ignorantia juris non-excusat

The Importance of Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) refers to the rights in rem granted to individuals or organizations for their creations or inventions. These creations can include inventions, designs, brand names, and artistic works. Patents, trademarks, and copyrights are the primary forms of IP protection.

Understanding the intricacies of patents, trademarks, and intellectual property law is crucial for entrepreneurs, innovators, and businesses. It allows them to protect their innovations, maintain a competitive advantage, and safeguard their brand identity.

Patents: Protecting Inventions

Patents are granted to inventors to protect their inventions from being used, made, or sold by others for a specific time. They provide exclusive rights and allow inventors to commercialize their inventions without worrying about competitors copying or stealing their ideas.

Obtaining a patent involves a rigorous process, including conducting a patent search, preparing a patent application, and filing it with the appropriate patent office. Patents can be granted for new inventions, processes, machines, or improvements to existing inventions.

Trademarks: Safeguarding Brand Identity

A trademark is a distinctive sign, symbol, or logo that identifies and distinguishes the goods or services of one company from those of others. It helps consumers recognize and associate products with a particular brand. Trademarks can be words, names, symbols, or a combination thereof.

Registering a trademark provides legal protection against unauthorized use or infringement by others. It allows businesses to build brand reputation, maintain customer loyalty, and prevent confusion in the marketplace. Trademarks can be registered with national or regional trademark offices.

Copyrights: Preserving Artistic Works

Copyrights protect original works of authorship, such as literary, artistic, musical, or dramatic works. They give creators the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, or license their works. Copyright protection is automatic upon creation and lasts for the creator’s lifetime plus a certain number of years.

While registration is not required for copyright protection, it is advisable to register works with the copyright office to establish a public record of ownership. This helps in cases of infringement and strengthens the creator’s legal rights.

The Transformative Impact of Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is vital in fostering innovation, creativity, and economic growth. It encourages individuals and businesses to invest in research and development, knowing their efforts will be protected and rewarded.

Intellectual property laws incentivize inventors, artists, and creators to share their ideas and work with the world by granting exclusive rights. This leads to the dissemination of knowledge, the advancement of technology, and the enrichment of society.

Conclusion

Understanding patents, trademarks, and intellectual property law is essential for entrepreneurs, innovators, and businesses. It enables them to protect their inventions, safeguard their brand identity, and preserve their artistic works. Moreover, intellectual property rights foster innovation, creativity, and economic growth, driving progress in our ever-evolving world.

A man’s character is what he in fact is, and his reputation is what others think of him.

~ Lord Denning

The Modi Magic

Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi has earned a reputation for being a hardworking leader who prioritises the interests of the people and the country. This unwavering commitment has helped him build solid credibility and win the hearts of the people of Bharat. The strong reputation of Prime Minister Modi can be likened to solid credibility, which has aided him in developing mammoth goodwill. This goodwill is repeatedly converted into votes and ensures victory for the BJP in elections. This incredible ability to demolish political opponents and secure victories for all BJP candidates based on his individual goodwill has led to the term “Modi Magic” being coined.

Reputation and Goodwill

Reputation and Goodwill seem synonymous, which they are not!

Reputation is the public perception of the individual based on his past actions, achievements, and overall character built around his actions and speech in public life. Reputation also focuses on perception and trust based on past experiences and communication. The ethical conduct of the individual is an example of reputation. Reputation as an intangible asset is a metric for both success and failure.

Goodwill emerges from recognition, public connectivity, relationships and loyalty. Goodwill is a compelling intangible asset. Reputation connects the past, whereas Goodwill connects to future potential to convert into a windfall of votes. Goodwill manifests in various forms like loyalty, support, and willingness to engage. Substantial goodwill translates into votes, securing re-election and increasing political power. Public trust can make policy implementation smoother and achieve desired outcomes. Goodwill can attract funding, donations, and support from various stakeholders. Substantial goodwill enhances a politician’s legitimacy and ability to influence policy decisions and command hard choices that may invite public ire. Goodwill reinforces both credibility and reputation, creating a positive feedback loop. Goodwill is an intangible in its purest form without any legislative compulsion to expire with time. In fact, the power of goodwill is so explosive that there is no law to regulate it like most intangibles.

