Article published in Surgeons’ News, volume 2, issue 2, April 2003

S F Bush and A Bayat

Introduction

Intellectual property (IP) refers to all kinds of creations of the human mind. These can be anything from symbols, logos, names, pictures, computer software and graphic designs, to literary and artistic works and of course scientific and surgical inventions.

There are, broadly speaking, two types of IP: industrial and copyright. Industrial IP encompasses trademarks, industrial designs, knowhow and patents (such as medical inventions) whereas copyright includes artistic and literary works.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) are the legal rights associated with IP ownership and IP protection is required to stop people from copying an idea without the agreement of the owner. The owner of IPR (if it can be turned into a commercial product) has the power to direct its development, exploitation and commercial success. It will not otherwise yield the owner or inventor any financial reward.