Computer Law and Intellectual Property - Essay Example

Intellectual property law, a framework being used in science and arts for the protection of the rights of the owner/ inventor, can provide the appropriate scheme for the protection of rights of the owner/ inventor in the information technology (IT) sector. In accordance with Judge (2007, 301) ‘intellectual property law can serve as an autonomous source of liability for intellectual property owners’1. However, the protection of the owner of rights’ in the specific sector – as in all other scientific sectors – is related with specific terms.

Regarding the protection provided to the owner of an IP right through the provision of a relevant license it has been supported in a relevant Court decision that ‘Lord Diplocks well-known statement in Allen & Hanburys v. Generics [1986] RPC 203 at 246: "A licence passes no proprietary interest in anything; it only makes an action lawful that would otherwise have been unlawful’2; in other words, a series of criteria need to be met in order for the state to intervene in a relevant dispute (ownership of rights) and provide the necessary protection to the owner.

These criteria are clearly stated in the law developed in each country – always referring to the protection of the various aspects of intellectual property; however, it is also possible that rules of international organizations or bodies are applied – in European Union the Regulations published by the Union have to be applied by the National Courts but only under the terms that they have been verified by the authorized national bodies. In any case the intervention of the state or an international organization towards the protection of a specific IP right has to be appropriately justified.

In accordance with the European Court of Justice ‘the lawfulness of a Community measure must be assessed on the basis of the matters of fact and of law existing at the time when the measure was adopted’