Intellectual Property

Chris Smith

Business Outreach & Education

Help and Advice on IP

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http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ip4b

IP Baseline Survey

96% of UK businesses do not know the value of their Intellectual Property Rights

Only 11% of UK businesses know that disclosure of an invention before filing will invalidate a patent.

74% of UK businesses could not correctly identify the owner of copyright when using a subcontractor

Only 4% of UK businesses have an Intellectual Property policy

What is intellectual property?

What is a Registered Trade Mark?

Any sign which is capable of being represented graphically

Any sign which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services

of one undertaking from another

“A Badge of Origin”

Smell

Colour theme Shape theme

Domain name Slogan

Name Logo

What can beregistrable as Trade Marks?

Non-traditional Music

Domain names

Trade Mark registration is not company name or domain name registration

A domain name may beregistered as a Trade Mark

Incorporating another’s RTM into your domain name or meta-tag may be an infringement

Unexpected marks

• Office of Government Commerce

• £14000 to create new logo

“not inappropriate for an organisation that’s looking to have a firm grip on government spend”

OGC Spokesperson

UK Applications

Fees:

Application fees: £170 – Includes one ClassAdditional Classes £50 each (up to 45 Classes)

Timeline:

Examination within 2 months of filingRegistration (unopposed) in 5 months

Trade Mark Registration Overseas

Paris Convention - six months priority

OHIM – Community Trade Mark

e-filing fee €900

WIPO - Madrid Protocol

Why infringement searches?

Avoid expensive mistakes

Awareness of competing marks

Early resolution of potential problems

http://www.nickfaber.com/video.php

Copyright Conventions

Universal Copyright ConventionAdopted in 1952

An alternative for Countries that believed that Berne overly benefited Western developed copyright

exporting nations

Berne Convention - Accepted in 1886Works protected by national law irrespective of where

the work was created 163 Countries are parties to the Convention

1.Literary Works – All works expressed in print or writing

2.Dramatic Works – A work capable of being performed

3.Musical Works – includes melody, harmony and rhythm

4.Artistic Works – A work of artistic craftsmanship (not quality)

Copyright

5.Films – Moving images produced by any means

6.Sound Recordings – From which sounds can be reproduced

8.Published Editions – typographical arrangements

7.Broadcasts – transmission of visual images, sounds or other

Who owns Copyright?

Usually the first creator or author...

…or their employer if produced in theordinary course of their employment

However, a contractor will retain ownershipunless their contract is explicit to the contrary

Even if the creator sells their rights, they have‘moral rights’ over how their work is used

How long does Copyright last?Literary, musical, artistic & dramatic works:

author’s lifetime plus 70 years

Sound recordings: 70 years from first recording

TV & radio broadcasts &cable programmes: 50 years from first broadcast

Publishers’ right (typographical layout etc.):25 years

Films: 70 years after the death of the last of:director, composer of the score, the author of

the screenplay and the scriptwriter

Top Dead Earners 2013

2. Elvis Presley - $55m3. Charles Shultz - $37m4. Elizabeth Taylor - $25m5. Bob Marley - $18m6. Marilyn Monroe - $15m7. John Lennon - $12m8. Albert Einstein - $10m9. Bettie Page - $10m10. Theodor Geisel - $9m

Source Forbes.com

1. Michael Jackson - $160m

Registered Designs

Protects shape or configuration (3-D)and/or pattern or ornamentation (2-D)

No protection for function, materialsor technology of manufacture

No protection when form is dictatedby function (ie: no design freedom)

Multiple Applications

£60 for first design (£40 application + £20 publication)

£40 for subsequent designs (£20 application + £20 publication

Renewal fees every 5 yearsMaximum term 25 years

Registration Overseas

Paris Convention – 6 Months

OHIM - Community Design

Hague Agreement (1/1/2008)

Criteria for ‘patentability’

Patents are for “technological innovation”, though the Patents Act 1977 fails to define the word “invention”

Inventions must be new - not known anywhere in the world prior to the filing date

Inventions must have an ‘inventive step’ - not obvious, a simple adaptation or combination

Inventions must be industrially applicable and have a ‘technical effect’

Patent fees

Application fee – £30 or £20 (Electronic filing)

Search Fee - £150 or £130 (Electronic filing)

Examination fee - £100 or £80 (Electronic filing)

Renewals 5th Year - £70

10th Year - £17020th Year - £600

Obtaining Patent Protection Abroad

Separate national filings

Patent Co-operation Treaty(PCT)

European Patent Convention(EPC)

www.ipo.gov.uk - 0300 300 2000Information@ipo.gov.uk

Thank You

Chris Smithchristopher.smith@ipo.gov.uk

@The_IPO