What are intellectual property (IP) rights and why are they important?

The human intellect can create amazing things, and when those creations have a tangible or intangible value it is important to understand what rights creators have, as well as the tools available to protect those creations.

The time, effort, human genius, financial investments, and all-around resources that go into a unique creation are important to consider when determining how intellectual property protection can best serve the creator/inventor.

To first understand what intellectual property rights are, we must understand that intellectual property, often referred to as IP, falls under proprietary rights. Proprietary rights are rights that accompany legal ownership of a tangible or intangible property. Proprietary rights may be assets that have an associated existing or potential monetary value. Proprietary rights, do not only cover the right of ownership, but also the right to patent, copyright or protect intellectual property that has importance to the creator or inventor.

Now that we’ve established how intellectual property rights fall under proprietary rights, it’s only fair that we define what intellectual property is.

Intellectual property refers to creations that stem from the minds of inventors, artists, designers, and other creative owners. IP  grants inventors and creators the recognition to benefit from or protect their creations by law. Inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names, or images are all considered intellectual property and can be protected under intellectual property law. 

IP law protects and enforces the rights of creators. Intellectual property protection allows creators and inventors to secure an economic edge over their competition for their creation, which allows them to make the most of it for business and creative purposes. Creators and inventors may protect their intellectual property by ensuring the appropriate registration of their creation with the government entity responsible for IP protection to guarantee and enforce their ownership and creative rights. There are four types of intellectual property designated to protect different types of creations. These IP types are patents, copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets.  

The benefits of registering intellectual property with the right government entity include providing an established method of handling unauthorized use, malicious copy or piracy, as well as infringement. Besides protecting creations (and in exception of trade secrets), having registered intellectual property provides an invaluable source of information accessible to the public for educational, research, and other purposes.

Intellectual property rights protection should incentivize the investment and safe development of creations and technology by financing research, testing, and other key developmental activities for the invention’s success. Another benefit of properly registering intellectual property is the ability to help the inventor or creator capture financial gain from direct investments, licensing or even joint ventures related to the technology or creation protected. It’s important to know that intellectual property protection is usually time-bound. The limitations and exceptions surrounding IP protection aim to find a balance between the right holder and the users.

It's important to understand how intellectual property rights actively protect inventions and to identify the benefit that comes from the right level of protection to maximize monetization, development, and further protection.

As an intellectual property law firm, Advent seeks to maneuver the complex world of intellectual property to maximize the value of innovation through holistic support and a unique model that goes beyond the traditional law firm model. 

Our team of creative legal strategists provides holistic innovation support focused solely on Intellectual Property Law. At Advent we share a background in and passion for innovation and technology. Our culture and IP expertise is evident in our team of IP attorneys, patent agents, and other IP law specialists.