Intellectual property covers a wide range of business assets, from copyright to trade marks, and patents to design rights. If you have a business, you are likely to own intellectual property and make use of other people’s intellectual property within your business activities.
This guide explains where to find information about the different types of intellectual property, how you can protect your rights and avoid infringing the rights of other intellectual property owners.
What is intellectual property?
Intellectual property lets people own the work they create. It can be any of the following:
- brands and logos
- inventions
- software
- designs
- music
- books
- poems
- paintings
- photography
- other kinds of creative work
Intellectual property can be very valuable, and there are businesses, such as computer games companies, that exist simply to develop intellectual property or even take advantage of it.
It is important to protect your business by securing your intellectual property rights. It is equally important to avoid infringing the rights of other businesses.
For more information, see the following guides on nibusinessinfo:
- protecting intellectual property explains how to conduct an intellectual property audit and the legal protection available to you
- digital intellectual property and your business gives information on the importance of digital intellectual property such as software, photography and designs to your business
- intellectual property crime and your business explains how to avoid infringing intellectual property and outlines the penalties and problems if you do so
Read more: nibusinessinfo.co.uk
