Fundamentals of Intellectual Property Rights

Innovation represents both value through creative effort and is a source of competitive advantage, and as such, has always been susceptible to the dangers of imitation. Only effective innovation protection can ensure sustainable business success, but the protection of innovation using intellectual property rights can help capture value. This assertion will serve as a guide in the following chapter on innovation protection of industrial and intellectual property; along the way, we also go into other informal and competitive ways of protecting innovation, such as lead-time. This chapter covers all types of protection such as inventions, trademarks, designs, and more. In doing so, we show why various factors such as globalization and ever-shortening innovation cycles in the recent past have immensely intensified the need to manage innovation. As Joseph Schumpeter, considered the father of innovation economics, showed, patents foster innovation and influence its subsequent commercial success. Thus, the importance of commercial protection rights should not be underestimated, and we begin by outlining how they create value for innovators. Strategic management of patents is hence a fundamental and integral part of technology and innovation management.