What is
intellectual
property?

What
Please note:This booklet
is not intended
as a substitutefor legal advice.

tWhat is IP?
Intellectual property (IP) refers
to creations of the mind –everything from works ofart to inventions, computer
programs to trademarks andother commercial signs.
IP covers a vast range ofactivities, and plays an importantrole in both cultural andeconomic life. This importance isrecognized by various laws which
protect intellectual property
rights.

This booklet introduces the maintypes of IP and explains how
the law protects them. It also
introduces the work of the WorldIntellectual Property Organization(WIPO), the United Nations
agency dedicated to making IP
work for innovation and creativity.

IP law is complicated: there aredifferent laws relating to different
types of IP, and different nationallaws in different countries andregions of the world as well asinternational law.

1

What
Creativity and inventivenessare vital. They spur economic
growth, create new jobs andindustries, and enhance thequality and enjoyment of life.

Why does IP matter?
The progress andwell-being of humanity
depend on ourcapacity to come up
with new ideas andcreations. Technologicalprogress requires
the development andapplication of new
inventions, while avibrant culture will
constantly seek new
ways to express itself.

2Intellectual property
rights are also vital.
Inventors, artists,scientists andbusinesses put a lot oftime, money, energy andthought into developing
their innovations andcreations. To encouragethem to do that, theyneed the chance tomake a fair return on
their investment. Thatmeans giving themrights to protect theirintellectual property.

IP rights
Essentially, intellectual
property rights suchas copyright, patents
and trademarks can beviewed like any otherproperty right. They
allow the creators orowners of IP to benefit
from their work or fromtheir investment in acreation by giving them
control over how theirproperty is used.
IP rights have long
been recognized withinvarious legal systems.
For example, patents toprotect inventions were
granted in Venice as far
back as the fifteenth
century.

Modern initiatives toprotect IP throughinternational law
started with the Paris
Convention for theProtection of Industrial
Property (1883) andthe Berne Convention
for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic
Works (1886).
These days, there
are more than 25
international treaties
on IP administered by
WIPO. IP rights are also
safeguarded by Article
27 of the Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights.

t

Different types andcategories of IP
IP is often divided into two main categories:
Industrial property includes
patents for inventions, industrial
designs, trademarks andgeographical indications.

Copyright and related rights
cover literary, artistic andscientific works, including
performances and broadcasts.

Striking a balance
The intellectual propertysystem needs to balance therights and interests of different
groups: of creators andconsumers; of businesses andtheir competitors; of high- andlow-income countries.
An efficient and fair IP systembenefits everyone – including
ordinary users and consumers.

Some examples:• The multibillion-dollar film,
recording, publishing andsoftware industries – whichbring pleasure to millions ofpeople worldwide – would
not thrive without copyrightprotection.
• The patent system rewards
researchers and inventors
while also ensuring that theyshare their knowledge bymaking patent applications
publicly available, which helps
stimulate more innovation.
• Trademark protection
discourages counterfeiting, sobusinesses can compete on alevel playing field and users
can be confident they arebuying the genuine article.
3Patents
Patents were one of the first types ofintellectual property to be recognized inmodern legal systems. Today, patented
inventions pervade every aspect of life, fromelectric lighting (patents held by Edison andSwan) to the iPhone (patents held by Apple).
By patenting an invention, thepatent owner gets exclusive
rights over it, meaning that he or
she can stop anyone from using,making or selling the invention
without permission. The patent
lasts for a limited period of time,
generally 20 years. In return, thepatent owner has to disclosefull details of the invention in the
published patent documents.
Once the period of protection has
come to an end, the invention
becomes off patent, meaning
anyone is free to make, sell oruse it.

4

In this way, the patent systemaims to benefit everyone:• Firms and inventors canmaximize profits from theirinventions during the patent
protection period.
• This rewards them for theireffort and so encourages
more innovation, which in turnbenefits consumers and thegeneral public.
• Disclosure of the invention
adds to the body of publicknowledge, enabling andinspiring further research andinvention.

