The synergy between Industrial Property and Science is at the core of constant technological evolution and serves as a driving force for innovation.
In a market where competitive relationships are constantly being established, Industrial Property stands out as a regulatory and guiding factor, granting exclusive rights.
Industrial Property is a branch of Intellectual Property that encompasses a wide range of concepts. It includes patents, registered trademarks, and industrial designs, and serves as a pillar that protects and promotes creativity and development.
Thus, it ensures the protection of investments made by companies in R\&D, creating the necessary conditions to stimulate economic competitiveness.
On the other hand, Science is responsible for discovering phenomena and understanding their underlying mechanisms, as well as driving innovation toward the new, leading to major advancements in areas such as civil engineering and industry, among others.
Science provides discoveries and knowledge that drive technological evolution, as well as the development of products and processes.
Therefore, companies that invest in science and innovation become more competitive in global markets, improve the quality of life of their employees, and significantly increase the number of jobs created.
Throughout this article, we will explore the connection between Industrial Property and Science and the impact it has on scientific discoveries and inventions.
Industrial Property emerges as a foundational support in the dissemination of scientific innovation. As previously mentioned, Industrial Property law is closely linked to the exercise of business activity.
This set of rights is not about ownership in the traditional sense, nor is it exclusively intended for industry. Rather, it is a body of legal rules that governs the development of business activity, both in relation to a company’s products and the position it asserts in the competitive landscape.
In this way, rights such as the Trademark arise a right that exclusively protects the use of a distinctive element or sign placed on the products or services provided by the company.
The Trade Name and Business Sign, referring to the exclusive right to use a name or other element that distinguishes the establishment.
Rewards, also a means of protecting product quality. Similarly, Industrial Design refers to the legal protection granted to a product’s design that is, a visual and aesthetic creation applied to an object.
And finally, we have Patents and Utility Models exclusive rights granted over inventions. Patents can be obtained for inventions across various fields of technology.
However, in the case of Utility Models, it is not possible to protect inventions that involve biological material or chemical or pharmaceutical substances or processes.
The granting of this type of exclusive rights requires a prior formal registration process with the National Institute of Industrial Property.
Some of these rights, such as Patents, Utility Models, and Industrial Designs, reflect the existence of a social interest in the growth of research and technological development.
For this reason, exclusive rights are granted over innovations, although they are temporally limited—in the case of Patents, only for 20 years. In this way, holders are able to recover the investments made in all creative and inventive processes.
Industrial Property is, therefore, a branch of law directly related to technological development and research.
As mentioned, Industrial Property protects and stimulates scientific innovation, and Science is the fuel that drives the evolution of this protection.
The more scientific discoveries occur, the greater the emergence of new technologies and products that, in turn, can and should be protected through Patents or other forms of Industrial Property.
The correlation between science and Industrial Property is especially strong in the field of technology. The advancements experienced in recent decades in areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and nanotechnology have created a wave of new opportunities and legal challenges.
Thus, as new inventions and processes emerge, issues inherent to Industrial Property arise.
Questions such as “who owns the rights to an invention made by artificial intelligence” or “how to protect innovations in the field of gene therapies” are becoming increasingly common.
These areas are subject to protection through Patents, meaning that all discoveries and innovations in the technological field can be protected.
Consequently, they encourage individuals to develop and research further, and ultimately, this development will result in more innovations for society.
Moreover, Patents promote the dissemination of information and the commercialization of products that add social value.
Despite the clear benefits that Industrial Property and Science bring to innovation, there are some significant barriers to be overcome.
One of these challenges is understanding the proper balance between protecting Industrial Property rights and ensuring access to knowledge. This can be observed in the healthcare sector. It can become difficult to guarantee better healthcare while simultaneously encouraging the creation and discovery of new medical solutions. Thus, a positive approach to overcoming these challenges is promoting open innovation through collaboration between different stakeholders. This means that the development of processes and inventions can involve multiple entities.
This type of collaboration involves the sharing of ideas and resources between companies or research institutions, allowing all parties to benefit from the knowledge.
When addressing global issues, the solution lies in the international sharing of technologies and best practices, with the aim of overcoming obstacles on a global scale.
In summary, there are numerous ways to protect innovations, from Patents to Industrial Designs, and all are valid options for maintaining the integrity of processes.
However, with the evolution of markets and, consequently, their demands, we face some issues in the field of property law.
These bring challenges not only in a business context but also on a global scale, which will only be overcome through the sharing of knowledge.
Thus, Industrial Property not only protects and encourages creativity and progress but also fosters scientific innovation.
