intellectual property
Americannoun
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Law. property that results from original creative thought, as patents, copyright material, and trademarks.
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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.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also warned that Chinese AI firms could face sanctions over allegations that they have stolen American intellectual property.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
London also announced it will share with Kyiv the intellectual property behind a new battle-tested electronic jamming capability it has dubbed "Stone Cloak".
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Its opening was higher than many 2026 releases based on more current intellectual property, like “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” “Supergirl” and “Scream 7.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Powers also responded to surveillance concerns by clarifying that his company’s software only blocks the printer from making prohibited parts — it doesn’t flag them to authorities or log users’ intellectual property.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
We’d tackled gun control, the meaning of intellectual property, the structure of American education, and the future of networked computing.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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.
