Q&As

View IP by content type:

Practice notes

Precedents

Q&As

Featured IP content

Brexit legislation tracker

This Practice Note tracks the progress of UK legislation introduced as part of the legislative project associated with the UK’s withdrawal from the

Cloud computing—key legal issues

This Practice Note considers the following legal and commercial issues relating to cloud services:•Due diligence•Contract documents•Service

Copyright infringement

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) gives the copyright owner exclusive rights in the UK to carry out various acts in relation to

Copyright—permitted acts and defences

There are a number of specific exceptions to copyright infringement, the majority of which are laid down by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988

Practice notes

Intellectual property (IP)—new starter guide

This new starter guide provides an introduction to intellectual property (IP) law. It is aimed at trainee solicitors and those who are new to IP as a...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Commercial use of photographs—IP issues

This Practice Note provides guidance on legal issues arising from the commercial use of photographs. Photographs are central to many commercial...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Trade mark assignment and licensing

As of exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. However, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK has entered an...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Transferring patent rights

As of exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. However, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK has entered an...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Application to register a UK trade mark

The registration of a trade mark gives the owner the exclusive right to prevent others from using that mark without their consent. It is important...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Copyright—protectable works

CategorisationCopyright is the exclusive right to do, and authorise others to do, certain acts in relation to copyright works. Copyright works have...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Copyright—subsistence and qualification

Qualifying for copyright protectionCopyright recognises the intellectual creation of an author when a work is created. The law is set out mainly in...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Defences and exceptions to trade mark infringement

As of exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. However, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK has entered an...

26th Sep

In-house

Practice notes

Copyright—authorship and ownership

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) defines the author of a work as the person who created it. The author as creator is not always...

25th Sep

Practice notes

IP—new starter copyright guide

This new starter guide provides an introduction to copyright law. It focuses on highlighting the basic principles that apply and includes numerous...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Joint ownership of intellectual property rights

When parties collaborate on creative projects or research and development, complex questions arise about the ownership of any resulting intellectual...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Introduction to copyright and associated rights

This Practice Note is intended for commercial lawyers not specialised in IP. It provides an introduction to copyright and associated rights covering:...

25th Sep

In-house

Practice notes

Introduction to trade marks

This Practice Note provides an introduction to trade marks, ie:•what is a trade mark?•registering a trade mark•dealing with trade marks in...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Introduction to passing off

Unlike many other countries, the UK has no unfair competition law. Brand owners seeking to prevent competitors from marketing ‘copycat’ products or...

25th Sep

In-house

Practice notes

Know-how—protection and licensing

What is know-how?‘Know-how’ is technical or practical knowledge resulting from research or experience and usually relates to the way something is...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Elements of passing off—goodwill

Passing off is a common law tort which protects rights that are not capable of registration or are difficult to register as trade marks (eg colours,...

25th Sep

Most recent Q&As content

Q&As

Can an execution block be amended after execution and delivery of a deed? For example, where a document was executed as a deed by a company purporting to act by a director and a power of attorney, but the attorney should have signed as a witness in accordance with section 44 of the Companies Act 2006, can the attestation be changed to refer to the attorney as a witness and is the execution by the company valid?

Formalities required for a deedThe requirements of a deed are set out under section 1 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989...

28th Sep

Q&As

Does the lack of signature on a contract or deed negate the contract? Is there a distinction between contracts and deeds in this respect? Where a charge that is not signed is registered against a company is that charge valid?

We assume that this Q&A is referring to a charge that has not been signed by either party. We have also assumed that the charge is registered against...

28th Sep

Q&As

Can my force majeure clause protect me against the economic impact of coronavirus (COVID-19)?

Is there a force majeure event?In English law, the expression ‘force majeure’ does not refer to a legal doctrine. Instead, the expression ‘force...

28th Sep

COVID-19

Q&As

Can an authorised signatory execute a deed on behalf of a director of a company or would this result in the deed being invalidly executed?

In answering this Q&A, research has been limited to cover execution as a deed on behalf of a company and does not relate to a deed being executed by...

28th Sep

Q&As

Will a correctly executed deed be a binding contract if all pages of the document carry the word ‘draft’ as a watermark?

A deed has four key requirements:•in writing (established in Goddard's Case (1584) 2 Co Rep 4b, 3 Leon 100 (not reported by LexisNexis®; section 1(1)...

