Month: May 2010

It is widely believed that marketing, no matter what product or services, is one of the most challenging, daring and demandingly creative professions in the world. It is not an easy job to keep track of your customers needs, demands, and on many occasions their whims and fancies. An organization also has to keep in mind its own limitations and develop upon its strengths to have a comprehensive marketing procedure in place.

The presence of high end technology in our present day world and its effective application in the sales and marketing solutions of an organization has made the cumbersome and laborious task of marketing a lot easier. Software like sales CRM software, sales force automation, and sales software have proven to be of tremendous value in the entire marketing strategy of organizations.

The needs, demands and requirements of customers cannot be understood only in terms of technology though. Sales CRM or customer relationship management encompasses a whole gamut of information like customer’s behavior, responsiveness, marketing trends, marketing effectiveness and sales along with the technological components like sales force automation, sales software and sales CRM software. There are some of the finest organizations present on the web that provide business CRM solutions to the companies that are properly focused on their marketing methodologies. These organizations can offer some of the most cost effective, real time applicable, and sales process driven CRMs that are equitably focused on the latest technological tools available to correctly monitor your sales. The CRM solutions offered by these companies have the capability to put you in command of all your sales processes.

A fine blend of human intelligence and technical marvels like sales force automation, sales software and sales CRM software has the ability of making your sales process more manageable, effective, and productive.

The car hire industry has long been viewed as somewhat of a dinosaur in terms of technological development and implementation. Many will remember booking a hire car for their holiday only to find a spluttering little ‘box on wheels’ that is just as likely to break down than get you from A to B. Things are changing however, the industry has recognised the importance of providing quality car hire options for travellers.

A major influence on the car hire industry has been the increasing concerns over global warming and the effect we are having upon the planet. Through more efficient technologies the industry has been striving to produce rental options that will appeal to customers with an environmental conscience. This is not all car hire firms; many have not taken environmental concerns on board, but there are a number of companies who are actively changing the way they operate to meet the demands of the ever-growing environmentally friendly market.

Most obviously car hire companies can adopt an eco-friendly strategy that involves the introduction of hybrid cars in rental fleets. Whilst these cars are definitely the right way to go, many commentators have criticised this as a half measure and questioned the viability of hybrid cars as a long term solution to the problem of emissions. There are also the effects that hybrid cars using bio-fuels are having on wheat production and the cost of wheat worldwide. With a limit on good arable land it is unsurprising that many have questioned the logic of using foodstuffs as a major fuel, surely at some point a Malthusian standpoint must be taken and the resources at our disposal must be measured efficiently.

Other technologies introduced by some forward thinking car hire companies are a changing in the way rates are applied. For instance some companies have started to charge on an hourly rather than daily basis. This means that a customer who only has to drive a short distance, for instance to pick up their own car, only needs to hire the car for an hour. While the company may well lose some profits, it is possible to reduce the time any car spends on the road with this method and hence reduce both congestion and emissions.

Car hire companies are also rapidly introducing black box recorders to their fleets. This is a technology that through GPS tracking can ascertain where a car is at any one moment. This is a strategy that hopes to limit the amount of cars lost to theft whilst also picking up on customers who break speeding regulations whilst hiring a car. This is essentially a protective measure to ensure that car hire fleets remain in good condition and are not damaged by excessive driving. It does however raise a privacy argument as nobody really appreciates having a company know of their whereabouts at all times.

Another protective measure introduced by car hire companies has been the recording of biometric data from customers. In collaboration with local police forces, procedures are now in place at many desks to record a thumbprint of a customer ensuring an electronic record is taken of their details. This has predominantly been a response to high numbers of thefts by organised crime syndicates who use false documents to hire cars. The recording of thumbprints means that if a theft does occur it is possible to hand over the information to the police and speed up any tracing procedures.

