What is Intellectual Property (IP)?

Intellectual Property (IP) refers to legal rights that protect ideas and creative concepts once they are expressed in a tangible form, such as inventions, music, trademarks, designs, software, texts, and photos. A single work can be covered by multiple IP rights at the same time. The best known IP rights are copyright, trademarks, trade names, and patents. Intellectual property rights (IPR) protect these creations by granting the creator exclusive rights for a limited time. 

How to protect your idea

An idea as such cannot be protected. However, it may well be possible to protect a tangible expression of the idea, for example a research protocol, database, or invention. Or perhaps your idea has resulted in an actual product or service.

How do you protect a concrete elaboration of an idea or research result? By securing design, trademark rights, or patents, for instance. 

Some rights arise automatically, like copyright or database right. For other rights, you must first register to secure them. This is the case with patents.

More about patents

Protecting your idea or innovation with a patent starts with understanding the patenting process. For example, it is important to know that once your knowledge becomes public (for instance through scientific articles or conference presentations), patenting is no longer possible. In short: patent before you publish. However, applying for a patent and publishing are not mutually exclusive;  both can occur simultaneously.

Learn more about patents and publishing. 

At VU IXA-GO, we’re happy to guide you through every step of the patent process. We can also explore opportunities to bring your innovations to society – think licensing or partherships. Contact VU IXA-GO.