What can be patented?
An invention can be defined
as a product or process thatoffers a new way of doing
something, or a new technicalsolution to a problem.
To qualify for patent protection,
an invention must be of some
practical use and must offer
something new which is not partof the existing body of knowledge
in the relevant technical field(what lawyers call the prior art).
But these requirements of utility
and novelty are not enough;the invention must also involvean inventive step – something

non-obvious that could not justhave been deduced by someone
with average knowledge of thetechnical field.
Furthermore, the invention must
not fall under non-patentablesubject matter. Patent laws inmany countries, for example,
exclude scientific theories,
mathematical methods, plant or
animal varieties, discoveries ofnatural substances, commercial
methods and methods of medical
treatment (as opposed to medical
products) as not generally
patentable.
5

Pate
Obtaininga patent

Patent rights
and enforcement

Like most IP rights, patents are
territorial: protection is granted
within a country under its nationallaw.

Patent owners have theexclusive right to commerciallymake, sell, distribute, importand use their patented
inventions within the territory
covered by the patent during
the period of protection.

Different countries havesomewhat different laws, but
generally in order to gain
protection, an inventor or firm
will need to file an application
with a patent office describing
the invention clearly andin sufficient detail to allow
someone with an averageknowledge of the technical field
to use or reproduce it. Suchdescriptions usually include
drawings, plans or diagrams.

The application also contains
various claims, that is,
information to help determine
the extent of protection to
be granted by the patent. The
application will then be examinedby the patent office to determine
if it qualifies for protection.
6

They may choose to make, sell or
use the invention themselves, letsomeone else make or use it fora fee (known as licensing), or sell
the patent outright to someone
else who then becomes thepatent owner. Or they may decide
not to use the patented invention
themselves, but to stop theircompetitors from using it during
the patent period.

If someone else uses a patented
invention without the patent
owner’s permission, the patent
owner can seek to enforce
the rights by suing for patent
infringement in the relevant
national court. Courts usually
have the power to stop infringing
behavior and may also award
financial compensation to thepatent owner for the unauthorized
use of the invention.

But a patent can also bechallenged in court, and if it isjudged to be invalid, for example
because the court decides it
is insufficiently novel, it will be
struck down and the owner willlose protection in that territory.

ents
National, regional andinternational protection

Several groups of countries
Inventors and firms must decide
have developed regional patentin which territories they wantsystems that help reduce thesepatent protection. Each patentcosts, for example the African
office usually charges fees forfiling and processing applications, Regional Intellectual Property
plus periodic fees for maintaining Organization (ARIPO). Undera patent once it has been granted. most of these systems, anapplicant requests protection
for an invention in one or more
The cost of dealing with different
countries in the group, and eachnational legal systems can becountry then decides whether tohigh, as laws and practices
can vary widely and applicants
offer patent protection within its
will usually need to pay forborders.
representation by an authorizedpatent agent in each country.
WIPO administers the PCT
System, an international systemthat allows applicants to request
protection under the Patent
Cooperation Treaty in as manysignatory states as they wish
through a single application.

7

ndustria

Industrial
designIndustrial design rights coverthose elements of a product thatare aesthetic or ornamental –the way it looks and feels.

These aesthetic aspects can be
hugely important in the modern
economy. Nowadays consumers
face an enormous choice of
products, including many thatoffer the same basic functionality.
So they will tend to choose theone with the design they findmost attractive within their pricerange.

8

Industrial designs are applied
to a wide variety of industrial
products and handmade
goods: cars, telephones,
computers, packaging andcontainers, technical and medical
instruments, watches, jewelry,electrical appliances, textile
designs, and many other types ofgoods.

What designs canbe protected?
Industrial design law only protects those aspects ofa product that are ornamental; its technical features
may be protected by patent, if they meet therequirements for patent protection.
A design may consist of three-dimensional features,such as the shape or surface of an article, or twodimensional features such as patterns, lines or color.
To qualify for protection as an industrial design
under most national laws, the design must be newand show a degree of originality or individuality,
meaning that it is not identical or very similar to any
previous design. Moreover, it must be capable ofbeing produced industrially, so unique artworks are
not covered.

