Understanding how intellectual property (IP) works can be a challenge. If you run a small business, however, it can be crucial that you know how to protect your IP, and the various regulations surrounding it.
In this article, we’ll advise you on how to protect and manage your intangible assets.
Understanding intellectual property: types and importance
First of all, intellectual property covers anything created using your mind, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and designs. Each of these areas is significant in protecting your business and your products.
Copyright
Automatically gained when you complete a work, you can get copyright for music, writing, artwork, and more. It ensures you’re protected if others copy your work, whether in part or in full.
Trademark
A legally registered symbol, word, phrase or image that represents a company or product.
Patents
A legal document that classifies you as the inventor of a specific product or idea. While filing for a patent does cost money, if successful you have much stronger legal protection over your inventions, especially if anyone tries to copy them.
Designs
The visual appearance of a product, including shape, configuration, patterns, and ornamentation. Like trademarks and patents, these must be legally registered.
Steps to protect your intellectual property
When it comes to protecting your work, we strongly recommend registering it with the UK Intellectual Property Office. This government organisation handles all forms of IP, including patents, trademarks, and designs.
While copyright is automatically awarded upon completion of a piece, you may want to register this with the IPO too, as it can provide additional protection if legal issues arise.
We also strongly recommend you conduct thorough searches prior to creating your piece, as this can prevent you from accidentally infringing on another’s intellectual property, and falling victim to infringement laws yourself.
Enforcing your IP rights and seeking professional advice
Enforcing IP rights is a legal action required when protected work has been infringed upon, and aims to stop the violation and address any harm caused. The main methods of enforcement include Cease and Desist Letters, Civil Action, and Criminal Action.
If you believe your IP rights have been infringed upon, you must take immediate action. We strongly recommend that you contact a full service law firm, as these professionals can assist with taking direct and specialised action.
Navigating recent developments in IP law
With the rise of AI, especially in creative industries, you may be questioning how this influences intellectual property laws. Currently, according to UK laws, only human beings can be credited with creating something. Since AI models are mere machines, that means the works they produce cannot be owned or protected under intellectual property laws.
This also means that the person who created the work using AI is not the rightful owner either, and as such it can be used by the wider market free of issue. Of course, this brings new issues to the forefront – especially since several AI models have been illegally trained on stolen IP.
