According to the definition of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), intellectual property (IP) is a protection by law, given as patents, copyright and trademarks. These enable the inventors to earn recognition and/or financial benefit. The IP system tries to foster an environment in which innovation can flourish whilst protection of inventions are given, but also the interest of the public is considered. Clara Nascimento Silva, PhD, and Mario Schäfer, both Vice Presidents for Business Development at Trifermed, think that, in researchintensive industries like animal health, patents are by far the most important type of IP.