9Industrial
Industrial
design rights
Industrial design rights entitle
the right holder to control
the commercial production,
importation and sale of productswith the protected design.
As with most other forms of
IP, owners can exploit design
rights themselves, or license
or sell them to others, and cansue in the relevant national
court to prevent infringementof their rights. This means thatowners have a fair chance torecoup their investment in design,
encouraging such investment.
Industrial design rights last for alimited period. This varies among
countries, but the maximum
period of protection in a country
will be at least ten years. In many
countries, owners need to renew
their registration every few years
if they want to keep the design
protected for the maximum
possible period.
10

Different
national
design laws
Industrial designs are protectedin different ways in different
countries. In most cases, a firmor designer will need to register
their design in order to protect
it, but some countries also give
limited protection to unregistered
designs, and in some countries
protection is by means of “design
patents”.
In certain countries, someindustrial designs may be
regarded as artistic works
covered by copyright. This canbe advantageous to the rightholder because the term ofprotection for copyright is much
longer than for a registered
design.
In some countries it may also
be possible to protect designs
using national laws against unfair
competition.

designlObtainingprotection
Industrial design rights are
territorial, so designers or firms
may need to deal with manydifferent national systems ifthey want protection in many
countries. However, regional
systems exist for some groups ofcountries.

WIPO administers the Hague
System. Under the Hague
Agreement Concerning theInternational Registration ofIndustrial Designs, applicants
can file a single international
application covering up to 100
designs in as many signatory
states as they choose.

11

Tradem
Trademarks

A trademark is a sign capableof distinguishing the goods orservices of one enterprise from thoseof other enterprises.

Trademarks have been aroundfor many years. In ancient times,
artisans would sign or mark theirwork to prove they had made it.
Gradually, laws evolved to protect
such marks.
These days, trademarks are
essential to business. They takemany forms and identify a hugearray of goods and services.
Enterprises spend enormous
amounts of time and money
developing their brands andtrademarks.

12

Legal protection allows the ownerof a mark to control who uses it.
This means that enterprises candevelop and promote their goods
and services without having
their reputation undermined bycounterfeiters, and consumers
can rely on trademarks being
genuine.

marksDifferent types of trademark

All sorts of signs may be used as trademarks – words, letters,
numbers, symbols, colors, pictures, three-dimensional signs
such as shapes and packaging, holograms, sounds, eventastes and smells.

To be eligible for registration, the basic principle is that a
trademark must be distinctive, so it cannot just be a genericdescription of the product or service. Nor can it be identical(or very similar) to a trademark already registered or used forthat type of product or service.
Trademarks are not just used to identify the goods andservices of a particular enterprise. There are also collective
marks, each owned by an association and used by its
members. For example, professional associations ofaccountants, engineers and architects often use this kind of
mark. And there are certification marks which show that a
product or service complies with certain standards, such as
Ecolabels for products with reduced environmental impacts.

13

Protecting trademarks

14

The best way of protecting
a trademark is to register it.
Owners of a registered mark havethe exclusive right to control who
uses it: they can use it to identify
their own goods or services, or
license or sell it for someone else
to use.

Once a trademark has been
granted, the owner can sue inthe relevant national court if it
is infringed by someone else.
Equally, a trademark owner could
face a legal challenge from athird party arguing that it is too
similar to their own mark.

To register a mark in a territory,
the applicant needs to submit
a reproduction of it to thetrademark office plus a full list of
the goods or services to which
it would apply. As well as being
sufficiently distinctive and notconflicting with any existing mark,the mark must not be misleadingor deceptive or violate publicorder or morality.

A trademark will only be granted
for a limited period – in mostcountries, ten years – but themark can be renewed as manytimes as the owner wishes on
payment of additional fees,
provided it is still being used, so
in practice a trademark can beprotected indefinitely.

