Intellectual Property Edexcel

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What is intellectual property (IP)?

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creation of the human mind
This includes:
- Software – code
- Inventions
- Literacy & artistic work – books, poems, songs, movies, paintings etc.
- Designs
- Symbols, names & images used in commerce – logos, brand names, slogans etc.
To gain financial reward/recognition for a persons IP and to prevent others from benefiting without permission there are four methods of IP protection:
- Copyright
- Patents
- Trademarks
- Licensing

This protects the intellectual property of an individual or a company
It makes it illegal to copy, modify or distribute software or other intellectual property without the relevant permission
If original work is original, copyright will be automatically applied and will not expire until 25 – 70 years from the death of the creator depending on the type of work
If an individual believes that their work has been copied it is their responsibility to take action under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act
Many sites online offer free downloads of copyrighted software/videos which prevents the intellectual copyright holder from earning their income on the work they have created
- E.g. If someone downloaded videos from Netflix and shared them with others, they would be breaching the act
The act covers videos and audio where peer-to-peer streaming prevents a copyright owner from receiving an income

A trademark is a sign that distinguishes goods or services of one business to those from another
Examples of the most valuable (highest revenue) trademarks include:
- Amazon
- Apple
- Microsoft
- Google
- Visa
- McDonald’s

A software licence is a legal agreement that lays out rules for how software can and can’t be used
There are two main types of software licence, each with very different rules on usage, distribution and support, they are:
- open source
- proprietary

Software Licence	Features
Open source	Access to source code to edit/change Usually free May be able to edit and distribute
Proprietary	Costs money Produced by ‘professional’ companies More regular official updates/support/upgrades/fixes

Software Licence	Advantages	Disadvantages
Open source	Allows collaboration with other people who may want the same modifications Less buggy versions of the software may appear faster Usually free, good for companies with limited budgets Generally strong social support	Relies on support of other users To edit the code, you need expert knowledge May not receive regular updates Could be more open to exploitation through users adding malicious code
Proprietary	Generally free customer support Created to professional standards Always someone to go back to with any problems	Cost can be significant Limited expansion, only what is available Relies on one company May not fully meet the need of the user/customer