What is intellectual property?

The phrase “intellectual property” is a legal term for various legal rights attached to certain types of information, processes, know-how, or other intangible items in their expressed form. The idea of these intangibles being someone's property reflects the thinking that the subject matter of the intellectual property was conceived of by the owner, and the rights attached to the intellectual property may be protected by law in the same way as any other form of property ownership.

Intellectual property can include such things as copyrights, trademarks, logos, patents, industrial design, computer code, business systems, processes, and trade secrets (confidential information).

Copyright is the ownership of creative and artistic works, such as books, stories, screenplays, movies, musical compositions, paintings, photographs, and software. The copyright holder has the exclusive right to control any use, copying (in any form), or adaptation of the work for a specific period of time.

A patent is a right of ownership granted with respect to a new invention that is not simply an advancement or derivation over something already in existence at the time the patent application was filed. A patent gives the holder an exclusive right to commercially exploit the invention for a specified number of years.

A trademark is a distinctive design, mark or logo which is used to distinguish the products or services of one business from those of other businesses.

Industrial design rights protect the appearance, style or design of an industrial object.

A trade secret is confidential information concerning the commercial practices or proprietary knowledge of a business.

Can I sell my intellectual property to someone else?

While the intellectual property itself is an intangible, the rights to use and control the intellectual property can be transferred or licensed to third parties, with or without consideration, and exclusively or non-exclusively.


The foregoing summary is provided for information purposes only and is not to be considered legal or business advice. The information may not be complete, accurate or applicable for any particular situation and should not be relied upon.