Intellectual Property Law

Running head: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction:
Intellectual property is referred to as the creations of mind such as inventions, artistic and
literary works, designs, symbols, images and names used in commerce (Drahos 2016).
Intellectual property being an intangible property can be transferred, sold, bought like any other
properties. Intellectual property is protected in law by patents, copyright, trademarks and others
which allow people to earn and maintain recognition or financial benefit from their creation. In
order to foster a suitable environment where creativity and innovation can develop and flourish,
a balance between the interests of the innovators and public interest must be maintained.
Social media has a significant role to play in the way business is conducted today. Small
businesses can develop into bigger ones quickly with the aid of social media tools that include
Facebook, Twitter, Google, Pinterest, Instagram and others. They provide a great publicity and
marketing tool for a small business as well as well settled company. With the help of social
media, companies can make connections with their customers and clients (Stephen 2016). On
one hand, social media has innumerable benefits on the people, on the other there are also many
pitfalls which threatens the intellectual property (Hook and Faklaris 2016). Social media may
result into infringement of the trademark, copyrights, trade secrets and privacy rights of the
creators of such intellectual property. The creators have to be very active in order to reduce the
IP threats by incorporating intellectual property strategies and IP theft prevention plans. All
companies need to develop a policy for social media and ensure that the employees need to
follow it.

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Discussion:
From business and social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to
media sharing platforms of YouTube, social media has a bunch of opportunities to offer to the
business owners to promote their skills, company or ideas and now it provides a key part of
various business marketing strategy (Sajid 2016). As said above, the growth in the importance of
social media also comes with new problems and challenges. One of them is the risk of
infringement of intellectual property or infringement of IP rights belonging to third parties.
Hence, it is important that the companies monitor their IP and ensure that it is saved from
infringement.
Intellectual property is a general term for a bunch of intangible assets owned and legally
protected by a company from outside use or using without proper permission (Hook, S.A., 2017.
Intellectual Property: Nuts and Bolts.). An organization that owns IP can get valuation from it in
different ways, through using it internally for its own processes or sharing it externally. The
latter is done through legal processes such as loyalty rights.
There lies an elaborate international system that defines, protects and enforces intellectual
rights properties through multilateral treaties and international organizations like World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPs), United Nations Commission on International Trade law (UNCITRAL), World
Customs Organization (WCO) and European Union (EU).
IP forms an asset category that can be divided into four different types like copyrights,
patents, trademarks and designs.

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Copyrights are one of the most widely used types of IP. It is a type of protection granted
to the authors of the original works of authorship including both published and unpublished
(Stokes 2019). It gives protection to the tangible category of expression like musical
composition, book or work of art instead of the idea or subject matter. The Copyright Act 1999
enacted in July 2000 gives copyright protection to industrial designs. It provides the long due
modernization of the intellectual property law of Fiji. It is based on the recent legislations of
United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand that causes Fiji’s copyright laws in same line with
present day copyright laws and developments. This act does not require registration of the
copyright interests. It simply allows to work according to the provisions of the Act.
Patents are the most expensive, valuable and difficult to obtain among all other
intellectual properties. A patent can be defined as the grant of a proprietary right to the inventor
providing the owner the exclusive right to exclude others from making, selling, using, offering
for sale, or importing the invention. Fiji’s Patent Act is outdated, almost a century old. It
provides either independent or UK based applications (McDonagh, L., 2017. UK patent law and
copyright law after Brexit: potential consequences.).
Trademarks are another very common type of IP. It is a sign, mark or symbol capable of
identifying and distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from that of others. They
date back to very old times when artisans used to put their distinct marks or signature on their
products to make them distinguishable (Blackett 2016). Fiji’s Trade Marks Act is conceived
from English trademarks legislation enacted nearly a century ago. The Act allows independent
registration of goods marks only and not service marks in Fiji or registration as of right on the
basis of United Kingdom registrations. The UK based applications are processed faster and they
do not require to be advertised for opposition causes. The independent trademarks are to be

