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...
The European Commission has adopted its 2027 Work Programme setting out its main legislative and non-legislative priorities for the year ahead. The...
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has published the government's response to the consultation on changes to the UK designs framework, in which a...
IP analysis: The Court of Appeal allowed an employee inventor’s appeals concerning the assessment of outstanding benefit under section 40 of the...
The Court of Justice of the European Union has published an opinion by Advocate General (AG) Szpunar in Like Company v Google, the first EU case on...
Latest IP Practice Notes
Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL(RR)A 2023) amends the regime established by...
The public sector is one of the largest and most significant sources of information in the UK. Promoting the use and re-use of public sector...
This resource kit contains a list of the key practical guidance available across Lexis+® UK that deals with the agriculture sector. It is laid out by...
Incorporated v unincorporated charitiesThere are a number of incorporated or unincorporated structures that are adopted by charities.The corporate...
AActive substance (plant protection products)The component of a plant protection product which acts against pests or plant disease or performs its...
Latest IP Precedents
FORTHCOMING CHANGE: When BSAIA 2025, s 48 is brought into full force on 1 October 2026, it will insert section 14A into IANA 2006. Section 14A...
This Agreement is made on [insert date]Parties1[Name of Company], a company incorporated in England and Wales with registered number [insert company...
This Agreement is made on [date]Parties1[Name of Company], a company incorporated in England with registered number [insert company number] whose...
This Agreement is made on [insert date]Parties1[Name of Company], a company incorporated in England with registered number [insert company number]...
This Agreement is made on [insert date]Parties1[insert name], a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert company number] and...
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
Film Director
The (principal) director of a film is one of the two original owners of the copyright in the film. The other owner being the producer.
Lapsed patent
A patent lapses where the renewal fees have not been paid.
Priority Date
The priority date is the point from which a patent application is examined for novelty and inventive step. The priority date is usually the same as the application date, but it can be back-date up to one year before the application date.
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