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About Intellectual Property

Links: World Intellectual Property Day (April 26, 2005) Intellectual Property -  A Power Tool for Economic Growth  Intellectual Property in the 21st Century - The Japanese Experience in Wealth Creation

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.

Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and 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.

A broad introduction to intellectual property is available in the WIPO publication WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook: Policy, Law and Use.  A summary of intellectual property legislation in member States, as well as contact information, etc., is available in the WIPO Guide to Intellectual Property Worldwide.