Intellectual Property - Protecting Rights and Maximising Value
Duration
1 day
What is this course about?
Copyright, trade marks, patents and designs - the core intellectual property rights - provide essential protection for many businesses from computer software to patents for pharmaceuticals, trade mark and domain names to written specifications.
This course provides an intensely practical day's training on the legal IP issues which matter in practice. You will learn how to seize opportunities and maximise value; how to ensure rights are not lost and those created are protected. From licensing agreements to the latest new rules on technology contracts under EU competition law, this course is pertinent, relevant and up to date. Interactive sessions ensure delegates have a wide opportunity to consult one of the UK's leading intellectual property practitioners.
The course is aimed at commercial managers, those involved with research, contracts and purchasing managers and in house legal advisers. The aims are to ensure delegates leave with a full range of information and skills in this area and know what action to take to ensure their business' documentation contains the essential protection needed to ensure rights are kept and enhanced.
Who would benefit?
The course is aimed at commercial managers, those involved with research, contracts and purchasing managers and in house legal advisers. The aims are to ensure delegates leave with a full range of information and skills in this area and know what action to take to ensure their business' documentation contains the essential protection needed to ensure rights are kept and enhanced.
Objectives
For delegates to:-
- Understand the legal principles of Intellectual Property Rights
- Understand IPR in practice
- Recognise and seize opportunities
- Protect rights
- Be aware of EU law
Key topics covered
1. Introduction to intellectual property
- Patents
- Trade marks
- Designs
- Copyright
- Interaction between the various rights
- Ensuring full value and avoiding disputes
2. Patents
- Registered patents for inventions in the UK and abroad
- What is protected by patent?
- Cost and value of patenting
- When to apply for patents
- How to ensure inventions are properly protected
- Licensing and exploitation of patents
3. Confidential Information and non disclosure agreements
- Practical guidance and group exercise
- Which information is confidential?
- Risks of disclosure
- Enforcement of NDAs
- Litigation issues
- Employee and other contracts and non competition restrictions
- Ensuring NDAs are effective
4. Licensing Agreements and contract issues for IP licensing
- R&D agreements
- Relevant law and management of IP rights
- Commercial protection in contract clauses
- Ensuring rights are properly exploited and full royalties are paid for their use
- EU and UK competition rules
- Licensing agreements including the EU technology transfer block exemption regulation
- Export and import of IP protected goods in Europe
- Parallel imports and legal issues
- Internet selling and other areas
5. Copyright and database right
- Including rights in computer software and software licence agreements
- Tender and other documents
- Computer software and copyright law
- Protection of databases
- What notices to place on documents
- Ownership issues and disputes
- Importance of contractual clauses in agreements
6. Other IP rights
- Trade marks and design rights
- Protection for names, sounds, colours, logos, shape of goods and their packaging by trade mark law
- Protection for unregistered rights by way of the law of passing off
- Protection of the appearance of articles by design right
- Registered design right protection in the UK and Europe
