The list of certain types of legal monopolies over creations of mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law is called Intellectual property (IP). Under intellectual property law, proprietors are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangibles, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; ideas, breakthroughs, and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Intellectual property has been divided into four main categories namely trademarks, patents, trade secrets and copyrights.

Copyrights deal with safety of original creative works. They provide legal protection for original works of creativity like novels, movies, music, and so on. They permit the users to exclusively use several forms of their idea in one or the other medium with exclusive legal authority over reproduction, adaptation, sale etc for a prescribed period of time. In a majority of countries, a copyright is valid even after the author’s death for 50 years and any unauthorized usage is considered illegal.

Patents are registered rights that safeguard the original work of the inventors by disallowing other people from producing or selling their invention. They are usually applicable to cases like significant biological discoveries, new theories in science and technical inventions. In most nations, patent protection is available for a restricted span of 20 years and the owner loses his sole ownership over the invention following the end of this period.

Trade secrets are undisclosed information that can be used by the firm to defeat its competitors. Trade secrets can include anything ranging from a new software to the recipe of a particular dish and even information such as contacts of most important customers. Usually, trade secrets are not governed by any government agency but by strict internal rules and by-laws of the particular company. The common steps taken by a company to protect trade secrets include keeping the information confined to a chosen handful of managers, or even keeping it secured in some bank vault.

Trademarks are words, logos and graphics that symbolize a specific brand or company and differentiate it from the rival brands. Trademarks act as an immediate recall of the company in the consumer’s mind and create a particular brand identity. Usually, a trademark registration holds valid for 10 years after which it has to be renewed.

Discover more about Trademark Registration Singapore and discover how does an Intellectual Property protection increase the net worth of your business very fast. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory