BĀHUBALI – LEADING THE WAY FOR OPTIMUM INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY EXPLOITATION IN INDIA

BĀHUBALI – LEADING THE WAY FOR OPTIMUM INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY EXPLOITATION IN INDIA

“Bāhubali” - the recent sensation that jolted the entire world cinema with its striking story line, screenplay and above all the mesmerizing character “Bāhubali” and other equally strong supporting characters are products of mind blowing creativity and intellect. The resulting intellectual property has been exploited wisely. This article aims to demonstrate the optimum utilization of intellectual property and the power of intellectual property to generate commercial results.

Hundreds of fictional characters have entertained the human race since time immemorial. Some of the well-known examples are Oliver Twist, Sherlock Homes, James Bond, Chacha Chaudary, Sakthimaan, Chota Bheem, etc. While many are in the public domain, many are still enjoying the protection accorded under the IP law regime. There are multiple Intellectual Property rights (Copyrights, Trademarks, Industrial Designs, Patents, etc.) that facilitate optimum exploitation of the given intellectual property.

A fictional character is like a real character. It has a life of its own.

Characters are used in relation to children's toys, posters, animated cartoons, Video Games, in menus of fast food restaurants, Board Games, adult and children's clothing and all other plausible forms of merchandise. Character development and exploitation of fictional characters are driven by commercial interest and profits.

It is pertinent to take note here that not all proprietors or authors of a fictional character may be aware of the diverse commercial prospects that the character is capable of; that can be achieved by optimum exploitation of the Intellectual Property (fictional character).

The Bāhubali franchise is a cluster of characters that has had a far reaching impact on the audience, shouting the apparent commercial prospects to the creator. Now let's see how these characters are being exploited. 

Firstly, the characters in Bāhubali might have been in the form of a story which itself is protectable as Intellectual Property. The story was then made into a movie which once again being a Cinematograph film is protected under Copyright. Seeing the popularity of the character the author wasted no time in further commercializing the Intellectual Property.   

The author has released the animation series in Amazon^® Prime. Now this is a wise decision that led to the creation of graphic characters of those fictional characters. This gives a longer life to the character and has increased the Intellectual Property potential of the fictional character and multiple episodes can be created.

The author has further released merchandise such as mobile phone covers, accessories, etc. There is an exclusive website selling this Merchandise.

A novel “THE RISE OF SIVAGAMI” based on the character Sivagami [Mother of Bāhubali] has been written by Anand Nilakantan and published by Westland (Tata Group). The novel is a prequel to the movie.

Likewise, each character in the Bāhubali franchise is an Intellectual Property in itself and is capable of leading to more Intellectual Property creations.

The recent video game is also an interesting addition to the Bāhubali Intellectual Property exploitation saga.

The whole movie consists of different creative elements apart from these fictional characters which can be a part of a different Intellectual Property discussion all together.

There may be numerous precedents of exploitation of Intellectual Property in a fictional character. Nevertheless, Bāhubali stands out as one of its kind, leading the way for optimum intellectual property exploitation in India.

  

 

IP AUDIT AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR AN ORGANISATION

• IP Audit is the process of assessing and evaluating the IP Assets of an organization, usually by IP Professionals.

• It is a systematic review of the IP assets owned, used or acquired by a business.

• It is the act of identifying, monitoring and valuing the IP assets so as to enable an organization to exploit them to the fullest.

• The purpose of IP Audit for an organization is to uncover under-utilized IP assets, identify threats and devise informed IP strategies.

• IP Audit helps in responding appropriately in the event where an organization’s IP is infringed.

• IP Audit assists use of IP effectively and appropriately.

• IP Audit identifies an organization’s strengths and weaknesses thereby enabling the realization of full value of the  IP assets.  

• Ideally, professional IP auditors should conduct an IP Audit. Nevertheless, an internal team within the Organization may also conduct a preliminary IP audit.

• Knowledge of an Organization’s intellectual property and its value will assist in deciding which type of IP rights to acquire and maintain, and how best to manage the IP assets of the organization.

• IP Audit results play a major role in making decisions during Mergers and acquisitions.

• IP Audit can increase revenue by identifying IP that can be licensed to a third party.

• An IP audit will assist the organization in determining the value of its own IP in order to obtain maximum benefit from license agreements.  The revenue resulting from such licenses has the potential of increasing the market value of the Organization.

• A well-structured IP portfolio may, in certain circumstances, also be used as collateral. In such cases, lenders will use IP assets to determine the credit worthiness of the Organization.

