We work with businesses that understand the value of their intellectual expression.
We can help you to identify, protect and register the key intellectual property (IP) rights arising in your business.
Through our audit services, we provide assistance with the significant first step of identifying valuable business IP. We are able to review your business and your current IP portfolio and can provide a gap analysis showing opportunities to improve your position, whether in terms of protection or exploitation of your IP.
We also provide clearance services to identify potentially conflicting third-party rights (which is especially useful prior to the launch or expansion of business services or product lines) and provide watch services to assist with the continued protection of your valued IP against third-party copying.
Our Intellectual Property Team is made up of specialist IP practitioners who are able to advise on, and devise strategies for, the protection of all types of IP, including:
- Branding, such as words, logos, straplines, moving images, sounds and colours;
- The look or appearance of products and packaging;
- Creative works, such as text, photographs, film, music and art;
- Inventions and inventive processes;
- Confidential information and know-how;
- Collections of data.
Some IP rights arise automatically at the time of creation of a protectable work, for example, copyright and design right, and we can advise on appropriate methods for recording and evidencing your ownership of those rights, as well as ensuring that ownership vests in the correct business entity for the purpose of enforcement or commercialisation.
Other rights are best protected by way of registration, for example, trade marks, registered designs and patents. Our team deals with all aspects of registration and maintenance of UK trade marks and registered designs in-house, including filing applications and renewing registrations at the UK Intellectual Property Office. We also deal with international rights before the World Intellectual Property Organization and are able to offer preliminary advice in connection with patent matters. We are able to develop filing strategies for international trade mark and registered design portfolios and, through our network of trusted agents in foreign territories, we are able to provide a truly international service offering.
Our team also includes dedicated IP Administrators who manage clients’ trade mark, design and patent portfolios in-house, including dealing directly with renewals, registry recordals and maintenance requirements, allowing us to offer a comprehensive portfolio management service.
In addition to the above, our team has extensive experience in protecting both registered and unregistered rights through enforcement and infringement proceedings. Whether protecting business goodwill through contentious passing-off proceedings, confidential information through breach of confidentiality claims, or through formal dispute procedures such as for company names and domain names.
