Let an Intellectual Property Solicitor Help Protect Your Business - By: Tim Bishop

In the world of business, one thing is clear. Your competitors will always be taking a keen interest in what you are doing, and apart from having their own plan for their business, may well react to innovations from others in your sector.

Witness how, in the motor industry during the last few years, someone had the bright idea of putting indicator repeaters on the end of car wing mirrors. Apart from the styling innovation, there are potential safety benefits, and the light can be incorporated in the mirror assembly, rather than punched through the metal of the car's wing. In just a few short years, many manufacturers have followed this trend, even those making modestly priced vehicles.

So having your bright idea protected is well worthwhile, and to do this proficiently it is sensible to employ the services of an intellectual property solicitor. The law on intellectual property (or IP ) is a specialist area where issues surrounding what can or cannot be patented, copyrighted or trademarked ebb and flow. One hundred years ago, innovation was all about physical products or industrial processes, whereas today many of the developments in business are to do with more nebulous concepts and intangibles such as software. So finding and defining the right way to protect your ideas, often the most potentially valuable asset of any company, requires specialist help.

Only by having your concepts carefully and fully described, and by having the appropriate documents lodged in the correct places, will you be sure that specialist IP lawyers can defend you against rivals who may, in the future, wish to copy your technology and take advantage of it to build their own businesses. If your competitors want to cheat by copying your innovative designs, which have cost you a lot of money to develop, why should you not be able to claim damages from them? A strong legal defence of your IP will need a paper trail, which will show how your ideas were developed and how the competitor has damaged the value of that idea by copying it.

Sorting out an IP dispute does not need to cost a lot of money, nor does it need to take up a lot of time, however if the elementary work is done before this need arises then the disruption to your business will be minimal.

If your intellectual property is unprotected, you should get some advice from an experienced solicitor on how to sort this out - it may save you time and money in the long run.

About the Author

If you are looking for specialist IP lawyers, contact an intellectual property solicitor at Bonallack and Bishop. Tim Bishop is senior partner at the firm, responsible for all major strategic decisions. He has grown the firm by 1000% in 13 years and has strong plans for its continued expansion.

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