ownership, identification and protection

From business processes, software and prototypes to top-selling products and brand names, every organisation has something special that other organisations would like to use. Your technology could be copied, your know-how used or your image imitated and without the right protection in place, there is very little that can be done to manage these risks.

Your strategy may consist of securing or licensing:

• copyright
• registered trade marks
• registered designs
• unregistered design rights
• database rights
• patents
• internet domain name s
• or a combination of some or all of the above

We regularly work with business and product development teams advising on IP policy and legal issues such as confidentiality, research and development agreements, terms and conditions, advertising and other regulatory issues and the strategies for brand protection.

We advise on the practical considerations involved in new product development, including the ownership of rights subsisting in new brands and products, new inventions and written materials. We frequently file applications for trade marks and designs around the world.

We ensure that brands are protected in corporate transactions and that employee rights to intellectual property rights protection is built into employment contracts. We also have experience of protecting the intellectual property rights accrued by service providers in the course of outsourcing arrangements and protecting commercially sensitive information that is open to requests for access using the Freedom of Information Act.