What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual Property describes a broad class of legal rights granted by governments in recognition of intellectual activity in the fields of science, industry or the arts. It is meant to provide incentives for innovation and protection to inventors, designers, artists, writers, or other owners of intellectual property in return for their efforts and investments.

Patents

Patents are granted by governments in exchange for an inventor’s disclosing his/her invention to the public. A patent gives the owner the exclusive right for a period of time to make, construct, use or sell the patented invention.

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Trade-marks

A trade-mark is a word, symbol, design or some combination of these used to distinguish the goods or services of one person, company or organization from others.

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Industrial Designs

A finished article manufactured by hand, tool or machine may be registered and protected as an industrial design. According to the Industrial Design Act, an industrial design protects the “features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament and any combination of those features that, in a finished article, appeal to and are judged solely by the eye.” Examples of industrial designs would include the shape of a table, the handle of a spoon and the shape of a pop bottle.

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Copyrights

Materials that can be copyrighted include literary and artistic works. Drawings, photographs and other works showing artistic craftsmanship may be protected by copyright. All these works must be original.

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Ledgley Law has given presentations to various groups and organizations on various Intellectual Property topics. Some of our presentations can be found here.