In recent years IP Professional has gained significant role in innovation industry. Main task of IP professionals is to protect Intellectual property. IBM recently reached a target 7000 patents with the help of these professionals.
What is Intellectual property?
Intellectual property is created from human intellect & protected by IP professional. Intellectual property according to the definition of WIPO is:
“Creation of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.”
Some famous forms of IPRs are:
1. Patents: Protection of inventions
2. Trademarks: Protection of marks used in trade
3. Copyrights: Protection of literature work, dramatic work and aesthetic creations
Where do IP Professionals work?
Every company that innovates will hire an IP professional. As I discussed earlier, IP professional plays crucial role in innovation-based companies. Top-notch companies like IBM, Biocon, Infosys, WIPRO, Ranbaxy, HCL, HP, Dell, and so on hire IP professional to protect their Intellectual property.
How IPR is related to these companies?
- Basic requirement of every company is a ‘Trademark’. Trademark will let customers recognize the brand.
- Innovation based companies will invent. Golden rule in innovation industry, to keep your invention safe, is protection. Patents are tool of protection.
- Industrial design is outer appearance of your product that can also be protected.
- Some industries protect their innovation in the form of trade secret like KFC’s secret recipe.
You must be wondering what an IP professional does?
Let me give you a brief idea in this article about this profession. Intellectual Property (IP) Professional is involved in following activities:
- IP Professional contributes in innovation industry by providing legal rights to the authors, & inventors
- IP Professional guides creator under which category his right should be protected
- Design agreements & deals carefully
- Polaroid won $925 Million from Kodak, when Polaroid sued Kodak for stealing ‘instant photography’ concept. He can protect you from copying data wrongfully
- Checks whether a new product can be launched in a given territory
Some famous job profiles
The hottest trend in IP industry is ‘Patent agent or analyst’. Some other professions seen in this industry are as follows:
With rising cases of counterfeit products, fake products and cases of infringement, it has become extremely important for Innovation-based firms to employ these professionals. So, this industry can accommodate both inventors and protectors for survival. This is a rising side of industry & can be explored by a fresher. Moreover, this field has lot of opportunities in stock for unemployed science graduates.
