SRS - Intellectual Property Law (Lesson)

Introduction

Are you a creative person? Maybe you like to invent things, write poetry, write music, or even work with architectural design?

Did you know your creations can be defined as property?

The kind of property that results from an individual’s mental labor, such as from writing music, is referred to as intellectual property. In this lesson, we will discuss the rights and protection for an owner’s intellectual property.

Lesson Focus

Intellectual property is creation of any sort of invention, design, or artistic work. This includes numerous works created by individuals including but not limited to music, writings, technological creations, art, and new product ideas, among others. These creative works are referred to as intangible assets. An intangible asset is an asset that lacks physical substance, meaning it is not physical in nature. Intellectual property law makes up the rules that govern the securing and enforcing of legal rights to intellectual property. Just as there are laws to protect ownership of personal property such as a home, there are also laws to protect the exclusive control of intangible assets. The purpose of intellectual property laws is to give an incentive for people to develop creative works that benefit society by ensuring they can profit from their works free of fear of their property being put to wrong or illegal use by others.

Intangible assets include patents, copyrights, trademarks, franchises, and good will. We will take a specific look at the first three below.

Even though there are laws to protect intellectual property, sometimes there are still those who will violate the rights of those who own the intellectual property.  The unauthorized use of intellectual property is referred to as infringement.  To protect against infringement, owners should take steps to notify the public of ownership. By doing this the owner:

• Helps deter those who might inadvertently violate the owner’s rights and misuse the product
• Puts owner in a better position to prosecute an infringement in court
• Gives notice of rights by marking their product with the patent number assigned to it by the Patent and Trademark office
• Notice of trademarks and copyrights can be given by placing the symbol on the product
  • For example,  (™),  ©  , etc.

Let's Review!

Take a moment to participate in the following activity to practice your understanding of the topics in this module.  Reach out to your instructor if you have any questions.

Final Thoughts

Laws are necessary to protect personal property but are also necessary to protect intangible assets such as intellectual property. Intellectual property includes patents, copyrights, and trademarks, as well as goodwill and franchises. These constitute the basis on which the underlying intellectual property may be protected by law. Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution, gives Congress express authority to grant authors and inventors exclusive rights to their creations. Intellectual property laws are administered by the U. S. Patent and Trademark office and the U. S. Copyright Office.

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