Property of the Intellect

Intellectual Property or IP is any product of the human intellect that the law protects from unauthorized use by others. The ownership of intellectual property inherently creates a limited monopoly in the protected property. Intellectual property is traditionally comprised of four categories:

• patent
• copyright
• trademark
• trade secrets

The products of the human intellect that comprise the subject matter of intellectual property are typically characterized as non-rivalrous public goods, or the same product may be used by more than one person without diminishing the availability of that product for use by others.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson:

"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of everyone, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me."

The law of intellectual property can be seen as analogous to the law of tangible property in that both consist of a bundle of rights conferred upon the property owner. However, the law of intellectual property is separate and distinct from the law of tangible property. Where the right of exclusive possession is at the core of the bundle of rights protecting real and personal property, land and chattels, the same can not be said of intellectual property. The law of intellectual property is commonly understood as providing an incentive to authors and inventors to produce works for the benefit of the public by regulating the public's use of such works in order to ensure that authors and inventors are compensated for their efforts.


It all seems very simple in that, if I were an inventor and created a new type of wheel for instance, I could apply for a patent and if granted then my idea on how to create this new type of wheel cannot be used with my permission; and, the same situation would hold true for a copyright although it might be a little different because instead of an idea on how to build something, I have created a story which cannot be then duplicated in part or in total without my permission since I have a copyright.


Similarly, a trademark or a design representing a specific company makes sense as well. For instance, everyone knows that the red open umbrella belongs to The Travelers and to no one else and if you use that same type of umbrella you are infringing upon the rights of those who own the umbrella trademark and like too is against the law.


The McDonald's Clown is a trademark for the McDonalds company and they certainly would not want that associated with Chicken for instance.

And while all of this seems relatively clear and simply, it can be very complicated in terms of who actually owns the IP at the time of its creation?

Interesting question, is it not?

Suppose I am working for a company and my work hours are 9-5 and I develop an idea sometime during the day or between 9-5 then that IP would appear (at least on the surface) to belong to the company. But, what if that idea had nothing to do with the company at all... who owns it then?

Or, maybe an idea was developed after work or on the weekends and while you were not working you were still employed by this company so could all your ideas whether at work or on your own time belong to the company that is paying your salary?

And, how would you prove that I had this idea while I was at work or at home or after I left the company? In other words, you cannot prove that you did and you cannot prove that you did not... and yet, there could be a lot of money surrounding whoever is proven to be in actual possession of that IP.

Edward Snowden stole the Top Secret Intellectual Property of the United States and then started sharing that information with others... Snowden is not claiming that these thoughts are his... no, not at all... but, he is claiming that Americans and the rest of the world have the right to know about the type of Intellectual Property (secrets) that are being collected without our knowledge.

So, can the Government or should the Government have the legal right to collect your pieces of Intellectual Property and keep them for as long as they so desire or until they decided that they want to return it to you?

And, if we as Americans, look into what is going on in different foreign countries all over the world, we will come to realize very quickly that very few if any of these foreign countries actually honor our:

• Patents
• Copyrights
• Trademarks
• Trade Secrets

Is it worth going to war with China, Russia, or some other country because this country stole a patent and is now using that patent to produce a new type of wheel and once manufactured will be sold in the US and no money will ever be paid to the person who actually had the original idea for that new type of wheel and received a patent to protect his design...

I don't suppose that this idea is going to fly very high but should not all knowledge be free regardless of whether that knowledge was first discovered in America or in China?

The idea for gunpowder was first discovered in China... and it resulted from Chinese Alchemists around 850 AD who were experimenting with life expanding elixirs... so, it was actually their intellectual property to begin with from which the rest of the world borrowed the concept but when off in their own direction.

I don't think that Intellectual Property would stop being thought simply because our government stopped offering patents, copyrights, and trademarks and I doubt that the theft of IP will ever stop either because once we know the foundations of something we can always find a way to make it better... and, in so doing, no one should actually own any IP at all...