Through most of the last century, intellectual property was generally considered to be a by-product of large manufacturing industries such as steel, consumer products and automobiles. In recent years, however, industrialists operating in the fields of biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, computers and telecommunications have committed to spending enormous amounts of their resources on the development of novel concepts with the intention of commercializing the products that result from these concepts. In general, intellectual property can be defined as products of the mind that are capable of being owned. Ownership gives the owner the right to possess, use and dispose of the intellectual property, to the exclusion of others. Unlike other intangible assets, intellectual property can by itself be purchased, sold, given away, traded, leased or used as collateral.
Intellectual property includes patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.
Patents protect novel, useful and nonobvious machines, products, compositions of matter and processes or methods. Patents may also protect original ornamental designs and certain types of plants. Trademarks protect marks that distinguish the source of goods or services from those of another when used in commerce. The value of intellectual property now exceeds the value of physical assets for some corporations and has become the major source of shareholder wealth and corporate competitive advantage. Technologies such as computer software, business methods and biotechnology products and processes that have recently been recognized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the federal courts as being patentable.