It is a novel tangible property (like a piece of land or a house) created by any human intellectual activity. Like any other property it may be sold, bought , rented(licensed) and protected in the market.
Intellectual property rights(IPR) enable owner of the intellectual property to use the same usually for commercial gains. IPR prevent others for a specified period from exploiting the property for gains.
There are mainly 7 categories of intellectual property / rights:
Copyright protects literary works, artistic works including performances and electronic broadcasts.Designs refer to visuals of engineering products and processes, architecture.Trademark covers logos and brand names.Trade secret is a confidential information used by a company for its competitive advantage.
Intellectual property rights are territorial in nature and in India patent lasts for 20 years, industrial design for 10 years and copyright for lifetime plus 60 years after the demise of the creator.Any product or process which has the triad of novelty, inventiveness and industrial applicability may be granted patent under Indian Patent Act ,1970.Traditional knowledge cannot be patented.
Plagiarism and infringement are the violations under the copyright act.Infringement refers to illegal act of use (for gains) of copyrighted material without appropriate permission.Plagiarism is an unethical act of copying someone else’s work without giving credit to the original creator of the work.