ABSTRACT
The term intellectual property (IP) came into use in the UK in the nineteenth century as the age of inventions in technology and the use of printing presses created opportunities to exploit ideas in print and in new products to make money in a new way. This spread rapidly to stimulate the economies of the European nations. In Europe patents can be mediated through the European Patent Office (EPO) which then permits using one dossier to cover the European Union (EU) countries. Other trading blocs are beginning to organize themselves in a similar fashion to harmonize their efforts for local and regional advantage. IP is a broad definition of all the elements that go into protecting the investment of money, inventive effort and belief that make up a product for use in healthcare markets. IP can be protected simply with a single patent with a single claim or single patents can have many claims.
