In an increasingly knowledge-driven business environment, intellectual property (IP) is a key consideration in day-to-day business decisions. Intellectual property is one of the key considerations effecting all IT-enabled companies and knowledge-based industries. The exploitation, protection and enforcement of IP rights especially in high-tech companies is a key aspect of a company's measure of success or failure.
Few businesses have the luxury of ignoring the shift in the way the world does business and the emphasis on delivering value not just from physical assets but from intangible capital.
Our solicitors specialise in:
Broad Application of IP
Such is the broad application of IP rights, it affects all manner of intellectual capital; in fact in any creative field. In recent years this importance has been recognised by legislative reform, seeing the introduction of moral rights and database rights.
Unlocking the value of IP
Our focus at Gillhams is protecting intellectual property within the business, aiming for legal certainty and the enforcement of rights. The intellectual property vesting in creative work may have different ends to different business; it may mean a superior way of doing business; increased business agility; increased productivity or competitive edge; increased shareholder value; increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, increased revenues, and reduced costs.
Many new products or services embody different types of IP. Forward-looking enterprises face the challenge of extracting the latent value of their intellectual property and using it effectively in their business strategy. Companies that dedicate time and resources to protecting their intellectual property may increase their competitiveness in a variety of ways. Intellectual property protection helps in:
Management of Intellectual Property
Effective IP management is more sophisticated than simply protecting inventions, trademarks, designs, or copyright. It is the ability to commercialise inventions, market brands, license know-how, conclude franchising or joint ventures and other contractual agreements involving intellectual property. IP is also a legal right that contributes to the balance sheet.
When IP rights are not enforced good innovation may be lost to competitors who reap the benefit of the product or service, leaving the innovator without reward. Adequate protection is about deterring infringement. Intellectual property protection enables companies to profit from their innovative capacity, cyclically funds further innovation.
As international cooperation increases as it has done over recent years creation, commercialisation, management, maintenance, protection and enforcement becomes more accessible to businesses. We draw on our experience and expertise to assist our clients overcome these obstacles and take advantage of the intellectual property system and the benefits it has to offer. Small and medium size businesses account for more than 70 percent of the production of goods and services. Effective use by business of IP assets is a key factor in creating and maintaining the market edge and superior tools of the trade.
Intellectual Property Audits
Our lawyers are well positioned to analyse ownership of intellectual property assets within a company, to earmark those assets for future use. When IP assets are known, it allows a company to safeguard the value of assets that underlie the true value of the business; account for those assets on balance sheets; and focus attention on assets that are available for raising finance, licensing or sale. For those firms where inventions, new technology, software and product designs are key, protecting intellectual property is absolutely central to value creation.
Due Diligence
In the context of fund raising, mergers and acquisitions financiers are looking for enforceable IP rights - they start by casting a critical eye over the IP and the degree that it may be protected.
Our Expertise and Experience
Gillhams we are acutely aware of the central role that intellectual property may take in commercial transactions.
As an indication of the breadth of our experience, we have acted and advised on matters that encompass the suite of intellectual property rights including intellectual property licensing, including data content, databases, software and distribution rights, structuring corporate entities to safeguard IP and joint ventures, marketing of IP, piracy, and contractual compliance.
Each company has different business goals. If the goal is to maximise profits, the main aim is simply to maximise profit margins then the strategy must involve the protection of the products, processes or services which are identified as being most relevant to those margins.
If the goal is to penetrate new markets then the policy may involve generating new IP to gain access to dominant players’ markets.
Perhaps the intention is merely to realise cash rewards for a significant research and development investment which can be achieved by licensing.
We have an impressive track record for clients across industry sectors including:
Trade Marks
Our trade mark experience and service includes preventative legal advice with the aim of avoiding instances of trade mark infringement; advising and lodging applications for registration through to litigation in asserting legal rights and defending those rights. We have advised on:
We have advised on:
Patent Rights
We have:
Designs
Confidential Information – Briefing Note - Law of Confidential Information in the UK
Copyright – Typefaces, Fonts and Characters - Intellectual Property Protection in the United Kingdom
Patent Protection – Copyright Deficiencies in the Protection of Software - Can Patent Pick Up where Copyright Drops Off?
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Technology | Commercial | Corporate law firm | London UK
Solicitors & Lawyers | Copyright | Gillhams 2005 - 2008
