Intellectual Property Laws and Their Application in the US - Essay Example

The founding fathers came up with a clause in the Constitution that provided for these very issues. This was the protection of advancements in sciences and technology and different arts from unscrupulous people. This led to the development of the US intellectual property laws. This is what this paper will focus on. To this end, it will define intellectual property and the strides the US government has taken to protect inventors from being short-changed. It will also look at two different examples of the breach of these laws and what is to be done in such circumstances.

Finally, the paper will zero in on patent laws: that is the first to invent law that the US ascribes to and the first to file system which all other countries in the world use as their bona fide system. Intellectual property can be defined as unique creations of the mind that are recognized by governments as property. For example, if in my brilliance I write a novel that depicts what life in the 18th century was like, and since in this very brilliance I did not copy anyone else’s work, then my book can be referred to as intellectual property.

I created it from my mind and as such, I am entitled to receive protection from the government in case someone else gets my book by chance and tries to pass it off as his own. From the above example therefore it can be noted that people are entitled to get protection from their governments through its laws, which will lead to the prosecution of those who are caught trying to take my property without permission. Intellectual property means that people are granted the sole rights to their inventions.

Some of these inventions recognized as intellectual property include musical and artistic works, literature, different creations and innovations, words, expressions, representations of things, and inventions. As a result of the major differences in intellectual property, many different categories are identifying them. These include patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. The rights that owners of intellectual property have means that they can gain any financial benefits that come from what they have invented.

For example, the sale and distribution of my novel means that whatever comes from these sales, I am entitled to it. If my book is sold in the whole of the United States, the UK, and Australia, and is picked up by other publishers in different languages, grossing over say, $ 20 million, then I am the one who will get the money.