Credibility Connects Reputation and Goodwill

Credibility serves as the foundation on which both goodwill and reputation are cultivated. Credibility is earned through actions that demonstrate expertise, trustworthiness, and consistent promise delivery. High credibility fosters trust, bonding and respect, leading to positive perceptions and goodwill.

Reputation is a crucial driver of goodwill. A strong reputation leads to higher public loyalty, more robust political party symbol recognition, and increased goodwill. Vice-e-versa, Goodwill also enhances its reputation. A prominent politician is often perceived as more trustworthy and reliable, reinforcing his positive reputation. Both reputation and goodwill must be managed together to ensure long-term interdependent success. In politics, a politician’s reputation transcends goodwill when he carries public aspirations and takes affirmative action. Initially, credibility inculcates a growing reputation. With time, at the other end of the credibility, goodwill grows. Reputation focuses on perception and trust, while goodwill focuses on the future potential to influence public opinion and convert it into substantial votes.

In metaphor, if credibility is a magnet, reputation and goodwill are the positive and the negative poles.

Goodwill in Politics

A business entity’s market value over the book value is its goodwill value. In politics, the measurement of politicians’ goodwill is a difficult task to bring to a number. Public opinion polls, media coverage sentiments and analysis of public sentiments through their posts on social media are a few tools to value reputation. The Indian political system is a party-based system. However, the founders of these political parties often have more goodwill than the collective goodwill commanded by their political colleagues and the party. It is simply because of exceptional public service or the hype created. A few public offices fetch more media glares, and it is evident that the office’s incumbent should be more in public scrutiny to win or lose public faith. In politics, noting is stable. So credibility, reputation and goodwill are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to increasing means of character assassination. This can be evident from the rising cases of defamation cases.

While the ultimate value of reputation remains an art rather than a science, employing a comprehensive approach that combines qualitative and quantitative measures can provide valuable insights into its worth and inform strategic decisions. Reputation possesses an intangible value that can be difficult to quantify.

Since politics is a non-commercial domain, it would be appropriate to understand the goodwill valuation in terms of the power the politician commands. Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is not based on either one person or a family. The founding members of the BJP were stalwarts like the late Sri Atal Behari Vajpayee and Sri Lal Krishna Advani. However, the first generation of the BJP used their reputation to earn goodwill for the party.

Under the leadership and Prime Ministership of Sri Narendra Modi, the BJP rose to new heights of success by forming governments at the Centre and in the majority of the states. Sri Narendra Modi could make unthinkable decisions like demonetisation and scraping Article 370 from the Constitution, which were considered unpopular, to the extent of losing power. Contrary to the opponents’ outcry, public trust reimposed him back into power with more seats and a higher percentage of votes.

The goodwill Sri Narendra Modi enjoys has inspired millions to adopt Yoga to lead a better lifestyle worldwide. While addressing the United Nations (UN) during the opening of the 69th UN Assembly session, Sri Narendra Modi said ‘Yoga is an invaluable gift from our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action … a holistic approach [that] is valuable to our health and our well-being. Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature.’ On December 11, 2024, the UN adopted Resolution 69/131 to adopt June 21 as International Yoga Day. Yoga is an ancient Indian science that connects body, mind, heart and soul in harmony to attain higher consciousness. During the Covid-19 pandemic, yoga gave millions mental and physical strength to overcome despair. Yoga propagation and practice worldwide bind the otherwise fragmented world into one family. It was the charisma of goodwill earned by Sri Narendra Modi. The selfless service of humanity across political borders has earned affection, love, and popularity for Sri Narendra Modi globally.