National, regional
and international
protection
Like most IP law, trademark protection
is territorial. However, regional andinternational systems have developed
to make it easier to obtain trademark
protection in many countries.
WIPO offers international registration
under the Madrid System. By filinga single application, users can obtaintrademark protection in as many of thecountries that have joined the System as
they wish. There are also online tools thatallow users to search trademark registers
and help them manage renewal of theirmarks in different territories.

15

Geographicalindications
A geographical indication is a signused on products that have a
specific geographical origin andpossess qualities or a reputation thatare due to that origin.

Geo
There are lots of examples
of geographical indications –often food and drink, such as
Roquefort cheese from France,
Darjeeling tea from India andTequila liquor from Mexico.

Consumers buying productswith geographical indications
want to know that the goods do
indeed come from the place inquestion and conform to relevant
standards, so there need tobe some controls on the useof geographical indications toprotect their valuable reputation.

16

There are different laws
protecting geographicalindications and different systemsof recognition in different
countries, so international law isdeveloping ways to strengthen
protection across nationalboundaries.

indications
Different types ofgeographical indication

In order to function as a geographical indication,a sign must identify a product as originating in agiven place, and the qualities, characteristics orreputation of the product should be essentially due
to that place of origin.
This is often the case for agricultural products,
because they are influenced by their local climate
and environment, but geographical indications may
also be used for industrial products where a region
has a strong manufacturing tradition and reputation,for instance Swiss watches.
Appellations of origin are a type of geographicalindication. In some jurisdictions, appellationsof origin are protected more strongly than othergeographical indications.

17Protecting
geographical indications
There are three main ways toprotect a geographical indication:• through special on geographicalindications laws – so-called
sui generis systems;• using collective or certification
marks; and• methods focusing on
business practices, including
administrative productapproval schemes.

However, sui generis systems
and collective or certification
mark systems are similar in thatboth set up rights for collective
use by those who comply withdefined standards.

Geo

Essentially, such rights allow
legitimate producers – those
whose products come fromthe area in question and meet
all relevant standards – to use
the law to stop a geographicalindication being used on goods
Countries often use more than
one of these different approaches, produced elsewhere, or to adifferent standard.
and different approaches may
involve differences with respect
to important questions, such as
the conditions for protection or
the scope of protection.

18

Geographicalindications andtrademarks
In some respects, geographicalindication rights are similar totrademarks. Right holders canprevent infringing use of thegeographical indication, andpotentially the right lasts forever –although periodic re-registrationof collective or certification marks
may be required.
However, there are also importantdifferences between these two
types of sign. A trademark isused by a company to distinguishits goods and services fromthose produced by others, andthe owner can prevent anyone
else from using the mark.
Furthermore, a trademark can besold or licensed.

A geographical indication
guarantees to consumers thata product was produced in acertain place and has certain
characteristics that are dueto that place of production. It
may be used by all producers
in the relevant place who makeproducts that share certain
qualities relating to that place,and it cannot change ownership.

indications

International protection

In addition, WIPO administers
As with other types of IP,
the international Lisbon System.
international law has developed
This used to apply only toto complement and reinforce theappellations of origin, but
protection offered in different
national and regional jurisdictions. the Geneva Act of the Lisbon
Agreement on Appellationsof Origin and GeographicalInternational recognition ofIndications, adopted in 2015,
appellations of origin and“indications of source” dates back extended the System to maketo the Paris Convention of 1883.
it possible to register other
More recently, the agreement
geographical indications
on Trade-Related Aspects ofinternationally too.
Intellectual Property (TRIPS)
included some further provisions
to prevent the misuse of GIs.

19

opyrigh

Copyright andrelated rights
Copyright, or authors’ right, is a legal
term used to describe the rightsthat creators have in their literary,artistic and scientific works.

Copyright covers an enormous
range of works – not justbooks, music, paintings,
sculpture and films, but also
computer programs, databases,
advertisements, maps andtechnical drawings, among otherthings. There are also rights
related to the copyright of thecreators that protect the interestsof those closely associated withcopyrighted works, including
performers, broadcasters andproducers of sound recordings.

