Protecting your Intellectual Property

Peer Watterson

including Patents and Trade Marks

•Why is IP important?

•Patents – protecting inventions

•Trade marks – protecting brands

•Copyright

•Other IP – trade secrets, know how, reputation

•What you can do now

Protecting your IP

Why is IP important?

• Intellectual property can provide a competitive edge:– Patents and trademarks give you a monopoly

– Provide a system for rewarding development of ideas and non-corporeal investments

• Much of today’s business is involved in non-material products and services

Patents

• Available for ideas which are:

• New

• Not obvious

• In certain business essential:

• Telecoms

• Pharma

• In 2008 146,561 patents filedat the European Patent Office

Trade Marks

• Trade marks: a word, phrase or sign which distinguishes goods/services from those of a competitor

Copyright

• Copyright protects works from being copied.

• Important for more creative industries:

• Books

• Plays

• Movies

• Computer software code

• Very effective if protected with licensing agreements

Other Intellectual Property

• Registered/unregistered design

Protects the shape or appearance

• Trade secrets

Protect customer lists or other compilations

Don’t have to patent, consider keeping secret

Use agreements to protect

What can you do know?

Any Questions?

Peer Wattersonpwatterson@withersrogers.com

+ 44 (0) 20 7663 3500