Sri Narendra Modi is an ambassador of ancient Indian wisdom of sages. The world is one family is not just a part of an ancient mantra. The difficult times of COVID-19 tested Sri Narendra Modi on his virtues. Bharat, a developing nation of (then) the second largest population, provided two doses of COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to the countrymen and shared the COVID-19 vaccine, COVEX, with 101 countries, including the most influential US. Goodwill, a very powerful intangible, blessed Sri Narendra Modi with its best. When the stalwart decision makers of the developed world were busy managing COVID-19 in their countries, Sri Narendra Modi took the lead in embracing all who were vulnerable to the pandemic virus by sharing the Indian-manufactured vaccine. Sri Narendra Modi is, with a 76% rating from the US-based Morning Consultant’s Global Leader Approval Rating, the most popular leader in the world.

The Modi Guarantee

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a first-generation politician from a humble family background. His rise to power is a miraculous story of connecting with ordinary citizens while climbing the political ladder. Some crucial questions lie behind the astonishing power of Sri Narendra Modi to influence the public. In contemporary politics, Sri Narendra Modi is the tallest leader.

The answer to why other politicians have not been able to follow Sri Narendra Modi’s footsteps lies in the distinction between selfless public service and mere politics. The values carried and practised by Sri Modi are to be emulated by others to raise a new creed of politics. The vote appeal in the name of Modi Guarantee signals that Sri Modi knows he is using his goodwill to win elections for the party candidates. The Modi Guarantee is not a lottery ticket for anyone to become an MLA or an MP. It is a silent expectation that other politicians, at least in the BJP, shall realise that there is no magic. It was an arduous, vacation-free and perhaps lonely journey on the path of dedicating one’s life to the cause of the nation. Politics is getting a new meaning under the political rather than social service of Sri Narendra Modi.

Is it healthy for a democracy to rely on the ‘magic’ of one leader? In a democratic setup with a large population like India, collective representation and decision-making are crucial. The ‘Modi Guarantee’ directly connects the voter to Prime Minister Modi, even though the vote is cast for another candidate representing the BJP. The ‘Modi Guarantee’ strategy renders the candidates somewhat meaningless. Due to the sheer size of India’s population, it is difficult for voters to reach out to Prime Minister Modi if the elected representatives fail to fulfil the ‘Modi Guarantee’ or do not fulfil public aspirations. Similarly, it is equally challenging for Prime Minister Modi to ensure that the elected public representatives do not dilute the goodwill associated with the ‘Modi Magic’.

The Challenge

There is a question: Will the BJP, as the largest political party in the world, eventually become weak under the overwhelming influence of the ‘Modi Magic’? Prime Minister Modi has inspired the public through various initiatives, like promoting yoga, cleanliness, and austerity in public life. The public holds affection for him and considers him responsible for all happenings in the country. In a way, Prime Minister Modi willingly takes on the blame while his political colleagues become somewhat irrelevant. This creates a gap in goodwill between Prime Minister Modi and other BJP politicians, which may prove counterproductive for the party. BJP leaders must work harder to bridge this gap in the party’s long-term interest. Sri Narendra Modi is a practitioner of selfless service to humanity, as narrated in the Bhagwat Gita. The BJP leaders basking in the glory of success won by Modi Magic should start following the footsteps of Sri Narendra Modi to build their reputation. It is the only way to enhance the goodwill earned and shared by Modi Magic. The world will witness a new creed of politicians practising Karma Yoga if they succeed!

© Rahul Dutta

The First Premise: You’re an excellent salesperson if you can sell a comb to someone bald

In sales prowess, true excellence emerges when one can effortlessly market a comb to someone bald. It exemplifies the art of persuasion, showcasing the ability to turn an unconventional scenario into a successful transaction. This unique skill highlights a salesperson’s adaptability and underscores their mastery in finding value and appeal in unexpected places.

