Intellectual Property is the term for the reference of intangible property that originates from creative mind such literary works, musical composition, film, brand name, an invention, discovery, etc. It facilitate right over the work and not the kind of work in itself. The creator of any of the above-mentioned works has the right for his intellectual property to use for his own benefits whereas others need permission from creator before using it. This type of right is popularly known as Intellectual Property Right.

History Of Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property (IP) is deep-rooted in early Jewish Law. It has shown consistent appearance later in French Revolution with liberal theorist namely Benjamin Constant who opposed the idea of Intellectual Property. Further, the term Intellectual Property has been mentioned in the famous 1845 Massachusetts Circuit Court during the ruling in the patent case Davoll et al. v. Brown. Nearly after a century, in the year 1967, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was founded that witnessed its heyday after the enactment of Bayh-Dole Act in 1980.

Types of Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property has been categorized as per the nature of the work. Each type of Intellectual Property has different application procedure and other legal formalities. The list of those is as follows:

Copyrights

Copyright is the term bestowed to the owner of artistic or literary works. The right provides guidelines for publication, adaptation, and distribution of creative works. This type of right is offered to owner-cum-copyright holder only for a given period of time. Usually, the right can extended up to the life time of the owner or up to a period of 50 to 100 years after death. However, in case of anonymous work, the right last up to 120 years after the creation and 95 years after publication.

Trademarks

Trademark offers an identity to a particular product that signifies the source. This signification can be of anything according to choice of the maker such as a logo, words, symbol, phrase, image, device, or other thing that can be used by a legal entity, business organization, or an individual to differentiate its products from others. After the registration of the Trademark, it is legally protected and owners can take the person to the court in case of infringement.

Patents

Patents are rights given to the original inventor for creating any device or discovering anything that is completely new. This includes invention of machines, article manufacturer, processor, composition of matter, biological discoveries, astronomical discoveries, etc. Herein, the invention must be new and invention must have use in any industry. The patent holder gets the right to control others for selling, using, and distributing the invention in the market. The time limit of patent is 20 years from the date of filling of application.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets encompass practice, designs, instrument, formulas, recipes, processes, ideas or patterns that are used by an entity to receive an economic advantage over competitors. However, the owner of trade secret does not get any right over anyone who possesses a particular trade secret independently yet he can prevent that trade secret to get open that is learned from the owner. Herein, the responsibility lies on owner to conceal his trade secrets.

Industrial Design Rights

Under Industrial Design Rights, owner can protect the visual design of a particular product that is not purely utilitarian but have ornamental or aesthetic value. This right controls over person using the color, pattern, shape, or combination of an industrial commodity or a handicraft item that has been crafted by the inventor. The design can be two or three dimension. The person having Industrial Design Rights for a commodity can use that particular product of specified design where that design is demanded or applicable. The right lasts up to the period of 10 to 25 years.

Intellectual Property Rights can save your ideas and creation to be misused as you can initiate a legal action against infringement. Besides, you can also avail economic aid due to the monopoly of the creation.