UK Intellectual Property Rights - A Lawyer's Guide

Intellectual property is a generic term for intangible rights owned by a company or individual. This IP can be assigned, sold and licensed like ordinary property.

Intellectual property is enormously valuable to a business but often remains disregarded and unprotected. If you identify some of your businesses assets in this article and have so far not taken any steps to protect them you should contract an intellectual property lawyer as soon as possible.

There are four main types of UK intellectual property:

1. Copyright - copyright is an automatic privilege granted over someone's personal work, for example literature, art or music. If the work is copyrighted, then the owner can control when it is published, sold or reproduced and who is allowed to do so. Copyright does not apply to ideas, theories or methods; the work protected must be in a physical and permanent form.

2. Patents - a patent is used to protect an invention, product or an original idea. In order to qualify for patenting, the invention or idea must not be currently in use, must not be a scientific theory or method, a method of medical treatment or animal or plant.


3. Trade Marks - trade marks are usually given to individual logos, brand names or distinctive designs. A trade mark identifies something as being legally owned and therefore cannot be reproduced without permission from the owners. A trade marked object should not be currently generically used, make reference to a particular product, make reference to the quality of a product or make reference to a geographical area. 


4. Registered Designs - a registered design number is given when an individual or company want to protect an original design. The design must not have been previously published. The registered number gives protection for the design's individualistic features such as colour, shape and texture. The registration must be made in reference to a specific geographical area. Once registered it prevents others from using not only the same, but also similar designs.

Intellectual property can be registered online on the 'Intellectual Property Office' website - the IPO is owned by the government.

The benefits of having your UK Intellectual Property Rights protected:

- Copyright: it gives the owner of the original material the legal right to take action against someone who is utilising their copyrighted material without permission. The presence of the © symbol acts as a disincentive for infringers. An injunction and/or damages can be awarded for copyright infringement. A copyright can prove profitable in licensing it out or by sale. A copyright can be awarded for up to 50 years.

- Patents: this gives the owner the right to stop others replicating their patented invention. An injunction and/or damages can be awarded for a patent infringement. A patent can be licensed out for a fee or sold. A patent is normally awarded for 5-20 years.

- Trade marks: using the trade mark symbol acts as a deterrent to others before using a trade marked object. It also gives the owner a legal right to take action against someone who uses the object without permission. Those who counterfeit trade marks run the risk of criminal prosecution by Trading Standards and/or the Police. A trade mark can be licensed out for a fee or sold. A trade mark can be awarded for up to 10 years.

- Registered Design: this personal registration number provides the owner with exclusive rights over the appearance of their design. Damages or an injunction can be obtained against plagiarism of a design. A registered design can be licensed out for a fee or sold. A design can be registered for up to 15 years.



------

Bonallack & Bishop are a firm of Intellectual Property Lawyers. If you need legal advice on your UK Intellectual Property Rights , contact one of their specialist solicitors today. Tim Bishop is senior partner at the firm, responsible for all major strategic decisions. He has grown the firm by 1000% in 13 years and sees himself as a businessman who owns a law firm.