The different rights that fall under the heading ‘intellectual property’ (IP) are given in the list that follows. In this regard, there is a reasonable amount of international agreement on what types of legal right are part of IP law.

●    The protection of original works by copyright and of the author’s personal relationship to the work by moral rights.

●    The protection of sound recordings and other ‘fixations’ of works by neighbouring rights and for performers by performers’ rights (and database right in the European Union (EU)).

●    The protection of secret information (and personal privacy in the UK, although in many jurisdictions that would be regarded as quite separate).

●    The protection of inventions by patents (and in some jurisdictions, although not the UK, utility models or design patents).

●    The protection of plant varieties by plant breeders’ rights.

●    The protection of product design by registered designs, copyright, and other rights (in the UK by design right and in the EU by registered designs).

●    The protection of semiconductor topographies.

●    The protection of brands by registered trade marks, and various legal measures to protect traders against misleading and unfair competitive behaviour (in the UK, the law of passing-off, in other jurisdictions laws of unfair trading).

●    The protection of geographical indications and names associated with a locality.