1.3.3 Main forms

Intellectual property is not physical in the way that your personal property is; it refers to an idea or creation of the human mind. Therefore it is important to understand what constitutes intellectual property, and what forms it can take.

There are four main forms of intellectual property: copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets. Click on the headings to find out more about each form.

  • This is the type of intellectual property that you are most likely to encounter as a student. Copyright legally protects the way an idea has been expressed in a tangible form, for example, a piece of writing, artwork, music or software. The creator of the work holds exclusive rights to disseminate, copy and use that work for a certain period of time. If someone wants to use copyright material, they must follow the agreed terms of use for non-commercial purposes, or obtain permission from the copyright holder.

  • A trademark identifies the source of a product or service, distinguishing the brand and helping to ensure that it cannot be copied or used for something else. If a brand has a strong trademark, such as McDonald's 'golden arches', then it is an infringement to use that trademark for other products or services.

  • A patent provides exclusive rights over a manufacturing process. If something is protected by a patent, then other people are not allowed to use that technology, manufacture, distribute or sell it while the patent is in place. There are similar exclusive rights for industrial designs and created or discovered plant varieties under Australian and international laws.

  • A trade secret protects a company's or organisation's ideas, giving it exclusive rights to use or disseminate these. Trade secrets are not generally known to outsiders, and provide a competitive business advantage, for example, the 'secret recipe' for a fast-food product.

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