Intellectual Property Rights and Violations - Research Paper Example

United States, China, and the European Union are some of the huge economies that have taken intellectual property laws very seriously.  The US struggles with interpretation of the law as evidenced by several cases of intellectual property violations. The European Union is dealing with the increasing infringement cases in other countries. China has made steps in ensuring the protection of intellectual property. The formation of trade organizations and the signing of agreements have improved intellectual property protection in local and world markets. The law defines intellectual property as anything intangible product produced by a creative mind (Alin, 2014) (Vidrascu, Cristea, Iacob, & Volintiru, 2014). The law is founded on the fact that a creative mind should have some exclusive rights attached to his or her idea.

Some examples of intellectual property are literature, music, inventions, painting, words, phrases, and anything else that is borne by the unique creativity of the human mind (Anderson, 2013). The term intellectual property goes back many years. The laws surrounding intellectual property and rights have undergone many changes (Bird & Jain, 2008). The paper examines advantages, violations, rights, and laws on intellectual properties in different countries. The current meaning of the term intellectual property traces its roots back to 1867 in pre-modern Germany (Alin, 2014).

The North German Confederation had given the power to individuals to protect their intellectual property. The term has been used in Europe and America. It is paramount to understand that patents did not start with real inventions. It began with Queen Elizabeth awarding royal grants that had immense monopoly privileges. However, the meaning has evolved to giving an inventor exclusive rights to sell and control his or her invention. The purpose and scope of intellectual property rights have been changing ever since (Moreno, 2013).

For example, in the past, rights were given to encourage invention. They were given only in situations it was necessary. This paper reviews the application of intellectual property and intellectual property rights. It analyzes the advantages and limitations of intellectual property rights.