What are the 4 types of intellectual property?

The 4 types of intellectual property are patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Patents protect inventions. Trademarks protect brand identifiers like names and logos. Copyrights protect creative work: text, images, code, designs. Trade secrets protect valuable confidential know-how for as long as it stays secret.

Longer lists, 5 or 7 types, subdivide the same territory into things like industrial designs and geographical indications. The big four cover everything a service business touches.

For freelancers and agencies, copyright is the daily one. Whoever creates the work owns it by default, even after being paid, unless a contract transfers it. That single default surprises more clients than any other IP rule, and one clause in your agreement settles it.

This intellectual property agreement template handles that ownership transfer in plain language.