<P> Trade dress is a legal term of art that generally refers to characteristics of the visual and aesthetic appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the source of the product to consumers . </P> <P> A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors and customers . There is no formal government protection granted; each business must take measures to guard its own trade secrets (e.g., Formula of its soft drinks is a trade secret for Coca - Cola .) </P> <P> The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods for consumers . To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time . Because they can then profit from them, this gives economic incentive for their creation . The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with traditional property like land or goods . Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is indivisible--an unlimited number of people can "consume" an intellectual good without it being depleted . Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation--while a landowner can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, a producer of information or an intellectual good can usually do very little to stop their first buyer from replicating it and selling it at a lower price . Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of information and intellectual goods but not so strong that they prevent their wide use is the primary focus of modern intellectual property law . </P> <P> By exchanging limited exclusive rights for disclosure of inventions and creative works, society and the patentee / copyright owner mutually benefit, and an incentive is created for inventors and authors to create and disclose their work . Some commentators have noted that the objective of intellectual property legislators and those who support its implementation appears to be "absolute protection". "If some intellectual property is desirable because it encourages innovation, they reason, more is better . The thinking is that creators will not have sufficient incentive to invent unless they are legally entitled to capture the full social value of their inventions". This absolute protection or full value view treats intellectual property as another type of "real" property, typically adopting its law and rhetoric . Other recent developments in intellectual property law, such as the America Invents Act, stress international harmonization . Recently there has also been much debate over the desirability of using intellectual property rights to protect cultural heritage, including intangible ones, as well as over risks of commodification derived from this possibility . The issue still remains open in legal scholarship . </P>

Write a short note on ipr ( intellectual property rights)