At present, intellectual property plays a central role in the formation of economic relations on par with classical asset ownership, and IP legislation is becoming the basis for market growth and development. 

The results of intellectual activity are promoted to the position of a key resource, comparable in importance to material assets. The volume of protected copyright and exclusive rights in global spaces is growing: modern technologies, innovative developments in industry, scientific works, software, as well as objects of related types of intellectual property, make up a significant share of digital capital. 

According to Article 1225 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Protected Results of Intellectual Activity and Means of Individualization), the results of intellectual activity and equivalent means of individualization of legal entities, goods, works, services and enterprises that are granted legal protection (intellectual property) include: 

1) Works of science, literature and art; 

2) Computer programs; 

3) Databases; 

4) Phonograms; 

5) Broadcasting radio or television programs on air or by cable; 

6) Inventions; 

7) Utility models; 

8) Industrial designs; 

9) Breeding achievements; 

10) Topologies of integrated circuits; 

11) Production secrets (know-how); 

12) Trade names; 

13) Trademarks and service marks; 

14) Geographical indications; 

15) Names of places of origin of goods; 

16) Commercial designations. 

These protected results of intellectual activity and means of individualization belong to the copyright holder, who may dispose of them at their own discretion. In this case, the authors-developers acquire both copyright and exclusive rights. 

The actual completion of a creative work automatically grants the author a full range of both personal and exclusive rights without the need to apply to government agencies or undergo formal registration. Unlike property (exclusive) rights, the right of authorship, the right to a name and other personal non-property rights of the author are inalienable and non-transferable. 

The difference between copyright and exclusive rights lies in the mechanisms of their origin, use and transfer of powers, as well as in approaches to protection against violations of intellectual property, terms of protection and geography of action. Personal copyrights are inalienably tied only to the creator of the work; exclusive rights can be transferred to third parties through various legal mechanisms; copyright protects the author throughout his life and 70 years after his death, while patents are valid for 10 to 25 years depending on the object of patenting and only in the territory of the country where the patent was obtained. 

First of all, in protected objects: patents concern exclusively technical inventions and innovations in the case of an invention or utility model and appearance (design) – in the case of an industrial design, while copyright protects a variety of creative achievements – from initially sketched ideas on paper to choreographic works. Even such modern formats as articles on the internet, blog posts, cards of goods on the marketplaces, comics receive automatic protection at the moment of their creation. 

To establish the fact of creation of a work before a certain date, an original method is recommended: self-mailing a sealed envelope with the work signed by the author enclosed to yourself. Confirmation of this action is carried out by means of postmarks. In particular, this can be sending an email to your own mailbox, in which case the confirmation will be the date of sending the email. But it is worth noting that these methods are not as reliable as depositing. 

This is a legal process that involves obtaining an official certificate that not only records the fact of the existence of a work on a specific date, but also unconditional confirmation of authorship. This approach ensures long-term protection of intellectual property even in the event of possible litigation. 

Here are some tools and platforms that allow you to deposit copyrights in Russia: 

• Filing an application with the Russian Copyright Society (Copyrus); 

• Using WIPO PROOF, IPChain, NRIS, RCIS, etc. Depositing via these platforms allows you to confirm the existence of a protected object at a certain point in time, which is important for recognizing rights to the result of intellectual activity. 

• NFT is a digital cryptographic seal that allows identifying digital paintings, characters and game items, musical works, photographs, etc. The uniqueness of tokens allows recording a digital object in a certain objective form (similar to the original paintings). 

The following tools and platforms help to identify violations of intellectual property rights and provide an evidence base for their protection: 

• WIPO ALERT, Antipiracy, ICOP. Such systems allow generating reports on the facts of illegal use and the results of protecting exclusive rights. To do this, it is necessary to deposit a file in a blockchain registry (digital standard), with which all files found on the internet will be compared. 

To minimize litigation, it is necessary to determine the optimal instrument for protecting intellectual property, be it copyright, patents or trademark protection. And even for a regular image, it is possible to arrange a deposit, obtain a patent document or register a trademark as effective precautions.