Protecting your business & Intellectual property.

If you start a business, create or invent a product it is imperative that you consider protecting your idea and intellectual property. You may have to consult with third parties while building or launching your business and this guide helps you understand the different methods of gaining protection for your intellectual property.

Patents:

If you've created a new invention, it could be commercially advantageous to apply for a patent which may allow you to control how the invention is exploited. Taking out a patent gives you the right to stop people from making, using, importing or selling your invention without your permission. A granted patent can remain in force for up to 20 years.
A patent also allows you to license others to use your inventions - providing royalties, an important source of revenue for your business. There are strict rules that determine what can and can't be patented, and a patent may not always be the best way for you to protect your invention.

To get a patent your invention has to fulfil certain criteria. It must:

• Be capable of being made or used in some kind of industry - you can't get a patent for a theory or an idea, a discovery, an artistic work or a computer program, though there may be other ways to protect this intellectual property.
• Be new - your invention must not have been made public before you apply for a patent. This means it is essential that you keep your invention secret when you are developing your idea. You should make sure that everyone concerned - including partners, press, employees and suppliers - signs a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement before you talk about or collaborate on your invention.

Patents are territorial and can only be enforced in the areas for which they're granted. A successful application for a UK patent only gives you protection in the UK. To stop the exploitation of your invention outside the UK you need to file for patents in the countries where you want protection. Though in some cases you'll need to submit applications for each country concerned, there are international agreements that allow you to obtain protection in a number of countries through a single application. A UK patent protects you if products making use of your invention are manufactured outside the UK and imported. You can then take action and defend your patent against the importer.

For more information on Patent within the UK go to:
www.ipo.gov.uk

For a list of patent attorneys go to:
www.cipa.org.uk

For information on patents outside the UK and a directory of patent offices go to:
www.wipo.int

Copyright:

If you create, or your business employs someone to create, original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, you'll automatically hold the copyright on them. These works can range from information booklets and computer programs to sound recordings and films.
Copyright law and protection allows you to control whether or not your original works are exploited by others and to what extent they are copied, adapted, published, performed or broadcast. It allows you to decide whether or not you will let others make use of your work for a royalty or license fee.

You can claim copyright if your business produces original:

• literary works, including books, webpages, computer programs and instruction manuals
• artistic work, including technical drawings, photographs, diagrams and maps
• dramatic and musical works, including sound recordings
• films, videos and broadcasts, including those on cable and satellite

But you can't claim copyright for:

• names, titles, slogans or phrases - though you might be able to register these as a trade mark
• products or industrial processes - though these may have design rights or be eligible for patent protection ideas

Copyright can be an important source of income for your business. If your business holds the copyright to a piece of work - be it an advertising jingle, a technical manual, song lyrics or a magazine article - you can control how it's commercially exploited.
For example, you could charge every time someone plays your jingle on the radio, transfers your manual to the internet, makes copies of your song lyrics or reprints your magazine article.

Copyright is automatic in the UK. Unlike some other forms of intellectual property right, you don't have to apply for it and there's no register of copyright holders.
In practice, however, it can be difficult to enforce legally.
It's a good idea to mark your work with the international copyright symbol © followed by your name and the year of creation.
Under international conventions, copyright material created by UK nationals or residents is protected in many countries. Some countries insist you mark your work with the international copyright symbol © and the year your work was created.
But be careful - copyright isn't widely respected in some countries and you will need to take action against infringers in the country where the copyright infringement takes place, using that country's law.

For more information go to:
www.ipo.gov.uk/copy.htm

Trademarks:

A trade mark can be seen as the badge of a business. It's a distinctive way of representing your goods or services that sets them apart from those of other traders. It is a valuable piece of intellectual property and can play an important role in your marketing and branding activities.

A trade mark can be:

• a word, phrase or slogan
• a logo or symbol
• a sign or form of packaging
• a sound or jingle
• a colour
• a gesture
• a brand name
• your company name

A trade mark must be distinctive for the goods and services you use it for. It also mustn't mislead people about the nature of your products or services.
Common law may give some trade mark protection automatically, provided sufficient trading reputation and goodwill have been built up in a mark. But this is likely to be difficult and costly to defend against infringement.
For added protection you should consider registering your trade mark. If you want to register a trade mark in the UK it must be possible to represent it in words and pictures.

To register a trade mark in the UK you have to apply to the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO).
The UK-IPO will examine your application within two months of receiving it. If it is acceptable it will then be published in the Trade Marks Journal. Assuming nobody objects to your application, your trade mark will be registered three months later and you'll get a certificate of registration.
A trade mark is registered for ten years, after which it can be renewed indefinitely.

For more information on UK trademarks go to:
www.ipo.gov.uk/tm.htm

For more information on European trademarks go to:
www.oami.europa.eu/en/default.htm

For more information on international trademarks go to:
www.wipo.int/madrid/en/index.html

Non Disclosure Agreements (NDA):

A non disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement, is a low-cost way to protect your business ideas. It is a legal contract between you and another party. Typically, you agree to disclose information to them for a specific purpose, while they agree not to disclose that information to anyone else. This allows you to share your trade secrets with business partners while preventing them from passing this information on.
When starting or growing your business or launching your new product or idea it is inevitable that you will have to collaborate with third parties. To protect your business and trade secrets it is imperative that you have a properly structured non disclosure agreement.
If you need to approach potential business partners, have a clear idea beforehand of what you want to share with them - and stick to it. This minimises the risk of breaches of confidentiality.

You can download a free Non Disclosure Agreement template here!

You can search for a solicitor on the law society's website:
www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law