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Intellectual
Property - An IP Lawyers Guide
IP rights are held over valuable but intangible property,
examples of this are things such as products, industrial
processes, brand names and website design. Intellectual
Property rights such as these can be bought and sold much
like normal property.
Intellectual property can be extremely valuable to a
business but yet is often overlooked and not adequately
protected. IP rights fall into four main catagories:
1. Copyright - copyright is an automatic IP right awarded
over work such as literature, art or music created by an
individual or company. It is denoted by a recognisable
symbol ©. Copyright ensures that the owner controls
when the work is published, sold or reproduced and who is
allowed to use it. Copyright does not cover ideas, theories
or methods, as the work protected has to be a physically
permanent creation.
2. Patents - a patent protects an original idea, invention
or product. In order to receive a patent the object or idea
must not be currently used in the industry, must not be a
scientific theory or method, a form of medical treatment or
animal or plant.

3. Trade Marks - trade marks can be allocated to logo's,
brand names which are used by individual and businesses. A
trade mark identifies the entity as being owned and
therefore it cannot be reproduced without permission from
the owners. In order to receive a trade mark, the entity
must be original, distinctive and should not already be used
by a generic industry. It should not make reference to a
particular product, the quality of a product or the
geographical area of the business. 

4. Registered Designs - a registered design number is given
to a design to identify its registration. It is displayed
using a recognisable symbol ®. The design must be new,
which means it must not have been published before. The
registered number protects the design's distinctive features
such as its colour, shape and texture. The registration is
only effective over a specific geographical area, but does
prevent others from not only using the same, but also
similar designs.
These different forms of intellectual property can be
registered and protected by applying online to the
'Intellectual Property Office', which is a government owned
body. If registered correctly, your intellectual property
could be protected for the following periods:
- Copyright: 50 years
- Patents: 5 to 20 years
- Trade marks: 10 years
- Registered design number: - 15 years
The benefits of having your Intellectual Property protected:
Copyright
- Protected for a long time
- Distinctive © symbol acts as a deterrent to
infringers - Legal action for owner against infringement -
Injunction or compensation can be won - Can be licensed or
sold
Patents
- Legal action against unauthorised replication of an
invention
- Details of patent are publicly advertised, but are
protected until the parent expires
- Injunction or compensation can be won
- Can be licensed or sold
Trade marks
- Distinctive ® symbol acts as a deterrent to
counterfeiters
- Counterfeiters run the risk of criminal prosecution if
caught by Trading Standards
- Can be licensed or sold
Registered Design
- It provides the creators ownership over the appearance of
their design
- Injunction or compensation can be won
- Can be licensed or sold
Many businesses don't appreciate how much their intellectual
property is really worth. If you're looking to protect
intellectual property in your business, make sure you talk
to specialist IP lawyers -- as this area of law is very
complex.
About the Author:
Bonallack & Bishop are specialist IP Lawyers
(http://www.intellectual-property-lawyer.co.uk
). If you
need intellectual property advice contact one of their
patent 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.
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