Own your intellect

The first thing that strikes me when learning about how intellectual property works is that there is a time frame in which an idea is recognised as belonging only to you.

Bruce Arnold (2007) wrote "In February 2004 the Australian government announced that protection in Australia would be extended to life plus seventy years, as part of implementation of the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement." I do appreciate that our ideas can be protected after we're no longer here to defend ourselves, but to be honest I thought the original owner of such property would be the owner forever. However, I do understand that having this agreement in place prevents organisations and family members from receiving royalties for something that was made so long ago. I also understand that it is unlikely that someone would wait that long to "revive" an idea. Original projects must come with a lot of pressure and perhaps paranoia, as it can be hard to define and therefore protect a concept.

The Wyoming State Library's website provides a Patent and Trademark Resource Center Intellectual Property Chart that describes different types of intellectual property, exactly what is protected and how long it will remain protected. That entire concept is an interesting one; at some point in time it was decided that some ideas need more protection than others. 

At least we have the comfort of knowing that if we do have a highly valuable idea, it will be protected for some time and that we can apply to have that extended. It is also good to know that nobody will be cashing in on these ideas and names in the near future. 

References: 

Arnold, B 2007, 'Intellectual Property Guide: Duration', Caslon Analytics: intellectual property, retrieved 7th August 2012 <http://www.caslon.com.au/ipguide19.htm>

Copy Cats Ahead image, retrieved 7th August 2012, <http://explainafide.com.au/intellectual-property/>

Kitchens, K 2003, 'Wyoming State Library', retrieved 7th August 2012 <http://www-wsl.state.wy.us/sis/ptdl/IPchart.html>