Intellectual Property and IT are fast becoming an important part of all business and thus effective legal advice regarding protection or registration of IP rights or legal advice over an important IT dispute is essential. With e-commerce becoming increasingly popular and the direction the majority of businesses are starting to take, intellectual property and IT legal advice is becoming more and more essential.

Whether it is confidentiality, copyright, IP infringement, licence/assignment of IP rights, patent advice, trademark advice, design rights, passing off, a software agreement or an IT contractual dispute, make sure you understand why you have chosen a solicitor by comparing the three necessary elements price, quality and distance.

Confidentiality - In any business, whether starting up or established, confidential information can be vital to growth and thus needs protecting. It is important to not only contractually bind employees to keep information confidential but ensure any information given to third parties remains confidential. Generally speaking, if information is given in confidential circumstances (i.e. location, extent of information, importance of information) then it will be protected by laws on confidentiality. However, due to the ambiguous nature of what constitutes 'confidential information', it is essential that you seek legal advice to be sure any private information is not at risk from becoming public knowledge.

Copyright - The law on copyright is aimed at preventing the copying of another's work (which can be literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works). The key thing to remember with copyright is that it is not a registered right such as trademarks, and exists upon creation of a piece of 'work'. Although it is not a registered right, copyright can still be licensed or assigned to another party by the owner. The difficulty is deciding who is the owner and whether the 'work' falls within the definition of copyright. In order to make sure and fully understand whether your work is protected by copyright, it is essential to speak with a specialist intellectual property solicitor. Look out for a Specialist in Category mark and previous case studies to see if that firm has previous experience with similar cases.

Patents - A patent is the registered protection of a product or process and provides the owner with a monopoly right over that product or process. For a patent to be granted, it must be demonstrated that the product/process is new, has an inventive step and is capable of industrial application. In order to fully understand how to satisfy these steps, it is essential to speak with a solicitor as soon as possible. Any information given to a solicitor is strictly confidential and will not jeopardise the 'new' element of registration. Whether you need advice on registering a patent or advice on protecting an existing patent, we have a large panel of solicitors who can deal with your case. Make sure the solicitor you choose understands your business first so they are not only thinking legally, but also commercially.

Trademarks - A trademark provides registered protection for the owner with a monopoly right to use that mark as they wish. In order to register a trademark, it must a sign/symbol capable of graphical representation and above all not be descriptive of that particular goods/service. You can register a trade mark across a number of different classes of goods/services which prevents competitors from using similar marks for their business. It is important to understand that you are protected for what is registered and not how it may be interpreted (down to choice of colour), however, if you have not registered a trade mark, you may still be protected by the law of passing off (see below).

 Design Rights - Design rights protect the three dimensional shape of an object/product. This can be a registered right which provides a monopoly for the owner, or an unregistered right. While this is not one of the most used rights compared with copyright, trademark and patents, it can still provide extremely useful protection. It is worth speaking with a specialist solicitor to find out more about this protection and to see if it is right for you.

Passing Off - Passing off is an unregistered design right and therefore is not a monopoly for the owner of the product/sign/logo. The law of passing off aims to protect companies from others using identical or very similar logos/symbols but they have failed to register the mark for a monopoly right. If you feel another individual or company is using your intellectual property without your permission and you want to know what rights you have without owning a monopoly right, it is worth speaking with a specialist intellectual property solicitor now.

 IP Infringement - If you feel any of the above forms of intellectual property have been infringed by a third party without your consent, then you could be entitled to a claim to prohibit them from continuing to use that product/service/process/logo and claim damages. It is essential that you consult a specialist solicitor in these situations because this can be vital to business growth and avoiding consumers confusing your brand with another.