What To Do When Someone Starts Infringement Proceedings Against Your Business

If you are a business in England and someone commences intellectual property infringement proceedings against your business, you should obtain advice on your next steps. The most important point is not to simply ignore the legal proceedings. In this article, we will discuss different options you have during IP disputes and advise on the most effective ways to avoid a negative result.

What Amounts to Intellectual Property Infringement?

Intellectual property rights are intangible assets owned by a business that are often registered with the Intellectual Property Office, which grants the owner exclusive rights. IP infringement can vary in type and can include:

• trade mark infringement, for example, using registered trade marks such as logos, slogans or protected colours;
• design right infringement, for example, producing a product that is identical to one already protected by design rights; and
• copyright infringement through using sound recordings, artistic works, original computer programs, published editions, or other copyrighted material without the consent of the copyright owner.

If you own intellectual property, you have a monopoly over it and hold exclusive rights. If another business uses your intellectual property without your consent, this amounts to an infringement of your IP rights.

Why Does IP Infringement Matter?

Intellectual property infringement can be a criminal offence, depending on the severity and type of infringement. Consequently, you should not ignore any formal notice you receive regarding legal action against your business. 

It is the owner’s responsibility to defend their IP rights. Therefore, if you use or sell someone else’s property without their permission, you will need to do the following:

• consider whether you are infringing the owner’s IP rights;
• if you are, stop using the intellectual property;
• consider alternative dispute resolution such as mediation; and
• instruct a legal professional to assist you with the dispute.

Let us explore these in further detail.

1. Consider Whether You Are Infringing the Owner’s IP Rights

Suppose you receive a formal notice that another business is starting legal action against you for intellectual property infringement. Do not just assume they are correct. It is highly advisable to instruct a legal expert regarding your IP dispute. Accordingly, they can advise you on your legal rights and ensure you are not the victim of unjustified threats of court proceedings.

2. Stop Using the Intellectual Property

If you accept that you have infringed another business’ IP rights, you should stop using the intellectual property immediately. Continuing to do so will only harm your case. You should consult an intellectual property lawyer who can then assist you with the next steps in avoiding formal legal action and instead come to an agreement that doesn’t involve going through the civil courts.

It is possible to infringe on another business’ IP rights innocently. This is even more likely if you are a small business. In such situations, you can usually reach an agreement with the owner of the IP and explain the situation. However, we advise that you do this through a legal professional.

3. Consider Alternative Dispute Resolution

Infringement proceedings usually commence through civil action and, therefore, through the civil courts. There is a strong emphasis within civil courts to use mediation proceedings or other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms wherever possible to avoid unnecessary hearings that you can settle outside court.

You can commence mediation and resolve a dispute with another business anytime before the court hearing. Therefore, even if you receive formal notice of infringement proceedings, mediation can still take place. It can be useful to instruct a legal representative to support you during mediation proceedings, as they can work to assist you in coming to the best settlement arrangement.

4. Instruct a Legal Professional to Assist You With the Dispute

Infringement proceedings can require a number of different things that are best actioned with the support and legal advice from a solicitor. These are things like: 

• advising you of the infringement procedure;
• providing you with advice on the strengths of any defences you may have;
• writing formal letters to the business accusing you of infringement;
• representing and supporting you throughout mediation;
• offering formal settlement agreements; and
• representing your case at legal proceedings

Intellectual property is a crucial component of many brands in the public domain today. Therefore, protecting these rights has become very important to all business owners. You should take infringement proceedings very seriously. Accordingly, instructing a legal expert’s services can maximise your chances of success. This can be through defending your position or minimising any damages to your business.

Key Takeaways

With the help of legal advice, it is important to consider whether you have any defence to your position and whether you are guilty of infringement. If you think you have infringed someone’s IP rights, you should first stop using the IP and then look into mediation proceedings and instruct a legal representative to assist you throughout the process.

If you need help or advice around intellectual property infringement proceedings, 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.

Frequently Asked Questions