Intellectual Property Solicitors - Our Panel

Intellectual Property (IP) Solicitors are experts in legal matters related to intellectual property law, a complex area of law that many businesses need assistance with.

Intellectual property lawyers can effectively advise and assist businesses of all sizes in a range of industry sectors to identify any intellectual property they have developed, whether it be design work, confidential information, brands or inventions, and can advise a business on how best to use their IP for profit.

Due to the complex nature of IP law and IP strategies in general, many people and businesses overlook the fact they may have many areas of Intellectual Property that they can monetise and protect.

Getting relevant legal advice on the subject, therefore, provides you with all the information you may need surrounding your rights and ownership, from things as simple as your brand name and logo. 

As society moves more into a digital and tech-based world, Intellectual Property law will continue to expand, and IP lawyers will be pivotal in helping businesses understand and protect their IP rights. 

Expert Commercial Law can put you in touch with legal professionals who specialise in intellectual property law and can help you identify your IP and assist in making a plan for how to use and protect your IP assets in the most cost-effective manner.

Additionally, if you are having any disputes surrounding IP law, expert intellectual property solicitors are best placed to advise and assist you.

Intellectual property protection

Intellectual property is a key asset for your business. It can be protected in the following ways:

Trademarks

Trademarks are used primarily to distinguish a brand, whether it be in the form of a logo or text. Trademark applications must be registered through the Intellectual Property Office. 

There are many things that can’t be trademarked, and a trade mark lawyer will be able to advise you on what you can and cannot register. It is also worth remembering that you don’t always have to register a trademark, but it does make taking action against anyone else who tries to use it much clearer and simpler.

Applying for a trademark does cost, and you can apply online to do so. Once you have a registered trademark, you can then use it where you want and can also use the ® symbol. If at any point you also wish to move on from the trademark, you are then able to sell it to another interested party. 

Copyright

Copyright is most commonly associated with the arts, such as in music and writing. Copyright is an automatic right in which you don’t need to apply for anything like you would a trademark. It is primarily about ownership of work, and that no one is allowed to copy or steal other people’s creations/ intellectual property. 

If you wish to use someone else’s work in some format, then you must seek out the owner and come to an agreement. Intellectual Property solicitors can assist in any type of copyright query or dispute, providing concise information and plans of action in a complicated area of law.

Patents

Similarly to the above, patents are again aiming to protect ownership of an invention or idea. Registering a patent means you register all the steps and/or ingredients to a new product/service/process that you have come up with. The patent protects anyone else from doing the same thing. 

To register a patent there are certain rules and guidelines to meet which is where an Intellectual Property solicitor will be able to appropriately help you. Expert Commercial Law have a panel of patent and trade mark attorneys who can assist in your case.

Registered designs

Registering a design is a complicated area, especially as a certain look of your brand or a product can be so important to how people perceive your business. By registering a design, you are protecting that look and can take action against anyone who tries to duplicate it. 

It is recommended you seek expert legal advice from an Intellectual Property Solicitor for registering a design, as they would be the most appropriate person to provide you with the relevant advice and steps you need to take to protect your designs. 

Trade secrets

A trade secret is defined by the Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018, which implemented the EU Trade Secrets Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/943). According to these regulations, a trade secret is information that meets the following criteria:

• Secrecy: The information is secret in the sense that it is not generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question.
• Commercial Value: The information has commercial value because it is secret.
• Reasonable Steps to Keep it Secret: The person lawfully in control of the information has taken reasonable steps to keep it secret.

Intellectual property disputes and infringement

Intellectual property infringement refers to the unauthorised use, reproduction, distribution, or exploitation of someone else’s intellectual property without the owner’s permission. 

Intellectual property infringement can lead to legal consequences (including court proceedings), and the owner of the intellectual property has the right to take legal action to stop the infringement and seek damages.

Legal remedies for IP disputes may include injunctive relief (a court order to stop the infringing activities), monetary damages, and, in some cases, criminal penalties.

To protect against intellectual property infringement, owners typically register their IP rights and actively monitor and enforce those rights. In the case of trademarks and patents, registration with the relevant intellectual property office is often a prerequisite for taking legal action against infringement.

Copyright protection, on the other hand, generally exists automatically upon the creation of the work, but registration may be required for certain legal benefits in some jurisdictions.

Why choose Expert Commercial Law?

Expert Commercial Law can assist with your intellectual property case by connecting you with an experienced team of specialist intellectual property solicitors from our panel.

All of the law firms and specialist intellectual property lawyers on our panel have the experience and expertise required to take on your case.

Each solicitor is vetted before being allowed onto our panel, and we only select the best in the business. All of our solicitor firms are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The teams of intellectual property and patent attorneys on our panel can provide quality legal services and advice throughout your claim to help you achieve the best outcome possible.

Alongside the intellectual property services our solicitors can offer, they can also help with commercial claims, such as breach of contract, partnership disputes, fraud claims, restrictive covenants and CCJ removal.

Please note we are not a firm of solicitors; however, we maintain a panel of trusted and regulated legal experts. If you contact us in relation to an injunction query or a commercial law case, we will pass your case on to a panel firm in return for a fee from our panel firms. We will never charge you for passing your case to a panel firm.