In this new era of business where
world has become a global village. Performing business beyond
national boundaries is a common practice now. International
business has opened new doors for organizations on one hand and on
the other had it also imposes several challenges for business
organizations. One of such challenge is that of protecting
intellectual property from getting violated while performing
international businesses.
Some of the common IP issues in
international business are as follows:
- IP rights are valid in country
where they are granted,
- Freedom to operate in different
countries is different,
- Intellectual property rights in
different countries have different deadlines.
- Selection of appropriate trade mark
is not easy while performing business across borders.
- Market of interest might have prior
existing trademark, patent or design.
Ways to protect IP from violation
while performing international business:
- Apply for intellectual property
rights through National route in the country in which business is
to be performed.
- Keeping a check on deadlines of IP
rights,
- To check if trademark,patient, or
designs are already existing in desired country, one need to apply
for another IP rights.
- Signing the agreement under TRIPS
(Trade Related Aspects of International Property Rights), in order
to ensure enforcement of stricter intellectual property
regulations.
There are different provisions in
different countries to respond towards violations of ones
intellectual property. However, in order to respond to violations
of ones intellectual property in international business one must
take following common steps:
- By taking legal action in
performing country,
- By conducting full investigation
for determining the causes of violation.
- To present the problem in such a
manner that the local government realizes their loss if you don’t
perform business in their country,
- The net impact of violation of ones
IP rights must be assessed and communicated,
- One can also identify like
organizations that face similar violation issues and can form a
collision with them to make a greater impact.
- By expanding the level of exposure
the message can be widely spread.
- By lobbing respective government to
push international agreement in order to protect IP rights.