Intellectual Property

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO – a agency of the United nations), Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.  There are various forms of protection available to different types of Intellectual property, the two most well known being copyright protection for areas such as literary or artistic works, and patents for inventions. 

It is widely recognised, as evidenced, for example, by the establishment of WIPO within the United Nations in 1967, that proper recognition for and effective administration of Intellectual property rights plays a key role in the development of society, both in a narrow economic sense and in a broader innovative sense.

These same principles apply on a local, regional and national level as well.  In its role as an Academic Institution, active in research and scholarship across a wide range of disciplines from the biological and physical sciences, through engineering and the information sciences, to the humanities,  WIT is a fertile source for such ‘creations of the mind’.  To help achieve the benefits that such creations could facilitate for the region and nation, WIT has established support for and guidance related to Intellectual property and its Protection.