Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual Property Law seeks to protect the intangible creations of the intellect. These creations include ideas, discoveries, inventions, symbols, music, art, and literary works. The intent is to allow the creators of an idea to exclusively control and profit from their idea. This protection is thought to encourage invention and innovation, and thus aid both the inventor and their community. Note that in order to have something to protect, the most intangible of these assets must still find expression in some tangible form, such as business processes, commercial methods, software or industrial or artistic designs.

There are four main categories of Intellectual Property Law. These are patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. It is important to note that each of these categories has a distinct history, and category is handled uniquely within Intellectual Property Law.

Patents generally cover inventions and business processes, although there are types of discoveries and industrial design that can also be patented. A patent is a material asset that can be owned and sold. It is one of the oldest types of Intellectual Property Law, and is found in most counties of the world in some form.

A trademark is a phrase, word, or logo that uniquely distinguishes a commercial product or service. It takes time and capital to build positive public recognition of a trademark. Once protected, the creator has exclusive rights to use it. There has been some controversy over specific trademark battles when it comes to exclusive rights to names, words, or phrases.

A copyright covers the intellectual property of musical, literary, artistic, and audiovisual work as well as computer software. It is the protection of authorship. Copyright protection begins when the work is written down or recorded, and extends for life of the author plus fifty years.

Trade secrets cover the intellectual property of business processes, formulas, and techniques that increase profitability because they are not well known. Organizations have been known to steal or to reverse-engineer lucrative ideas from other companies. The trade secret branch of Intellectual Property Law seeks to confer protection against this form of theft.

In summary, Intellectual Property Law seeks to confer ownership, control, and protection to intangible assets. It takes time and capital to develop a valuable piece of Intellectual property. If protected, the property can enhance the profitability of the creator. This profitability will in turn enhance the community at large. Thus, Intellectual Property Law benefits both the individual and their society.