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registered every 14 years and UK based registrations required to be renewed when UK
registration is renewed. In Fiji, the Trade Marks Office is under resourced and it takes from 6
months for UK based application to 3 years or more to obtain a trade mark registration.
Fiji has no system for the purpose of registration in relation to designs. The country has
to depend on UK system for this. Fiji has legislation dated back to early 20th century.
Independent applications for designs cannot be registered in Fiji. A design can only be protected
in Fiji when it is registered in United Kingdom. Though there lies no proper process for
registration of UK registered designs in Fiji, registration of UK design can be advertised in Fiji
so as to give notice to the public of the design.
Development in scenario of global economic environment has influences the growth of
business models where Intellectual Property is a central element establishing value and potential
growth (Joe 2017). Due to these, proper valuation of IP together with measures to protect it, have
become important criteria of the success and viability of any modern enterprise.
There are mainly three ways of making valuation of intellectual property (Jarrett 2018).
They are cost based, market based and income based valuations. Cost based valuation considers
both how much it costs to make the asset historically and how much it would be needed to
recreate it depending on current rates. Market based valuation focuses on comparable market
related transactions whether sale or purchase of similar type of assets to reach conclusions of
value. Income based valuation considers the income attributable to the intellectual property on
the basis of historical earnings and expected future earnings. These methods can be applied
simultaneously to conclude a final value.

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With the growth and development of social media, it imposes a number of challenges to
intellectual property law that was not seen before. The same rules apply, the same legislation
governs and the same common law rights exist for those who own the intellectual property.
However, the volume of material being advertised on internet through social media, the speed at
which they are transmitted and the numerous people who can be reached all over the world
creates real challenge on the owners of intellectual poperty rights that were not known before.
Moreover, this reality makes serious concerns for the social media users who can be exposed for
the breach of intellectual property rights. As per WIPO, the internet and other digital
technologies have opened up attractive opportunities for business and new ways of creativity on
one hand and on the other presents critical challenges for the protection of inventions and
creativities. Effective intellectual property systems thus become very essential to unlock the
human potentiality in order to create incentives for innovations and platforms for sharing results
of human creativity.
The digital age and the social media have reduced the distance and time for
communication (Dunlop, Freeman and Jones 2016). The rise of various social media provides
platforms to both individuals and business for communication and information sharing. The main
characteristic of social media is user created content allowing the users to form online groups of
audiences and market to share ideas, information, videos and personal messages. The instant
sharing of user developed content online is an efficient and strong way to make connections and
also to advertise. But as said no rose is without thorns. Every new development has its own
inherent challenge. The massive and daily usage of social media provides constant challenges to
the Intellectual property law.

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Use of brand names in social media usernames or in hashtags might bring one into legal
disputes. Copyright law has also been challenged by the social media. One of the ways by which
a copyright holder can remove an infringing content is to send a takedown notice to the social
media under the appropriate act. The modern technologies encourages sharing of contents
through various channels have attracted new problems to enforce copyright. With the growth of
social media, it has become very important for every businesses and individuals to adopt and
apply plans and schemes to protect their intellectual property by working on different strategies
to address IP violation issues and other rights that exist on different social media websites. The
concern related to the social media websites occurs because all the users does not use and share
genuine content of their own, not all users remain their shelves, but many adopted others’
identities, harass real world enemies virtually. The recent trend in social media gives rise to huge
number of cases involving ‘user generated content’ and not ‘user created content’. Content
exchanged between the users are not always created by them but such content is created by the
copyright holder who has not authorized its generation by the user. To make it simple, its
publication in the social media causes an infringement of copyright of the original holder or
creator. The growth and use of social media is both a boon and bane for the right holders. The
boon is that content which violates rights can be deleted from social media before they can be
widely viewed, shared or downloaded. The problems that arise out of the overuse and
popularization of social media can be summed up below.
Privacy Intrusion is a major problem in the present days. Unwanted solicitations are
abundant and over growing on the internet. This means that one can get information and
materials that one did not subscribe to. By just clicking on mouse, one can obtain other person’s

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full information. This information can be used for identity theft where another person with such
information can pose as he person whose information is sought.
Another issue is intellectual property theft. The intellectual property rights are the rights
given to people for the creation from their minds. Creators, authors, inventors, artists, musicians,
photographers, producers and directors are entitled to exclusive rights to use and to use their
creation to earn money. Such rights must be respected by all. But social media has encroached
into the intellectual property rights of others. Things posted on the internet can be downloaded
innumerable times with 100 percent accuracy and can be altered and then reproduced again.
People can download anything from the web, alter it and reuse it without giving due credit to the
original creator. Similarly in case of text, any word processor can be used to edit the material
seamlessly. In the same way, a photograph can be edited by using computer software like
Photoshop. Not only colors and size, but also appearance of the people or location can be
changed easily.
The numerous challenges that are being faced all over the world because of the excessive
use of social media are due to the following characteristics of the digital technology in web
world. First is the ease of replication. Second is the easy in transmission and multiple usages.
Next is plasticity of digital word. The other reasons are non linearity and intangibility.
Fiji has international tie ups which has deep impact on its domestic intellectual property
rights. It has been a signatory to a number of international treaties which has liabilities regarding
the nature of the rights that are to be granted to IP owners and the permissible exceptions and
limitations on those rights. It has been a Berne Convention member since 1971, a Rome

