People often hear the words “Intellectual Property Rights” and think “they are not relevant to my business because I am not working in a high technology environment”.

Well, the reality is that all businesses will generate some kind of intellectual property (IP) during their lifetime. And in these days of financial constraints, let’s face it nobody can afford to ignore any assets they have.

What’s in a name?

One of the first decisions made when setting up a business is what to call the company. Most people do a quick search at Companies House and if their preferred name is not taken they assume it is free to use.

But, it is important to note that registering a company name is not the same as registering a trade mark. It is important to check that your company name does not infringe an identical or similar name which has already been registered as a trade mark.

If you are in the process of developing your corporate identity with a logo, and then building up reputation in that brand, it makes sense to maximise the value in your brand by applying to register it as a trade mark. This means you will start to build up more value in your brand and be able to prevent anyone else from using the same or a similar mark for the same or similar goods and services. You also would have the right to licence other people to use your brand. You would now have registered IP rights in your brand.

Copyright

This covers a huge array of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, films etc., etc. In the new media age the potential for copyright works is expanding on a daily basis.

In order to attract copyright, the threshold for originality doesn’t have to be very high. You will automatically create a copyright work once you have created something and it is recorded “in writing or otherwise”. The owner is normally the person who creates it unless they are an employee.

Copyright exists in such diverse objects as written material, the slogan on a t-shirt, a piece of music, a piece of software, a drawing and so on. The list is almost endless.

Other types of IP

Patents, design rights and confidential information are the other main categories of IP which may be important for your business. For all these rights it is important to know which one is the relevant right, how to protect it and how to make money from it.

In particular, if you think you have invented something which may be patentable it is crucial that you keep it confidential until you have filed a patent application. If you don’t keep the invention confidential, you would lose the novelty in the invention and it would not be patentable.

The key things you need to do

1. Capture what you can, and

2. Avoid using other people’s material without permission.

The above are a couple of golden rules. It is important to make sure you are aware of what IP you own so you can generate maximum revenue from it. Equally important is to make sure you are not using anyone else’s IP without their permission as infringement actions can be costly.

Above all - be creative, protect your reputation and make the most of your Intellectual Property.

Dr Eileen McMorrow is the Principal Solicitor at YorSolicitor and specialises in intellectual property and related commercial issues.
emcm@yorsolicitor.co.uk
www.yorsolicitor.co.uk