• The famous blue-bordered sari of Mother Teresa, who has been canonised as Saint Teresa of Calcutta by the Vatican, has been recognised as an Intellectual Property of the Missionaries of Charity.
• The diminutive nun of Albanian descent went around the streets of Kolkata since 1948 to be with the poor and the destitutes, wearing a white sari with three blue borders, the outer border being wider than the two inner ones.
• “The blue-designed border on the sari worn by nuns of the Missionaries of Charity was recognised as Intellectual Property for the organisation on September four, 2016, the day the Mother was canonised.
• It is the first time ever that a uniform has been protected under the Intellectual Property rights.

What are intellectual property rights?

• Intellectual property rights are like any other property right.
• They allow creators, or owners, of patents, trademarks or copyrighted works to benefit from their own work or investment in a creation.
• These rights are outlined in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides for the right to benefit from the protection of moral and material interests resulting from authorship of scientific, literary or artistic productions.
• The importance of intellectual property was first recognized in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886). Both treaties are administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

India’s new IPR Policy will be posted in next post which is more important for Mains