Intellectual Property Law is something which is needed to guarantee that investment capital will flow to new ideas and innovations marketplace. If someone is able to get a patent on an idea or concept then they are able to put money into that idea and bring it to market without having to worry about everyone copying their idea and competing against them, at least right away. Proponents say it is very much necessary and needed.
Others believe that far too many people come up with concepts and never capitalize on them; all they do is get a patent and wait for someone else to pay the money for their idea. While this is true it is not the only complaint about intellectual property law. Many believe that patents and intellectual property laws actually create monopolies and therefore are diametrically opposed to other rules such as antitrust regulations.
It gets even more complicated with international issues, and culture. In Asian countries people freely share ideas and information with friends. In capitalistic societies people have no problem sharing information, but they like to keep intellectual ideas that can produce an income a secret, and keep it under their control. You can see how this could cause trade disputes in the real world.
