Business Legal Musings - 1

Some commonly used Business Terms regarding Intellectual Property:

Invention = Any new Idea or Creative work or improvement in existing product/idea.
   eg: A new recipe for Ketchup.

Intellectual Property = An Invention legally owned by Inventor.
   eg: Inventors copy of the recipe for the Ketchup with legal evidence to show ownership.

Patent = Exclusive legal right to own and use an Invention.
   eg: Legal Evidence & Acknowledgement by Patent Office to the Inventor of the Ketchup's Recipe.
Note: Patents Expire. Usually granted for 15-20 years.
Note: Patents are usually for Design/Technical/Science related IP. 
Note: The equivalent term for Patents For Artistic IP (eg Music, Literature or Recipe) is Copyright. Like Patents, Copyrights too expire after certain time but usually after longer time(70-100+ years).
Note: The concept of Patents is a superset of Copyright in terms of legal rights.
   eg: whereas copyright will protect against verbatim copy of the Ketchup Recipe (ie Plagiarism) it wont protect if there is minor differences in the wording of two recipes. 
   Patent will actually prevent anyone but the IP owner to even attempt to make a similar Ketchup Recipe.
   This is especially true in case of Computer Software Patents.

Innovation = Popularizing an Invention usually through Marketing, Sales & PR.
   eg: Mass production and sale of the new Ketchup.

Trademark = A Symbol for an Innovation (for exclusive use by someone).
   eg: a logo for the Ketchup.

Royalty = Fee paid to the Inventor or Innovator for sharing their Intellectual Property.
   eg: Fee paid to the Inventor or Innovator to gain access to their Ketchup Recipe.

Public Domain = Public property; Allowing Unrestricted Access to an Invention/Innovation.
   eg: Once the Ketchup Recipe Patent (or rather Copyright) expires, the Recipe becomes Public Property; i.e., Royalties no longer need be paid for using the Recipe.