DON’T LET SOMEONE ELSE MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR IDEAS

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) protect the intangible property of your business. Most companies will have created original works that are protectable as IPRs, adding value to the business. A basic understanding of these rights is important, especially as protection may require early action to secure valid rights.

Different types of IPRs exist, some or all of which may be relevant to your business.

IPRs provide you with the right to stop other parties copying your work for a specified time and territory and you can exploit the work by granting a third party permission to use your creation in return for payment. IPRs include Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright.

Patents

Patents protect new, non-obvious inventions, including chemical processes, drugs, machinery, tooling, medical devices and consumer products.

Critically, you must file an application at the Patent Office before any public disclosure of your invention. This is a trap many businesses fall into, presenting or even selling their product before an application is filed which invalidates their protection. Seek advice early.

A patent application includes a description of your invention with drawings and legal claims. Once filed (“patent pending”) details of your invention can be publicly disclosed. The application is searched and examined and if found novel and inventive, a patent is granted. This can take a few years.

The patent remains in force for 20 years upon payment of annual renewal fees.

Patents can be costly, but they provide the broadest protection, covering the underlying concept rather than one specific embodiment. Costs vary depending upon the technical field of the invention, the objections raised to the application and the territorial scope of protection.

UK protection may be obtained for a few thousand pounds. Foreign protection must be sought within 12 months of the UK filing date.

Riyaz Jariwalla, Partner at Cheltenham-based BPE Solicitors, who specialises in Intellectual Property, stresses the importance of carrying out regular IP audits. “This helps not only to identify current IP, but also to identify future IP and any possible risks such as litigation, dilution of a brand, or third party challenges for non-use, that may exist.”

Read Riyaz's full advice later in this feature.

Registered Designs

A new design is protectable as a Registered Design, such as a product’s shape, decoration or packaging. Registration gives you the right to prevent others using the design for up to 25 years, provided that renewal fees are paid every five years. Design registrations are normally cheap and quick – most applications go straight through to registration. However, protection is more limited in scope.

Kate Lees qualified as a UK Patent Attorney in 1996 and is a Registered UK Patent Attorney and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), a qualified European Patent Attorney (EPA), an Affiliate Member of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA), and a Professional Representative for European Trade Marks and Designs.

Trade Marks

Signs used in business to distinguish your products or services from others can be protected by registration. Examples include company names, logos, brand names, slogans and even shapes, jingles and smells.

A registration covers specific goods or services sold under the mark and provides you with the exclusive right to use that mark or a confusingly similar mark for identical or similar goods and services.

It is normally straightforward to obtain registration, provided the mark is not descriptive of the goods or services and another party does not possess earlier conflicting rights. Once registered, the mark can remain protected indefinitely, subject to its continued use and payment of renewal fees every 10 years.

Unregistered Rights

Some IPRs exist automatically and provide your business with a certain level of protection at no cost. Examples include unregistered design right, unregistered trademark rights and copyright.

Cheltenham Racecourse Owner Took Action To Protect Festival Brand

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest meetings in the National Hunt racing calendar, with prize money second only to the Grand National.

Taking place annually in March, it attracts more than 70,000 racegoers a day over a four-day period, with nearly a million more watching on television. Hundreds of millions of pounds in bets are placed over the week.

With its Royal Charter, Festival organiser The Jockey Club acts for the long-term good of British racing. All of the profits it generates go back into racing.

But unscrupulous imitators are always seeking to profit from the brand, which needs ongoing protecting and policing.

Fifteen years ago, the then Managing Director of Cheltenham Racecourse, Edward Gillespie, appointed Cheltenhambased Wynne-Jones IP to secure The Festival trademark for National Hunt Racing.

The biggest challenge for The Jockey Club has been protecting its online presence from imitators looking to exploit the brand with similar domain names.

“Wynne-Jones IP have been able to support us in protecting our brand and we’ve been able to close down some accounts,” said regional head of marketing Matthew

Foxton-Duffy, who looks after trade marks and monetisation of the brand at Cheltenham to ensure that a global audience and brands recognise The Festival as the pinnacle of Jump racing.

“We have been provided with advice and support that means our trade mark and protection of the brand is very strong, even ahead of naming meetings the advice we have received has been an important consideration, because before we invest in developing a brand we need to know that we can protect it.

“Having our brand protected also adds gravitas and value to our sponsorship packages and when working with official partners.”

Matthew said it was important for The Jockey Club that they used IP specialists.

“This investment has helped strengthen our brand. We have been in meetings where general legal practitioners have been trying to apply general legal principles to a very specialist situation and it’s been quite an eye-opener,” he said.

“They found that they couldn’t deal with the matter. The power of using a specialist shouldn’t be underestimated and we have been very glad to have that specialist support from Wynne-Jones IP.

“When you are in a dispute situation and want to work with the other side to reach a resolution it’s important that you don’t do it alone.

“If you try to navigate complex areas of law without the support of a specialist, you will fail. It costs money, but intellectual property is such a niche area of law it’s important to make that investment.”

Victor Caddy, trade mark attorney and Director at Wynne-Jones IP, said that as a brand-rich company, intellectual property is The Jockey Club’s most important asset, and it pays not to take risks in protecting it.

“Over the years we have developed a strong working relationship with The Jockey Club and have gained an understanding of their goals and brand strategy, which means we are able to offer advice during the early stages of their business planning so that they can be confident in their brand position security from the outset,” said Victor.

“As intellectual property law specialist attorneys our expert knowledge and