Intellectual Property

What is Intellectual Property?
The history of the human race is a history of the application of imagination, or
innovation and creativity, to an existing base of knowledge in order to solve problems
or express thoughts. From early writing in Mesopotamia, the Chinese abacus, the
Syrian astrolabe, the ancient observatories of India, the Gutenberg printing press, the
internal combustion engine, penicillin, plant medicines and cures in Southern Africa,
the transistor, semiconductor nanotechnology, recombinant DNA drugs, and
countless other discoveries and innovations, it has been the imagination of the
world’s creators that has enabled humanity to advance to today’s levels of
technological progress.
Protection of intellectual property is ensured not only at the national but also at
the international level. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
administers more than 20 treaties about intellectual property.
You may find other references at:

• http://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/what_is_wipo.html

• http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/