Learning About Intellectual Property
Under Secretary of Commerce, Jon W. Dudas
Dennis Forbes, USPTO Photographer

Here is your first chance to get a clue. Read, then answer the questions at the bottom of the page.

Intellectual property refers to anything that is created by the human mind. It comes from human intelligence and can be protected from theft. Intellectual property includes inventions that can be protected by patents, creative works of art such as music, movies, books that can be protected by copyrights, and brand names that can be protected by registered trademarks.

Intellectual property belongs to the person or company that made the invention, created the artwork, or wrote the words.  This is called proprietary property or property owned only by the creator. For a certain amount of time, the creator gets to keep the property to himself or herself if it is legally protected by a patent, copyright, or trademark.  No one can take the protected property or use it without permission.  The illegal act of taking intellectual property that doesn't belong to you is known as infringement of the patent.

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