Approach to costs
Solicitors at Humphreys & Co. always aim to approach
legal work in a financially-disciplined way. We offer
competitive rates. Our charging approach is both transparent
and geared to the options open to our clients. Our
solicitors generally charge by reference to time spent but
we can often agree fixed fees for specific work or in some
cases risk-adjusted funding structures.
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employment
Intellectual
property
Registration,
management, exploitation &
infringement of
all IP rights including patents, trade
marks & copyright
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Our solicitors work from offices in Bristol,
England. We advise a broad range of clients in
Britain, Europe and around the world. Solicitors
here aim to give commercial clients the high
quality advice they need.
Intellectual
property rights are vital assets for many types of
commercial concern. IP and IT law is one of our
core areas of practice. This introduction is
designed to give you an impression of what we can
do in this complex field.
Our solicitors
represent the interests of all kinds of companies,
businesspeople and professional correspondents for
whom expertise and pragmatism in advice on trade
marks, patents, designs, copyright, know-how,
competition and trade secrets are essential
requirements.
Registration,
maintenance, transfer, licensing, litigation:
these are all aspects of managing intellectual
property in which solicitors here can supply the
experience, knowledge and clarity which clients
require.
The quality of
our work depends upon the strengths of the
solicitors within the firm - people who have
confidence in their skills and those of the
outside agencies they engage; people who handle
issues in a financially disciplined way.
We are
not a legal factory offering a mass-produced
product. We find that clients prefer an
independent approach. In our experience, effective
personal case-handling is more likely to produce
commercially sound results.
What is
intellectual property?
Intellectual
property (IP) means any patent, trade mark,
copyright, design right, registered design,
technical or commercial information or other
intellectual property (Supreme Court Act 1981, s.
72(5)). It describes the legal rights that
exist in products of human creativity:
inventions, designs, literary and artistic works,
databases and brands. IP and industrial property
are synonymous.
Intellectual
property rights (IPRs) arise either automatically
or on registration. Examples of the former
are copyright, design right and database
right. The latter include patents,
registered trade marks and registered
designs.
IPRs are negative although often
expressed as exclusive rights. They entitle
the owner to prevent others using or misusing the
subject of the right.
Intellectual
property at a glance
- Patents, trade marks,
copyright, designs and trade
secrets in their national, EU and
international contexts.
- Trade
marks principally indicate the
origin of goods or services. They
can be protected in the UK through
either passing off or
registration. The
choices for registration are a UK
or a Community trade mark or
international registration.
- A registered trade mark
may afford protection against use
of the same or a similar sign for
the same, similar or dissimilar
goods or services.
- Patents confer monopoly
rights in inventions. The
invention must be new, inventive,
capable of industrial application
and not excluded.
- Patents must be licensed
in accordance with the Block
Exemption on Technology Transfer
Agreements. They
may be subject to compulsory
licences and Crown use.
- Copyright subsists in
works not ideas. Related
rights include moral rights and
rights in performances.
- Copyright is infringed by
taking a substantial part of the
claimant's work. Additional
damages are available for flagrant
infringements.
- Database right subsists
in electronic and paper databases
if a substantial investment is
made in obtaining the contents.
- Designs are protected in
UK law by registered and
unregistered design rights. Community
designs co-exist with UK designs
laws.
- Trade secrets may be
protected by a civil law action
for breach of confidence. The
information must be confidential,
imparted in circumstances
importing a duty of confidence and
the defendant must make
unauthorised use of the
information.
- Intellectual
property rights are generally
litigated in the High Court. A
general pre-action protocol sets
out the steps that parties should
follow when considering
litigation.
- Expert
evidence can be the key to success
in intellectual property cases
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Fixed charge package with options and
recommendations
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Available strategies
Solicitors at Humphreys
& Co. offer comprehensive support in all aspects
of IP and IT law including these key areas:
Trade
marks: Brand strength can be
crucial to success in the marketplace. Our clients and
international correspondent firms ask use to handle on
their behalf: registrations, oppositions and renewals;
devising and policing protection programmes; transfers
of title; infringement and passing-off procedures;
revocation actions and challenges to validity; as well
as negotiating and documenting licence and franchise
arrangements.
