IDEA

An idea (Greek: ιδέα) is a specific thought or concept which arises in the mind of a person as a result of thinking. The term arises in both popular and philosophical terminology.

Ideas as property

In some cases the manner in which certain ideas are expressed can be granted legal protection by the state as intellectual property. Intellectual property laws generally do not give any protection to the actual idea which forms the basis of the intellectual property. Such laws do not bestow the legal status of property upon ideas per se. Instead, it is the fundamental expression of the idea which is protected by a variety of different intellectual property laws. The relevant law depends on the subject matter, such as copyright in the case of an original literary work, a patent grant in the case of an invention, a registered trademark in the case of a brand name, or registered industrial design rights in the case of the physical appearance of certain objects.

Related Topics:
Legal - State - Intellectual property - Property - Copyright - Patent - Invention - Trademark - Industrial design rights

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Patent law protects a new idea that has a functional manifestation as invention or know-how, copyright law protects the expression of ideas like books, movies, videodiscs, and datastreams, while other laws protect industrial designs and integrated circuit patterns. Those types of law are intended to protect the exploitation of the expression of the ideas of creators and authors for a limited period of time in a form of monopoly.

Related Topics:
Patent - Know-how - Expression - Design - Integrated circuit - Author - Monopoly

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