NIPC News

Author   Andrew Woodvine   Licence CC BY-SA 2.0   Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert Yesterday I delivered a seminar on intellectual property law to the teams working on research, innovation, commercialization and partnership support for  Bangor University . They were the professionals who negotiate licence and consultancy agreements and set up spin-off companies to exploit research carried out at the University. I gave PowerPoint presentations on the following topics between 14:00 and 17:00 with short breaks for questions and answers: An overview of intellectual property law covering the difference between intellectual property and intellectual assets, categorization of intellectual property rights, how brands , designs , technology and creativity are protected, the main features of patents , registered designs and supplementary unregistered designs , copyrights , rights in performances , unregistered design rights , trade marks , passing off and ob...

WIPO Author Emanuel Berrod Licence CC BY-SA 4.0   Jane Lambert The World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO")  describes an intellectual property audit as a tool for identifying "potential IP assets", that is to say, protectable  intellectual assets . An IP audit helps to uncover unused or under-utilized assets, determine ownership of those assets and warn against possible conflicts with intellectual property owners or potential infringers.  Information on the types of IP audit, preparing for such an audit and carrying it out is available on the Intellectual Property page of the WIPO website .  More detailed information can be found in Module 10   of IP Panorama .    The WIPO categorized IP audits as follows: " General-purpose  This is broadest type of IP audit, used by new companies or those considering implementing new IP policies, standards or procedures. It is also suitable for companies implementing new marketing approa...

Jane Lambert speaking in London Jane Lambert I have been invited to speak at a half-day workshop on sustainable packaging and waste  which will take place at  Ty Menai, Parc Menai, near Bangor on Tuesday, 29 Jan 2019 between 09:00 and 13:00.  The event is organized by  Cywain  and Beacon Biorefining Centre of Excellence .  More information about the event, including a flyer,  can be obtained from Beacon's website  and places may be reserved using Cywain's online booking form . The keynote speaker will be Dr Rob Elias, Director of the Biocomposites Centre of Bangor University, He will be followed by speakers from WRAP Wales, Business Wales, the Pontio Centre's FabLab  and me.  I will be talking about intellectual property in relation to sustainable management and waste. Food packaging and waste disposal are increasingly important technologies but they concern other intellectual assets  such a...

Inaugural Conference of World Business Angel Association in Beijing 2009 Author JohnnyOnTheSpot  Licensed by the author Source Wikipedia Jane Lambert In IP's not just for Big Brands and High Tech Businesses  27 Aug 2016 I wrote: "In my career at the Bar, have known far more businesses that have failed from having too much IP than too little. Some of those failures had been caused by patents that cost many thousands of pounds to obtain but could never be worked. Others by disputes that were abandoned because the rights owner (who in many cases had a strong claim) simply ran out of money." In many instances, such patents and other IP rights were sought to attract, or to fulfil a condition for, investment. While it is understandable that an angel or private equity investor should desire the most extensive legal protection possible for his or her investment a patent for an invention that may never be worked or any IP right that the business cann...

Jane Lambert In  Basic Facts About Trademarks: What Every Small Business Should Know Now, Not Later , one of the best video introductions to trade mark law I know in any country, the presenter Mark Trademan (yes that really does appear to be his surname) of the US Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Information Unit  asked an audience of entrepreneurs and small business owners how many of them had a business plan. A forest of hands shot up. "How many of you with business plans have a trade mark component?" asked Mr Trademan. Silence. "OK, I was afraid of that." The response would have been no different had Mr Trademan given his presentation here even though our own Intellectual Property Office warn in  Before you apply for a patent   on the British government website that "it’s pointless patenting an invention unless you have a proper plan for making money from it and can defend it against copying." Everybody knows that a business...