What do we call the legal rights arising from an individual’s creations or inventions?

The correct answer is intellectual property. This term encompasses a broad range of legal rights that individuals or organizations hold over their creations or inventions. Intellectual property can include various forms such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Patents specifically refer to the exclusive rights granted for an invention, filling the necessity for protecting new and useful processes, machines, or improvements. Copyrights protect the expression of ideas, such as works of art, literature, and music. Trade secrets refer to information that is kept confidential to maintain an advantage over competitors. While these are all important components of intellectual property, the term itself reflects the wider concept that includes all of these legal rights combined, making it the most comprehensive answer in this context.

By understanding intellectual property as an umbrella term, one can appreciate the various forms it takes and their respective protections.