Intellectual property

Intellectual Property. The Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) defines the concept of intellectual property as a set of rights relating in particular to:

• literary, artistic, and scientific works,
• the performances of artists,
• recordings of sounds as well as radio and television broadcasts,
• inventions in all fields of human activity,
• scientific discoveries,
• industrial designs,
• trademarks,
• service marks,
• trade names and commercial designations,
• protection against unfair competition.

Intellectual property is divided into two main categories:

• copyright (works) and related rights,
• industrial property (inventions, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, geographical indications, and the layout designs of integrated circuits).

A separate category of intellectual property objects is know-how, i.e. technical, technological, and organizational information of an enterprise, or other information of economic value that has not been disclosed to the public, with respect to which the entrepreneur has taken the necessary steps to maintain its confidentiality.