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Convention member since 1972, a World Trade Organisation member and adopted TRIPS
agreement in January 1996.
The Berne Convention covers every creation in the literary, scientific and artistic fields
irrespective of the mode or form of its expression (Ginsburg 2016). The Convention has number
specifically identified special cases with certain conditions for limitations and exceptions.
The Rome Convention discusses the Berne Convention elaborately. The Rome
Convention deals with three types of neighboring rights or rights in relation to copyright. The
creators or the performers are protected against unauthorized recording or broadcasting of their
live performances (Lambert 2016). Exceptions and limitations to such rights are however
contained in Article 15 of the convention.
The TRIPS Agreement has sought to strengthen the international intellectual property
environment by setting minimum standards of protection for domestic enforcement (Campi and
Dueñas 2019). This agreement adopted the three steps test for creating exceptions to the broader
set of rights beyond the reproduction rights.
The WCT and WPPT are together called as the ‘WIPO Internet Treaties’ (Reinbothe and
Von Lewinski 2015). Fiji has not yet signed the two treaties. They are regarded as updates and
supplement of the protection given by the Berne Convention and the Rome Convention. They
address the challenges imposed by the advancement in digital technologies. Unlike the TRIPS
agreement and the WCT, the WPTT does not incorporate the provision of Rome Convention.
Apart from these, certain exceptions are also provided such as incidental copying, copying for
the purpose of criticism and review, copying or using for the purpose of research or private
study, infringement for the purpose of instruction or preparation for instruction, copying or

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infringement done for the purpose of examination, copying from scientific or technical article
and the public issue of it for educational purposes. All these not count for infringement of
intellectual property rights.
Conclusion:
In the light of the above discussion, it is apparently clear that the infringement of the
intellectual property rights is a serious problem in today’s world and it requires for a collective
effort of all the creators of the rights. It is very necessary that all the users make some serious
commitment to safeguard the intellectual property rights. The reason being today who is a
content user may become content producer and right holder tomorrow. If the Intellectual
property law does not provide proper protection and solution to the infringement, then the whole
world will become doomed as there will be no scope of creativity, innovation, economic growth
and development will be stopped and the beauty of new invention will be lost. However, this is a
long process, which will not only become the laws strict and properly applicable but also educate
and make people conscious about the intellectual property rights, the basic conditions and criteria
of internet, the result of infringement and in turn will result in discovering and applying the main
solution of protection of the intellectual property rights.

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References:
Blackett, T., 2016. Trademarks. Springer.
Campi, M. and Dueñas, M., 2019. Intellectual property rights, trade agreements, and
international trade. Research Policy, 48(3), pp.531-545.
Drahos, P., 2016. A philosophy of intellectual property. Routledge.
Dunlop, S., Freeman, B. and Jones, S.C., 2016. Marketing to youth in the digital age: The
promotion of unhealthy products and health promoting behaviours on social media. Media and
Communication, 4(3), pp.35-49.
Ginsburg, J.C., 2016. Berne-Forbidden Formalities and Mass Digitization. BUL Rev., 96, p.745.
Hook, S.A. and Faklaris, C., 2016. But I'm a Creator/Inventor/Coding, Not a Lawyer: What to
Know about Intellectual Property Law, Contracts and More.
Hook, S.A., 2017. Intellectual Property: Nuts and Bolts.
Jarrett, J.E., 2018. Intellectual property valuation and accounting.
Joe, T. ed., 2017. Exploiting Intellectual Property to Promote Innovation and Create Value (Vol.
29). World Scientific.
Lambert, J., 2016. Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights: A concise guide for businesses,
innovative and creative individuals. Routledge.
McDonagh, L., 2017. UK patent law and copyright law after Brexit: potential consequences.

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Reinbothe, J. and Von Lewinski, S., 2015. The WIPO Treaties on Copyright: A Commentary on
the WCT, the WPPT, and the BTAP. Oxford University Press.
Sajid, S.I., 2016. Social media and its role in marketing.
Stephen, A.T., 2016. The role of digital and social media marketing in consumer
behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, pp.17-21.
Stokes, S., 2019. Digital copyright: law and practice. Bloomsbury Publishing.
The Copyright Act 1999.