Infringement
Intellectual Property Rights

Infringement of intellectual property rights takes place when a person who is not the owner or licensee of the owner of the intellectual property copies, reproduces, or exploits the particular intellectual property in question without the license or permission of the rights owner.

Each of the different areas of statutory intellectual property protection in the UK, namely designs, patents, trade marks and copyright law have their own test for infringement that must be strictly satisfied in order for a cause of action in law to lie. In addition, a defence or defences may apply to claims for intellectual property infringement.

There is no "innocence" defence to intellectual property infringement, although innocence may usually be taken into account in an assessment of damages.