Intellectual property involves many issues and is an integral part of any business with practical implications across a whole raft of areas. Our services reflect this ever-widening involvement.Choose an issue from the index below.
Brands Protection | Company Monitoring (Identity Theft) | Competitive Intelligence | Computers, Software and Data Protection | Copyright | Industrial Designs | Internet Checks | IP Law & Practice | Media and Performing Rights | Names Services | Skills Clinics | Technical Problem Solver |
The Internet is now the core of branding strategy for businesses all over the world. Competition for domain names is fierce and the growing misuse of trade marks by third parties, whether visible or in meta tags or hidden text, is a key issue for brand owners. Our search technologies help brand owners find infringements of their intellectual property on the Internet. This complements more established forms of trademark searches to assist businesses in avoiding expensive mistakes with their branding.
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Basic Identity search to check if anyone is already
using your proposed brand name or trade mark in domain names or on web
sites.
Use advanced web searches and information on options for addressing
misuse of your brand names or trade marks in domain names and web sites
including in meta tags and hidden text.
Company monitoring - Identity theft
All companies need to keep a close eye on Companies
House records to stop their companies from being "stolen"
through fraud.
Crooks can "steal" a company by filing forged forms at Companies
House. The company has no idea that its public record had been changed
to appoint a director it had never heard of and to transfer its registered
office to an unrelated address, until the Serious Fraud Office turns
up. Variants include having filed forged forms, the crooks might then
buy goods or services on credit in the company's name or the crooks
open a bank account or apply for a credit card in the company's name.
By the time the supplier's invoice reaches the real company, the crooks
have disappeared. Companies House cannot be blamed.
The law says responsibility for the accuracy of the information on the
public record lies with the company's directors and its company secretary,
not the Registrar of Companies.
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Crooks running these scams need time, so it is vital
to spot them early.
We can provide a monitoring service and check the company's public record
regularly for filings, via an automated company search. . If the filing
is fraudulent, companies can correct the public record fast - and then
try to find out who did it. We already work with Trading Standards in
this field.
Searching patents and trademarks is an effective way to find information on the business and development activities of UK, and international public and privately held companies. Patents always provide, the name of the inventor, a technical description of a patented device or composition of matter (drug, alloy, etc.) and the legal description of what was protected. Patents may also provide the name of the assignee or owner of the patent. By obtaining a regular search you can see at a glance who is doing what in an industry, or what a particular company is interested in from a research and development point of view. Simple patent counts can be used to determine technological activity such as R&D.
However analysis of patent references can provide additional information regarding the importance of patents. Patents can refer to earlier patents (prior art) and can themselves be cited by later patents. Thus each patent can be considered to have been influenced by the earlier one. Additionally companies can refer to other patents of the same company. This is called a self-reference and indicates the company concerned is building on its own technology. Co-citations, where two or more patents are cited by a third, are usually related in subject matter. This means that cluster analysis can be performed without necessarily reading each patent. The existence of a cluster of patents is an indication that the company thinks it has a core invention, which it considers worthwhile protecting by improvement inventions. When a company refers to the patents of other companies, it is usually building on someone else's technology. These other companies are in fact "teaching" their competitors.
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Two levels of work a basic search by company, industry, subject as directed, which would be free and a fee service on a pay as you go basis involving major databases and time costs.
Computers, Software and Data protection
The law on buying, selling, supplying and using computer
hardware and software or information technology covers: Hardware specification
agreements, Software specification and licensing
Support agreements, Turnkey agreements, Disaster recovery, Data Protection,
Software distribution agreements, Value added reseller agreements
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Information on data protection issues. Information on need for Data registration. Software copyright.
Copyright is an intellectual property right in an original work, which gives the person holding it the exclusive right to exploit the work. Copyright can exist in literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and in computer software. Copyright arises automatically without the requirement for any registration in the UK. Usually the owner of the copyright will be its "author". There are various conditions to be satisfied as to the author’s nationality and domicile for UK copyright to exist. If there are joint authors then the copyright will be jointly owned. What If the copyright arises from the efforts of an employee? Does the copyright belong to the company or to the employee? Usually it will belong to the Company unless there is an express agreement to the contrary or it does not relate to the work of the employee.
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Copyright information fact sheets. Copyright holders
rights. Information on legal remedies
Examples of the application of copyright in work situations, Legal Agreement
templates.
Protecting rights in the design of industrial products
Design rights are intellectual property rights in the design of industrial products (i.e. those products which can be mass produced.) 'Design’ refers to the shape and unique aspects of the product rather than to the drawings or design documents, (which may be protected by copyright). There are two forms of design rights; registered and unregistered.
Unregistered design rights
These arise automatically when an original design has
been recorded or product has been made in accordance with the design.
Usually last 15 years.
The owner of the unregistered design right will have the exclusive right
to reproduce the design for commercial purposes. Usually the designer
will own the unregistered design unless it was specifically commissioned
by another party or the designer was an employee acting in the course
of his employment.
Certain designs cannot give rise to unregistered design rights.
