Providing intellectual property allows individuals to create new technologies while promoting economic growth (AllLaw, 2015). Intellectual property (IP) protection is based on three main mechanisms: copyrights, patents and trademarks. New product development can involve extensive research and development while costing an organization millions of dollars. Therefore, having intellectual protection ensures that competitors can copy a product and benefit from the hard work of the creators. The benefits of copyright, allowing the organization to reproduce its work, while prohibiting others from using its product without permission (AllLaw, 2015). Patents, on the other hand, protect the product against reproduction within a certain period of time. Therefore, allowing the inventor to receive financial rewards for research and development. Finally, trademarks protect the product and organization name, while allowing customers to distinguish competitors (AllLaw, 2015). Costs associated with product protection vary depending on the complexity and number of years the product must be protected. Therefore, file acquisition fees, patent attorneys and annual maintenance fees add to the overall cost of the product.