intellectual property right

Intellectual Property Rights

The right of a person or company to exclusively use its own ideas, plans, and other intangible assets without competition, at least for a certain period of time. Examples of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. Intellectual property rights may be enforced by court through a lawsuit. The idea behind the protection of intellectual property is to encourage innovation without fear that a competitor may steal the idea and/or take credit for it.

intellectual property right

the legal ownership by a person or business of a COPYRIGHT, DESIGN, PATENT or TRADE MARK attached to a particular product or process which protects the owner against unauthorized imitation.

intellectual property right

the legal ownership by a person or business of a COPYRIGHT, DESIGN, PATENT, TRADE MARK attached to a particular product or process that protects the owner against unauthorized copying or imitation. Such property rights are an important element of PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION and confer temporary MONOPOLY advantages to suppliers.