+44 (0)20 7628 7576
Our Commercial Team advises its clients on the use and protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) , including:
Copyright: is an unregistered right to protect authors, publishers or developers of original work including literary works, film, music and software. We advise on all aspects of protection and exploitation of copyright material through contract and licensing.
Trade Marks: can be registered or unregistered and are the names, logos, colours, taglines etc that are associated with particular goods or services in a specified area of business. We understand the value that is associated with keeping a trademark untainted by confusion in your choice of market and equally how to ensure a chosen trademark can be registered effectively when there are similar registered or unregistered marks in existence.
Design Rights: these can be either registered or unregistered although these rights are different from trademarks in that certain aspects of design will need to be registered. The original form, style, presentation or substance will determine the route to protection. Exploitation can be effected through contract or licensing, in similar fashion to other IPR.
Know How and Trade Secrets: these rights are not registrable but may be the most important ‘ingredient’ in a company’s success e.g. Coke’s secret recipe. How it can best be protected will depend on the circumstances and how it is used. Even though it is confidential, it may have to be disclosed to third parties and we can advise you on the contractual measures needed to maximise the required security and at the same time exploit the products or services that you provide.
Domain Names: whilst not recognised by the purists as an intellectual property right, it is protected by registration and can be exploited in many similar ways. Domain names can also be registered as a trademark thus ensuring you are in a position to enforce and exploit the value in the goodwill associated with such domain name.
For further information please contact Jonathan Ebsworth,
Gareth Hall or Andrew Crawford.
For litigation aspects please contact Philip Barden.
