The concept of intellectual property is the exclusive rights that people enjoy in accordance with the law on the fruits of their intellectual labor.

Intellectual property rights are "a collective term for rights generated by law based on creative achievements and industrial and commercial marks." The three most important intellectual property rights are copyright, patent rights and trademark rights. Patent rights and trademark rights are also collectively referred to as industrial property rights. Intellectual property rights in English are "intellectual property", which is also translated as intellectual achievement rights, intellectual property rights or intellectual property rights.

Article 123 of the Civil Code that came into effect on January 1, 2021 stipulates: Civil subjects enjoy intellectual property rights in accordance with the law. In August 2022, the China Intellectual Property Research Association released three series of group standards for intellectual property appraisal, including the "Intellectual Property Appraisal Management Standards", "Patent Appraisal Standards" and "Trademark Appraisal Standards". Intellectual property rights are “the collective term for rights generated by law based on creative achievements and industrial and commercial marks.”

Etymology

The three most important intellectual property rights are copyright, patent rights and trademark rights. Patent rights and trademark rights are also collectively referred to as industrial property rights. Intellectual property rights in English are "intellectual property", which is also translated as intellectual achievement rights, intellectual property rights or intellectual property rights. On the surface, intellectual property rights can be understood as "property rights to knowledge", and the premise is that knowledge meets the conditions for becoming legal property.

However, the essence of knowledge is a kind of information, which is intangible and free-flowing. Once knowledge as information is disseminated, the person who provides it cannot exercise exclusive control over it. Then the intellectual achievements expressed by this information cannot become the property of the information creator in a legal sense. The intellectual property legal system creates an unprecedented form of property rights by granting creators of intellectual achievements exclusive rights of use and transfer.