Soft intellectual property

Soft intellectual property ("soft IP") is sometimes used to refer to trademarks, copyright, design rights and passing off, in contrast to "hard intellectual property", which is sometimes used to refer to patents.[http://www.lawcareers.net/Solicitors/Specialisations/ipit.aspx Specialisations: IP] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916171049/http://www.lawcareers.net/Solicitors/Specialisations/ipit.aspx |date=2008-09-16 }}, Law Careers.net. Consulted on March 14, 2009.ip4inno web site, [http://www.ip4inno.eu/index.php?id=203 Topic Browser]. Consulted on March 14, 2009. Use of this phrase is controversial among IP practitioners.Eric Goldman, [http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2013/01/a_phrase_to_ret.htm Let's Stop Using the Term “Soft IP,”] Technology & Marketing Law Blog, Jan. 8, 2013Amanda Levendowski, [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4374762 Hard Truths About Soft IP], Colum. L. Rev. Forum (2023 Forthcoming)

In the semiconductor industry the term has a different meaning described at Types of IP cores.