In general terms, IP is the result of using one's intellect to create something new and different from what is known before. IP can be something that you write, design, invent, speak, draw, sing etc.
IP is also a legal concept, in-as-much, as like other property, it can be owned, sold, rented, given away etc. Just as tangible property is protected by law, Intellectual property is protected by Intellectual property Rights(IPR). IPR refers to the legal rights given by a state to the inventor/creator to protect his invention/creation for a certain period of time.
Intellectual Property is divided into two categories : Industrial property, which refers to inventions(patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels,poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyrights include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs.
Types of IP:
- patents for new or improved products or processes;
- trade marks for words, symbols, pictures, sounds, smells or a combination of these, to distinguish the goods and services of one trader from those of another;
- designs for the shape or appearance of manufactured goods;
- copyright for original material in literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works, films, broadcasts, multimedia and computer programs;
- circuit layout rights for the 3-dimensional configuration of electronic circuits in integrated circuit products or layout designs;
- plant breeder's rights for new plant varieties;
- confidentiality/trade secrets including know-how and other confidential or proprietary information.
Post a Comment