intellectual property

noun

plural intellectual properties

: property (such as a concept, idea, invention, or work) that derives from the effort of the mind or intellect

… Netflix is home to several popular intellectual properties like "Squid Game", "Power Rangers", and the 1980s sci-fi horror hit "Stranger Things".

—Danni Button

also : a right or registration (such as a patent, trademark, trade secret, or copyright) relating to or protecting this property

In a number of cases, tech companies have infringed on the intellectual property of smaller rivals, who have sued in court.

—The Boston Herald

called also IP

Examples of intellectual property in a Sentence

Any song that you write is your intellectual property.

Recent Examples on the Web

The distinction businesses cannot afford to overlook is that having permission from an AI provider to use an output does not necessarily mean the output is free from third-party intellectual property or copyright risk. — Morey Haber, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026

Congress also has a Creative Rights Caucus, focused on copyrights, First Amendment rights and intellectual property rights. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026

Linde is competitively advantaged due to its geographic density, infrastructure scale and intellectual property tied to the manufacture high purity industrial gases. — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026

Washington, as well as OpenAI and Anthropic, have alleged that Chinese companies stole American intellectual property by training their models on the outputs of frontier US models, a process known as distillation in the industry. — John Liu, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1769, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

intellectual property

noun

: property (as an idea, method, or written work) that derives from the work of the mind

Legal Definition

intellectual property

see also:

property