Information: Technology

a 20-year monopoly of the manufacture, importation, distribution or use of most kinds of new products or processes known as a patent may be granted in return for disclosing the product or process to the public;

new products that cannot be patented, such as  computer programs and semiconductor topographies, may be protected by copyright, design right  or other intellectual property rights;

new varieties of plants may be protected by plant breeders' rights; and

inventors and innovators can rely on the law of confidence to prevent misuse or unauthorized disclosure of their trade secrets.