InnovateEOE
InnovateEOE
Intellectual property refers specifically to creations of the mind: inventions like a new machine; artistic works like a tune or story; company branding with names, images or slogans. The creator may wish to ensure they receive the credit for creation, allocating the rights to use it and financial rewards as they wish.
Just as with a building or a vehicle, IP can be owned by both people and by entities like businesses. In fact, IP is a large, even majority part of many companies’ value.
Anyone can create IP, even in the course of their usual work, and every business has some form of IP. If you have a new medical device or app, or a brand that conveys trust, quality or carefulness, then you want to ensure that others cannot use or sell these things.
To do this you need to establish your ownership of the IP and an ability to protect it. It’s important to know the different types of IP and plan ahead so you can recognise when you create them and know how to secure ownership and protection. You also need to make sure you don’t disclose some types of IP, even accidentally. Telling friends or colleagues about an invention, a stray document or email, or publication in a research paper may compromise the ability to get protection, leaving the idea freely available for public use. Even if you secure the IP, you still need prepare to prosecute any infringement on it, action with hefty legal fees.
IP can also be essential if you want to raise money for a business. If someone else can produce exactly the same product, what is your company actually worth? If a company is uniquely able to produce a device, brand, or service, investors will value it much more highly. As a result, typically companies rather than individuals own IP- since investors’ money goes into the business not the founder. An important reason IP can be so valuable is that you can use it as much as you like without necessarily losing any of its worth. If you own a 3D printer building car parts, you’ll use up the filament and wear out the machine. If you own the IP for the design or function of those parts, it’s just as useful the ten thousandth time.
The main forms of IP are:
- Patents cover the function of a product. To get a patent you need to apply to an overseeing body to “register” the patent, whilst demonstrating your product hasn’t been seen in public before and involves an “inventive step”.
- Trade secrets are essentially the know how behind a product, like a recipe or manufacturing methods. These aren’t protected by an overseeing body. The clue is in the name- you need to keep them secret using passwords, keys, and legal methods like non-disclosure agreements.
- Registered designs cover the non-functional design features that distinguish a product, like the shape or pattern. You need to apply for protection for these.
- Copyright covers literature, music, images, software code and databases. The IP automatically belongs to the creator but you should mark it as copyright using the © In some regions you can apply to register copyright for additional protection.
- Trademarks protect words, slogans and logo which distinguish a brand. You can claim a trademark (as long as it doesn’t belong to someone else) by using the TM symbol, or get a higher level of protection by registering the trademark, then using the ® symbol.
- Web addresses are unique and allow a company to distinguish themselves. It is a good idea to align branding and web addresses. You can buy a web address, but note that just owning com doesn’t stop someone else from buying idea.co.uk– you may need to secure both.
Employers typically have some rights to the IP of innovations employees create within the course of their normal duties or using the employer’s resources. Have an awareness of what time and resources you use, and ensure that you can prove this. Similar agreements often cover contracted (rather than employed) professionals such as GPs.
Often where an employee has created something over which the employer has rights, that employee will still get a proportion of the benefit in recognition of their innovation. Exact amounts vary between cases and organisations.
If you think you have a new piece of IP, your work contract will probably state that you should contact your trust or CCG’s Research and Development (R&D) team as soon as possible. They are likely to refer you to their “adviser organisation”, experts who can provide valuable help with IP and commercialisation, who are contracted by the trust/CCG to assess the value of IP and who should have ownership
If the IP is completely separate from your work, you would not need to follow this procedure, but if there is any doubt the employer could feasibly dispute ownership. It is important to get professional advice early. Certain legal teams specialise in intellectual property, even sub-specialising into roles such as patent attorneys. Good advice won’t be cheap, but no advice could be much more costly.
This post is extracted from our more extensive document Intellectual Property: An Overview for NHS Staff (2022).