Inventors

Products develop fast and patents need to happen quickly.

Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect.^[1][2]There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The most well-known types are copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. It was not until the 19th century that the term “intellectual property” began to be used, and not until the late 20th century that it became commonplace in the majority of the world.^[8]

The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods.^[9] To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time. This gives economic incentive for their creation, because it allows people to profit from the information and intellectual goods they create.^[9] These economic incentives are expected to stimulate innovation and contribute to the technological progress of countries, which depends on the extent of protection granted to innovators.^[10]