From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -
In law, particularly in common law jurisdictions, intellectual property or IP refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea, or to some other intangible subject matter. In general terms this legal entitlement sometimes enables its holder to exercise exclusive control over the use of the IP. The term intellectual property reflects the idea that the subject matter of IP is the product of the mind or the intellect, and that once established, such entitlements are generally treated as equivalent to tangible property, and may be enforced as such by the courts.
The most well known forms of intellectual property include copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Patents and trademarks fall into a particular subset of intellectual property known as industrial property.
Source: Wikipedia
