Our services | Intellectual Property Law

We are recognised experts in all areas of intellectual property law.

Patent

A patent is a right granted on an invention which is new and inventive. To obtain a patent, an inventor or applicant, must file a patent application. It is here that we are needed.

Once the patent is granted, the inventor or the applicant can use the patent to stop another person from making, using or selling something that includes the invention. A patent is in force for twenty years, if the inventor pays an annual renewal fee.

A patent only has effect in the country in which it is filed and granted. If patent protection is required in another country, or countries, then a patent application must be filed in that country.

Design

Registering a design protects the exterior appearance of an article and is a valuable tool for anyone who has developed a product that has a unique shape, serving to prevent a comparable product from being manufactured.

There are two types of designs which can be registered: an aesthetic design, where the design’s qualities are subjective, appealing to the eye, and a functional design where objectively speaking the shape of the design is necessary to its function.

The process for applying for registration of your design involves a number of steps and it is here that we can be of assistance. Registered designs have to be renewed annually before the expiration of the third year, as from the date of lodgement.

Protection is afforded to aesthetic designs for a period of fifteen years, and to functional designs for a period ten years.

Trademark

A trademark is a right granted on a brand or logo. For a trademark to grant, the brand or logo must be capable of distinguishing the goods or services of the applicant over the goods and services of a competitor.

To get a trademark, an applicant must file a trademark application. It is here we can assist. Once the trademark is granted, the applicant can use the trademark to stop another person from using the same or a similar brand or logo with the same or similar goods or services. A trademark will continue in force indefinitely if a renewal is paid every ten years.

Like all IP rights, a trademark only has effect in the country in which it is filed and granted. If trademark protection is needed in another country or countries, then a trademark application must be filed in that country or those countries.

Copyright

A copyright is a right that accrues to a work of art, literature, music or a computer programme. For work to have copyright, it must be original i.e. not copied from someone else.

Unlike with a patent or trademark, you do not have to file an application. You get copyright automatically if the work is yours. The artist, author, musician or programmer can use copyright to stop another person from copying or making an adaptation of his work.

Copyright subsists for at least fifty years without the need to pay a renewal fee. Whilst you do not need an attorney to get copyright, you will need us to help you assert your copyright against a person who copies you.

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