Intellectual property

Intellectual property protection and technology transactional issues can be significant factors in the success of a business or organisation. 

Intellectual property is a valuable business asset.  Every document created, every product made, every idea generated and every design produced can attract some form of intellectual property right (IPR). These IPRs may not always be protectable through registration, in the same way as patents, trademarks, and designs are.  Design rights, unregistered trademarks and service marks, copyright, trade secrets and confidential information are not registrable forms of IPRs, but these still offer protection for the creativity of a business or organisation. 

To avoid the risk that rivals and competitors exploit that, and to preserve that competitive edge, it is crucial that any business or organisation is able to identify its IPRs and know how to protect them. 

How Hill Dickinson can work with you 

With its in-house patent agents, Hill Dickinson is the only firm of solicitors able to offer an ‘end-to-end’ intellectual property service.  This includes the full range of legal services needed to register, protect, promote and enforce IPRs, including rights such as trademarks, patents, designs and copyright.  Our intellectual property lawyers work closely with our other teams including corporate, tax, employment, commercial litigation and commercial property.  This allows us to provide a truly full-service offering to our clients.

Our experience in the intellectual property field includes advising The Liverpool Culture Company Limited and Liverpool City Council as Official Lawyers to Liverpool ’08, European Capital of Culture. This involved the team advising on all manner of intellectual property matters, both contentious and non-contentious.

Our areas of expertise include the following:

• Trademarks - Trademarks and brands are big business. As well as their importance in terms of recognition, goodwill and reputation, they can also add considerable value to a business or organisation. Hill Dickinson’s brands team operates as part of the firm’s wider intellectual property practice, which means that clients benefit from a one-stop solution to trademark portfolio management. The brands team includes fully trained intellectual property lawyers supported by a dedicated trademark administrator.  Our services include due diligence, registration, licensing, monitoring – our renewal reminder and portfolio management service uses Dennemeyer DIAMS software, a unique intellectual property management system – and enforcement.
• Patents - Hill Dickinson is one of very few firms of solicitors in the country able to provide a one-stop patent service solution.  Most law firms outsource the filing, prosecution and management of the patent process to patent attorneys.  We do it differently, through our own in-house chartered patent attorneys who have the scientific and technical knowledge to quickly understand the issues involved.  This enables them to offer the best advice to clients requiring a patent filing, prosecution and management service.  Being involved with the patent process from the outset enables us to fully understand a client’s ambitions and to help exploit and commercialise its portfolio, a fully integrated patent service.  This can be through licences, knowledge transfer agreements, sales or otherwise.  Our patent team also deals regularly with enforcement of patent rights through infringement proceedings in the Patents County Court or the High Court.
• Design rights - Hill Dickinson has extensive experience in identifying and providing advice on ways to exploit registered and unregistered rights in the United Kingdom and European Community.  We have a particular specialism in prosecuting and defending design right infringement actions in these areas. Our dedicated team can manage the registration of design rights and respond to opposition to any application.
• Copyright - Hill Dickinson provides advice on a broad range of copyright issues and disputes, including issues of copying literary and artistic works and IT software.  Whilst there is no registration procedure for copyright in the UK, we assist clients with creating the systems and processes necessary to substantiate their claims to ownership.  We also facilitate the commercial exploitation of copyrights with the use of assignment and licenses, and monitor and enforce clients’ rights through litigation where necessary.
• Transactional – Our intellectual property lawyers regularly work with our corporate and tax teams on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures and other corporate finance transactions, covering matters such as due diligence, protection of IPRs, competition and other transactional issues.