Intellectual property law deals encompasses many areas of business but the three most common affected are trademarks, copyrights and patents.

 

 

A trademark refers to a symbol, name or design which distinguishes your product or service from your competition.

 

Registering a trademark is just the first part of the process, once it’s in place you’ll need to ensure that it’s not being infringed by anyone. This can be a difficult thing to monitor because of the expansion of the global marketplace. For example if you were a clothing manufacturer it would be difficult to know if your trademarked name was being counterfeited by someone in a small factory on the other side of the world who was selling the items locally.

 

Trademark law has changed in recent years with the explosion of the internet and made this already complicated area of law even more problematic when considering things like domain names.

 

 

The origins of copyright law can be traced as far back as 1709 in the UK.

 

Copyright law is used to protect many areas of original work including writing, drama, music, and film. Copyright in the UK is an automatic right and comes into force if the work is original and demonstrates a degree of skill, labour or judgement in producing it.

 

The copyright for a piece of work usually lies with the person who created it but for example if you’re an agency employing freelancers to work on your behalf then you should have it written into any contracts that the copyright for the work remains with you, ensuring you have a signed agreement in place.

 

 

A patent protects inventions and the processes that make them work, the function they perform, how they perform it and how they are made.

 

There are a number of guidelines and criteria set out for being granted a patent and this in itself can be a long drawn out process. Using a specialist patent lawyer will help to speed up the process and give you a better chance of being successful in your patent application.

 

Once your patent is in place then you’ll need the help of a professional law firm if someone tries to use it for their own device or invention. Enforcing your patent as soon as possible after you’re made aware of any infringement is critical in order to stop others from trying to cash in on all your hard work.

 

As a leading Manchester commercial law firm we have highly skilled and qualified solicitors who focus on all aspects of intellectual property law and it’s always advisable to meet with a law firm face to face before choosing one to work with.