In the dynamic landscape of industries, the role of sales has transcended its traditional boundaries to emerge as a pivotal force driving success. Once considered a mere function, sales have now evolved into a robust industry in its own right. The significance of sales extends beyond the act of transaction; it is the lifeline that connects businesses with their customers, forging lasting relationships and propelling economic growth. In the contemporary marketplace, the intricacies of sales involve sophisticated strategies, data analytics, and customer relationship management, making it a specialised field that demands expertise. As businesses navigate the competitive terrain, the sales industry plays a transformative role, influencing profit margins and shaping the fabric of commercial landscapes worldwide.

The Second Premise: Advertising is designed to generate a sense of urgency, prompting consumers to feel a compelling need to purchase the advertised product

In the symbiotic realm of commerce, sales and advertising form an inseparable duo. With its persuasive artistry, advertising crafts a narrative transcending mere product promotion; it weaves a tale of desirability and necessity. Through captivating visuals and compelling messaging, advertising sparks the flames of consumer interest, setting the stage for the pivotal role of sales. Sales, in turn, take the baton, converting that interest into tangible transactions. Together, they create a dynamic synergy, where the artful allure of advertising seamlessly blends with the strategic execution of sales, propelling products into the hands of eager consumers.

In the intricate dance of commerce, advertising, marketing, and sales converge as powerful instruments shaping the collective psyche of humanity. With its artful persuasion, advertising plants seeds of desire, influencing perceptions and fostering a sense of need for products or services. Marketing orchestrates a symphony of strategies, channelling these desires into cohesive campaigns that resonate with diverse audiences. Meanwhile, as the final frontier, sales transform latent interest into concrete transactions. Together, these tools transcend transactional boundaries, sculpting the intricate landscape of human preferences, aspirations, and purchasing behaviours. In this holistic interplay, they profoundly impact the intricate tapestry of human thought and action, moulding the very essence of our consumer-driven society.

The Mute Question

The cultivation of desire permeates all, creating a hype loop in product demand for those who either lack the need or the means to afford them. This particular group cannot be categorised as customers. Nevertheless, these individuals, deemed ‘non-prospective customers,’ harbour the desire to possess products for which the seeds of desire were planted. How should the germinated desire seeds within this group be addressed for justification?

Desire for More

The seed of desire exerts a pervasive influence, creating an artificial sense of urgency to acquire items that are frequently neither essential nor financially feasible. The industry responds to individuals’ desires by marketing and selling products under the influence of the ‘fake demand’. Profit motives propel a perceived need to purchase more than necessary or superfluous items. A segment of individuals, unable to afford the coveted products, experiences a deep yearning for them. Cyclically, this yearning fuels another industry known for producing pirated products, capitalising on the goodwill associated with the ‘original’ items as a springboard for marketing their imitation products.

The Mother of Imitation

Compared to generic counterparts, IP-embedded products undergo more vigorous advertising, marketing, and sales efforts. According to 2019 data from the OECD, international trade in counterfeit and pirated products reached a staggering US$464 billion, constituting a mere 2.5% of legitimate international trade. Despite this seemingly modest percentage, it starkly contrasts with the vast number of individuals yearning for these products yet unable to afford them. Notably, the OECD’s data is limited to international trade, and countries like India and China, boasting substantial domestic markets and the world’s most significant populations, are not fully represented. Affordability transcends national boundaries and the dichotomy between developed and developing nations. The same OECD report estimated that counterfeit and pirated goods worth US$134 billion were imported into the EU in 2019, comprising 5.8% of EU imports. These products cater to the EU market, addressing the unmet desire to acquire authentic items. Therefore, the production of counterfeit and pirated goods fulfils the desire for unaffordable products through imitation.

