What is intellectual property?

We all have ideas. And sometimes people will pay you for them.

That’s when intellectual property becomes a business asset – and that’s what IP professionals are here to look after.

Intellectual property – or “IP” – is anything that might be worth something, but where the valuable bit is more of an idea than a physical object.

A house is “property”, because there’s something physical there. The design for a house, on the other hand, is “intellectual property” because, even when it’s drawn out on blueprints, it’s the idea that’s valuable, not the paper it’s printed on.

Even once the house is built, the intellectual property still exists separately because it can be used to build more houses.

Intellectual property takes many forms, such as:

• Patents, which protect inventions (whether they’re products or processes)
• Trade marks, which protect brands and associated things like logos
• Designs, which protect the way something looks rather than how it works
• Copyright, which protects creative work such as photos, videos, books and artwork

The world of IP includes scientists, inventors, entrepreneurs, designers, writers, artists, musicians, business people and lawyers – all working together to protect ideas, to release their potential, and to help them make the world better.

You can meet some of those “Ideas People”, and read their IP career stories, on our “People in IP” page.

To find out more about the many different jobs they do, visit our “IP career options” page.

Careers in IP mix creativity with the practical application of imagination through science and engineering. They combine the detailed eye of a lawyer with an enterprising business brain. And they bring together opportunities in arts, media, science and technology with solutions to global challenges.

Intellectual property is a current flowing under so much of modern society. That means working in IP puts you at the heart of important developments. It also means careers in ideas not only bring respect and responsibility, but also good salaries and rewards. And because IP is a global system, there are opportunities to work all around the UK and in other countries too.

Take a look at this video if you want to know why now is such a good time to work in IP.

Why not visit our special “jargon buster” for more information about all this?

Alternatively, throughout the website you can hover your cursor over some of the more specialist terms we use (or tap them on a mobile device), to find a direct link to the explanation.

You’ll also find loads of useful information about IP and how it’s used on the website of the UK IPO (the UK Intellectual Property Office).