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Common soft IP related mistakes made by SMEs
Photo by DTL at morguefile.com
Risk is the chance of something going wrong, and the danger that damage or loss will occur. By its very nature, there are both rewards and risks associated with IP. For anyone involved in IP, then IP related risks are part of working life.
However many ignore the risks associated with IP or only react when the risk has materialised, which is most times too late. Also, many of the IP related risks that companies face are due to their own lack of awareness or proper understanding of IP, and/or their own actions or lack of actions.
Soft IP
There are multiple forms of IP such as patents, trademarks, copyright, etc. etc.
The term ‘soft IP’ is sometimes used to refer to trademarks, copyright, and domain names, in contrast to ‘hard IP’, which is sometimes used to refer to patents.
I accept that use of this phrase is controversial among some IP practitioners, and that the term soft IP may mean slightly different things from one IP practitioner to another
This paper focuses on soft IP and in particular on trademarks, domain names and social media handles, and some of the common mistakes made by SMEs as far as these forms of IP are concerned. (more…)
Trade Marks and Companies House
In our day jobs we often meet prospective new clients who have registered the name of their new start up company at Companies House and have then commenced a programme of advertising to jump start their business. Although checking, via Companies House, that your company name has not already been taken is obviously important it should be borne in mind that availability of a name at Companies House does not necessarily mean you are free to use that name in the course of business. Neither does registration of a company name at Companies House provide the right to prevent others from trading under the same name.
Prior to adopting a new name, it is therefore prudent to speak to a trade mark attorney to ensure that the name is free for adoption and, further, to ensure that you put in place the best form of protection to enable you to prevent others from using a similar name in future.
Further information can be found here.
IPcopy 