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
Law360, London: Headline proposals by a government body to examine whether registered designs are novel and can potentially set aside protection for...
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has published guidance on its forthcoming One IPO patents service, scheduled to launch in early 2026. The...
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on draft revisions to Regulation (EU) No 316/2014 (Technology Transfer Block Exemption...
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...
IP analysis: The UK has become the 15th signatory of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty, which aims to harmonise procedures and reduce administrative...
Latest IP Practice Notes
New and emerging technology—protection and enforcement of intellectual property rightsThis Practice Note focuses on the IP aspects relating to the...
Copyright in designsThis Practice Note examines the complex relationship between copyright and designs. For more information about designs law and...
DeedsUnder English law, legally binding agreements can be made orally, in writing or by deed.This Practice Notice considers the circumstances in which...
UK Rome II—specific types of claimsThis Practice Note is for use when determining applicable law in the courts of England and Wales in respect of...
Rome II—specific types of claims (UK only)This Practice Note is for use when determining applicable law in the courts of England and Wales in respect...
Latest IP Precedents
Confidentiality agreement—one-way—pro-discloserThis Agreement is made on [date]Parties1[Insert name of party][ of [insert details] OR a company...
Confidentiality letter—one-way—pro-discloser[insert address of sender]Our ref: [insert reference]Your ref: [insert reference][insert address of...
Confidentiality agreement—one-way—pro-recipientThis Agreement is made on [date].Parties1[Insert name of party] [of [insert address] OR a company...
Confidentiality letter—one-way—pro-recipient[insert address of sender]Our ref: [insert reference]Your ref: [insert reference][insert address of...
Confidentiality letter—short form[insert name and address of sender] (We)Our ref: [insert reference]Your ref: [insert reference][Insert address 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
Common general knowledge
Common general knowledge, or CGK, includes information that the person skilled in the particular art would know at the patent’s priority date, together with the contents of standard textbooks on the topic concerned.
Surrender of patent
A patent proprietor can ask to surrender his or her patent. This has the effect of the patent rights coming to an end once the surrender has been accepted.
Tying and bundling
Tying or bundling concerns the acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts. The General Court’s 2007 decision in the Microsoft case upheld the Commission’s 2004 decision that Microsoft had unlawfully tied its Media Player (WMP) with the Windows Operating System (WOS) thereby foreclosing innovation and limiting consumer choice. The case involved technical tying through the technical integration of one product (WMP) into another (WOS).
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