World Intellectual Property Day 2022 falls on the 26th April. This day exists to raise awareness about protecting all of the various types of intellectual property. In this article, we look at five of the key things all business owners should look at.
1. Take stock of all of your intellectual property
In order to effectively manage your intellectual property, you will need to look at what you already have in place. You should establish procedures for reviewing your IP including trademarks, patents, copyrights and designs. You will also want to think about property related to IP, such as domain names.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has a free IP health check tool which allows you to determine what IP you own and what still needs to be protected. It covers a range of elements from trademark to copyright and franchising.
2. Check that what you plan to protect is original
When understanding how to trademark a company name or register a business or patent, you must check that it is original before to taking steps to protect it. You can use patent searches or trademark searches early on in the process to determine whether someone else has protected your idea or design. This can be a complex process, with varied outcomes if similar names, logos or patents exist. As such, you may wish to instruct a professional to assist you.
3. Register your property
Registering intellectual property can take some time, so you will want to begin as early as possible. To register a trademark, the process will take around six months. To register a patent in the UK, it will take two to four years, but it may be possible to have a patent fast-tracked. A specialist IP solicitor will be able to advise you whether your application might qualify.
4. Check and update your contracts
One of the biggest dangers for intellectual property is actually your own employees, suppliers, designers, and other staff members. It is vital that your employment contracts and contracts for consultancy clearly state that your business is the owner of any intellectual property that arises from work carried out. Similarly, your workers should keep evidence of the development of intellectual property, such as dated drawings and signed copies. This can be vital, should an IP dispute arise.
5. Check for infringements regularly
While properly registering your intellectual property goes a long way to prevent infringement, it is still very common. You should establish processes in your business to check for infringement regularly. This may include simple steps such as using search engines to look for anyone passing off your IP as their own. If you find infringements, you should seek the advice of a specialist intellectual property lawyer.
Contact an Intellectual Property Specialist
Here, we have simply highlighted five key considerations when it comes to intellectual property. Whether you are on a first-time journey into IP or you have worked on multiple projects, each route to protecting your IP can have its own challenges and hurdles along the way. It is advised that you seek expert guidance and have an IP solicitor you can trust to ensure that all legalities along the way are adhered to.
You can fill in our contact form and give some information about what support you would like with intellectual property, or you can call us on 0161 969 3131 to find out more.