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As a business in the UK, you may be considering how to expand and protect your intellectual property internationally. This can be important if you intend to branch out into different geographical areas. It is also important when considering the financial value your intellectual property can obtain. In this article, we will discuss the different types of ways you can apply to protect your intellectual property.
Why Protect Intellectual Property Internationally?
Your intangible intellectual property has unique financial value, often greater than your business’s physical goods. Therefore, they are extremely valuable assets, and as your business grows, their value also increases.
Intellectual property refers to a multitude of different things, including:
- trade marks;
- design rights;
- patents; and
- copyright.
Intellectual property gives you exclusive rights over certain things, which can be vital to your overall business strategy. With this in mind, it is also essential to consider an IP strategy, especially if your IP is strongly linked to your brand identity. Therefore, your IP assets need to be protected to guarantee your exclusive rights over their usage and to protect them as valuable assets of your business.
Domestic Registration
In England, you register your intellectual property mainly with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). This applies to:
- trade marks;
- patents; and
- design rights.
However, copyright is an automatic right and does not require registration in this way. This applies to creative work, which will receive automatic IP protection upon creation, and international protection for copyright is also automatic. Therefore, you do not have to submit any form of application to protect the IP rights of your creative work.
You can have unregistered design rights and unregistered trade marks. However, to achieve the best protection, you should register them formally, receiving exclusive rights over their usage.
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International Applications
Domestic registration plays an essential part in international intellectual property protection. This is because it is often necessary as the first step in applying for international registration. You can apply to register your trade mark in multiple countries at once using the Madrid Protocol. This international application must be based on your original domestic application in the UK. You can file both applications simultaneously, but they must be identical. Trade mark protection is essential, particularly if you have a logo or symbol that you intend to use internationally to expand your brand or if you use your logo on your products.
You can also protect design rights internationally. To do so, you must make an additional application to the relevant countries, as registration with the IPO only protects your design in England. You can use several different systems to register your design internationally, including:
- applying for a Registered Community Design which covers the European Union countries;
- using the Hague System to apply for a select number of countries with one application; or
- applying to each separate country you wish to register within using multiple applications.
Design rights are fundamental to protect internationally as your product designs are integral to your overall reputation. Therefore, it is advisable to take every step to protect your new products to prevent copycats who could negatively impact on your financial gain.
It is advisable to seek legal assistance when completing any international application. Intellectual property law differs in each jurisdiction, so you must know the differences in each application process.
Key Takeaways
If you want to protect your intellectual property internationally, you will likely need to make additional applications to other jurisdictions to ensure your legal rights are protected. Intellectual property law differs in each country; therefore, you can choose to make individual applications to each territory or specific applications that cover several different countries simultaneously.
If you are applying to register your trade mark internationally, you can use the Madrid Protocol, and if you are seeking to protect your design rights, you can use the Registered Community Design mechanism for the European Union or the Hague System or apply separately to each country. The choice of application is complex, and it is advisable to seek professional assistance to ensure you make the correct decision for your business.
If you need help or advice about protecting your UK intellectual property internationally, 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
Intellectual property rights are specific to the country they are protected within. Therefore, if you apply to protect your IP rights in England, you must make additional applications to protect them in other countries.
You can apply for an international trade mark through the Madrid Protocol and can apply for multiple countries at once.
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