Let intangible assets, copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets come into play. Patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets all have the same characteristics as intangible assets and are protected by law. Patents, copyrights and trademarks are intellectual property rights. Patent rights, copyrights, trademark rights, and trade secrets are quite different. The first three are rights, while the latter is a kind of confidentiality.