Posts Tagged ‘Intellectual Property’

Wikileaks has taken centre stage in the media recently, and continues to be a growing source of controversy.  Opinions are divided over whether or not the activities of the organisation are legitimate, but on a more neutral note, there are interesting questions arising from some of the technical difficulties it has experienced. At a basic [...]

One aspect of online business that is particularly difficult to grapple with is copyright, be it, use of content from other sites, or copyright relating to photographs and images or other issues.  The misinformation that surrounds copyright is therefore unsurprising. Often newcomers to the internet freely copy and paste from other websites, whether there is [...]

It’s easy to forget about things as you focus on the look and feel of the website and a good privacy policy could quite easily be one of them. But a privacy policy is essential for your website, as data protection and other laws give people a right to know how you’re going to use [...]

A trade mark can be refused where it is descriptive of the goods and services it covers. This could be where the mark ‘designates the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value or geographical origin’ of the goods or service or other characteristic. For example, ‘GOOD BOOKS’ would be a descriptive trade mark in a class [...]

Google has recently won a case in Spain against Spanish broadcaster Telecinco regarding its video sharing site YouTube. Telecinco claimed that YouTube was responsible for copyright infringement when its users posted material which violated copyright laws on its website. However, the Spanish court found that YouTube should not be responsible for material being uploaded onto [...]

In a competitive market setting your products apart from other people’s is key to maintaining an edge. Product design is often an important characteristic of a brand. It could even be the USP of the business. Where, however, the function of a product dictates how the design is formed then Intellectual Property law provides few solutions, bar patents, to protect the design. In general, Design law is clear that it does not protect the functional elements of registered designs.

Businesses are often surprised to learn that trademarks, unlike domain or company names, do not have to be the same to prevent others from using or registering them. Similar names are also covered. Some interesting examples of how trade mark protection may extend to similar names are Facebook, the Easy Group, and McDonalds.

In business, as in life, we are constantly assessing and managing risks.  One of the most important risks to avoid is that of choosing your brand name without doing some very careful searches.  I know this from personal experience. When I started up my law firm I named it A1 Law, having done a brief [...]

If you are starting up in business, getting the right legal help can be a key to success – especially if you are a creative business.  An effective Intellectual Property strategy to properly structure your IP rights from the beginning really does make a difference to the value of your business as it grows. I [...]

A controversial subject for some, copyright infringement has become a more common conversation topic as peer-to-peer networks, and widespread high speed broadband, have made it easy for members of the public to find, download, and share copyrighted material without seeking permission from the owner.  At the same time, copyright owners are finding more effective methods [...]