Intellectual Property (IP)

Intellectual Property (IP): is refers to creations of the mind: inventions,  literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. IP is divided into two categories : Industrial Property,  which includes; inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source;  and copyright, which includes literary a d artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.

Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs (WIPO, 2011)

Intellectual property can also be defined as a creative works that have economic value and are protected by law. According to John Campbell 2007, an Intellectual property right is a fancy name for product accountability and the protection of human creativity. It is the legal mechanism - through copyright, patents and trademark-that ensures that the products we buy are genuine, and that someone else does not take credit for our ideas. Intellectual property rights do not just protect inventors; they protect everyone whose safety depends on product reliability in every country in the world, including Nigeria.

 Intellectual property laws reward the creators of most types of intellectual property by preventing others from copying, performing, or distributing those works without permission. The main purpose of this protection is to provide incentives for people to produce scientific and creative works that benefit society at large.

Some types of intellectual property are automatically protected by law from the moment of their creation. Other types require the creator to request a specific grant of rights from a government agency before they can be protected by law. Nearly all nations have laws protecting intellectual property. However, some nations do not vigorously enforce intellectual property laws, making illegal copying, or piracy, a major problem in these areas.