KSLU Solved Question Papers
Intellectual Property Rights I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 9
2025 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 9 Intellectual Property Rights I 2025 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2025 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2025 Jun examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problems is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Discuss the factors which are accountable for the growth of Intellectual Property Rights.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what "growth" means (more kinds of rights, wider scope, more countries, more use); the factors: printing and the industrial revolution; trade and territoriality, leading to Paris (1883) and Berne (1886); brands and mass markets; science and biotechnology (Diamond v. Chakrabarty); globalisation and TRIPS (1994); the knowledge economy and databases (Eastern Book Company); digital technology; investment and technology transfer; India's own factors (1991 reforms, TRIPS amendments of 1999, 2002 and 2005, Novartis, National IPR Policy 2016).
Introduction
Intellectual property rights (IPR) have grown in four ways. New kinds of rights have appeared, existing rights have widened, more countries protect them, and businesses use them far more. Several historical, economic and technological factors explain this growth.
Factors accountable for the growth of IPR
1. Printing and the industrial revolution. The printing press made cheap copies of books possible, so authors and printers sought protection. This led to the Statute of Anne, 1710, the first copyright law vesting rights in authors. The industrial revolution produced machines and processes worth copying. Patent laws followed the English Statute of Monopolies, 1624, which protected the "true and first inventor".
2. Expansion of trade. IP rights are territorial: they stop at the border of the country that grants them. As goods and books crossed borders, creators needed protection abroad. Foreign inventors feared exhibiting at the Vienna exhibition of 1873. This led to the Paris Convention, 1883, for industrial property and the Berne Convention, 1886, for literary and artistic works.
3. Brands and mass markets. Factory goods were sold far from where they were made. Buyers relied on marks to identify the maker. Trade mark law grew from protecting buyers against fraud to protecting the goodwill of traders.
4. Science and biotechnology. New sciences produced new subject matter. In Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 US 303 (1980), Dr Ananda Chakrabarty created a bacterium that could break down crude oil. The US Supreme Court held, by five to four, that a man-made living micro-organism is patentable. This opened biotechnology to patents worldwide. India now patents micro-organisms but excludes plants and animals (section 3(j), Patents Act, 1970).
5. Globalisation and TRIPS. The TRIPS Agreement of 1994, part of the World Trade Organization, set binding minimum standards for all kinds of IP. It made them enforceable through trade dispute settlement. Every WTO member, including India, had to raise its protection.
6. The knowledge economy. In modern economies, the value of companies lies more in knowledge, software, brands and data than in land or machines. Courts have protected such intangible effort. In Eastern Book Company v. D.B. Modak, (2008) 1 SCC 1, a publisher claimed copyright in its edited law reports. The Supreme Court held that the raw judgments carry no copyright. But head notes, paragraph numbers and editorial notes did, because they needed skill and judgment.
7. Digital technology and the internet. Digital copies are perfect and travel instantly. This led to the WIPO Copyright Treaty, 1996 and, in India, to the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, with protection for digital locks (section 65A).
8. Investment and transfer of technology. Investors fund research only if its results can be protected. Article 7 of TRIPS says protection should promote innovation and the transfer of technology. Multinational firms license technology more readily where IP is secure.
9. International organisations. WIPO, set up in 1967 and a UN agency since 1974, administers the treaties. It also runs global filing systems such as the PCT and the Madrid system, making protection abroad easier.
10. India's own factors. After the 1991 economic reforms, India joined the WTO and amended its laws. The Patents Act was amended in 1999, 2002 and 2005, and product patents for medicines returned in 2005. The Trade Marks Act, 1999, the Designs Act, 2000 and the GI Act, 1999 were passed. The National IPR Policy of 12 May 2016 adopted the slogan "Creative India; Innovative India".
11. Faster enforcement. Owners register rights only if courts enforce them. The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 brought IP suits into fast-track commercial courts. After the Appellate Board was abolished in 2021, the Delhi High Court set up a dedicated Intellectual Property Division.
The growth has limits
Growth has been balanced by the public interest. In Novartis AG v. Union of India, (2013) 6 SCC 1, the Supreme Court refused a patent for a new form of the cancer drug imatinib. It applied section 3(d), which bars a new form of a known substance without enhanced therapeutic efficacy. So the expansion of rights is checked where it would harm access to medicines.
Conclusion. IPR grew because of printing and industry, trade across borders, brands, new sciences like biotechnology (Diamond v. Chakrabarty), and the knowledge economy (Eastern Book Company). Digital technology, TRIPS and WIPO spread protection worldwide, and India's post-1991 reforms brought its law into line. Indian law still checks that growth in the public interest, as Novartis shows.
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