intellectual property

American  

noun

1. Law. property that results from original creative thought, as patents, copyright material, and trademarks.

2. an individual product of original creative thought.

   Microsoft’s Halo franchise is one of the most profitable intellectual properties in the video game industry.

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intellectual property British  

noun

1. an intangible asset, such as a copyright or patent

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Etymology

Origin of intellectual property

An Americanism dating back to 1840–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intellectual property

And the no-risk benefits of corporate-owned intellectual property became apparent in the early 2000s with the “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” series, both enormous successes for Warner Bros.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Harvard's Office of Technology Development has filed intellectual property related to the platform.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

The race for Hollywood to capture new-age internet intellectual property, or IP, is well underway.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Trademarks, unlike copyrights or patents, are intellectual property that are not premised on creating value for whoever registers them; they’re about protecting consumers.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

As mass media has grown corporatized—with journalism, publishing, moviemaking, and the music business getting sold and merged into fewer and larger monoliths— geeks feel ever more entitled to take whatever intellectual property they want.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz