Managing intellectual property: Nail it down before you lose it

Managing intellectual property is about using intellectual property rights (IPR) to protect an innovative concept in order to produce a commercial advantage. Intellectual property rights are the building blocks for managing intellectual property. They are a collection of registrable and unregistrable rights which have different, but sometimes overlapping, uses. IPR includes patents, registered designs, unregistered design right, copyright, database right, semiconductor design right, registered trade marks, unregistered trade marks, domain names and confidential information.