The introduction of technology in the car hire industry can be seen as a twofold approach. Firstly the industry is trying to move away from the gas guzzling image for a more eco-friendly perspective. The second approach is utilising new technologies to safeguard fleets. With firms increasingly being targeted by organised criminals this is an unsurprising development to protect their investments. New technology will hopefully lead to an industry that is both secure for the firms and also friendly to the environment.

Too often we think about gadgets like small devices made for us to have fun: mp3 players, cell phones, PDA’s, music players. So we forget about the ones made to help people and really change their life.
This article is about the gadgets that improve people life and aren’t so known as party and funny gadgets. I’m going to talk about the gadgets built for people with disabilities, devices that help this people to have a better life. The majority of these gadgets are made for the blinds so I will start with those.

Electronic eyes
This high-tech device recognizes the white stripes of a pedestrian crosswalk and reads traffic lights could tell a blind person when it’s safe to cross the street. The electronic eyes are being developed at Kyoto Institute of Technology.

Braille PDA’s and computers
The Braille Display allows blind users to use standard computers or PDA devices. The Braille gadgets use refreshable Braille displays, which raise small dots through holes in a flat surface to create Braille that refreshes as the user inputs commands. So a blind person will be able to play music, read books, take notes, making presentations or reviewing/editing documents.

PC with a screen reader
Screen readers access information displayed on computer monitors and interpret that information via text-to-speech output. This software must be used along with text to speech synthesizers to allow the blinds to use the computer easy.IBM offers Home Page Reader, special software to read and navigate Web pages for those who are blind.

Cell phone with Talks software
Talks software was created by Cingular Wireless. With it a blind person will have full access to the capabilities of the cell phone using only his voice.

Other usual gadgets for blinds are: Braille and talking clocks, Braille color-identification labels for clothing, tactile writing and signature guides, talking calculators and magnifiers.

For deaf persons there are several helpful gadgets which I will tell you about.
Portable amplifiers
These are small devices that can be easily carried and they are used to provide increased sound amplification.

Telecommunication devices
The telecommunication devices for deaf have typewriter keyboards, and the typed conversation appears either in a readout display or on paper.

Telecaption Adapters
The adapter is attached to television set. These enable viewers to read captions on their television screen.

Alerting gadgets
Now a deaf person can know when someone knocks at the door, when the baby is crying or the telephone is ringing. All these are possible because of the alerting systems. An alerting system for deaf will send a signal if: the baby is crying, the doorbell rings, telephone rings, the smoke alarm systems is on, the security alarms or the wake up alarm was started. The signal may be visual (a flashing light); auditory (an increase in amplification); or vibrotactile.

For the ones without hands or fingers there are some new gadgets designed to improve their life.

X-Finger
X-Finger is medical gadget replaces lost fingers created by Dan Didrick. X-Finger is a non-robotic prosthetic finger, or set of multiple fingers, with a full range of motion, including being able to curl like normal fingers.

The Bionic Hand
The Bionic Hand was created by David Gow. It is unique because thumb and fingers can move and grip just like a human hand and it is unique because it is uses patients mind and muscles control the movements.

So when you hear the word gadgets don’t think only to a device to have fun with, think about devices that improve people life, especially the ones with disabilities.

 

Software testing is the process used to measure the quality of developed computer software. Usually, quality is constrained to such topics as correctness, completeness, security, but can also include more technical requirements as described under the ISO standard, such as capability, reliability, efficiency, portability, maintainability, compatibility, and usability. Testing is a process of technical investigation, performed on behalf of stakeholders, that is intended to reveal quality-related information about the product with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate.

Today, software has grown in complexity and size. The software product developed by a developer is according to the System Requirement Specification. Every software product has a target audience.

There are many approaches to software testing, but effective testing of complex products is essentially a process of investigation, not merely a matter of creating and following routine procedure.

Software Testing Axioms

It is impossible to test a program completely.
Software testing is risk based exercise.
Testing can’t show that bugs dont exist.
The more bugs you find, the more bugs there are.
Not all the bugs you find will be fixed.
Product specifications are never final.

