Intellectual property (IP) is a list of various types of legal monopolies over creations of the idea, both artistic and commercial, and the related fields of law. Under intellectual property law, owners have sole rights to some intangibles such as musical, literary, and artistic works; ideas, breakthroughs, and inventions; and words. phrases, symbols, and designs. Intellectual property has been divided into four main categories namely patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
Copyrights deal with safety of original creative works. They protect the owner\’s rights over works of art like musical scores, poetry, films, novels etc. They allow the users to exclusively use several forms of their idea in different mediums with sole legal rights of replication, adaptation, sale etc for a prescribed period of time. In most countries, a copyright survives for fifty years following the author\’s demise and any unauthorized use within this period is considered an offence.
Patents are lawful and certified rights that allow creators to prevent others from manufacturing or marketing their invention. They are usually applicable to cases like vital biological discoveries, scientific theories and technological breakthroughs. In most countries, patent cover is available for a limited period of 20 years and the inventor loses his sole ownership over the invention after the expiry of this period.
Trade secrets are those secret ideas or information that a firm can use for gaining an edge over its rivals. A trade secret could mean anything ranging from a client database with the contact information of most treasured clients to a unique recipe or even a confidential report. Generally, trade secrets are not governed by any government agency but by rigid internal standards and policies of the particular firm. The common measures taken by a company to protect trade secrets include confining the information to a chosen handful of managers, or even keeping it secured in some bank vault.
Trademarks, on the other hand, include one or more words, designs or logos that are related to the firm on the whole or its products and services, which act as identifiers of its brand. Trademarks create an exclusive brand identity for a firm and generate quick recall in the minds of customers. Usually, a registered trademark can be renewed after a period of 10 years.
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