Intellectual property (IP) covers products, artistic and literary works, inventions, logos, and other intangible assets that one creates and benefits from legal protection.

Intellectual property does not cover ideas as such. For this to be the case, they must have been transformed into assets expressed in a legally defined way.

“The person who owns an intellectual property asset has legal rights over its use, which means that it cannot be sold, distributed, or used without authorization,” explains Maximilian Yam, responsible for business Financing on intellectual property assets at BDC Capital.

“Intellectual property can be a valuable core asset for a business, and it’s important to think about ways to protect and leverage it.”

Which are the primary forms of protection for intellectual property? 

There are four types of protection depending on the nature of the intellectual property:

Brevet

A patent is a legal protection offered for inventions. To qualify, the invention must be new, practical, and not obvious. The inventor submits information about it to a patent office, and the invention is granted legal protection for a certain period (the length of which varies depending on the country or territory).

The holder of a patent can stop others from using their invention, but if other patents cover the invention, it may not be possible to sell it. For example, someone might have patented a new ink cartridge for retractable pens but not be able to sell it if someone else already has a patent.

This protection applies in the country or territory covered by a given patent office and must be used for one country at a time. Because the invention must be new, a patent must generally be used before presenting it to the public (but some countries allow a limited grace period for applying for a patent after presenting the intended invention).

In some countries, you can also apply for design patents, also called industrial design rights. These cover a product’s visual aspects, such as its shape, configuration, or decorative elements.

Copyright

Copyright protects creative works written or otherwise related to a medium of expression, such as paintings, poems, or photographs.

Copyright is automatically applied to works at the time of creation. They can also be registered with a copyright office, which provides access to a more established and formal process for preventing copyright infringement. “Registering copyright gives the person who owns it more tools to prevent unauthorized reproduction of the work,” explains Maximilian Yam.

The copyright owner has the exclusive right to use, distribute, or sell the work for a certain number of years (which varies by country or territory). After this period, the work became part of the public domain, and anyone could use it.

Trademark

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other symbol that sets your product or brand apart. Upon registration, you are granted the sole right to use a trademark, provided you continue to do so and maintain this protection.

Trade secrets

Trade secrets are confidential or competitively valuable information, algorithms, formulas, customer or supplier lists, recipes, or processes that have value because of their secret nature. They are not recorded but can be protected using various legal mechanisms, such as non-disclosure, confidentiality, and employment agreements.

To be eligible for this type of protection, you must take reasonable steps to prevent disclosure of information, such as restricting or segmenting access to critical information. A company can take legal action to stop the unauthorized disclosure of information and could seek damages to compensate for the resulting harm.