About IP Law
With the laws around Intellectual Property and Information Technology changing all the time, keeping pace is hard enough. But knowing the law isn’t enough. You need to know what those changes are going to mean for your clients. The big picture, the fine detail, the impact and the next steps.
Copyright
Practical information about copyright, moral rights, performers’ rights and rights in performances. Get precedent copyright assignments and licences here.
Trade marks
Practical information about trade marks, passing off, geographical indications and anti-counterfeiting. Get precedent trade mark assignments and licences here.
Patents
Practical information about patents and supplementary protection certificates. Get precedent patent assignments and licences here.
IP disputes
Get guidance on strategic and practical steps for dealing with IP disputes, including ways of trying to avoid them in the first place. Our case analysis highlights points from judgments so you can be confident at work.
Topics We Cover
Latest IP News
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has launched a national consumer awareness campaign titled 'Fake Toys: Real Harms' to highlight safety risks...
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), following the conclusion of its consultation, has recommended that the Secretary of State replace the...
IP analysis: The court held that the meaning of ‘original’ for the purpose of design rights under Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act...
IP analysis: The 9 June 2025 judgment in Lifestyle Equities v SportsDirect.com Retail clarified that a trade mark proprietor can recover damages...
This week's edition of IP weekly highlights includes: Welcome to this week’s edition of the IP weekly highlights: a hand-picked summary of news...
Latest IP Practice Notes
Sunsetting retained EU law—essentialsRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL(RR)A...
Image rights—protection, exploitation and taxationThis Practice Note focuses on the commercial protection, exploitation and taxation of image rights...
Drafting a trade mark licence—a practical guideThis Practice Note is a practical guide to drafting a trade mark licence. It is intended to provide an...
Designs tracker—UKThis tracker is intended to be used to track the progress of UK design judgments, legislative proposals and current UK...
Trade marks tracker—UKThis Practice Note tracks the progress of UK trade mark judgments, legislative proposals, and current UK consultations, guidance...
Latest IP Precedents
Final order (copyright infringement)Case No. [insert claim number]IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEBUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND &...
Reply (copyright infringement)Case No. [insert claim number]IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEBUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND & WALESINTELLECTUAL...
Final order (infringement of UK registered and unregistered designs)Claim No. [insert claim number]IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEBUSINESS AND PROPERTY...
Defence and counterclaim (infringement of UK registered and unregistered designs)Case No. [insert claim number]IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEBUSINESS...
Reply and defence to counterclaim (infringement of UK registered and unregistered designs)Case No. [insert claim number]IN THE HIGH COURT OF...
Latest IP Q&As
Featured IP content
Introduction to passing off
Introduction to passing offUnlike many other countries, the UK has no unfair competition law. Brand owners seeking to prevent competitors from...
Trade mark infringement—UK
Trade mark infringementRights conferred by a trade mark registrationThe registration of a trade mark gives the owner the exclusive right to prevent...
Copyright—authorship and ownership
Copyright—authorship and ownershipThe Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) defines the author of a work as the person who created it....
Passing off—goodwill, misrepresentation and damage
Passing off—goodwill, misrepresentation and damageWhat is passing off?Passing off is a common law tort which protects rights that are not capable of...
Absolute and relative grounds for refusal to register a UK trade mark
Absolute and relative grounds for refusal to register a UK trade markAbsolute and relative groundsA trade mark’s essential function is to be a badge...
Copyright infringement—remedies
Copyright infringement—remediesThis Practice Note covers the remedies available for copyright infringement.The remedies available in cases of...
Introduction to revocation of patents
Introduction to revocation of patentsPatents may be revoked, that is, taken off the register of patents, if it is decided that they are invalid in...
Joint ownership of intellectual property rights
Joint ownership of intellectual property rightsWhen parties collaborate on creative projects or research and development, complex questions arise...
Sub-licensing intellectual property rights
Sub-licensing intellectual property rightsAn intellectual property (IP) owner may choose to license its IP to a third party. This can be an effective...
Brand protection online—strategy
Brand protection online—strategyHaving an online presence is essential for most brands. Many advertise and sell their products online—on their own...
Types of dispute resolution
Types of dispute resolutionThis Practice Note provides an overview of the main types of dispute resolution that are an alternative to litigation in IP...
Parallel imports—UK
Parallel imports—UKThe legal frameworkThis Practice Note explains trade mark law on parallel trade. Parallel imports, or ‘grey market’ goods, are...
Know-how—protection and licensing
Know-how—protection and licensingThis Practice Note explains what know-how is and sets out the different ways know-how can be protected before...
Copyright—secondary infringement
Copyright—secondary infringementWhereas primary infringement requires in most instances the act of reproduction, secondary infringement is about...
Licensing intellectual property rights
Licensing intellectual property rightsLicensing IP rights—introductionDrafting IP licences can raise a number of commercial and legal issues, which...
Application to register a UK trade mark
Application to register a UK trade markThis Practice Note provides guidance on applying to register a trade mark at the UK Intellectual Property...
IP rights and semiconductors
IP rights and semiconductorsBackground to semiconductorsA semiconductor is essentially any material which has electrical conductivity and can thus...
Can the assignment of a patent be retroactively effective?
Associated legal terms
Certificate of contested validity
Where a patent has been the subject of an unsuccessful challenge before the courts as to its validity, the court can grant a certificate of contested validity.
Database right
This is an exclusive right which is granted to the maker of a database where there has been a substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting the contents of the database.
Research
Copyright is not infringed in a literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work where it amounts to fair dealing for the purposes of non-commercial research.
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