This glossary helps explain the most commonly used words and terms in Intellectual Property (IP).
READ MOREPatents are a form of intellectual property (IP) right that give their owner exclusive territorial jurisdiction over the invention claimed. If a patent holder asserts that your activities risk infringing their patent rights then you will need to assess the situation quickly with professional advice e.g. from a qualified patent attorney.
As a holder of intellectual property (IP) rights you have the tools you need to protect the results of your creativity and innovation. Patent owners benefit from exclusive rights to the invention claimed. The monopoly provided by your patent rights can really give you the edge in your market. But what should you do when an unauthorised party seems to be exploiting your protected technology and eroding your commercial advantage?
A Community Design registration covers all European Union countries. This provides a simple and highly cost-effective route for obtaining pan-EU registered designs. A single application is filed and the resultant registration can be enforced across the European Union in a single infringement action.
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) have been in the news recently as having been used to buy people’s silence in order to cover up potentially embarrassing revelations regarding inappropriate behaviour. The use of NDAs in these circumstances has been criticised as being unethical when they may have been used to suppress the reporting of allegedly unlawful incidents.
The Patent Box is a tax relief scheme to incentivise companies to locate their research and development (R&D) activities in the UK.
Under this government scheme, UK companies can benefit from a reduced rate of corporation tax (at 10%) in relation to profits earned from their patented inventions.
Software is used to implement innovations in a very wide range of fields, from medical scanners to mobile phones, laptop computers to car engines, and even running fast food outlets or operating a pension scheme. In Europe, whether these innovations can be protected by a patent depends on one fundamental question. Is there a contribution to a field of technology?
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) provides a mechanism for accelerating examination of a patent application at a second patent office, if examination work has already been conducted at a first patent office with whom a PPH agreement is in place. If claims of an application have been found acceptable by a first office (often the office of first filing), accelerated examination of a corresponding application at a second office may be requested. The PPH allows a second patent office to make use of relevant work already conducted by a first office when examining an application.
Registering your trade mark gives you the exclusive right to use your mark in the UK in relation to the goods/services covered by the registration.
A Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) is a form of intellectual property that can extend the protection of patented active ingredients present in pharmaceutical or plant protection products by up to five years.
Whilst patent protection from the European Patent Office for individual plant varieties is excluded by Article 53(b) EPC, it is possible to obtain plant variety rights in Europe under the UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) provisions by applying to the Community Plant Variety Office. In order to obtain plant variety protection in Europe, there are several requirements which must be met by the variety.