Explain intellectual property – Business Law and Ethics
IP (Intellectual Property) is defined as any product or the result of a mental process that is given legal protection against unauthorized use. There are four types of IP: (1) patents; (2) copyright; (3) trademarks and (4) trade secrets. A patent gives an inventor the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention for a period of twenty years and a design for fourteen years. To qualify, an applicant must satisfy the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the invention, discovery, process, or design is genuine, novel, useful, and not obvious in light of current technology. Do you think that “anything under the sun that is made by man,” should be patented protected by intellectual property laws?
