intellectual property
Americannoun
-
Law. property that results from original creative thought, as patents, copyright material, and trademarks.
-
an individual product of original creative thought.
Microsoft’s Halo franchise is one of the most profitable intellectual properties in the video game industry.
noun
Etymology
Origin of intellectual property
An Americanism dating back to 1840–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Studios worried about their intellectual property being misused, and actors feared becoming little more than raw material for AI systems -- and made it a central plank of their strike action in 2023.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Tilray bought Brewdog's brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
He was 22 at the time, and he and Karman have maintained ownership of the intellectual property since, recording the Chipmunks’ iconic helium voices from a recording studio in their home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Longo, Todd Morgan, and Sebastian Brandhorst have filed patents related to the Fasting-Mimicking Diet through the University of Southern California, which has licensed related intellectual property to L-Nutra and may receive royalty payments.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
He is getting the intellectual property from these three applications, said Juster, and they are empowering him to start a company with very little money.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