20

Copyright is protected bya mixture of national andinternational laws. These
recognize the cultural and social
importance of creative endeavor
as well as its considerable
economic value.
The underlying aim of copyright
law is to strike the right balance
between the interests of content
creators, developers andinvestors and the public interestin being able to access and use
creative content.

anrelateWhat works does
copyright cover?

Copyright applies to the creative expression ofideas in many different forms – text, still or moving
pictures, sound works, three-dimensional shapes
such as sculptures and architecture, reference
works and collections of data.
National copyright laws rarely provide an
exhaustive list of everything that is covered.
However, copyright does not generally cover ideas
themselves, procedures, methods of operation, or
mathematical concepts.

21

opyrigh

What rights
does copyrightprovide?

Copyright includes both
economic and moral rights.
Essentially, economic rights
involve the right to control the
distribution of a work. In otherwords, a copyright owner canstop anyone from copying or
using a work without permission– including, for example, bytranslating it, reproducing it,
performing it or broadcasting it.
Exactly how the owner enforcesthese rights will depend on thenational laws of the country
concerned, but countries often
provide a mixture of civil andcriminal penalties for copyright
infringement.

22

Copyright also includes certain
moral rights of the creator –including, among others, the rightto be acknowledged as the authorof a work and to prevent it frombeing altered in a way that might
damage the creator’s reputation.

Transferringand trading
copyright
Generally, economic rights canbe transferred and divided. A
right owner may agree to let
someone use a work undercertain conditions (licensing), or
they may give or sell the rights tosomeone who then becomes thenew owner (assignment). And if acopyright owner dies, their heirs
or successors will inherit theireconomic rights.

It is very common for rights to betransferred. For example:• Book authors, music
composers and recording
artists often license or
assign rights to publishers in
exchange for payments known
as royalties.
• In many countries, creators
can license or assign
their rights to collective
management organizations
which will monitor how works
are used and collect paymentsfrom users on the creator’sbehalf.
• Copyright owners may choose
to give away their work for
free, or to let other people
use it freely based on certain
conditions. For example, they
may allow use based onstandard Creative Commonslicenses.

Copyright andthe public
interest
Copyright serves the public
interest by helping to ensure thatcreators can earn a fair reward
for their work, thus encouraging
further creative endeavor, andby making sure that works areproperly acknowledged andrespected.
The law also recognizes thatin certain circumstances,
known as copyright limitations
and exceptions, copyright
restrictions should not apply.
For example, many countries

anrelateIn many countries, moral rights
cannot be traded or transferred,
but a creator may sometimes
agree to waive or refrain fromexercising them.

allow for copyrighted books to
be adapted without the rights
owner’s permission to create
versions that are accessible topeople with visual impairment
or other physical disabilities thatmake it difficult for them to use
ordinary printed copies. There is
now support for this exception
under international law throughthe Marrakesh Treaty of 2013,
administered by WIPO, which
also provides for the crossborder exchange of accessible
books.

Furthermore, the economic rights
within copyright only last for alimited period, the so-called termof copyright. Once this term has
expired, a work enters the publicdomain, meaning it is free foranyone to use. Moral rights areterm-limited in some countries
and perpetual in others.

National andinternational
copyright law

There are different nationallaws on copyright in different
territories, as with other forms
of intellectual property. However,international law establishes
certain minimum standards ofprotection:• Copyright arises as soon asa work is created. There is noneed for a creator to registera work or complete any otherformalities in order to gain
protection (though somecountries do operate voluntary
copyright registration
schemes).
• Countries are required toprotect most copyrighted
works throughout the life of
the creator and for at least 50
years after the creator’s death.
23

opyrighanrelateright• International law meansthat copyrighted works are
generally protected in mostcountries, not just the country
in which they were created.

These minimum standards
are guaranteed by a series ofinternational treaties administered
by WIPO. States that have joined
these treaties can provide morethan the minimum protection –for example, a longer copyrightterm – but they cannot provide
less.

