About Me Weekly Assignments Final Project
Kevin J Jijo
Week 19
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19. Invention, Intellectual Property and Income

Individual Assignment

Introduction

This week I explored invention, intellectual property, and income generation in relation to my final project. The objective was to understand the different forms of intellectual property protection available, determine which are most suitable for my project, and explore how the project could potentially be shared or commercialized in the future.

I also looked at different business entity structures in India, common software licensing models, and selected a suitable license for my project.

Invention vs Innovation

Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, they refer to different concepts.

Invention

An invention is the creation of a completely new product, process, or idea that did not previously exist. It introduces something original and unique.

Innovation

Innovation is the improvement or modification of an existing product, process, or idea. It focuses on making something better, more efficient, or more useful rather than creating something entirely new.

For my final project, Sweep is primarily an innovation. Rather than reinventing the vinyl record player, it adds modern functionality that allows users to automatically select individual tracks while preserving the traditional analogue listening experience.

Business Entity Types in India

Before commercialising a product, it is important to understand the different business structures available in India. Each has different legal responsibilities, taxation, liability, and suitability depending on the size of the business.

For-Profit Business Structures

Sole Proprietorship

The simplest form of business ownership. It is owned and managed by a single individual and requires very little formal registration.

Partnership Firm

A business operated by two or more individuals who share ownership, responsibilities, and profits under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932.

General Partnership

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

One Person Company (OPC)

Introduced under the Companies Act, 2013, the OPC allows a single entrepreneur to operate as a registered company while maintaining limited liability.

Private Limited Company (Pvt Ltd)

The most common business structure for technology startups and growing businesses.

Public Limited Company (Ltd)

Designed for large organisations that intend to raise funds from the public through the stock market.

Producer Company

A specialised company structure intended for farmers, agricultural producers, and cooperatives.

Non-Profit Organisations

Trust

One of the oldest legal structures for charitable organisations in India.

Registered Society

Governed by the Societies Registration Act, 1860, this structure is commonly used by clubs, associations, and NGOs.

Section 8 Company

A structured non-profit company registered under the Companies Act, 2013.

Hybrid / Specialised Structures

Nidhi Company

A member-owned savings and lending company regulated under the Companies Act and RBI guidelines.

Joint Venture (JV)

A contractual collaboration between two or more businesses working together on a specific project.

Comparison

Business Type Legal Identity Liability Best For
Sole Proprietorship No Unlimited Small businesses
General Partnership No Unlimited Shared ownership
LLP Yes Limited Professional firms
OPC Yes Limited Solo founders
Private Limited Yes Limited Startups
Public Limited Yes Limited Large companies
Producer Company Yes Limited Agricultural businesses
Trust No Unlimited Charities
Society No Unlimited NGOs and associations
Section 8 Company Yes Limited Formal non-profits
Nidhi Company Yes Limited Member savings groups

All companies registered under the Companies Act, 2013 are administered by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property (IP) refers to creations of the human mind that can be legally protected. These legal rights allow inventors, designers, artists, and businesses to control how their work is used while also benefiting financially from their creations.

Different forms of intellectual property protect different aspects of a project. Since my final project contains mechanical design, electronics, software, branding, and documentation, several forms of IP could potentially apply.

Major Types of Intellectual Property

Patents

Patents protect new inventions, products, manufacturing methods, or technological improvements. Once granted, they provide the inventor with the exclusive right to make, use, manufacture, or sell the invention for a limited period.

Copyright

Copyright protects original creative works rather than ideas themselves. This includes software, documentation, books, artwork, videos, music, and photographs.

Trademark

A trademark protects names, logos, slogans, and other brand identifiers that distinguish one company's products from another.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets protect confidential information that gives a business a competitive advantage. Unlike patents, trade secrets remain protected only while the information remains secret.

Industrial Designs

Industrial design protection covers the visual appearance of a product rather than its technical function. This includes shape, styling, and aesthetic features.

