God gifted a wonderful thing called Brain to man and Mother Nature endowed him with abundant physical and biological resources on the earth. Man started creating his own world by the application of his brain and by the utilization of these natural resources. Man has also been bestowed with imagination and creativity. With his imagination and creativity he has been producing various products for his needs, comfort and convenience. By the end of the Twentieth Century, the things created and invented by the human mind were recognized as an intellectual property of the owner. The owner's right over these properties was accepted and is known as an Intellectual Property Right (commonly called IPR).

In the latter half of the Nineteenth century in Europe, technical ideas were not being shared for fear and apprehension of stealing and exploitation by others. The Paris Convention (1883) marked the birth of the Protection of Industrial Property, the first major international treaty designed to help a creative mind obtain protection and use his inventions (patents), trademarks and industrial designs. This treaty was the fore-runner of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as shown in Fig. 1 that came into being in 1970 and has 177 countries as members. It operates as a specialized agency of the United Nations and has its headquarters in Geneva in a building which is a landmark for the area.

Knowledge in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) today is deemed as important as knowledge in any other field such as the Information Technology. Intellectual properties are the products of human creativity emanating primarily from the activities of the human mind. Developed countries have evolved elaborate acts and systems so as to reward the creators of the intellectual property while encouraging them to earn from such activities. These also ensure that the competitive environment continues and the works of creativity reach the customers at a reasonable cost so that the growth of knowledge can serve the country in its overall economic and social development.

In order to appreciate IPR it is very important to understand what the first two letters, I and P, stand for Intellectual Property refers to creations of the mind, like inventions, literary and artistic work and symbols, names and images used in commerce.