The basic concept of intellectual property is protecting products, results and rewards of the exercise of human intellectual and commercial endeavour. The property rights are a form of intangible property, comprising the legal right to stop others using the owner’s property without permission.
Individuals and Companies will register intellectual property rights to enhance the value of a product or company and to set themselves apart from their competitors.
Our specialist team of Intellectual Property lawyers can advise you on all types of intellectual property including;
Trade Marks
A trade mark is a brand or name or other mark of trade origin which are protected by registration which will be used to defend its trade mark against infringers who use the same mark or name.
If a trade mark is not registered then it can only be protected by the law of passing off and we strongly advise you contact a member of our team to ensure your trade mark is registered correctly.
Passing Off
Passing off is a common law which enables a business to defend itself from someone who is trying to take unfair advantage of the trading reputation of that business by using its name or similar packaging for example.
If you are aware of someone who is replicating or using your reputation to trade, contact Pepperells straight away.
Copyright
Copyright is an unregistered system used to prevent someone copying a creative expression of another individual including writing, art, music, film, architecture and computer software.
Companies involved in the creative expression industry will place a huge emphasis on copyright law do to the creative input used to create the finished work. We offer our services to all individuals and company’s who may feel their copyright has been breached or may have breached copyright themselves.
Designs
When designing a product the individual or company in question will have put methodical thought behind it’s relevance, creativity and market audience. The technical function of a design can be registered for up to 25 years. If you have a design you wish to register please contact a specialised member of our team today.
Patents
A patent is a registered right administered by the Patents Office for the protection of an invention by an individual or a company. The patent gives the holder a right over the patent for 20 years until the invention is made public in return for the grant by the Crown of the period of protection.