Levels of testing

Unit testing tests the minimal software component, or module. Each unit (basic component) of the software is tested to verify that the detailed design for the unit has been correctly implemented. In an Object-oriented environment, this is usually at the class level, and the minimal unit tests include the constructors and destructors.
Integration testing exposes defects in the interfaces and interaction between integrated components (modules). Progressively larger groups of tested software components corresponding to elements of the architectural design are integrated and tested until the software works as a system.
Functional testing tests at any level (class, module, interface, or system) for proper functionality as defined in the specification.
System testing tests a completely integrated system to verify that it meets its requirements.
System integration testing verifies that a system is integrated to any external or third party systems defined in the system requirements.
Acceptance testing can be conducted by the end-user, customer, or client to validate whether or not to accept the product. Acceptance testing may be performed as part of the hand-off process between any two phases of development. See also Development stage

Alpha testing is simulated or actual operational testing by potential users/customers or an independent test team at the developers’ site. Alpha testing is often employed for off-the-shelf software as a form of internal acceptance testing, before the software goes to beta testing.

Beta testing comes after alpha testing. Versions of the software, known as beta versions, are released to a limited audience outside of the company. The software is released to groups of people so that further testing can ensure the product has few faults or bugs. Sometimes, beta versions are made available to the open public to increase the feedback field to a maximal number of future users.

Not all errors or defects reported must be fixed by a software development team. Some may be caused by errors in configuring the test software to match the development or production environment. Some defects can be handled by a workaround in the production environment. Others might be deferred to future releases of the software, or the deficiency might be accepted by the business users.

SehelSoft’s experienced team can develop high quality Software Applications based on Visual Basic, ASP.Net and PHP with MS SQL Server, MySQL, MS Access databases.

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Encyclopedia

The expression, ‘intellectual property’ has come to be internationally recognized as covering mainly two branches, namely; ‘industrial property’ and ‘copyright’. Patents, industrial designs and trade marks used to be considered as different kinds of industrial property. In Bangladesh (during the time of the then British regime), the first legislation of its kind, on copyright was introduced in 1914, which was mainly based on the British Copyright law of 1911. After the independence from Britain new law on copyright was promulgated in 1962. The Copyright Ordinance 1962 has been replaced by the new copyright act of 2000. Now in our country, Copyright law is regulated by the Copyright Act 2000. This is done because of the prevailing situation in Bangladesh and around the world.

 

In case of patent and designs we have law which we inherited from our Colonial ruler. Patent rights are created by statute and governed by the Patent and Designs Act 1911. We have also law related to trademarks and it is regulated by the Trademarks Act 1940.

 

Intellectual property has acquired an internationally recognized character. Now it is regarded as “one of the most important sectors” of international law, having its source in various international conventions. At present, each and every country is trying to shape or reshape their legislature, relating to intellectual property; in the light of those international conventions.

 

The convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), concluded in Stockholm on July 14th, 1967, provides that, ‘intellectual property’ shall include rights relating to:

1.            literary, artistic and  scientific works,

2.            performances of performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts,

3.            inventions in all fields of human endeavor,

4.            scientific discoveries,

5.            industrial designs,

6.            trade marks, service marks and commercial names and designations,

7.            protection against unfair competition,  

And all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields. (Article 2/VIII) 1

 

Intellectual property protects application of ideas and information that are of commercial value.2

 

By virtue of a number of international conventions such as the, Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, copyright acquired in one country extends to other countries which are member of these conventions. Other intellectual properties are beginning to acquire the same nature as well.

The principles of intellectual property law are substantially the same in all countries with little variation to meet the national requirements of each of the countries.

Bangladesh, as a least developed country, has also enacted intellectual property law in its national legislature.

