What is intellectual property?
Intellectual Property (IP) refers to the protection of creations of the mind, which have both a moral and a commercial value.
IP law typically grants the author of an intellectual creation exclusive rights for exploiting and benefiting from their creation. However, these rights, also called monopoly right of exploitation, are limited in scope, duration and geographical extent.
IP protection is intended to stimulate the creativity of the human mind for the benefit of all by ensuring that the advantages derived from exploiting a creation benefit the creator. This will encourage creative activity and allow investors in research and development a fair return on their investment.
IP confers on individuals, enterprises or other entities the right to exclude others from the use of their creations. Consequently, intellectual property rights (IPRs) may have a direct and substantial impact on industry and trade as the owner of an IPR may - through the enforcement of such a right - prevent the manufacture, use or sale of a product which incorporates the IPR.
For this reason control over the intangible asset (IPR) connotes control of the product and markets.
IP protection encourages the publication, distribution and disclosure of the creation to the public, rather than keeping it secret while at the same time encouraging commercial enterprises to select creative works for exploitation.
Intellectual property legal titles relates to the acquisition and use of a range of rights covering different type of creations. These may be industrial or literary and artistic.
| IP Protection | ||
| Types of protection of IP | Subject matter | Main fields of application |
| Patents | New, non-obvious, industrially applicable inventions | All industries, e.g.chemicals, drugs, plastics, motors, turbines, electronics, scientific equipments, communication equipments, etc. |
| Trademarks | Signs or symbols to identify goods and services | All industries |
| Industrial designs | Ornamental designs | All industries, e.g.electronics, automobiles, kitchenware, etc. |
| Topography of semi-conductor products | Original layout design | Micro-electronics industry |
| Copyright | Original work of authorship | Publications, videos, photos, broadcasting, etc. |
| Neighbouring rights | Original work of authorship | Performing artists, of producers of phonogrammes and broadcasting organisations, etc |
| Protection against unfair competition | All the above | All industries |
| Trade secrets | Secret business information | All industries |
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