5 Most Important IP Assets to Protect in the UK

Your business almost certainly has a creative output that constitutes your intellectual property (IP). Unlike physical property for your business, like machinery or computers, intellectual property is assets that you create with your mind. Whether you or one of your employees has created graphics, designs, website copy or other written works, that is intellectual property. Whatever intellectual property assets your business has, it is vital to understand what protections are available for those assets. This article explains the five key types of intellectual property protection in the UK and how your IP assets can benefit from them.

Copyright

Copyright protects your business’ creative work and the expression of its ideas. This could include written copy in your catalogue or on your website, your product descriptions, as well as images used to market your business.  It can also protect any software or audio/visual content belonging to your business.  

Copyright applies automatically from the date you created the work, so you do not need to engage in any formal registration. The simplest way for a business to show copyright protection is to mark works with the copyright symbol, together with the name of the author and the date  (e.g. © LegalVision 2021).

Designs

Design rights protect the shape and appearance of your products. For example, a jewellery or clothing design that is innovative and unique may constitute a design right, as well as a unique packaging design.

Both registered and unregistered design rights exist. Much like with copyright, you have an automatic unregistered design right for the shape and configuration of any three-dimensional item for 15 years after its creation or 10 years after you first sell the item, whichever comes first. In addition, the appearance of a two or three-dimensional product is protected for three years from when it is first made public.

Trade Marks

A trade mark protects your business’ brand. For example, you might register a trade mark for your company name and company logo or specific logos of products.  Trade marks have to be unique but can be made up with any combination of words, logos, colours and/or sounds.  

It is relatively easy to apply for and register a trade mark.  First, you need a clear idea of the asset you want to register. This may be a slogan or word, but if it is a logo, you need a representation of it. Secondly,  you need to know what trade mark class you want to register in. Trade mark classes will each cover a certain category of goods or services, and your trade mark will only protect you with respect to the categories you select. There are several benefits to registering a trade mark, including increased protection and development of your brand’s reputation.

Patents

Patents protect inventions. To be eligible for a patent, your invention must be unique and new. Additionally, it must be something that you can use.

The rules around patent registration are strict. The process is more expensive than trade mark and design registrations, and it also takes several years to get your patent. If you successfully obtain a patent for your invention, protection lasts for four years. After that, you must renew it every year, and you can only renew it for up to 20 years.  The cost to renew your patent increases each year.  It starts at £70 for the first renewal after five years and rises to £610 by the 20th and final renewal year.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets are any process, recipe, practice or otherwise that is unique to your business, and that you keep secret from anybody else. There is no specific protection under UK intellectual property laws. Instead, you can protect your business’ trade secrets in two different ways. Firstly, you can protect trade secrets under the common law of confidence.

Since 9 June 2018, trade secrets are also protected under the Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018, an EU law incorporated into UK law. This law builds upon the common law of confidence. It defines a trade secret as something secret, with commercial value, with the person who controls that information having taken steps to keep that information secret.  These regulations not only give you the right to stop someone using your trade secrets and the right to require infringing goods to be destroyed, but also the right to claim damages for profits you lose due to sharing of your trade secrets.

To protect your business’ trade secrets, you can include clauses about trade secrets and confidentiality in your employment agreements.  For contractors or other non-employees who may need to know certain trade secrets, you should ask them to sign non-disclosure agreements. These key documents will ensure that the people you work with will not share your secrets and that you will have a legal claim against them if they do.

Key Takeaways

Your IP assets provide value to your business. Therefore, as part of your overall business strategy, you must take steps to protect your IP. The most common types of IP protection are:

• copyright;
• design rights;
• trade marks;
• patents; and
• trade secrets and the legislation surrounding them.

If you need help with ensuring your business’ intellectual property legal rights are protected, our experienced intellectual property lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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