What is intellectual property?

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind and includes inventions, new plant varieties, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images and designs.

Why protect IP?
The protection of IP rights allows the creators of IP to benefit from their own work and owners of IP rights to benefit from their investment in creation. Risk and occasional failure are inevitable in an innovation economy, but IP rights give entrepreneurs an incentive to keep pushing for new advances in the face of adversity. Protecting IP rights encourages the investment of resources for further innovation and provides an environment in which creativity and inventions can flourish.

How do you benefit from IP protection?
If IP rights were not protected:

• the film, recording, publishing and software industries would not be able to survive
• most pharmaceutical companies would not be able to bring their drugs to the market
• researchers and inventors would have little incentive to continue producing better and more efficient products for consumers.