 

The Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights (TRIPs) were included as integral part of World Trade Organization (WTO) due to pressure and interest of basically transnational companies and developed countries to ensure maximum profit or interest out of intellectual property in international trade.3 The TRIPs Agreement has been called the most ambitious international intellectual property convention ever attempted. TRIPs agreement has established the protection of intellectual property as a major part of the multinational trading system embodied in the WTO. As one commentator observer, intellectual property is now a key component of this trading system, “the protection of intellectual property is one of the three pillars of the WTO”.4

 

Bangladesh is now enjoying the transitional period that has been fixed by WTO under the light of TRIPs. So, we do not have a clear idea about the relation between intellectual property rights and economical development. But, it is certain that after the expiration of transitional period, Bangladesh will have to face a serious and severe situation because of the weak legal framework relating to intellectual property.

 

Now, in brief, the main features of intellectual property laws are given below:

 

1.      The Patents and Designs Acts, 1911:-

     (Act no. 11 of 1911)

The salient features of our existing Act are as follows;

                          Part-1; of the Patents and Designs Act, 1911; is about of patent. This part starts from section-1 and extends to section-42.

                          Section 2(8) contains the definition of invention; it proceeds as – invention means any manner of new manufacture and includes an improvement and all alleged invention. In sub-section (10) of the same section, provides the explanation of manufacture, “manufacture includes any art, process or manner or producing, preparing or making any article and also any article prepared or produced by manufacturer.”

                          Section-3 of the Act provides about the manner and mode of an application for patent. According to section-3(1); a patent application can be made by any person, whether he is a citizen of Bangladesh or not. An application can be made, alone or jointly with any other person.

                          According to section-4 of the Act; there are some provisions about specification. Wection-4(2) states that, a complete specification must particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the invention and the manner in which the invention is to be performed.

                          Section-10 of the Act, discusses about the topic, “grant and sealing of patent”. According to section-10(1); if there is no opposition of the patent application or, in case of opposition, if the determination is in favor of the grant of a patent, a patent shall, on payment of the prescribed fee, be granted, subject to such conditions if any as the Government thinks expedient, to the applicant, or in the case of a joint application to the applicants jointly, and the Controller shall cause the patent to be sealed with the seal of the Patent Office.

                          Term of patent, is laid down in section-14(1) of the Act. The duration of patent is sixteen years from its date. Section 15 of the Act; also provides rules regarding extension of the term of patent.

                          If any patent has been ceased, owing to the failure of patentee to pay any prescribed fee within the prescribed time, the patentee may apply to the controller in the prescribed manner for an order for the restoration of the patent. Section-16 of the Act deals with the matter, restoration of lapsed patent.

                          Section-22 of the Act contains provisions of “Compulsory Licenses and Revocation”. Both the Govt. and High Court Division are empowered to grant compulsory license or revocation of patent. Any person interested may present a petition to the Govt., alleging that the demand for a patented article in Bangladesh is not being met to an adequate extent and on reasonable terms and praying for the grant of a compulsory license, or in the alternative, for the revocation of the patent.

                          According to section-25 of the Act, if any patented invention or the mode which it is exercised; is mischievous to the state or prejudicial to the public; Govt. can declare the patent, revoked, by notification in the official Gazette.

                          Section-26 of the Act; provides the grounds, on which; a patent can be revoked by the High Court Division. Section-26(2) also provides, who can present a petition for revocation of a patent.

                          Section-30 of the Act; declares that; an innocent infringer of a patent; is exempted from liability or damages for infringement.

                          Part-II of the Act; describes all about ‘Designs’ or industrial designs.  According to section-43(1); any person claiming to be the proprietor of any new or original design not previously published in Bangladesh, can apply to the Controller for the registration of that particular design.

                          According to section-47(1); the proprietor of a registered design, shall subject to the provisions of this Act, have copyright in the design during five years from the date of registration.

                          Section-51(A) of the Act; narrates that, any person interested may present a petition for the cancellation of the registration of a design. Such petition should be presented to the High Court Division.

                          Part-III of the Act; is about, Patent Office and proceedings there at.

