Intellectual Property (IP) is society’s recognition of intellectual efforts. It is a monopoly granted in exchange for the contribution of intellectual creations to the society. It is an intangible property. The use of IP by a third party does not deprive the owner of his right of enjoyment. As such, an IP right is a right to restrain others from using that right. The extent of this right is dependent upon the scope of the ability granted by the law to restrain its use. The wider the scope given, the greater the monopoly an. | Lee Chu Keong Intellectual Property (IP) is society’s recognition of intellectual efforts. It is a monopoly granted in exchange for the contribution of intellectual creations to the society. It is an intangible property. The use of IP by a third party does not deprive the owner of his right of enjoyment. As such, an IP right is a right to restrain others from using that right. The extent of this right is dependent upon the scope of the ability granted by the law to restrain its use. The wider the scope given, the greater the monopoly an IP owner has. (Hamzah, 2006, p. 19) The theoretical justification for IP protection ranges from economic or inventive arguments to those which is based on the belief that IP is an extension of one’s personality – the latter being appropriated to copyright. What is clear is that IP is the fruit of one’s labour and, hence, one ought to own the IP. The difference in price between a piece of wood and a chair is the value added by the carpenter – his skill and labour in transforming the wood into a chair. Similarly, the product of intelligence and creativity which IP protects should be treated likewise. (Hamzah, 2006, p. 19) Hesse (2002) states that the concept of intellectual property the idea that an idea can be owned is a child of the European Enlightenment Ancient Greeks did not think of knowledge as something that could be owned or sold A tour of the other great civilisations of the pre-modern world Chinese, Islamic, Jewish, and Christian reveals a striking absence of any notion of human ownership of ideas or their expressions Confusion thought despised commerce, and thus also writing for profit Authors practiced their craft for the moral improvement of themselves and others Chinese authors had no property rights to their published words The contents of books could not be owned not even the particular expressions an author might employ could be claimed as his Chinese characters were thought to have come from nature, and no | Lee Chu Keong Intellectual Property (IP) is society’s recognition of intellectual efforts. It is a monopoly granted in exchange for the contribution of intellectual creations to the society. It is an intangible property. The use of IP by a third party does not deprive the owner of his right of enjoyment. As such, an IP right is a right to restrain others from using that right. The extent of this right is dependent upon the scope of the ability granted by the law to restrain its use. The wider the scope given, the greater the monopoly an IP owner has. (Hamzah, 2006, p. 19) The theoretical justification for IP protection ranges from economic or inventive arguments to those which is based on the belief that IP is an extension of one’s personality – the latter being appropriated to copyright. What is clear is that IP is the fruit of one’s labour and, hence, one ought to own the IP. The difference in price between a piece of wood and a chair is the value added by the carpenter – his skill
