Successful innovation and marketing attracts imitators. In a competitive world it is increasingly important for businesses to protect the originality of new products, the confidentiality of know-how and the distinctiveness of names, trade marks and get-up.
These aspects are referred to collectively as “intellectual property” – products of human creativity having a definite and often very considerable commercial value. Most businesses rely on several intellectual property components. None can exist without any.
Intellectual property describes a range of instruments that can be used to define, protect and exploit new and innovative ideas. The idea could take any of a range of forms such an invention, a product name, a logo, the plot of a novel, a musical theme tune or the design of a product.
The law recognizes various categories of rights that can be established over ideas and these rights are referred to as intellectual property rights. The following categories of recognised intellectual property rights are recognized:
Intellectual property is an area that has grown in importance over the past few decades, to the extent that many businesses now reflect the value of their intellectual property on the balance sheet. These rights are recognized not only as assets that must be protected and registered but also as assets that can be traded and which must be managed to create value. What remains inescapable is the need to have a fundamental understanding of the different types of intellectual property.