                          According to section-59 of the Act; every register kept under this Act shall at any convenient times be open to the inspection of the public, subject to provisions of this Act.

                          Section-65 of the Act; states that, in any proceeding under this Act, the Controller shall have the powers of a Civil Court for the purpose of receiving evidence, administrating oaths, enforcing the attendance of witness compelling the discovery and production of documents, issuing commissions, for the examining of witnesses and awarding costs and such award shall be executable in any Court having jurisdiction as if it were a decree of that Court.5   

 

2. The Trade Marks Act; 1940:

     (Act No. V of 1940)

The basic principles of the Trade marks Act are described below:

            Section-2 of the Trade marks Act contains definitions that are related to this Act. As to, section-2(k); trade mark means a mark used or proposed to be used in relation to goods for the purpose of indicating or so as to indicate a connection in the course of trade between the goods and some person having the right, either as proprietor or as registered user, to use the mark whether with or without any indication of that identity of that person.

            The establishment of Trade marks Registry at Dhaka, appointment of the Registrar and Deputy Registrar are laid down in section-4 of the Act.

            According to section-5 of the Act; the registration of a trade mark, requires distinctiveness. Purpose of such distinctiveness is to distinguish those particular goods from the others, which have similarity in nature.

            Any mark, containing scandalous design; or be likely to hurt the religious susceptibilities of any class of the citizens, or to be contrary to any law for the time being in force or morality is prohibited for registration of that mark. Section-8 of the Act, say so.

            Section-16 of the Act; provides that; when an application for registration of a trade mark has been accepted and either has not been opposed or having been opposed, has been decided in favor of the applicant, the Registrar shall, registers the said trade mark.

            Section-18 of the Act, says that; the registration of a trade mark shall be a period of seven years, and may be renewed from time to time in accordance with the provisions of this section.

            According to section-20 of the Act; no person shall be entitled to institute any proceedings to prevent, or recover damages for the infringement of an unregistered trade mark.

            According to section-46 of the Act; any person aggrieved can apply to the High Court Division or the Registrar, for the cancellation or verification of the registration of a trade mark on the ground of any contravention of, or failure to observe a condition entered on the register in relation there to.

            Chapter-IX of the Act; is specially written down for textile goods.

            Chapter-X of the Act, states the provisions regarding offences and restriction of use of Royal Arms and state emblems.

            According to section-73 of the Act, any suit for the infringement of a trade mark or otherwise relating to any right in the trade mark; shall be instituted to a District Court having jurisdiction to try the suit.6

3.     THE COPYRIGHT ACT; 2000:

  (Act No. 28 of 2000)

A short overview:-

            Section-2 of the Copyright Act; provides all the definitions related to copyright and so on.

            According to Chapter II; section -9, 10 and 11; Copyright Board will consist and the post of Register has made. The board is a quasi-judicial body; while working, it would be deemed as a Civil Court.

            Definition of copyright is laid down in Chapter III; section 14 of the Act. Section 14(2) includes, ‘computer programs’ as a subject to this Act.

            Chapter IV; deals with the ownership of copyright and the rights of the copyright owner. This Chapter starts from section-17; ends to section-23.

            Chapter V of the Act; describes all about the term of different types of copyright. Generally the term extends from the lifetime of the author until sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies; is at section-22. The section also provides that, copyright shall subsist in any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (other than a photograph). Section-25 to section-32 of the Act narrates the duration of copyright for different types. For instance, posthumous work, cinematograph films, sound recordings, photograph, anonymous and pseudonymous works, Govt. works, work of any local body, work of international organizations.

            Section-50 of the Act; deals with compulsory licenses in works withheld from public.

            Chapter X of the Act is about, registration of copyright.

            Chapter XII; section-71, describes about infringement of copyright and section-72 of the Act; provides acts not to be infringement of copyright.

