New Year, New Beginnings

Fireworks at Midnight on New Year's Day

Author Clarence Ji Licence CC BY 2.0  Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

The New Year is an opportunity for the formation of new businesses, the launch of new products and services, the opening of new business premises and all sorts of other new business initiatives.   There will be a business plan for most of those initiatives but many of those business plans will lack an important component.

That missing component will be intellectual property and the reason why it is important is that it protects your investment in branding, design, technology and creativity.  Without such protection, it will be so much easier for competitors who have not spent time and money on research, development or marketing to filch your business.

The way to prevent that from happening is to identify the advantages that attract customers to your business. It may be your reputation in the marketplace, the look of your products or the way they work or are made.  You may need an IP audit to identify those advantages (see How to use an IP Audit 19 Jan 2022 NIPC News).  Once you have identified what attracts customers to your business you must choose the optimum protection.   That is not necessarily the most expensive.  A patent will give you extensive protection for up to 20 years but if the invention is likely to become obsolete in a year or two you may prefer to rely on trade secrecy or unregistered design right.

Whatever intellectual property right you choose to protect your asset you must be prepared to pursue infringers and defend challenges to your rights. Infringement, invalidity and revocation proceedings take place in the High Court.   Unless the claim is for £10,000 or less and does not involve patents, registered designs, semiconductor topographies or plant varieties it must be brought in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court where recoverable costs are limited to £80,000 or the Patents Court or Intellectual Property list where such costs are unlimited.   The only way that most small businesses can afford such costs is by taking our specialist IP insurance (see the IPO's Guidance on IP Insurance on the government website).

Unless you are confident that you can raise several hundred thousand pounds at short notice, IP insurance is not a nice-to-have extra but as much a necessity as your staff, plant and premises.   Just as you make provision for recruitment, rent and equipment leases or acquisition in your business plan you must do the same for your IP rights and their legal protection and enforcement.   In an extreme case, failure to do so could threaten the existence of your company.

If you are about to undertake a new venture in the New Year I wish you every success.  If you have questions or concerns feel free to contact me at 020 7404 5252 during normal business hours.  Alternatively, you can send me a message through my contact form at any time. 

"How much does IP Protection cost? and "Is it worth it?" Get some Answers at M-SParc on 20 Sept

Excalibur

Author Arthur Pyle
Source Wikipedia Excalibur

Jane Lambert

It usually costs a lot of time and money to develop and market a new product or service and the last thing you want is for an interloper to nab your customers by trading in a way that leads them to believe that he is you or by supplying a product that looks a lot like yours. Intellectual property is the magic sword that can stop them from doing so.

However, just like the Excalibur of Arthurian legend, not everybody can wield it.  You usually have to put some steps in place such as registering a trade mark, patent or registered design or taking out intellectual property insurance so that you can go to court to enforce or protect your intellectual property right (see It is never enough to get a patent, trade mark or registered design 5 Aug 2019 NIPC Inventors' Club).  Patent, trade mark and design registration cost money as do insurance premiums.  Of course, not having adequate IP protection in place or being able to defend it can cost you very much more.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners have a lot of demands on their cash which is why it is essential to plan for such expenditure.  That is what a business plan is for.   It is "Why every business plan should take account of intellectual property" (see my article of 3 April 2016 NIPC News).

But in order to include intellectual property in your business plan, you will need some figures and other information.  Costs will vary widely from business to business and, for that reason, the Enterprise Hub at M-SParc has assembled the best possible lineup of expertise that is available in Wales.  They will be setting out their services and answering your questions in "Your ideas, your work, your rights. What do you really own?" at the Menai Science Park near Gaerwen on Anglesey between 12:00 and 14:00 on 20 Sept 2019.

I shall be chairing the meeting and I shall explain briefly what is meant by intellectual property and how it works.  I shall remind the audience of some simple steps that they can take to identify the right kind of legal protection for their businesses and where and how it can be protected.

I shall be followed immediately afterwards by Sean Thomas.  Originally from Anglesey, Sean practises as a patent attorney in Leeds for Thomas Harrison IP.  He will explain the advantages of patenting a new invention, what can happen if you don't patent it, where you can patent it and how much it could cost to get a British, European and international patent application.

Sean will be followed by Jonty Gordon of Amgen Law, an IP specialist practising in Bangor who will discuss trade mark and design registration. He will explain the advantages of registration of each of those two intellectual property rights, where they can be registered and how much it will cost in each case.

Andrea Knox, a commercial solicitor practising in Colwyn Bay who specializes in insolvency, will mention the need to consider IP in due diligence, employment, distribution and other commercial transactions.

Ian Wishart, a patent attorney who now works with his son, Paul, in Sybaris  Legal and IP a specialist IP insurance broker, will review the various types of cover that are available, the costs, and alternatives such as after-the-event insurance and other forms of litigation insurance.

Finally, Steve Livingston, a chartered accountant specializing in IP taxation who practises from the Menai Science Park will advise how to obtain the optimum tax treatment for your investment in obtaining, maintaining and enforcing your rights.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article, the seminar or any related matter should call me on 020 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact form.