Information Technology & Intellectual Property Law

In the highly specialised area of intellectual property, we have gained an international reputation for our work with individual artists, authors, inventors, designers and a large number of companies in a wide variety of industries.

Our team are specialists in this field advising the Design Business Association and their members in this important area of business.

We assist in safeguarding rights relating to product development, confidential information, databases, goodwill, trademarks and much more.

So whether it involves the protection, licensing or exploitation of intellectual property, you can be confident that we can always advise you on the latest legislation and its implications. As a result, you can be sure the future of your business is secure where these valuable assets are concerned.

For further information about Intellectual Property then contact our commercial team:

Dorchester - 01305 230 707 or email at dorchester@hklaw.eu

Poole - 01202 802 332 or email at poole@hklaw.eu

Intellectual Property - The basics.

Intellectual property rights are often misunderstood and can very easily be overlooked. If you fail to protect your intellectual property it may put your business at risk. So what is intellectual property and where does it exist within your business?

There are a number of different intellectual property rights which can be summarised as follows:-

Copyright
Copyright protects sound recordings, films, broadcasts and original artistic musical, dramatic and literary works. Copyright is an automatic right which arises as soon as the work is written down, recorded or stored in a computer memory. It is advisable to use the copyright symbol © followed by your name and the date to indicate when it was created and by whom. Copyright can last for up to the life of the author plus 70 years.

Trade marks
A trade mark is a sign which can distinguish your goods and services from those of your competitors. It can be, for example, words or pictures or a combination of both. A trade mark can be used as a marketing tool so that customers recognise your products or services.

Registering your trade mark gives you the exclusive right to use your mark for your goods and services in the countries in which it is registered. Unregistered trade marks can still be protected through the law of “passing off” but it is a complicated action and therefore registration wherever possible is always advised. A registered UK trade mark subsists for 10 years but can be renewed every 10 years.

Patents
A patent protects new inventions and covers how they work, what they are made of and how they are made. It gives the inventor the right to prevent others from making, using, importing or selling the invention without permission. In order for an invention to be patented it must comply with a number of technical requirements. Registration lasts up to 20 years.

Registered Designs
A registered design is a legal right which protects the overall visual appearance of a product in the area in which you register it. The visual features which form the design include lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and materials applied to a product to give it its unique appearance. A registered design will allow you to stop others from creating designs which are too similar to yours within the same geographical area. Registration can subsist for 25 years provided it is renewed every 5 years.

Design Right
Design right is an automatic right which protects the design of an object. Your design can only be protected by a design right if it is original and not commonplace. The protection lasts for up to 15 years.

If you would like helping determining the intellectual property in your business or indeed help in protecting your existing intellectual property then speak to our team.

Poole – 01202 725400

Dorchester – 01305 251 007