This guide has been produced to help you answer one very important question: what does intellectual property—‘IP’ for short—mean for my business?

In contrast to the industrial age, today’s globalised, high-tech, knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy is chiefly driven by intangible assets—non-physical things. Intellectual property is the collective name given to special types of intangibles that concern your inventions, brands, designs and creative works against imitators. It is essential to establish, protect and enforce the legal rights that come with IP— whatever your industry or line of business, and regardless of whether you are a local shop, an Internet venture or a manufacturing company. The IP rights you own, and their relationship to any relevant IP rights that are controlled by other people, are likely to be key to your success: they govern what you can and can’t do with your business ideas.

IP is often thought of as being a complex legal matter that’s all about patents. That’s not a very accurate, or helpful, way of viewing it! It’s true that parts of the IP system do involve some cost and complexity, but the essential underlying principles are relatively straightforward and easy to grasp, as this guide will show you. It isn’t difficult to get basic protection in place, and use it to achieve your business objectives: but the key point is that IP is simply too important to ignore.

In this guide, discover:

• Why IP is important in building value, managing risks and achieving your business objectives
• Which types of IP are available
• How to identify the types that are most relevant
• When these IP rights are available to you
• What these rights enable you to do
• Where to obtain further assistance