Describe the purpose of intellectual property law and outline the main types of intellectual property protection.
Answer: The purpose of intellectual property law is to balance two competing interests: the public and the private. The public interest is served by the creation of inventions, works of art, music, literature, and other types of intellectual expression. The private interest is served by rewarding creators of intellectual property by a time-limited monopoly that grants exclusive use to the creator.
There are three main types of intellectual property protection: copyright, patent, and trademark law. Copyright law protects original forms of expression such as books, periodicals, and other forms of written expression, art, drawings, photographs, music, movies, performances, and computer programs. Patents grant the owner a 20-year exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention. There are four types of inventions for which patents are granted under patent law: machines, manmade products, compositions of matter, and processing methods. Trademark law is used to protect trademarks—marks used to identify and distinguish goods and indicate their source.