28th Sep

Q&As

If a clause in a contract gives an immediate right to terminate for material breach and is silent as to the effect of a dispute resolution clause in the same contract on that right to terminate (although other clauses in the contract are expressed to be subject to the dispute resolution clause), does the party seeking to terminate have to go through the dispute resolution process before they terminate?

The determination of the issue will always depend on the exact terms of the dispute resolution clause utilised in the contract. It has been assumed...

Produced in partnership with Tim Herbert of Ignition Law 28th Sep

Q&As

Can an invalid statutory declaration be binding as a simple contract?

A statutory declaration allows an individual to make a legal declaration confirming that something is true for the purposes of satisfying some legal...

28th Sep

Q&As

If a person who intended to sign a contract dies before signing the agreement, can their personal representative (PR) sign on their behalf or are there any other solutions to complete the contract? If a PR is able to sign, is there specific wording to include in the attestation clause?

Powers of the personal representative (PR)A personal representative (PR) has powers, under the Administration of Estates Act 1925, the Trusts of Land...

28th Sep

Q&As

Is there a risk that if a contract was signed by electronic means and it does not have a counterpart clause, that it could be argued that the contract has not been executed correctly?

For the purposes of this Q&A, we have assumed there is a provision stating that an agreement may be executed in counterparts and that each signed...

28th Sep

Q&As

Can an online retailer restrict the sale of its goods to particular regions within the UK, and if so how should this be notified to the customer?

It is useful to consider Practice Note: Business to consumer e-commerce—summary of issues to consider. This Q&A sets out some of the key legal issues...

28th Sep

Q&As

When marketing to sole traders, partnerships or small limited companies via text/e-mail do the recipients need to provide consent?

We have limited our research and comments to cover the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998). We have not commented on the Privacy and Electronic...

28th Sep

Q&As

Where a contract says time is of the utmost importance—is that construed as being of the essence?

Where a contract states that ‘time is of the essence’ in respect of the performance of an obligation stipulated in the contract, it means that there...

28th Sep

Q&As

Are there any circumstances in which parties would not use ‘and delivered’ when executing a deed?

Under section 1(2) of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, a deed must be:•in writing•clear on its face that it is intended to be...

Produced in partnership with Hannah Maidment of HRC Law 28th Sep

Q&As

Subject to post-Brexit potential changes in enforcing foreign judgments, is it possible to state with certainty that: A) an EU judgment will be enforced against an English company in English courts B) an EU debenture affecting an English company would be enforceable in English courts.

EU judgmentIn this Q&A we have limited our research to cover the current position under English law; we have not considered the possible position...

28th Sep

Brexit

Q&As

Where a contract prevents one party (A) from soliciting the employees of the other party (B) for a period of 12 months following the termination of the contract between the parties, is this effective to prevent the solicitation of an ex-employee of (B) who left (B) five months ago and is working independently and an ex-employee who has left B and set up as a consultant through a service company?

Non-solicitation clausesA restriction on ‘poaching’ employees is one type of restrictive covenant usually contained in commercial or employment...

Produced in partnership with Lynne Counsell of 9 Stone Buildings 28th Sep

Q&As

If I can’t meet the people I am contracting with to sign a contract, how do I execute a contract by virtual means?

Many businesses are closing their offices or recommending their staff work from home in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). This...

28th Sep

COVID-19

Q&As

What are the formalities for using a registered society seal?

For the purpose of this Q&A, we assume that a laser seal is a method of application of a purported seal.Where a company has a seal and it is being...

28th Sep

Q&As

Would Rome 1 apply to a contract between a US company and a UK company to determine the applicable governing law? If Rome 1 does apply to such a contract to determine choice of law, is there a presumption that US law applies given the US company is the supplier?

This response is based on the approach of the courts of England and Wales and assumes that the contract was entered into after 17 December 2009.When...

28th Sep

Q&As

Do you have any guidance on whether Brexit is considered a force majeure event?

We refer you to the following which may be of assistance:•Q&A: Is Brexit considered a force majeure event?•Practice Note: Brexit—contract risk...

28th Sep

Brexit

Q&As

What are the requirements for incorporating the terms of an agreement which is being varied into a deed of variation?

There are various methods by which a document such as an agreement which is being varied may be incorporated into or annexed to a deed of variation....

28th Sep