Intellectual property law FAQ

You should immediately seek legal advice as to your position. The Civil Procedure Rules contain a number of rules and deadlines which parties to a dispute are expected to comply with and so it is important to seek advice as soon as possible. An expert IP solicitor will be able to advise you as to the appropriate response.

Almost all original literary and artistic works generated by an individual or a company can be protected under IP law, whether by trade mark, copyright or patent. Other media, such as films, broadcasts, and music can also be protected.

You should seek to protect your rights in intellectual property as soon as possible. Any delay in registration may result in a third party registering a similar design and thus impede upon your own registration.

It is important to seek legal advice prior to registering a trade mark to ensure that the application complies with the relevant legislation and does not fall foul of the grounds for refusal under the Trade Marks Act 1994. By receiving legal advice before making an application you will likely improve your prospects of success and reduce the risk of wasting time and costs.

Trade mark portfolio management is the pro-active protection and maintenance of trade marks. It gives assurance as to what trade marks the business owns makes sure that policies are in place to protect them. A review may reveal that valuable marks may never have been registered, or that they are registered in the name of a company that has been dissolved or transferred outside of the group.

If you think that someone is infringing upon your intellectual property rights you should immediately seek legal advice. Infringement could potentially have significant commercial impact upon your business, and you must ensure that you comply with any applicable deadlines for enforcing your rights that are set out in the relevant legislation.

The circumstances in which information is disclosed, or the relationship between parties (e.g., employer and employee), may give rise to a duty of confidentiality without any express written agreement in place, but there are few hard and fast rules and the best way to ensure a duty of confidentiality is generally through a stand-alone confidentiality agreement or a specific clause within a contract.

A UK trade mark will only protect your intellectual property in the UK. In order to protect your mark in other countries, you should consider registering it as a mark in the countries required or by seeking registration across multiple countries by way of EU trade mark legislation or by the ‘Madrid Protocol’.