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Information on unregistered status. Information on protecting design rights.
Registered design rights
Registered design rights are governed by the Registered Design Act 1949. Designs capable of registration involve features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to any article by any industrial process being features which in the finished article "appeal to the eye". New designs may be registered for up to 25 years.
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Information on how to register design rights. Information
on design rights.
Alert you to your rights against anyone infringing your registered or
unregistered design rights.
Intellectual Property Audits
A comprehensive review and report on an organisation’s Intellectual Property portfolio by a combination of desk research and physical audit. This is particularly valuable when buying another company or merging, or where you need to make a register from scratch.
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An investigation of the intellectual property rights
that an organisation has or may have.
Information on the extent to which existing rights are adequately protected.
Information on action to be taken to enhance protection of existing
or future rights.
Suggestions for exploitation of the rights.
How is the Audit conducted?
Our Intellectual Property Specialists will research and investigate:
Copyright Issues, UK and overseas trade marks, Industrial Designs, UK and overseas patents.
How do organisations benefit from an IP Audit?
Their intellectual property assets can be valued for
accounting purposes.
Loss of key patents or trademarks can be avoided.
Potential infringements can be identified and acted upon.
The unique identifying marks and processes of the business can be safeguarded.
A web site review to ensure that your web site complies
and is protected regards its intellectual property and the latest legislation.
Does it comply with new disability legislation? Is your domain name
protected on a permanent basis? Does the information on your site comply
with Trading Standards regulations?
Do you know who is linking to your site?
If you don’t, you may be surprised to find that many web sites
have links to your site. In certain circumstances links may promote
traffic to your site, but they should be monitored carefully for suitability.
Do you want to be linked to bad publicity sites?
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We can offer a fixed price web check service with a report that is succinct and highly relevant, with recommendations to improve your web site and protect your business.
Using Westlaw we provide Intellectual property abstracts from legal texts, Digests of case-law, Law reports, Commentaries and Official documents and relate issues and applications to what is happening in the practical world of applying IP rights. This service is supported by our other legal business services and Creative Notes (link) our practical fact sheets.
Legal Compliance
This service is able to provide you with up to date legal information on all areas of intellectual property, as well as an e-mail alert service. As librarians and information specialists we inform you using the best evaluated sources but are unable to give legal advice. What we can do is ensure you have the facts and guidance on how to apply the law. To feel confident of compliance, go into any legal situation armed with the facts, so you are better able to deal with lawyers, decide if your case is worth while, etc.
Legal Documentation
Creative Insight is able to offer a range of legal documentation on intellectual property from various levels of confidentiality agreements to patent registrations to contracts. These can be supplied by e.mail for a small fee as well as books for general use on site including over 100 music contracts.
Special rights for performers and those entitled to make recordings of performances.
Performers Rights
Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1998 protects the
right of performers.
No-one can record or broadcast a performance without the performers
consent.
Illicit recordings or broadcasts are actionable.
In certain circumstances the Copyright Tribunal can give consent on
behalf of a performer who is unreasonably withholding consent.
Recording Rights
Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 protects the
rights of persons who have an entitlement to record or broadcast a performance.
Recordings or broadcasts which infringe the entitlement are actionable.
The Copyright Tribunal can give consent to recordings and broadcasts
where the owner of the recording right is unreasonably withholding consent.
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Inform performers, recorders and broadcasters on their rights, Licensing rules, IP Information service.
In business you need to have a unique name for a range
of activities to fully exploit your potential in the marketplace, be
it your company name, name for your product or service, trademark for
goods, domain name, etc. Finding a name that has not already been used
is difficult and it is up to you to ensure that you are not breaching
anyone else’s legal rights or you could face expensive prosecution.
We are able to provide comprehensive name checks on an international
basis for all these areas.
This keeps you within the law and helps you hone your name so that it
is truly unique.
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Check of all UK and international company databases
for similar names.
Check on URL services for registered domain names. Check on Trademarks
and Design databases for names. Check on product names world-wide. Information
service on choosing a name.
These are informal talks with practical “hands on” experience, backed by fact sheets, and a leaflet service, given by our staff on and off the premises. Staff are able to provide talks or clinics on any IP topic of your choosing from our list, as well as providing skills workshops so that you or your staff can learn to do IP work for yourselves. Part of this work is our free Patent clinics where Patent Agent experts provide answers to your more in depth legal questions. All these talks have the potential to save you time and money on a permanent basis.
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IP Skills and Patent Clinics/Workshops/Talks/Lawyers Clinics.
85% of the technical information held in Patents is
unobtainable anywhere else, yet this is an information source neglected
to their cost by businesses and individuals.
Have you hit a snag with part of your invention? Do you need to improve
part of your manufacturing process or equipment? Had an idea but not
sure if it’s worth the cost of developing?
Use the patent source available to see if others have solved the problem,
or tried a solution that has failed, or made the adjustment you need.
Learn from the work and mistakes of others, at minimal cost to you ,as
well as ensuring that you are not breaching others patent rights.
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Patent search by topic, with copies.
