Member Article

Top tips on intellectual property

Following my article last week on the value of intellectual property, here are some top tips on what your business should consider when it comes to IP:

1. Be clear what IP your business currently has. To a large extent, this will depend upon the nature of the business but, as a starting point, you should consider patents, trademarks, copyright and design rights. If you’re not sure where to start, then it is worth looking at the Intellectual Property Office website as it contains lots of useful information and summaries. Keeping a record of your IP will impress any potential investors and will add value to the company.

2. Take professional advice at an early stage. Engaging with the right people at the start is vital to ensuring that your IP is properly protected and that you avoid infringement. Taking a short cut here could mean that your IP is not as well protected as you think, and will devalue it. It is also likely to lead to getting caught up in costly and easily avoidable IP battles.

3. Employees and consultants. To avoid any doubt as to the ownership of IP created by an employee or a consultant, ensure that the relevant employment contract/consultancy agreements contain suitable wording on this area. The rules are quite complex so it is important to obtain specialist advice.

4. Confidentiality. Don’t disclose the details of any IP owned by your business to a third party without having them enter into a suitable non-disclosure agreement. If you do, you will not be able to file any future patent and will effectively destroy any value in the relevant IP.

5. Put in place a business-wide internal IP policy. This will raise awareness and will mean that everyone understands the issues. This policy should also deal with social media and set in place clear rules to be followed by all employees. This step maximises the potential for generating wealth for the company from its IP, and also helps to avoid or minimise the risks of it being sued for infringement.

6. Carry out regular IP audits. Following the steps listed above will start your business off on the right footing, but that good work will be undone if you don’t continue to monitor your business’ IP. In addition to dealing with the IP that your business generates/owns, an audit might also help flag up potential infringements of someone else’s IP, which could prove costly.

7. Monitor the activities of your competitors. This will highlight any possible IP infringements by them and enable you to take suitable action to prevent these or to obtain a licence and royalty income. It is possible to arrange for external monitoring or watching services to check on third party IP filings, which may give insight into possible infringements by them and any traps waiting for you.

Gill Grassie is a partner in the IP, technology & outsourcing team at Brodies LLP. For more information, please contact Gill on 0131 656 3710 or at gill.grassie@brodies.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gill Grassie .