Intellectual property

The term “intellectual property” itself covers a wide variety of rights including:

• Copyright;
• Trademarks;
• Design rights;
• Patents;
• Confidential information; and
• Know-how

Each of these rights protects something slightly different, each right with their own unique criteria.

A business which has a clear understanding of its IP position is more able to attract buyers and investors. It can readily answer the inevitable questions concerning what IP rights it owns and other related matters. Recognising what IP you have and how it is used in your business is the starting point to decide how to protect, commercialise and enforce it.

We can help you identify, understand and discover your IP, whether in relation to your business as a whole or in relation to a particular key product or service your business uses or provides. Ensuring you are thinking about your IP in the right way and getting in to good habits from the outset will pay dividends in the long run.

A key item to think about at an early stage is how are you engaging with key persons involved in the creation and supply of your products and services. A common misconception is that where independent third party contractors and consultants are being used and you pay for their services that you own any IP in the output of their work. This is not the case and the general default position at law is that, in the absence of an applicable express assignment of rights, the contractor/consultant will own the IP rights. Should you have any questions on your key relationships, we can help you review those relationship and if required put in place suitable contractual arrangements to ensure you have the relevant rights to the IP you require.

How you structure your business is also a key consideration when it comes to IP. Getting the structure right will help ensure the key IP you own is suitably protected and isolated from legal risk. A common simple structure adopted is to have your key IP owned by a holding company which sits at the top of the corporate structure, isolated from the day-to-day trading activities and associated risks, which is carried out by a subsidiary / trading company which sits beneath the holding company. Whether such a structure is adopted should be subject to detailed legal advice and tax advice relevant to your particular circumstances.