Legal Ownership and the Importance of Protecting Intellectual Property

A legal owner of property has the right to use it in any way he or she wants to, and the power to give those rights to another. This is a property interest. It means that the owner has certain rights to property, and a court will enforce those rights if necessary. There are several different types of property ownership:

• Real property interest—This type of property interest means that a person owns land or buildings.
• Personal property interest—This type of property interest means that a person owns physical possessions such as cars, books, and silverware.
• IP interest—This type of property interest means that a person owns some sort of creation. Creations include items such as art, designs, images, and inventions.

Owners of property can control how it is used. Ownership is an important concept for IP because an IP owner has certain exclusive rights. An owner, the person who created new works or inventions, is the only one who has these rights. Courts will enforce these rights, and can punish people who violate these rights.

The federal government determines many IP law rules in the United States. The U.S. Constitution specifically grants the power to do this. The Constitution grants Congress the power to “promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”² The drafters of the Constitution wanted to encourage innovation and discovery. To do this, they specifically said that authors and inventors must have the exclusive right to control their creations and inventions for a certain period.

The exclusive right to control how creations and inventions are used is the main purpose of IP law. Creators have a right to control how their creations are used for a certain period of time depending upon the underlying nature of the creation. Different laws protect inventions and literary works for different periods.

During the protected period, the creator or author of a work or invention is the only person who can use or reproduce it. This allows authors and inventors to profit from their creative efforts. People would not be encouraged to write new books or create new inventions if they did not have an opportunity to profit from their efforts. IP law protects these efforts. It also encourages them to continue to create. Ultimately, this helps the economy.

The federal law recognizes the following types of IP:

• Patents—Used to protect inventions such as machines, processes, designs, and specialized plants.
• Trademarks—Used to protect words, logos, symbols, or slogans that identify a product or service.
• Copyrights—Used to protect books, art, music, videos, computer programs, and other creative works.

Each type of IP right is demonstrated in a different way. Each applies to different types of creations and inventions. They give protection for different lengths of times. They also have different requirements for establishing and enforcing IP rights.