Intellectual Property Rights and the Growth of the E-Commerce Sector

Intellectual property rights are those that are awarded to the creator of a new invention or intangible asset together with permission to profit monetarily or commercially from that resource. The first federal law pertaining to patents was approved in 1790, marking the beginning of the development of the idea of intellectual property in the 18th century. Although the extent of intellectual property rights varies by economy, in general, IPR regulations protect any kind of invention or creative work that comes under the purview of copyright and patent law. One of the business models that relies on IPR and licenses the most is e-commerce. E-commerce allows users to trade IP-protected products like software, blueprints, training materials, and systems rules that are the primary source of value. Since all types of security-based intellectual property regulations should protect valuable commodities under e-commerce, otherwise, entire businesses run the risk of being pirated. This study examines the history of intellectual property rights (IPR), including the emergence of three main types, their applicability to e-commerce, their function in e-commerce, and the areas of e-commerce that are protected by IPR. This paper is both descriptive and instructive explains how, in a world gone global, IP protection is essential to the growth and the operation of the e-commerce sectors.