Business Law

Intellectual Property Solicitors

Where is the value in your balance sheet? Is it in land and buildings, machinery, stock or something else? Intellectual property can be the most valuable asset some businesses have and many do little or nothing to look after it.

Intellectual property rights, usually known as IPR, can protect many different aspects of what makes a business valuable.

  • Patents protect inventions
  • Copyright covers everything from software code to paintings
  • Names and logos, colours and even smells can be Trade Marks
  • Designs for objects and patterns can be covered by Design Right
  • Databases have their own type of IPR which can protect you against copying and unauthorised use.

Some intellectual property (IP) rights can be registered and gain more protection that way but all types of intellectual property rights can be protected if businesses take care and use the right approach.

The first step is to identify what intellectual property rights is in the business and the second is to protect it, either by registration where possible or by using appropriate contracts with staff and external providers to make sure ownership lies where you need it to. Just paying someone to create intellectual property rights for you to use doesn’t necessarily mean you become the owner. Similarly, not everything created by your employees is always yours to keep for nothing. Hosting agreements for websites are another common source of problems with websites being taken down as hosts assert their rights.

The third step is exploitation – making your intellectual property rights work for you. That might be by using it yourself, licensing another business to manufacture for you, using distribution or franchising networks or licensing the intellectual property rights out to another business to operate. The terms of those contracts are vital for your business and should be handled with care and specialist advice. Royalty deals for licensing are notoriously complicated and intellectual property owners must take care to avoid giving too much away for too long.

The intellectual property Solicitors at Forbes Solicitors can assist with all the steps needed to look after your business’s intellectual property rights.

Safeguard what might be the heart of your business by calling Forbes Solicitors on freephone 0800 037 4628 for a free consultation, or contact us by email today.