Maintaining commercial confidentiality between competitors
Maintaining commercial confidentiality has hit the headlines in a High Court case where there was a breach of confidence between competitors. Read more here.
New protection for innovators with launch of digital asset fingerprinting
A new online digital fingerprinting service has been launched to help protect designs and innovations from copycat misuse. The World Intellectual Property Organisation’s new online business platform – known as WIPO PROOF – is designed to safeguard intellectual assets by creating date and time-stamped digital fingerprints when information is uploaded. Owners of the assets receive tamper-proof evidence to safeguard every stage of the development cycle through to commercialisation. The aim is to speed up any subsequent litigation over copyright, design or patent, by recording and confirming each stage. The platform…
Safeguarding design is a priority for small business
Cheaper registration fees are an opportunity for small businesses and designers to secure greater protection for their intellectual property in future, as well as being a route to protection in the UK post-Brexit. A registered design is one of the options available from the Intellectual Property Office, alongside trade marking, patenting and copyright. It protects the visual appearance of a product including the shape, texture, materials, colour and pattern and gives the right to prevent others from using the design for up to 25 years through a renewal process every five years. …