• Knowing the value of IP assets will assist an Organization in taking decisions against infringement and in what way this may be done on a case-by-case basis.

• A well-managed IP register would help you identify obsolete IP assets thereby eliminating IP asset maintenance costs.

• An IP audit is a relatively simple exercise, but it has a meaningful role in avoiding various circumstances, such as violation of others’ rights, protecting one’s IP/IP rights, minimizing the risk of third party IP violation, clarifying IP ownership issues, etc.

• It also serves as a guiding tool for maintenance, management and safeguarding of IP rights throughout the life cycle of IP.

• As Organizations understand the value of their IP Assets, the importance of IP is bound to grow, and thus the need for an IP audit.

• Conducting periodic IP audits is recommended as that helps the enterprise to keep its IP portfolio up to date.

Upcycling : A new lead for new IP's

Recently, an article on Upcycling in The Times of India caught my eye. It was interesting and inspiring. Upcycling is a new and better way to treat trash and waste. It is nothing but upgrading the junk into new and useable products. In other words, reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.

Having explained what Upcycling is, my concern is regarding the immense potential for generation of Intellectual Property that Upcycling offers.

"The opportunity to upcycle trash, or turn it into new products, is vast"

Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless and/or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value. By Upcycling a waste product, you are giving it a new identity; for example waste water bottles, soft drink bottles, empty jam jars, old fabric etc., can be made into completely new products with no trace of the earlier identity.     

This new products are new intellectual property created and shall be protected using different intellectual property rights. One of the industries where Upcycling is common is fashion industry and interior décor. Mostly such products exhibit artistic craftsmanship. Therefore, qualify for protection under copyright law. Moreover, if a business is started naturally trademarks and branding come into play. Sometimes even a design registration of a product is possible.

Should Upcycling be taken seriously, revenue is sure to come. The potential for developing without any major investment is what is lucrative in this field. This justifies that age-old proverb “Old is Gold”. Turn your old stuff into Gold by creating different Intellectual Property.

Record Player-Gramophone

Record Player-Gramophone

Patent document - Phonograph- Thomas Alva Edison

Early attempts were made all over Europe and USA by several scientists to invent a better machine to record and play the sounds & music.

Phonograph: 

In the year 1877 Thomas Alva Edison successfully invented his tin-foil machine to record and reproduce sounds.Thomas Edison’s product was marketed under the trade mark “Phonograph”.  The sound was recorded in a round cylinder and then reproduced using the Phonograph.

Graphophone:

Alexander Graham Bell invented another machine to record and reproduce sounds. He named it as “Graphophone” and used wax cylinders which helped him to play the same for so many times. But mass reproduction of the music or sound is impossible because of each cylinder had to be recorded separately.

Gramophone: 

Emile Berliner, a German immigrant working in USA patented a successful machine for sound recording and played the same. Emile Berlin recorded on flat disks or records and stopped to record on Cylinders.The sound/music was etched into the flat disks/records in the form of spiral groove. 

GRAMOPHONE 

The record was rotated on the gramophone. The turntable revolved at an even speed with the help of a spring motor. The Spring Motor was patented by Elridge Johnson for the Berliner gramophone. A needle in the tip of the arm was used to read the grooves in the record by vibration. The Gramophone speaker played back the sound/music information recorded in the disk/record.

Hence the name record player got its name from Berliner's disks (records). These records were the first sound recordings which were produced at mass for commercial exploitation. 

Copyrights and its uses

　

COPYRIGHTS AND ITS USES

 

THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE TO THE COPYRIGHT OWNER

a. Rights of reproduction,

b. Communication to the public,

c. Adaptation and translation of the work

TERM OF COPYRIGHT

a. Generally for the period of 60 years

b. In case of original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the 60-year period is counted from the year following the death of the author.

ADVANTAGES

1. Valid in more than 100 Countries under Berne Convention.

2. No need to renew the copyright certificate.

3. One time investment for creating rights upto two generation.

4. Exclusive right to use, adapt, sale, translate and copy your own works.

5. If someone else uses your work without your permission, owner can take legal action.

LEGAL ACTIONS

INFRINGEMENTS:

A copyright owner can take legal action against any person who does the following acts with respect to the copyrighted work.

a. Copies for sale or hire or selling or letting them for hire;

b. Distributing infringing copies;

c. Public exhibition of infringing copies by way of trade; and

d. Importation of infringing copies into India.

REMEDIES:

The copyright owner is entitled to the following remedies by way of

1. Injunctions,

2. Damages [in terms of money]

3. Seizure of the infringing materials and

4. Rendering the accounts.