Related rights

The law also protects the rights
of certain people or groups whoare involved in creative work
but do not qualify for copyrightprotection in many jurisdictions,
including performers such as
singers and actors, broadcastingorganizations, and organizations
such as record companies that24

produce sound recordings.
These are known as related rights
or neighboring rights, because
they are related to copyright.

The protection offered is similar
to copyright. Generally, rightowners can stop people fromrecording, communicating or
broadcasting their work without
their permission. However, theterm of protection is usuallyshorter than copyright; in mostcountries, it lasts for 50 years
from the date of the performance,
recording or broadcast.

New challenges

Copyright law has to evolve todeal with new technologies andcultural practices. For example,
digital technologies make itpossible to make and transmit
near-perfect copies of works
at little cost. In 1996, two newinternational agreements, theWIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT)and the WIPO Performancesand Phonograms Treaty (WPPT),
were concluded in order to help
protect copyright and related
rights in the Internet age. And
in 2012 the Beijing Treaty on
Audiovisual Performances was
adopted to protect the related
rights of audiovisual performers.
But other challenges remain.
How can the traditional
cultural expressions of people
in developing countries best
be protected in a globalizing
economy? Is 3D printing
adequately covered by copyrightlaw? What is the best way ofensuring that musicians andartists receive proper payment
when their works can beaccessed online anywherein the world?
WIPO helps countries
develop common responses
to the evolving challenges.

The World Intellectual Property Organization
WIPO is the global
forum for intellectual
property services,
policy, information andcooperation. It was
founded in 1967 andbecame a specialized
agency of the United
Nations in 1974.
There are four mainelements of WIPO’s
work.
Shaping international
rules
WIPO helps to develop
and implement
international law on
intellectual property.
As we have seen, mostIP law is limited to aparticular national
jurisdiction. Internationallaw is crucial to facilitate
protection acrossnational boundaries.
There are now morethan 25 international IP
treaties administered by
WIPO, and negotiations
are ongoing to deal
with new challenges.

WIPO provides a neutral
environment in which
different countries
can come together tonegotiate new rules,
striking a fair balance
between different
interests.
Delivering global
services
WIPO delivers
international filing andregistration services. We
have mentioned many
examples in this booklet:
international patent filingunder the PCT System,
international trademark
registration under
the Madrid System,
industrial design
registration underthe Hague System
and registration ofgeographical indications
under the Lisbon
System. WIPO also
provides arbitration andmediation services tohelp resolve IP disputes.
WIPO charges fees forthese services. In fact, it

earns more than 90% of
its income through such
fees. This is unusual
for an internationalorganization. Most
internationalorganizations are
funded by their member
states – in other words,by those countries’
taxpayers – whereas
most of WIPO’s budget
is paid for by the people
and businesses who
use its services.
Cooperating withcountries andpartners to make IP
work for development
An important part of
WIPO’s mission is tohelp all countries use
and benefit from IP laws
and protection systems.
Many of WIPO’smember states alreadyhave very sophisticatedand longstanding
national IP systems,
but some developing
countries are working tobuild this capacity.

Providing informationand sharedinfrastructure
WIPO aims to be acomprehensive andimpartial source of
information on global IP
issues. This booklet isjust one of many WIPO
publications – there arealso books, magazines,
economic studies,
statistics and manyother reference works.
WIPO has also
developed infrastructure
for accessing andsharing knowledge,
including enormous
databases of patents,
brands, trademarks,
appellations of origin
and IP legislation.
Visit the WIPO website
to access a wealth of
information:www.wipo.int.

World Intellectual Property Organization34, chemin des Colombettes
P.O. Box 18
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 338 91 11
Fax: + 41 22 733 54 28
For contact details of WIPO’s
External Offices visit:www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/offices© WIPO, 2020
First published 2004
Attribution 3.0 IGO(CC BY 3.0 IGO)The CC license does not apply to
non-WIPO content in this publication.
Photos: Getty Images
WIPO Publication No. 450E/20
ISBN 978-92-805-3176-3