Intellectual Property (IP) refers to the ownership of a specific idea, design, manuscript, etc. by the person or company who created it. Intellectual property may give the person or company exclusive rights to it, forcing others to only be able to use that property with the creators permission. These rights are typically enforceable when the owner has successful applied for and received a patent, design rights, or trademark on their IP. It is important to know that copyrights are inherent within the new ideas and design work of most individuals and businesses without having to apply for them. Just be sure to keep careful records on when your IP was created and copyrighted to be able to enforce your rights in the future.
Related Term: Critical Information
Source: Oxford Dictionary