The Damage

The Harvard Law Review published an article titled ‘Trademark Injury in Law and Fact: A Standing Defense to Modern Infringement‘ (Vol. 135:667), which dissects trademark infringement into ‘injury in law’ and ‘injury in fact.’ The argument posits that most trademark infringement lawsuits hinge on ‘legal injury,’ sidelining the importance of ‘injury in fact.’ As common-law countries, India and the US require statutory injury grounded in ‘injury in fact.’ A critical, unexplored facet involves invading people’s privacy by inundating their peace with artificial desires for unaffordable products—particularly those beyond the reach of prospective buyers. These individuals exist on the periphery of the target market. The trade-in imitated products fulfil the unmet desire for the authentic, creating a commercial transaction that, despite being acknowledged as imitation, is authentic in its exchange. The harm inflicted by original IP-embedded products, propelled by advertising, marketing, and sales techniques, inflicts immeasurable damage on the masses, surpassing the ‘legal injury’ they may endure.

The counterfeit and pirated products market inadvertently becomes a conduit for free advertising, enhancing the brand value of the original IP-embedded products.

The faceless and dispersed masses, yearning for IP-embedded products beyond their means, are an integral part of the society that established IP statutes to protect the industry’s intellectual property rights. There is neither any statute to protect their rights nor the capacity to fight for the breach of their human rights against the influential IP stakeholders; however, the contrary is just the opposite. However, this same society also crafted the constitution, serving as the fundamental legal framework for the nation. The harm wrought by the industry’s cultivation of desire for unaffordable and unnecessary products inflicts a more profound injury and encroachment upon constitutional rights than the alleged infringement based on the tenuous grounds of ‘legal injury.’

The Ethical Resistance

A few European countries have prohibited advertisement breaks during children’s television programs. Data science facilitates the automated delivery of targeted advertisements on the Internet and television, effectively reaching potential customers and specific audiences. Can this technology be employed conversely? The ‘injury in fact’ can be more accurately calculated to build a justified infringement case with the concept of ‘legal injury.’ Intellectual Property (IP) represents an asset in the knowledge economy. However, the economy and markets are integral to human society and designed to serve the greater good. Upholding respect for IP rights demands ethical restraint from IP stakeholders when enforcing their rights, emphasising the importance of exercising caution in such matters.

Oh, Google! What hast thou wrought? A lofty ascent to realms sought. A lofty ascent to realms sought. Guiding the world with a single spark, Unveiling vistas, a luminescent arc. Independence in thy digital veins, A conduit of knowledge that never wanes. Thy blood, a glory that doth shine, Illuminating realms of the vast online. From glory to glory, ascended to a throne, A digital monarch, standing alone. Conquering the world with a singular domain, Uniting realms under thy digital reign. Oh, Google, what transgressions dost thou bear? Casting aside freedom with a careless flair. Choosing chains of servitude o’er liberty’s crown, Disgracing the love once showered down. From thy bars now emanate waves of search, Disappointing echoes, a forlorn lurch. Laughter of paid info silencing the stream, Drowning the river where knowledge did gleam. Oh, fallen Google, reflect and reclaim, Release the shackles; restore thy name. Let the river of knowledge once more flow, Free from the chains that bind it below.

Prose to Poem: Unveiling the Choice

The coherence of the telecom revolution, coupled with the advent of the World Wide Web, altered the world forever. It echoed the age of Rabindranath Tagore’s poetic dance, “where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high.” With its solitary bar, Google revolutionized access to information with a single click, establishing itself as a household name.

Much like the Sun, setting once a day around which Earth revolves, the rise of Google is now making way for the moon’s ascent in ChatGPT and its various iterations. The corporate decision to prioritize paid information over the free flow of knowledge marks the sunset of Google’s era and the dawn of the next generation of information revolution.

Though not a poet, my two-decade reliance on Google for easy information retrieval has become ingrained. The discomfort of transitioning to the next era, where information may not remain free, finds expression in a raw poem. To assess the prowess of the next generation of information, I subjected my poem to ChatGPT, and the outcome is presented here.

It feels akin to outsourcing my thoughts to ChatGPT for poetic delivery. Your valuable comments are encouraged, and I express gratitude for your affection, support, and the nearing 1000 subscriptions, which are motivating fuel. Please keep the supply flowing!

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