Intellectual Property Solicitors.
Intellectual Property Solicitors. Intellectual property is your protection against something you have created/invented and its use; there are four areas of Inte..link
Intellectual property solicitors.
Intellectual property is your protection against something you have created/invented and its use; there are four areas of Intellectual property; copyright, trademarks, design and patents.
Looking at each of these in turn;
Copyright.
Tends to be used in the entertainments industry and is an automatic right, meaning you do not need to apply for it, copyright protects items like Art, Music, Writing, Theatre and software among others, it also protects against the copy of items from one medium to another for example, you cannot make an audio recording of a book.
It's important to understand who actually owns the work, for example if you create the next big thing as an employee, your employer will be the owner, there are exceptions and a legal adviser will be able to help you establish ownership.
If you wish to use a piece of work you must seek out the owner of that work for agreement, there are no central registries unfortunately, but there are organisations that can assist, once again seeking legal advice can be helpful as in some instances you will not need permission.
Trade Marks.
Most often used to distinguish a brand in the market place, this can take the form of a logo, or perhaps some text, or both. A trade mark must be registered through the Intellectual property office, there are a lot of things that cannot be a trade mark, and your solicitor will be able to advise on these, a few examples are you cannot trademark something that is in use in your trade, anything that can cause offence, anything illegal or deceiving.
If you do not register your trademark you can still take action against others that may use it, but it does make sense to register your mark, you will then own it and can use it where you want with the little letter R in a circle (it is illegal to use this sign on an unregistered trademark), it will make it much easier to stop others using it once registered, you can then sell it, and there are many other benefits.
Applying for a trademark will cost, you will have fees to pay the IP office and any legal fees. You can apply online yourself if you like; once you apply you cannot make changes to your trademark.
Design.
Registering a design will protect an appearance in the country you register it, protecting a design or look of your product can be very important if you ever need to take action against others that have duplicated your design.
This is a complex area of law and you would recommend that you seek advice, you can use the search facility on the site, and look for an intellectual property solicitor in your area , call for advice or you can call the IP Office direct on 0300 300 2000
Patents.
Once again this is all about ownership and protection, registering a patent protects the owner/inventor and allows them to make money. A patent will register the bits that make something work, be it a process or a feature, so if you have invented something what you are protecting is how it does what it does and the patent will give you protection against anyone else doing the same thing.
To register a patent your invention must meet a number of guidelines, all are available through your legal advisor or on line through the governments IP office.
As long as you invention meets these guidelines you can apply, either through your solicitor or yourself, a number of forms are available via the IP office web site and details of application fees.
Whatever you have created be it software, a book, the new Mobile phone, it is worth seeking advice on how you can protect your interests.
If you wish you take someone to court because they have used whatever is yours without permission, take legal advice first, if someone is accusing you of using something that is theirs you will need to prove you are not, dispute the patent itself, or come to an agreement with the patent holder.
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