How Can a Business in the UK Avoid Intellectual Property Infringement?

If you are a business in the UK, you may be concerned about other companies infringing your intellectual property (IP) rights. You may also worry about infringing your competitors’ rights. You must avoid intellectual property infringements and protect your own. This article will discuss how to deal with intellectual property infringement.

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Intellectual Property Infringement

Intellectual property rights are personal property rights associated with intangible work, often creative or inventive. You can gain intellectual property rights by registration and automatically, depending on the type of work you want to protect.

When a business infringes on your intellectual property rights, they act without your consent as the owner of the IP rights. There is a diverse range of ways someone can infringe your rights, but it is usually through manufacturing, selling or using something without your permission. Some examples include:

• using your trademarked logo;
• selling your patented product; 
• copyright infringement; and 
• design rights infringement

Avoiding Infringement

Unfortunately, businesses often unknowingly infringe on another business’s intellectual property rights. As a business owner, you are responsible for ensuring you do not infringe upon others’ intellectual property rights. You must not copy or share any material without consent from the company owner. 

Searching Databases

One of the key ways to avoid infringing on another person’s intellectual property is to conduct an online search of what you wish to register as your own. 

Before applying to register a trade mark to the Intellectual Property Office, you should always search the trade mark database to ensure no other business has already registered your unregistered trade mark in an identical or highly similar format. If another company has already done so, you cannot register it as your own and will need to come up with another design.

Online database searches are also necessary if you are considering applying for patent protection for an invention. One of the essential requisites of a successful patent application is that the invention has not been in the public domain before. Therefore, if your invention has been registered, you will not be able to make an application. Searching for the application saves time and money on any application that would fail.

Stop Others From Infringing Your IP Rights

Registration of logos, slogans, designs and inventions should be a top priority for your business to provide you with legal rights you can enforce when necessary. Without registration, it is much harder to prove your intellectual property rights which would be problematic if another business asserts ownership. If you register your intellectual property, such as your logo, it will be logged with the Intellectual Property Office. You will immediately have the right to challenge any competitor who uses it without consent, even if done without malice. 

You must ensure others know about your rights to avoid any possible infringement. If, for example, you have trademarked a logo or slogan, you can place the  ® symbol next to it. This will help to alert others and hopefully deter competitors from using it.

You should also be alert to others using your intellectual property without consent, and if you become aware of it, you should contact the business as soon as possible. Legal action is always possible when another company infringes on another’s rights. However, it is usually a last resort due to the time and costs involved.

If you cannot resolve the dispute by agreeing with the other business, you can seek some assistance via mediation or another dispute resolution option. These options should usually be exhausted before resorting to formal legal action, which can result in a fine or, in more extreme cases, imprisonment. You will likely want to ask for compensation in some form if the usage of your property has resulted in a commercial or reputational loss.

Key Takeaways

Businesses like yours need to be aware of their intellectual property rights and how to act if they are infringed. Equally, it is crucial to be mindful of competitors’ rights and how best not to infringe on others’ intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, it is commonplace for infringement to occur due to a lack of care rather than malice; therefore, you can take some steps to prevent this risk. For example, you can register your intellectual property to obtain easily enforceable legal rights in the event of an infringement. If you find yourself in a position where another business has infringed on your rights, it is advisable to seek legal advice. You may need to enter mediation proceedings, dispute resolution options, or even formal legal action.

If you need help with intellectual property infringement, LegalVision’s 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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