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Other Services |
Other core, and Related, services
Contents of this page: ■ Business name registration ■ Infringement & validity advice ■ Infringement support (click to scroll down) ■ Portfolio maintenance (click to scroll down) ■ Watching service (click to scroll down) ■ Oppositions (click to scroll down) ■ Due diligences (click to scroll down) Business name registration - If a business trades under a name which is different from the name of the people involved, it is necessary to have the business name registered, even though this does not provide adequate protection for the name. One of our services is to register business or trading names for our clients, and to manage the registrations, including making amendments and attending to renewals when required. Infringement and validity advice - Sometimes, other people might attempt to claim that you are infringing their patent, trade mark, registered design, or other intellectual property rights, and to threaten you with legal action. This can cause a great deal of stress, which may be unnecessary especially if they do not have the rights that they claim to have. Alternatively, you may believe that other people are infringing your intellectual property rights and impinging on your business. One of the services that we provide is to analyse intellectual property to determine if it is indeed being infringed, and whether it is likely to be valid protection. We can then advise you about the appropriate steps to take next, and further assist with those steps. In many cases, these steps are sufficient to fully deal with the matter. Infringement support - Sometimes, it is necessary for patent, trade mark, registered design, or other intellectual property disputes to be dealt with by the courts. In this event, it is usually necessary to engage the services of suitably experienced solicitors and/or barristers who may prepare the necessary court documents and who may actually appear at court hearings. Part of our function as attorneys is to provide the necessary technical and legal support, and instructions, to such solicitors and barristers. Back to top Portfolio maintenance - Most types of intellectual property including patents, trade marks and registered designs, need to be renewed annually or at other times during the life of the property. The timing depends on the type of property and the country concerned. This usually applies after the property is registered or granted but sometimes before grant/registration as well. It is important that the renewal/maintenance take place by the relevant due date, otherwise extension fees may apply, or the intellectual property rights may lapse completely. Many holders of intellectual property do not have suitable facilities, or the desire, to monitor the due dates, especially where they have large intellectual portfolios, or where renewal dates arise after lengthy period of time (e.g. 10 years for trade marks). One of our roles is to maintain a database with details of all of our clients' intellectual property including the renewal due dates, to send reminders to our clients about these dates, and to attend to the renewals as required. We can also provide customised reports on the status of their intellectual property. Back to top Watching service - We can provide a watching service for monitoring other peoples’ patents, trade marks, designs or other intellectual property. For example, such a watching service may be for determining whether someone else has filed an application for a trade mark which is similar to yours, or for a patent which may interfere with your business or commercial activities. Alternatively, it might indicate when a patent or trade mark has been accepted by the Patent or Trade Marks Office, at which stage it may be possible to file an opposition. Keeping such a watch can alert us to the deadline by which an opposition may be filed. The watch might also indicate, for example, when another person's intellectual property lapses, ceases, or expires. This might clear the way for our clients to engage in certain commercial activities. Back to top Oppositions - Sometimes, a competitor may have filed a patent, trade mark or design application that our client believes to be invalid or otherwise suitable to challenge. It is possible, with these types of intellectual property, to file an opposition (provided this is done by the relevant deadline) to challenge the registration of that intellectual property. Alternatively, our clients' patent, trade mark or design application may be opposed by other parties. We can attend to such opposition matters on behalf of our clients, including preparing and filing the various documents and evidence, and appearing at hearings, and advise them on suitable courses of action. Back to top Due diligences We can conduct due diligences and audits of a person’s or organisation’s intellectual property, and provide associated advice. This may, for example, be a necessary or desirable step to take when a business is to be sold or bought, or to meet certain legal requirements for companies, or even simply as part of a business's review of its own portfolio. Back to top
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