1 What is intellectual property?

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – a specialist agency of the United Nations – defines intellectual property as follows:

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

(World Intellectual Property Organization, n.d. a)

Importantly, the specifics of intellectual property, including definitions, vary from country to country. The UK’s Intellectual Property Office emphasises that IP goes beyond a simple idea:

Intellectual property is something unique that you physically create. An idea alone is not intellectual property. For example, an idea for a book doesn’t count, but the words you’ve written do.

(Intellectual Property Office, n.d. a)

This hints at the fact that IP can be owned, and the Intellectual Property Office further asserts that:

You own intellectual property if you:

  • created it (and it meets the requirements for copyright, a patent or a design)

  • bought intellectual property rights from the creator or a previous owner

  • have a brand that could be a trade mark, e.g. a well-known product name.

Intellectual property can:

  • have more than one owner

  • belong to people or businesses

  • be sold or transferred.

(Intellectual Property Office, n.d. a)

Introduction

2 Why is IP important?