. Five Indian companies also found a place amongst the top 100 most innovative companies list of Forbes in the same year. India is at number 46 in the world of innovation per the Global Innovation Index, 2021.

The strengthening of intellectual property rights (IPR) has become significant in providing impetus for policies such as Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. Such laws also offer greater protection for innovations, encouraging big and small corporations to embrace a culture of originality and invention.

Developing an IPR talent pool in the country

With the growing ambit of Intellectual Property Law in the country, there will be a need for a large pool of professionals to advise corporations and start-ups regarding managing their IPR. The expansion of the law and its growing complexity also requires practical training for professionals. New law students and expert lawyers can opt for intellectual property law courses to improve their career prospects.

An IPR lawyer can opt for various roles, including drafting, litigation, analytics, filing, prosecution, technology assessment, research, policy, teaching, and many more.

Benefits of opting for Intellectual Property Law Courses

Once you have decided to pursue this field, you need to create a basic understanding of the law. There are a lot of free internet resources to bring you up to speed with the basics. However, to become a strong professional in this field, you must opt for an intellectual property law course from a renowned academy. Such intellectual property law courses certifications are not only crucial for newbie lawyers. They are also critical for practicing lawyers to improve their skills by taking an intellectual property law course to protect their clients from patent or trademark abuse. Even entrepreneurs can opt for intellectual property law courses certification to better understand the law, protect their innovations, and even market them better.

If you are interested in learning more about this field, check out the intellectual property law courses at IALM.