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
This week's edition of IP weekly highlights includes: a hand-picked summary of news analysis, updates and new content from the world of IP. These...
MLex: A second draft of the EU’s voluntary code of practice on generative AI softens several transparency commitments under the EU AI Act, making some...
The European Parliament has adopted recommendations, by a vote of 460 to 71, calling for fair remuneration and greater transparency for copyrighted...
Publishers Licensing Services (PLS) has launched the first stage of a collective licensing initiative that enables publishers to opt into a scheme...
Law360, London: The Unified Patent Court (UPC) has asked the EU's top court to clarify when companies outside the court's jurisdiction may be targeted...
Latest IP Practice Notes
FORTHCOMING CHANGE: it was announced at Budget 2025 that the government will legislate in Finance Bill 2026–27 to ‘clarify’ the tax treatment of image...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is no longer maintained. It contains closed legislative proposals, published judgments and closed...
BackgroundThis Practice Note provides a high-level summary of key themes of comparison between the UK and EU in relation to trade marks that have...
Compared to other IP rights, authors are given a long term of protection under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) as amended by...
This Practice Note is a ‘how to’ guide on reviewing an NDA (also known as a non-disclosure agreement or a confidentiality agreement) which signposts...
Latest IP Precedents
This Agreement is made on [date] 1 [insert name of party] [of OR trading as [insert trading name]...
[IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE[BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS [OF ENGLAND AND WALES OR IN [insert location]]][Specify division][Specify specialist...
Case No. [insert claim number]IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEBUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND & WALESINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LIST (ChD)[INTELLECTUAL...
Case No. [insert number]IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEBUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND & WALESINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LIST (ChD)[[INTELLECTUAL...
Claim No. [insert claim number]IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEBUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND & WALESINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LIST...
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
Basic patent
The basic patent is the patent which protects the product that is the subject of the supplementary protection certificate.
Sound recording
A sound recording is a copyright work which comprises of a recording of sound which may be reproduced.
SPC
A supplementary protection certificate (SPC) extends the protection conferred by a patent to a particular plant protection or medicinal product by up to five years, provided certain conditions are met.
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