Intellectual Property Rights

What is Intellectual Property?

According to Merriam Webster says "intellectual property: property (as an idea, invention, or process) that derives from the work of the mind or intellect: an application, right, or registration relating to this."

The intellectual property rights definition gives the creator or holder exclusive rights to the intellectual property for varying lengths of time, depending upon the type of intellectual property.

In the United States, Intellectual Property rights are overseen by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the United States Copyright Office.

Worldwide, the officiating body is the World Intellectual Property Organization, for all those countries participating.

Intellectual property is property of the mind, according to WIPO, World Intellectual Property Organization and they say:

Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes 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 copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs.

Again quoting WIPO, "intellectual property shall include rights relating to:

• literary, artistic and scientific works,
• performances of performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts,
• inventions in all fields of human endeavor,
• scientific discoveries,
• industrial designs,
• trademarks, service marks and commercial names and designations,
• protection against unfair competition"

The four legally protected categories of IP are:

• Patents
  
  Inventions has to be registered with the government and these are called patents. A patent registration process can take more than one year, and if it is granted, the inventor gains the legal right to exclude anyone else from manufacturing or marketing it. Patents cover tangible and intangible things. Today it is prudent to register patents in foreign countries also. This will help prevent international competitors from infringing on patent in other countries. Patents have a definite life span. Once it is registered, the legal protection for a patent lasts for only 20 years. After which the patent becomes a public property.
• Trademarks
  
  A trademark is a name, phrase, sound or symbol used in association with services or products. It often connects a brand with a level of quality on which companies build a reputation. Trademark protection lasts for 10 years after registration and, like patents, can be renewed. But trademarks don't have to be registered. If a company creates a symbol or name it wishes to use exclusively, it can simply attach the TM symbol. This effectively marks the territory and gives the company room to prosecute if other companies attempt to use the same symbol for their own purposes.
• Copyrights
  
  Copyright laws protect written or artistic expressions fixed in a tangible medium - novels, poems, songs or movies. A copyright protects the expression of an idea, but not the idea itself. The owner of a copyrighted work has the right to reproduce it, to make derivative works from it (such as a movie based on a book), or to sell, perform or display the work to the public. You don't need to register your material to hold a copyright, but registration is a prerequisite if you decide to sue for copyright infringement. A copyright lasts for the life of the author plus another 50 years.
• Trade secrets
  
  A formula, pattern, device or compilation of data that grants the user an advantage over competitors is a trade secret. It is covered by state, rather than federal, law. To protect the secret, a business must prove that it adds value to the company - that it is, in fact, a secret - and that appropriate measures have been taken within the company to safeguard the secret, such as restricting knowledge to a select handful of executives. Coca-Cola, for example, has managed to keep its formula under wraps for more than 117 years.

Reference:

http://arunkottolli.blogspot.com/2006/10/types-of-intellectual-property.html