According to WIPO, "Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions;
literary and artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in commerce"
Intellectual property shares many of the characteristics
associated with real and personal property. Intellectual property is an
asset and, as such, can be bought, sold, licensed, exchanged, or
gratuitously given away like any other form of property. Intellectual
property law rewards and encourages innovation by providing limited
monopoly rights. US IP law and guidelines are designed to protect "the
common purpose of promoting innovation and enhancing consumer welfare.
The intellectual property owner has the right to prevent the
unauthorized use or sale of the property. However, unlike physical
property, intellectual property (IP) is intangible. It cannot be defined
or identified by its own physical parameters. It must be expressed in
some discernible way to be protectable. Countries vary in how they
regard and protect intellectual property. In some cases, you may need to
file for intellectual property protection in multiple countries. Be
sure to fully research and understand the intellectual property laws and
protections in each country you're involved with.
Intellectual
property is at a dynamic tension with antitrust law. Intellectual
property law rewards and encourages innovation by providing limited
monopoly rights, while antitrust law prohibits monopolization. But
ultimately, as US IP Guidelines emphasize, both serve, and are
interpreted by U.S. courts and enforcers to further "the common purpose
of promoting innovation and enhancing consumer welfare." Because of the
"public good" qualities of intellectual property, the essence of
intellectual property rights is the right to exclude. This right exists
regardless of whether an intellectual property owner, say, a patentee,
actually practices and markets her invention. Consistent with this
approach, while the antitrust laws generally prohibit certain
exclusionary conduct, they "do not negate the patentee's right to
exclude others from patent property." Under the IP Guidelines, even if
an intellectual property owner is found to have market power, that
market power, if not otherwise unlawful, does not "impose on the
intellectual property owner an obligation to license the use of that
property to others."
Over the past 30 years, our understanding of the importance of intellectual property continues to
grow. If the 1970s was the decade of lost innocence about risk, then the
1990s was the decade of lost innocence about IP. Until the early 1980s,
decisions about IP captured relatively little public attention.
In the 1990s, intellectual property was increasingly recognized as the
defining marketplace advantage. In 1995, the US exported 27 billion in
intellectual property while importing 6.3 billion.
On April 11, 2012, the U.S. Commerce Department released a comprehensive report, entitled "Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus," which found that intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries support at least 40 million jobs and contribute more than $5 trillion dollars to, or 34.8 percent of, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
Today,
most organizations understand the importance of IP, "IP also facilitates
the organization in gaining sustainable competitive advantage in the
market."
Information centric defense
starts with an awareness of the value of each section of information
within an organization. Identify the most valuable information and
implement controls to prevent non-authorized employees from accessing
it. A good starting point is to identify your organization's
intellectual property, restrict it to a single section of the network,
assign a single group of system administrators to it, mark the data, and
thoroughly check for this level of data leaving your network.
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