INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWYERS

OUR PRACTICE

At Valemus Law, our experienced Intellectual Property Lawyers (including a chartered trademark attorney) are here to meet all your IP law needs and can advise on every aspect of IP law from trademarking and brand strategy to maximising your brand potential as well as more contentious areas of IP such as exploitation and disputes.

Our range of IP and Media clients extend from global food and beverage manufacturers to major defence and aerospace services as well as a multitude of entrepreneurial start-ups and SMEs who regularly seek our advice on trademark, brand development and strategy advice.

What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property (IP) consists of rights in creative and innovative works.  IP can arise in a number of ways – some IP rights are automatic, for instance the copyright in art or written work; films or music, to name a few.  However, for other forms of   IP you will need to apply to the IP Office to protect your rights i.e., if you want to protect a design, invention, or brand from other individuals or companies that may want to copy it.   This may include one of the following: –

Patents: –

These relate specifically to inventions and provide you with protection against anyone using or copying them without your permission.  In the UK a patent lasts for up to 20  years subject to renewal.   Patent applications can be far from straight forward and amongst other conditions the invention will need to meet the following criteria before the IP Office are willing to approve it: –

  1. It must be a new invention – it can’t already exist anywhere else in either the UK or the world.
  2. It must be innovative – it can’t simply be a variation on a theme of something that already exists.
  3. It must be capable of being used or made in some form of industry

Of course, this is only a small part of a patent application, and our IP Lawyers at Valemus are here to guide you through the process and help you avoid the pitfalls, so that you achieve protection for your invention as soon as possible not only in the UK but internationally.

Registered designs: –

Whilst a patent relates to an invention, registered designs protect new designs in one or more of the following things: –

  1. Its physical shape
  2. Its configuration i.e., how the different parts relate to each other/are arranged.
  3. Decoration or colour; and
  4. Pattern.

A Registered Design can last for up to 25 years subject to renewal every  5 years.

If you’re unsure about the registration process our IP team are here to assist you and provide you with sound advice to achieve the best outcome for your design.

Trademarks:

Trademarks relate to brands i.e., the name and/or logo under which you market and sell  your product or service.  Like patents and registered designs, securing a registered trademark for your brand comes with rules about what can and can’t be registered and your trademark lawyer will guide you to maximise your chances of a successful outcome.  Marks that can be registered include: –

  1. Words
  2. Sounds
  3. Logos
  4. Colours
  5. A combination of the above.

A trademark lasts for 10 years and can be renewed for further periods of 10 years although there are circumstances under which it can be cancelled. ; it’s therefore important to have advice from a trademark lawyer to ensure that you don’t lose this protection.

Having a trademark in place enables you to sell and licence your trademark to third parties and, most importantly enables your trademark lawyer to take action against any third party who uses your trademark without prior permission from you.  The process of registering a trademark in the UK usually takes up to four months and therefore you need to feel confident that you have a trademark lawyer who can ensure you get your application right the first time.

If you require a trademark lawyer in any part of the country including a trademark lawyer in London, or if you’re unsure as to what category your intellectual property comes under and how to protect it if it’s not covered by automatic rights, then contact our team on 0333 339 0309 or by email at info@valemuslaw.com  today.

A full list of areas covered by our IP lawyers is set out below.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AT A GLANCE

  • Global registration
  • Copyright and design rights
  • Database protection
  • Patents, Trademarks and passing off
  • Domain names
  • Performing rights
  • Global IP strategy development
  • Negotiation and drafting of IP agreements
  • IP enforcement and dispute resolution
  • Marketing, advertising, branding and development
  • Mechanical and electronic engineering
  • Pharma, chemical and biotech innovations
  • IT, hardware and software
  • Hi-tech instruments

Meet the team

TRACEY HUXLEY
Intellectual Property