Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual property law is the branch of law pertaining to legal intellectual property rights and covers the protection of creations of the mind, both artistically and commercially. Intellectual property rights allow creators to own the exclusive ownership rights to the things they created and protect those same creations in the event of theft, piracy, or plagiarism.
These rights were originally intended to allow the creator the freedom of being able to share or develop those creations for the benefit of others and without fear of theft or of having that creation copied, stolen, or otherwise used in a way contrary to its original purpose. This also gives the creator specific legal rights in regard to the protection of that property.
Intellectual property law is a specialized niche in its own right that is growing rapidly as we speed through the information age.
Intellectual Property (IP) is cited as being ‘property of the mind’ and many companies around the world will state that their largest assets include items classified as being Intellectual Property.
An example of IP in the corporate world could be an idea for a new invention or a technological breakthrough or scientific formula. These ideas are simply thoughts on paper until they’ve been developed, but those ideas have validity, value, and ownership rights attached to them.
Other significant forms of intellectual property include copyrights to created works, such as manuscripts, music or artwork, words, phrases, symbols, trademarks and patents.
Although Intellectual Property may represent non-tangible assets, such as information or ideas, it is still possible to have these things stolen. In the realm of IP law, such theft is labeled piracy or plagiarism, depending on the type of theft carried out.
As the internet expands and grows, more and more people assume the information available to them is copyright-free. Music, movies, content, manuscripts, essays, information, and artwork seem to be the most common targets for piracy and plagiarism over the internet. In these cases, the rightful copyright owner has the right to seek advice from an Intellectual Property lawyer to ascertain which course of action to take.
However in the case of an engineer working for a large corporation, whose job it is to create and design new tooling or machinery, the IP belongs to the company and not to the original designer. In most cases like this, the employer’s work agreement or contract will have a stipulation added with regard to the ownership of Intellectual Property created during the employment contract with that company.
Verifying true ownership of such intangible assets is where seeking good advice from a lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property law can help.
These rights were originally intended to allow the creator the freedom of being able to share or develop those creations for the benefit of others and without fear of theft or of having that creation copied, stolen, or otherwise used in a way contrary to its original purpose. This also gives the creator specific legal rights in regard to the protection of that property.
Intellectual property law is a specialized niche in its own right that is growing rapidly as we speed through the information age.
Intellectual Property (IP) is cited as being ‘property of the mind’ and many companies around the world will state that their largest assets include items classified as being Intellectual Property.
An example of IP in the corporate world could be an idea for a new invention or a technological breakthrough or scientific formula. These ideas are simply thoughts on paper until they’ve been developed, but those ideas have validity, value, and ownership rights attached to them.
Other significant forms of intellectual property include copyrights to created works, such as manuscripts, music or artwork, words, phrases, symbols, trademarks and patents.
Although Intellectual Property may represent non-tangible assets, such as information or ideas, it is still possible to have these things stolen. In the realm of IP law, such theft is labeled piracy or plagiarism, depending on the type of theft carried out.
As the internet expands and grows, more and more people assume the information available to them is copyright-free. Music, movies, content, manuscripts, essays, information, and artwork seem to be the most common targets for piracy and plagiarism over the internet. In these cases, the rightful copyright owner has the right to seek advice from an Intellectual Property lawyer to ascertain which course of action to take.
However in the case of an engineer working for a large corporation, whose job it is to create and design new tooling or machinery, the IP belongs to the company and not to the original designer. In most cases like this, the employer’s work agreement or contract will have a stipulation added with regard to the ownership of Intellectual Property created during the employment contract with that company.
Verifying true ownership of such intangible assets is where seeking good advice from a lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property law can help.