Abstract: Data products (DPs), as the advanced form of the value transformation of data factors, serve as crucial carriers for unlocking such value. However, they are confronted with development challenges like ambiguous ownership and circulation barriers, owing to insufficient institutional framework. DPs have three key features: the immaterial nature, the intellectual labor involved in their production, and unlocking their value through circulation and sharing. These features align with the logic of intellectual property protection, which is justified by the labor theory of property and utilitarian theory. Intellectual property for DPs can effectively resolve the fragmentation of traditional protection paths. This is achieved through interest balancing, innovation incentives, and optimized resource allocation, while also offering institutional advantages such as circulation openness and systematic rules. Therefore, a tailored protection framework should be constructed that requires a dual-subject architecture centered on producers and data sources. It must clarify rights of control and disposition, and establish a registration-based formal review system. Additionally, rules on term limitations and fair use are essential for such a framework to provide normative support for unlocking data value. Ultimately, it achieves a dynamic balance between exclusive protection and value circulation.