            Chapter XIV; is about Civil remedies, that are available against infringement of copyright. Exclusively, section-76 of the Act; provides, remedies against such infringement. According to section-81 if the Act; the Court of District Judge, is the Court of first instance of such proceedings.

            Chapter XV of this Act; describes offences and punishment. According to section-82 of the Act; any person who knowingly infringes or abets the infringement of copyright; shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months. But, which may extend to four years and fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand taka but which may extend to Taka two lacks. But; where the infringement has not been made for gain in the course of trade or business; the Court may, adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months or a fine of less than fifty thousand taka.

 

            According to section-95 of the Act; an order made by the Registrar is a subject to appeal to Copyright Board. According to section-96; against any order; made by the Board; any aggrieved person, within thirty days of such order can file a petition of appeal to the High Court Division.7

 

PROBLEMES AND INSUFFICIENCY OF THE EXISTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS:

 

PATENTS AND DESIGNS ACT:-

The defects are;-

Like any other national patent system, novelty is an essential requirement of an invention to be patentable under the existing law of our country. But it is clear from the definition of ‘invention’ in section-2(8) of the 1911 Act; the invention to be patentable need not have a commercial pecuniary success. In other words, utility of an invention is not required by this definition. Although lack of utility is a ground for revocation of a patent under section-26(f) of the Act, till now this has not been included in the definition of invention. The 1911 Act makes no difference between patentable and non patentable inventions. Considering the public interest certain items should be kept outside the domain of patent protection. Since under the existing law no item has been excluded from the domain of patent protection, any type of new invention may obtain patent protection although it should not be patentable for the greater interest of the public at large. Under the existing law, the application for a patent must contain a declaration that the applicant is the true and first inventor or the assignor or legal representative of such inventor. But the term, “true and first inventor” is left undefined. Thus any person importing an invention for the first time into Bangladesh or any person to whom an invention is first communicated from outside Bangladesh can claim to be the “true and first inventor” of that invention and thus, can take the advantage of the vagueness of the term. Here; a fact should be added that, such practice already has begun. Some pharmaceutical companies don’t having any research and develop cell, importing some drugs, and by claiming patent, under the ambiguity of the Act, getting patent. A statistic says that, at the 1st and 2nd week of March, 2006; on an average, 40 patents were granted by the patent office, in each week. Thus, the local producers are forced to remain non productive on that particular patented items. The standard of examination varies from country to country. In some countries like Netherlands, Germany, U.S.A. and Japan it is rigorously involving an extensive search for both novelty and obviousness among documents published in many countries, over a period of many years. But according to our existing patent law; examination is less rigorous involving for novelty only, and the extent of search is restricted. Term of patent protection shall, as laid down in section-14, be sixteen years from its date. But the term is not sufficient enough for the exploitation of the patent right. What constitutes infringement of patent isn’t defined in the Patents and Designs Act, 1911. Section-29(1) of the Act only says that, the patentee has a right to sue against the infringer during the continuance of the patent acquired by him. Section-30 of the Act says that, a patentee shall not be entitled to damages against an innocent infringer. But, ignorance of law is no defense. The infringer should pay for the project as compensation of damages. Under the existing law any process or manner of producing, preparing or making an article in patentable as appears from section-2 (8) read with section-2(16). But, the 1911 Act does not confer upon the patentee the exclusive right to exercise the process. The 1911 Act contains provisions regarding compulsory licenses of patent rights but the terms and conditions of conditions of compulsory licenses are not detailed in the Act.

 

TRADE MARKS ACT:-

1.            Section-22(3) of Trade Marks Act defined infringement in a very narrow sense though the act has provisions against infringement.

2.            Although Chapter X of the Act, describes about offences and restrictions of use of Royal Arms and state emblems but this chapter does not extends to the infringement of any registered trademark. Any deceptive use of any registered trademark; is not also included in this chapter.

3.            There is no provision for protection of internationally recognized trademark in our existing Trademark Act 1940.

