Intellectual property law for small and mid-size businesses in UK.

Businesses can adopt sensible steps to safeguard fixed assets, prefer their stock and equipment. But imperceptible assets can be harder to secure.

Intellectual property (IP) refers to an intangible asset. Your IP isn’t physical in essence, but patents, trademarks and copyrights are meant to bring in indispensable value to your business.

What does IP mean?

Your IP is somewhat distinctive that you create. Ideas are not considered as IP under UK law, but things that emerge from an idea do. This could be a big invention, the name of your product, your brand, your services, or even the appearance of your products.

But in the case when businesses bring in something to the world, there’s a possibility the work might get copied. This risk is augmented by the internet, which makes it calmer for unique IP to be stolen.

Small businesses especially need to ensure that they’re securing their IP, as competitors can feasibly copy ideas. If your business is based around your IP and someone steals it, you carry the risk of wasting market share – but there are rights and protections that make it easier to go ahead with legal action.

According to reputed law firms in London, “Even if your business doesn’t count on around your great idea, it’s necessary to be aware of intellectual property law to make sure you’re not inadvertently stealing somebody else’s IP.”

How to safeguard IP?

How to protect IP

You obtain some intellectual property rights automatically but, the basis on the kind of IP, you might need to authorize. It’s a great idea to take a comprehensive look at your business to find out what IP you have that needs defending. This is known as an IP audit and it should help you worth your IP assets just as you would your physical possessions.

There are law firms in London that can help you with protecting your unique work and products.

There are different types of IP one can register. You should ensure that they meet the standards for registration before moving ahead:

Trademarks: You can safeguard words, images, slogans, and others under trademarks. This can help you guard a unique brand. Your trademark must be exclusive and can’t be deceptive or non-distinctive. It also can’t define the goods or services it relates to – so striving to trademark ‘lawnmower’ for a new lawnmower won’t cut it. A general online trademark application comes at a cost of  £170.

Registered designs: you can roll the appearance of a product you’ve made, as long as if it’s a novice and unique. You can shield its look, physical form, decoration and the formation, which is how different parts of the design are settled together. Registering a design makes it feasible to handle any violation legally.

Patents: This move ahead than safeguarding your design – they can shield a new invention, such as a tool or the machine, and how it performs. You can only obtain a patent if your invention is a kind that can be made (or used), it’s new, and not just a modification to something that already in place. Patents are costly, with varied fees involved at various stages of the process.