Soft intellectual property ("soft IP") is sometimes used to refer to trademarks, copyright, design rights and passing off, in contrast to "hard intellectual property", which is sometimes used to refer to patents. [1] [2] Use of this phrase is controversial among IP practitioners. [3] [4]
In the semiconductor industry the term has a different meaning described at Types of IP cores.
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. The modern concept of intellectual property developed in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. The term "intellectual property" began to be used in the 19th century, though it was not until the late 20th century that intellectual property became commonplace in most of the world's legal systems.
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention. In most countries, patent rights fall under private law and the patent holder must sue someone infringing the patent in order to enforce their rights.
Pro bono publico, usually shortened to pro bono, is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who are unable to afford them. More recently, the term is used to describe specialist services provided by any professional free of charge to an individual or community.
Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties.
Libertarians have differing opinions on the validity of intellectual property.
A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and oppositions to granted patents.
The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK and is an executive agency of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
"Patent pending" or "patent applied for" are legal designations or expressions that can be used in relation to a product or process once a patent application for the product or process has been filed, but prior to the patent being issued or the application abandoned. The marking serves to notify the public, business, or potential infringers who would copy the invention that they may be liable for damages, seizure, and injunction once a patent is issued.
Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been acknowledged and protected in China since 1980. China has acceded to the major international conventions on protection of rights to intellectual property. Domestically, protection of intellectual property law has also been established by government legislation, administrative regulations, and decrees in the areas of trademark, copyright, and patent.
In electronic design, a semiconductor intellectual property core, IP core or IP block is a reusable unit of logic, cell, or integrated circuit layout design that is the intellectual property of one party. IP cores can be licensed to another party or owned and used by a single party. The term comes from the licensing of the patent or source code copyright that exists in the design. Designers of system on chip (SoC), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and systems of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) logic can use IP cores as building blocks.
Alison Jane Brimelow CBE is a British civil servant and former chief executive and Comptroller General of the UK Patent Office, now known as the Intellectual Property Office. She was the fifth President of the European Patent Office, a position she held from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2010.
Intellectual Property Watch is a Geneva-based publication reporting on policy issues and influences relating to international organizations (IOs), especially those in Geneva such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, World Trade Organization, World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union. It also follows policy developments outside Geneva, and does some investigative reporting.
Managing Intellectual Property is a British media group which specializes in providing news and analysis on the intellectual property world. Initially launched as a monthly magazine reporting patent and trademark-related news in 1990, Managing IP has since grown to encompass data analysis, podcasts, conference reporting, rankings and research projects, as well as the longest-running awards programme for law firms in the IP world.
The IP Federation is a United Kingdom industry intellectual property trade association. It was founded in 1920 as an industry organization that provides input representing its members' interests in the United Kingdom and international intellectual property rule-making process. It celebrated its centenary on 23 April 2020.
IPKat is a law blog founded in June 2003, and dedicated to intellectual property law (IP) with a focus on European law. The content comprises news of recent judicial rulings, decisions of patent and trade mark granting authorities, primary and secondary legislation, practice and procedural notes and recent publications, together with comments.
Jeremy Phillips is a retired British academic, author, editor, publisher, and commentator in intellectual property (IP) law. In 2007, he was reported to be "a respected IP academic" and "a well-known figure among IP lawyers."
Francis Gerard Gurry is an Australian lawyer who served as the fourth director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) from 2008 to 2020. During that time, he was also the secretary-general of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). Gurry also served as a deputy director general of WIPO from 2003 to 2008.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to intellectual property:
The Intellectual Property High Court, sometimes abbreviated IPHC, is a special branch of Tokyo High Court in the judicial system of Japan. It is based in Nakameguro, a district in Meguro Ward in Tokyo, Japan.
A trademark is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a product or service from a particular source and distinguishes it from others. Trademarks can also extend to non-tradditional marks like drawings, symbols, 3D shapes like product designs or packaging, sounds, scents, or specific colors used to create a unique identity. For example, Pepsi® is a registered trademark associated with soft drinks, and the distinctive shape of the Coca-Cola® bottle is a registered trademark protecting Coca-Cola's packaging design.