 

COPYRIGHT ACT:- 

Our existing copyright law has been enacted in line with the copyright law of India. It has been enacted to cope with the prevailing international set up of copyright system. So, preventive measures have been adopted to tackle the future complications in copyright sector.

 

 

NECESSARY PROPOSAL FOR REFORMATIONS: The term ‘intellectual property’ is still at its nascent stage in our country and people are not aware of the concept and importance of intellectual property. But, in international arena, the concept and coverage of intellectual property is growing so fast than any other brunches of law. We have intellectual property laws but these laws are not sufficient to tackle the challenges that are imminent and threatening us. Keeping in mind the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement and other relevant conventions the following reformation proposals can be made:

 

Reformations of the Patents and Designs act:

ü      The Patent and Designs Act, 1911 should be revised thoroughly.

ü      Essential requirements of patentable invention should be described clearly and there must be a clear distinction between patentable and non patentable inventions.

ü      The standard of examining a patent application should be made more effective.

ü      Term of patent protection shall, as laid down in section 14, be 16 years from its date. But the term should be extended to 20 years for patent and the term of a design, according to sec – 47(1) is 5 years from the date of registration, should be extended to 10 years.

ü      Existing Act does not have any definition of infringement, it should be included.

ü      The part of “designs;” have some confusing words, as in that part the term, “copyright” has frequently used. But it may create confusion. Such confusion should be effaced.

ü      The Act does not have anything to do about the protection “Geographical indication” which could result a huge loss of losing our culture & heritage. So, it should be included.

ü      Provisions relevant to PARIS convention should be incorporated.

ü      The administrative provisions and complications should be avoided. The complications should be made more subject to judicial decision.

ü      The provisions of offences and penalties should be revised and reformed with the need of the time.

 

Proposal for reformations of The Trademarks Act:

After studying present Trademark Act and different conventions, it is clear that our existing Trademarks Act 1940 should be amended as well. The following suggestions can be made:

ü      The reformed trademark law should have a wide view about the marks which can be registerable and which marks cannot be.

ü      Infringement of trademark should be defined more accurately. Besides, punishment for infringement should be made stricter.

ü      How will we protect our renowned trademarks in international market and reciprocally how other countries trade marks can enjoy protection in our local market, should be defined in our trademarks act, with an assertive view.

ü      Offences and penalties, in respect of violation of any provisions of this act, should be made more effective and harder.

ü      If any complication or confusion arises in practicing of the act, the judicial body should be involved with more vigilance.

 

Proposed reformations to the copyright law:

The Copyright Act 2000 has been enacted to cover the rules and to cope with the international copyright system. Our existing copyright law has been enacted in line with the copyright law of India. It has been enacted to cope with the prevailing international set up of copyright system. So, preventive measures have been adopted to tackle the future complications in copyright sector. From the face of the Copyright Act 2000, it seems that our copyright law has fulfilled the need of the time.

Though computer programs, tables complications including data base are recognized to have the copyright protection, there is no legal recognition for transaction carried out by means of electronic data or other means ‘e-commerce’ which involves the use of alternativeness to paper based  method of communication and storage of information to facilitate filing of documents with government agencies .

The growing global importance of the cyber law is posing new challenges and in view of the peculiarity involved in the fields, the understanding between the nations of the world by treaties or covenants, may be of considerable importance in the absence of which the implementation of the legislation would be near to impossibility. Our present act should be amended to fulfill the shortage.

 

Finally we can hope that a stronger protection system of the intellectual property rights, a qualified commission to observe the protection and thus policy making options to bring civil remedies for the violation of the rights and finally a complete law regulation in all sectors of intellectual property  rights will surely lead us to a better future.

 

Notes and References:

 

Background reading materials on intellectual property: WIPO (Pp-3, 4).

 

P.Narayanan.(pp-1). TRIPs agreement. John Madely hungry for trudeyzed books UK (2000) pp-96-97. The Patents and Designs Act 1911 The Trade Marks Act 1940 The Copyright Act 2000