- IP laws are laws governing the protection and enforcement of rights of the creators and owners of intellectual property.
- IP refers to the creations of the mind, such as inventions, designs, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, and images used in commerce.
- The basic reason behind having the IP laws is:
- Encourage creativity and investment in research and development Protect inventors from unfair competitions.
There are many kinds of I.P. laws, including:
- Copyright
- Protects the rights of the authors of original works, like books and music, to utilize, copy or replicate said works.
- Trademark
- It concerns a word, a phrase, a symbol, or a design which signifies the product or service. For instance, the logo of Apple and the three stripes of Adidas are trademarks.
- Trade secret
- It is a kind of protection against the occurrence of unpublished intellectual property that a company keeps in secret and claims as an internally valuable possession.
- Laws on the general state vary but, primarily, protecting trademarks is done through the Lanham Act.
