Intellectual Property Rights

Definition:
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic
works; designs, symbols, names, and images used in commerce.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) are legal protections for creators. These rights safeguard original
works, inventions, and product appearances. Creations include artistic works, scientific developments, and
more.

These rights have contributed enormously to the world, in particular economically. Many companies
in various industries rely on the enforcement of their patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Consumers can
also be assured of quality when purchasing IP-backed products.

The purpose of intellectual property rights is to encourage new creations, including technology, artwork,
and inventions, that might increase economic growth. Intellectual property rights encourage individuals to
continue to produce things that further create job opportunities and new technologies while enabling our
world to improve and evolve even faster.

Intellectual Property comprises 2 distinct forms:

 Literary & Artistic Works

o They are books, paintings, musical compositions, plays, movies, radio/tv programs,
performances, & other artistic works.
Protected by
“COPYRIGHT”
 Industrial Property
o Describes physical matter that is the product of an idea or concept for commercial purposes.
Protected by:
o Patented objects
o Trademarks
o Industrial Designs
o Trade Secrets
o

Types of intellectual property rights

There are four types of intellectual property rights (IP):

 Patents
 Trademarks
 Copyrights
 Trade Secrets

Patents
A patent is used to prevent an invention from being created, sold, or used by another party without
permission. Patents are the most common type of intellectual property rights that come to people’s minds
when they think of intellectual property rights protection.
A patent owner has every right to commercialize his/her patent, including buying and selling the patent or
granting a license to the invention to any third party under mutually agreed terms

Example

• Wright Brothers patent for airplane

• Thomas Edison’s patent for light bulb.

It can be further categorized into 3 types.

1. Utility
2. Design
3. Plant

Utility
A utility patent protects the creation of new or improved products, processes, compositions of matter, or
machines that are useful.

In addition, once a utility patent is granted, the patent owner will have the right to exclude anyone from
making, using, or selling this invention for 20 years, starting from the date the patent application was filed.

An example of utility patent can be a method for a driver assistance system of a vehicle.

Design
A design patent only protects the ornamental characteristics and the appearance of a product, but not the
structural and functional features.

Since design patents and utility patents provide completely different areas of intellectual property protection,
you can apply for both utility and design patents for the same product. Unlike utility patents, design patents
have a 15-year term.

Example of design patent can be an electric bicycle

Plant
A plant patent protects new kinds of plants that have been reproduced asexually. This means that the plant
has been reproduced by seeds, cuttings, or other nonsexual means. Also, it cannot be a tuber-propagated
plant or a plant that is still uncultivated. Plant patents also have a 20-year term.

An example of plant patent can be Crapemyrtle plant

Trademark
Trademarks are another familiar type of intellectual property rights protection.

A trademark is a distinctive sign that allows consumers to identify the particular goods or services a
company provides easily. Examples include McDonald’s golden arch, the Facebook logo, and so on.

A trademark can come in the form of text, a phrase, symbol, sound, smell, or color scheme.

Unlike patents, a trademark can protect a set or class of products or services instead of just one product or
process.
Copyrights
A legal right granted to an intellectual property owner is copyright. It helps protect the creator of the
original material so that no one can duplicate or use it without authorization. If an original work needs
protection through copyright laws, it must be in a tangible(solid) form.

Copyright does not protect ideas. Instead, it only covers “tangible” forms of creations and original work–
for example, art, music, architectural drawings, or even software codes. The copyright owner has the
exclusive right to sell, publish, and/or reproduce any literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, or architectural
work created by the author.

Trade Secret
Trade secrets are the secrets of a business. They are systems, formulas, strategies, or other confidential
information and are not meant for unauthorized commercial use by others.

• Example of a trade secret includes the Coca cola recipe.

• This is a critical form of protection that can help businesses gain a competitive advantage.

Advantages
Competitive Edge Over Other Alike Businesses: IP protection inevitably gives an ability to have a
competitive edge over other similar business in the market. This will make the companies with the IP
protection tension free because their business operation is secure because the same businesses in the market
won’t be able to copy, use or manufacture the same product.

IP Helps In Enhancing The Company’s Value: Intellectual property helps in generating more income for
the business through the sale or licensing agreements of the invention.

IP Aids In Marketing The Company’s Products And Services: It can help in differentiating one business
over the other in order to attract more potential customers. Thus, it boosts the marketing of the registered
products.

Obtaining Finance Becomes Easy: It becomes easy to obtain finance from financial institutions and
lenders since it enhances the credibility with the IP protection.

Greater Export Opportunities: It increases competitive edge in the export markets and to deal with the
products and services internationally.

Disadvantages
Additional Costs: For getting the protection for the first time, it could be bit expensive particularly if the
product is complex and involves methods, designs, and processes.

Pirating: Even after getting the IP protection, it sometimes becomes difficult to stop someone who is
copying the inventory work.

Reduced Quality: With the passage of time, as the rights of intellectual property reduces so does the quality
of the IP decreases.