• Commercialising intellectual property rights, which includes copyright, patents, trademarks, anti-counterfeiting & piracy, digital rights management, know-how, confidential information, and trade secrets.
• Securing IP rights, such as buying and selling intellectual property rights, auditing IP assets, structuring licensing strategies, negotiating and drafting contracts, advising on joint ventures, advising on competition law, framework distribution and agency agreements.
• Brand protection, such as trade mark and design registrations in Europe and the UK, and implementing anti-piracy measures.
• Enforcing intellectual property rights, by detecting and preventing infringements of rights and using alternate dispute resolution methods and commercial litigation. Also, implementation of anti-counterfeiting programmes to mitigate against the effect of counterfeiting.

Such is the broad application of IP rights, it affects all manner of intellectual capital; in fact in any creative field. In recent years this importance has been recognised by legislative reform, seeing the introduction of moral rights and database rights.

Our focus is protecting intellectual property within the business, aiming for legal certainty and the enforcement of rights. The intellectual property vesting in creative work may have different ends to different business; it may mean a superior way of doing business; increased business agility; increased productivity or competitive edge; increased shareholder value; increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, increased revenues, and reduced costs.

Many new products or services embody different types of IP. Forward-looking enterprises face the challenge of extracting the latent value of their intellectual property and using it effectively in their business strategy. Companies that dedicate time and resources to protecting their intellectual property may increase their competitiveness in a variety of ways.

Intellectual property protection helps in: (Intellectual Property Solicitor Northern Ireland)

• Preventing competitors from copying or closely imitating a company’s products or services;
• Avoiding wasteful investment in research and development (R&D) and marketing
• Creating a corporate identity through a trademark and branding strategy
• Negotiating licensing, franchising or other IP-based contractual agreements
• Increasing the market value of the company
• Acquiring venture capital and enhancing access to finance
• Obtaining access to new markets

Effective IP management is more sophisticated than simply protecting inventions, trademarks, designs, or copyright. It is the ability to commercialise inventions, market brands, license know-how, conclude franchising or joint ventures and other contractual agreements involving intellectual property. IP is also a legal right that contributes to the balance sheet.

When IP rights are not enforced good innovation may be lost to competitors who reap the benefit of the product or service, leaving the innovator without reward. Adequate protection is about deterring infringement. Intellectual property protection enables companies to profit from their innovative capacity, cyclically funds further innovation.

As international cooperation increases as it has done over recent years creation, commercialisation, management, maintenance, protection and enforcement becomes more accessible to businesses. We draw on our experience and expertise to assist our clients overcome these obstacles and take advantage of the intellectual property system and the benefits it has to offer. Small and medium size businesses account for more than 70 percent of the production of goods and services. Effective use by business of IP assets is a key factor in creating and maintaining the market edge and superior tools of the trade.

Our lawyers are well positioned to analyse ownership of intellectual property assets within a company, to earmark those assets for future use. When IP assets are known, it allows a company to safeguard the value of assets that underlie the true value of the business; account for those assets on balance sheets; and focus attention on assets that are available for raising finance, licensing or sale. For those firms where inventions, new technology, software and product designs are key, protecting intellectual property is absolutely central to value creation.

In the context of fund raising, mergers and acquisitions financiers are looking for enforceable IP rights – they start by casting a critical eye over the IP and the degree that it may be protected.

The Law Group are acutely aware of the central role that intellectual property may take in commercial transactions.

As an indication of the breadth of our experience, we have acted and advised on matters that encompass the suite of intellectual property rights including intellectual property licensing, including data content, databases, software and distribution rights, structuring corporate entities to safeguard IP and joint ventures, marketing of IP, piracy, and contractual compliance.

Each company has different business goals. If the goal is to maximise profits, the main aim is simply to maximise profit margins then the strategy must involve the protection of the products, processes or services which are identified as being most relevant to those margins.

If the goal is to penetrate new markets then the policy may involve generating new IP to gain access to dominant players’ markets.

Perhaps the intention is merely to realise cash rewards for a significant research and development investment which can be achieved by licensing.

We have an impressive track record for clients across industry sectors including: (Intellectual Property Solicitor Northern Ireland)

• Internet Service Providers
• Media
• Entertainment
• Publishing
• Property
• Manufacturing
• Travel