Protecting your Intellectual Property

Certain ideas, creations, symbols (including your brand), research and processes are regarded as intangible "intellectual property" that are or can be protected in law.

A company’s intellectual property is or can be protected through a legal system of copyright, patents, design rights and trademarks. If established, those who infringe such rights could be subject to a claim for damages.

However, intellectual property rights are often difficult to understand and distinguish from one another. It can also be difficult to work out if copyrights, patents, trademarks and design rights apply.

How can we help you?

We will help your business to maximise the value of its intellectual property and put in place the appropriate protection.

We can advise you on:

• how to identify the intellectual property rights which exist in your products/business;
• how best to protect those rights - and their value;
• what to do if a third party threatens to sue you for infringement of their intellectual property rights; and
• how to obtain effective remedies in the event of your intellectual property rights being breached.

We will work with you so that your business maximises the value of its intellectual property and puts in place the appropriate protections.

Intellectual Property Issues in a Business Acquisition

If you are involved in a share acquisition, we can advise you generally on how to deal with the intellectual property in the business and guide you on the appropriate method to transfer it.

On a share acquisition, we carry out appropriate due diligence to focus on the ownership of any intellectual property rights in the target business which are of material commercial value. Different kinds of intellectual property rights have different transfer requirements.

Disputes relating to trademarks, copyright, design rights and patents

If you have a dispute about your intellectual property, contact Chris Burke in our dispute resolution team.

Contact

For further information, please contact Keith Kennedy on 0161 684 6942 or make an enquiry.