How does intellectual property differ from physical property?

Answer 1

Physical property is a type of "tangible" property that can be touched and moved, or physically sold or secured; intellectual property is a type of "intangible" property that exists as a concept, and may be represented in physical form, but is not touched, protected or transferred in physical form.

Another type of transferable intangible property would be voting rights in shares of stock; although they may be represented by printed shares, the ownership of the rights may exist without they physical presence of those papers.

For example, a statue is a "copy" of a work of creative authorship by the sculptor and is protected by copyright; it may be physically moved, sold, destroyed; but the possession of the copy (even if it is the only one) has nothing to do with the ownership of the intellectual property it represents: the copyright of the sculptor in that work and any copies of that work.

Similarly, an inventor may own a trade secret or patent on an invention (all of which are intellectual property), and a person who purchases or uses the device that incorporates the invention might have physical property but does not own the intellectual property embodied in the invention (i.e., the right to prevent others from making, using, selling or importing copies of the invention, or anything else that would infringe the i.p. rights).

Answer 2

Intellectual property (i.p.) rights refer to a collection of rights that includes copyright among other rights such as patents.

Many intellectual property rights overlap to some extent.

You could have trade secrets (i.p.) in an invention that is described in a pending patent (i.p.), the application of which is a copyrighted literary and pictorial work. A product that implements an invention covered by a utility patent (i.p.) could also have a design patent (i.p.) on its ornamental configuration. It may have one or more trademark shapes, colors, words or combinations on it, as well as copyrighted, non-functional design elements.

Even the package or delivery system may have additional inventions of its own or trademarks or copyrighted pictures or texts, and may be endorsed by a paid celebrity who licensed his or her name, likeness, voice or mannerisms (their personal intellectual property) for the project. For example, the "one click" method of buying from a well-known online retailer is "patented" in the USA.

Specialized technologies have created a need for new types of i.p. protection including the shape of yacht hulls, and the geometry of semiconductor chip mask works. Part of the reason for this is that copyright typically does not protect the functional aspects of a design -- only the presentation/diagram of the design -- and therefore the inventors were at risk of losing their rights to anyone who found their works and copied them.

Answer 3

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols or designs used in commerce. Physical property, on the other hand, refers to tangible objects that can be touched or seen. Intellectual property rights are granted to protect intangible creations, while physical property rights protect tangible assets.