Intellectual property rights refers to the general term for the assignment of property rights through patents, copyrights and trademarks. These property rights allow the holder to exercise a monopoly on the use of the item for a specified period.
By restricting imitation and
duplication, monopoly power is conferred, but the social costs of
monopoly power may be offset by the social benefits of higher levels of
creative activity encouraged by the monopoly earnings.
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Intellectual Property Protection
Copyright
Copyrights protect works of authorship, such as writings, music, and works of art that have been tangibly expressed. Copyright protection is usually used to protect software, websites, diagnostic questionnaires, course materials, publications, both printed, on-line and electronic and so forth.
Patents
It is very important to understand that a patent only provides one right – the right to exclude others from doing what is claimed in the patent. By itself, it doesn’t necessarily provide the right to practice the invention. There may be pre-existing patents held by others that prevent a patent holder from practicing their own patent without a license.
Trademark
Trademarks protect words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services.
