For updates affecting this Division please see Part B0 Updates
B5.301 Intellectual property—overview
Intellectual property is a broad term covering a wide variety of assets and rights, from patents for inventions, design rights and trade marks to authors copyrights and plant breeders' rights. The main types of intellectual property are briefly described in the table below, together with details of where to find further commentary.
| Type of property | Description | Commentary |
| Copyright | The copyright provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 protect three categories of work. The first grouping, 'original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works' includes the classic types of authors' works which have longest enjoyed copyright protection. The works must be original and exist in a material form before copyright may subsist.
The second category of works comprises sound recordings, films and broadcasts. Whilst sound recordings and films are embodied in a tangible form capable of permanent existence, broadcasts exist only in evanescent form. To protect repeat broadcasts, they are given copyright which endures as long as that in the original.
The third category of work, |
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