The Write Investment: Creating Intellectual Property

Greetings, #JustWrite!! For this month's blog, I decided to talk more about intellectual property. At our last brainstorming session, our speaker, Reginald Winfrey shared with us the breakdown of entrepreneurship and how assets work in our favor with the particular focus on intellectual property. For those who were not in attendance at the last meeting or who didn't get a chance to hear the conference call, you are probably wondering, "What is intellectual property?" Trust me, in all of my years of studying business and accounting, no one mentioned that intellectual property was an asset. So let's break the words, "intellectual property" down. According to World Intellectual Property Organization or WIPO (www.wipo.int), intellectual property(IP) is simply creations of the mind. Examples include inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names and images used in commerce. Intellectual properties are protected in law by patents, copyrights, and trademarks. This protection enables people to be recognized and benefit financially from what they've invented or created. The right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest generates an environment where creativity and innovation flourishes. Now let's talk about 5 types of intellectual property:  copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and geographical indications.

Copyrights are rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. These include books, music, paintings, sculptures and films, computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps, and technical drawings.

 Patents are exclusive rights granted for an invention. They provide the patent owners with the right to decide how or whether the invention can be  used by others. In exchange for those rights, patent owners make technical information about the invention publicly available in the published patent document. 

Trademarks are signs capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. This intellectual property goes back to ancient times when craftsmen used to put their signature or "mark" on their products.

Industrial designs are the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. Designs may consist of three-dimensional features such as the shape or surface of an article, or of two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines, or color.

Geographical indications and appellations of origin are signs used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, a reputation or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of origin. Most commonly, a geographical indication includes the name of the place of origin of the goods.

So now that we understand what intellectual property is, what does it mean for us as creative scribes? All of us have had an idea about something whether it was for a new recipe, clothing line, shoe boutique, and of course a book. Our many ideas are our first investments. It is important that we understand how to protect those investments so that we can receive the fruits of our labor and be potential investors for our fellow creative agents. And don't forget that we want to preserve those investments for future generations. I salute those who have created self-publishing companies for their work.  It's another step to IP preservation.



For more information, check out WIPO. Also, check out some of my previous IP investments:

#JustWrite and invest!

~Lequvia Ousley ~