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 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...
Law360, London: The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) said on 4 September 2025 that it is reviewing whether AI-generated designs should be...
Latest IP Practice Notes
Patent invalidity—lack of noveltyGrounds of patent invalidity and revocationPatents may be revoked (ie removed from the register of patents) if they...
Intellectual property and spare partsThis Practice Note is intended to provide a summary as to how spare parts are dealt with for the main IP rights...
Designs—UK/EU comparisonBackgroundThis Practice Note provides a high-level summary of key themes of comparison between the UK and EU in relation to...
UK registered and unregistered designsWhat design protection is available in the UK?Design rights protect the shape, configuration or appearance of...
Designs tracker—UKThis tracker is intended to be used to track the progress of UK design judgments, legislative proposals and current UK...
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
Exclusive licensee
An exclusive licence is a licence in writing signed by or on behalf of the copyright owner authorising the licensee to the exclusion of all other persons, including the person granting the licence, to exercise a right which would otherwise be exercisable exclusively by the copyright owner.
Primary infringer
A threat can be made to a primary infringer that is protected from the tort of making unjustified threats of patent infringement.
Relevant office
“relevant office” means— (i) in the case of High Court proceedings in a Chancery district registry, that registry; (ii) in the case of any other High Court proceedings, Chancery Chambers at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL; and (iii) in the case of County Court proceedings, the office of the County Court hearing centre in question
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