Geographical Indications (GI)

Geographical Indications identify products that originate from a particular region and whose quality or reputation is linked to that location.

Choosing Intellectual Property

The type of protection required depends entirely on the project. A single project can often use multiple forms of intellectual property simultaneously.

For my project, possible protection methods include:

Official Intellectual Property Portal (India)

All intellectual property registrations in India are managed by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM).

Patent Registration Process (India)

A patent application generally follows five major stages.

1. Prior Art Search

Before filing a patent, it is important to ensure that the invention is genuinely new. Existing patents and publications should be searched to avoid duplicating previous work.

Useful databases include:

2. Filing the Patent

The patent application is submitted through the online filing portal.

The main forms include:

A provisional specification can be filed first to secure the filing date, followed by the complete specification within 12 months.

3. Publication

After filing, the application remains confidential before being published in the official patent journal.

4. Request for Examination

Patent applications are not examined automatically.

The applicant must submit:

The request must be filed within 48 months from the filing date.

5. Examination and Grant

An examiner reviews the application and issues a First Examination Report (FER).

Any objections must be addressed before the patent can be granted.

Patent Protection Outside India

If an Indian resident wishes to file patents in other countries, Section 39 of the Indian Patents Act, 1970 must be followed.

Route A — File in India First

Route B — Foreign Filing Licence (FFL)

Filing overseas without following these procedures can result in cancellation of the Indian application and legal penalties.

International Patent Filing

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

The PCT system allows a single international patent application that can later enter more than 150 participating countries.

Paris Convention

The Paris Convention allows direct filing in other countries while keeping the priority date of the first application.

Software Licensing

After deciding how the project could be protected, the next step was to determine how it would be shared. Software and documentation can be released under different licenses depending on how much freedom the creator wants to give others.

MIT License

Official website: https://opensource.org/license/mit

The MIT License is one of the most popular open-source software licenses. It is short, simple, and highly permissive.

This license encourages collaboration while keeping attribution to the original author.

GNU General Public License (GPL)

Official website: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html

The GNU GPL is a strong copyleft license. Anyone may use, modify, and distribute the software, but any modified versions must also remain open source under the same license.

This license is commonly used for community-driven open-source projects where future improvements should remain publicly available.

Creative Commons Licenses

Official website: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Creative Commons licenses are primarily intended for creative works such as documentation, images, videos, presentations, and educational material rather than software.

Instead of providing only one license, Creative Commons offers several options depending on how much freedom the creator wishes to allow.

Each license combines different permissions relating to attribution, commercial use, derivative works, and share-alike requirements.

Creative Commons License Comparison

Reference: https://libguides.longwood.edu/copyright/creativecommons

Choosing a License

For my final project I decided to use a Creative Commons license for the project documentation and design files. Creative Commons provides an online license chooser that recommends the most suitable license based on a few simple questions.

Creative Commons License Chooser: https://creativecommons.org/chooser/

Creative Commons License Chooser

After answering the questions provided by the license chooser, the recommended license for my project was CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Creative Commons License Selected

The license allows others to:

Generated License Statement


Sweep © 2026 by Kevin J Jijo is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Creative Commons also provides HTML code that can be directly embedded into a webpage to display the selected license with the official Creative Commons icons. 


<a href="https://fabacademy.org/2026/labs/kochi/students/kevin-jijo/final-project.html">Sweep</a>
© 2026 by
<a href="https://fabacademy.org/2026/labs/kochi/students/kevin-jijo/about.html">Kevin J Jijo</a>
is licensed under
<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
</a>

Updating the License

The project license was updated on both the final project page and the project development page to clearly state how the project may be used and shared.

Dissemination Plan

The goal of this project is simply to make listening to vinyl records a little more convenient while preserving the analog experience. I hope others can use, modify, and build upon the project freely, whether for personal use, learning, or future improvements. If it encourages more people to enjoy vinyl records in their own way, then the project has achieved its purpose.

To know more about the project, please refer to the Project Development documentation in the repository.