Ip Solicitors And The Enforcement Of Your Intellectual Property Rights

IP Solicitors and The Enforcement of Your Intellectual Property Rights

by

Tim Bishop

When you have spent a lot of time and money creating something which is original and new an IP lawyer can help you protect this from others. Looking after your intellectual property (or IP) rights will give you the option of legal recourse against any 3rd party using your creation without your permission.

‘But, what happens if I don’t want to use my invention?’ you might well ask. It’s still a good idea to get legal advice from specialist IP Solicitors and get it registered. You can then sell it to someone else and buy a license from them. This protects you should you want to use it in the future. Or, you could keep control of your IP and just license other people to use it.

So, what is IP crime? Whenever someone attempts to use or manufacture your product you can sue them according to UK Intellectual Property regulations. Usually IP crime is regarded either as counterfeit or piracy. Counterfeit relates to the trademark, and it happens when a registered brand is copied, such as in clothing, perfumes, automotive parts or pharmaceuticals and others.

Piracy happens when media such as DVDs or CDs are copied without permission and therefore there has been a copyright infringement. Piracy and counterfeits can happen simultaneously.

IP infringements such as counterfeiting and piracy are an important issue in the UK and affect not only businesses but the whole community as consumers. This is in part because counterfeit products can be dangerous or put the public at risk. The Rogers Review in 2007 published that Intellectual Property crime is worth £1.3 billion each year in the UK alone and the OECD reckons the illegal products seized beyond our borders are worth around $200 billion each year.

If your IP is infringed you can take legal action and claim damages. If this happens to you then it is very important that you choose the best IP lawyer before you begin any legal action. An insurance policy can help with legal costs, but you could always try to find a solution with the other party before you embark into expensive procedures.

Think about confidentiality, eforcement of rights and insurance before you approach an IP solicitor. IP fraud is a serious issue so talk to your solicitors for the right intellectual property advice about how to protect your IP rights.

Tim Bishop is senior partner at Bonallack & Bishop, a firm of

IP Solicitors

specialising in

intellectual property advice

. He is responsible for all major strategic decisions, seeing himself as a businessman who owns a law firm. Tim has expanded the firm by 1000% in 12 years and has plans for its continued development.

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com