Intellectual property is described as "any product of someone's intellect that has commercial value: a piece of literature, a painting, an invention, a trademark, a trade secret etc. As non - physical belongings intellectual properties are categorized as intangible assets. Meanwhile list of owners of high valued intellectual properties isn't complete without contemporaries like Elon Musk, Mark Zukerberg, and the anonymous founder(s) of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
For instance, known for his feat in world leading industries like: construction, automobile, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and space exploration, Elon Musk is not only famous for his world richest streak, recent acquisition of X, (formerly known as Twitter) and multiplanetary ambition, but his proceeds from the sale of PayPal to eBay was a landmark on his road to success. Being one of the pioneers of PayPal, it is said that Elon had the highest share of the company (by 11.7%) which fetched him $7,109,989 from its total sale at $15 billion in 2002.
On the other hand Mark Zukerberg played enormous role in the advent and revolution of instant messaging through facebook. Yet this 'giant of social media' isn't the sole brainchild. of his, as he once had interest in the crypto space. But heightened incidents of liquidations of projects and mismanagement of investors funds by crypto developers and exchanges predisposed the industry to severe sanctions in some jurisdictions. Therefore, wary of possible legal actions that may have ensued the launch of their program, in 2021 the CEO of Meta (former facebook) and his partners exited and sold their crypto project (known as Diem) to silvergate bank for a sum of $200 million.
Well, Satoshi Nakamoto invented and launched bitcoin between 2008 and 2009 respectively, which marked the advent of decentralized cryptocurrency and blockchain technology (otherwise known as distributed ledger). And with a limited/max supply of 21,000,000 BTC (total bitcoins that could ever exist), so far, 19,688,206 BTC are currently in circulation (or have been mined), bringing its circulation supply at approximately 93.77%, remainder 6.23 available bitcoin yet to be generated before closure of its mining activity. Nevertheless, according to coinmarketcap (binance's price tracking site) bitcoin is currently selling at approximately $64,826 per coin, and is worth $1,361,864,506,275 market cap as at the time of writing (neglecting its price volatility). But as a patent of unknown founder(s) bitcoin remains a nobody's ntellectual property nor a sole proprietary business. I digress!
Intellectual properties are prone to theft due to their monetary potentials. Therefore individuals and organizations alike have a responsibility of protecting their ideas and inventions (or patent) from the public until it successfully serves them whatever purpose(s) for which it was originated. But yet, patent ownership and protection has never been an easy task, as it goes with lots of controversies; a situation where two or more individuals may be laying claim of ownership over an idea or invention without proofs or paper work to back their claims.
Meanwhile to curtail the above situations, In most nations patent and piracy regulations are overseen by government agencies responsible for intellectual property rights. This typically includes bodies like the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the United States, the European Patent Office (EPO) in Europe, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in the case of business name registration in Nigeria, and similar organizations in other countries. Piracy may also fall under the jurisdiction of law enforcement agencies, depending on the nature and extent of the infringement.
Therefore, next time you are buying a product, enjoying the taste of your favorite snack or beverage, catching-up with your best football club on TV, admiring an art work in the museum, or appreciating a business logo or name, never forget that someone has a legal right of ownership over them, which makes them intellectual properties. On a final note, never underestimate those ideas that pops your mind atimes, like the CEO of Meta said; "ideas don't come out fully formed, they only become clearer as you work on them. You just have to get started". "If you can imagine it, then it's possible".
See you on the next passage of this episode where we'll discuss more on valuables.
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