Inventions
and know-how: Inventions
are typically an apparatus, a product or a
manufacturing process. Often they can be monopolised
by means of patents, but by no means always.
Commercial success in exploiting an idea or using
know-how to create opportunities requires legal advice
which is informed, well-presented and works for your
business. This is the service we aim to provide.
Copyrights
and designs: We have an
active practice in the protection and licensing of, as
well as litigation about, copyrights and designs.
These rights relate to form and appearance rather than
to technical principles of construction. Our lawyers
handle applications for those which are registrable
and advise on unregistrable rights which arise
automatically.
Litigation: Good
litigators make court, arbitration and mediation
procedures work for their clients. They must be
tenacious, flexible, able to negotiate realistically
and with sensitivity to the underlying commercial
issues. Good litigators are lateral thinkers with
strong technical abilities. Where heavy cases require
it, they work in teams but usually they know how to
avoid the expense of the multi-lawyer approach.
Confidence
and trade secrets: Valuable
assets do not always come pre-packed. Our lawyers are
used to working at the margins of intangible rights,
where duties of non-disclosure fade into the public
interest in commercial freedom, where hard-nosed
dealing borders on shabby treatment. The ability to
take a realistic view of rights and obligations
arising from the communication of information is a
product of experience. Humphreys & Co. has the
experience clients require, whether in documenting
agreements or taking injunctive action.
Competition:
The demands of fierce competition in the
marketplace put pressure on companies and individuals
not only to perform but to succeed. The regulatory
framework at national and international level exists to
prevent anti-competitive practices. Our lawyers can
advise on all UK and EU aspects.
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Our position
Good
lawyers: We offer high
calibre lawyers, with expertise in the
applicable areas of practice and a
practical, constructive approach.
Clear communications: Solicitors
here try to open up the legal process in
what are technical and often difficult
fields of law by giving advice and
explaining options to clients in a concise
and positive way, identifying clear
courses of action.
Energy:
The pace of change in
intellectual property law and procedure is
testing. We look to input not only careful
legal work but also the determination to
keep transactions and litigation up to
speed. Solicitors at Humphreys & Co. aim
to focus on the job of advancing clients'
real business interest with energy and
pragmatism.
Turnaround:
Our lawyers use appropriate
information technology to ensure that our
advice and document preparation are
efficient, accurate, relevant and back to
clients quickly. We are located close to the
UK Trade Marks, Designs and Patent office in
Newport, Wales which can be cost-saving for
urgent filings and time-saving for hearings.
Correspondent
firms: Our solicitors are qualified
in English and EU law. When advice or action
under other systems of law or in other
professional disciplines is needed we use
the resources of suitably qualified,
independent correspondent firms. We are not
restricted to choosing colleagues to work
with from the the limited membership of a
formal international association. In each
case, we aim to look after clients'
interests by engaging on their behalf the
right professional firms at a cost
appropriate for the job.
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Fixed charge package with
options and recommendations
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Combinations
Solicitors
here can supply the energy and depth in
intellectual property law which companies,
businesspeople and correspondent firms need in
a competitive world marketplace to manage
their intellectual property rights
successfully, including in relation to:
- internet
- joint ventures
- know-how & show-how
- licensing &
franchising
- litigation,
arbitration, mediation
- media & publishing
- patents (licensing,
transfer & litigation)
- passing off
- technology transfer
- trade marks
- unfair competition
- business & company
acquisitions & sales
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- computer software
- confidential
information
- copyrights
- database rights
- defamation &
malicious falsehood
- designs (registered
& unregistered)
- employee obligations
- EU treaty regulations
- free trade
- information technology
- music business
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Accessibility
We take instructions from UK & international clients. Our independent lawyers are available by email, telephone & fax. With central Bristol offices we are just 90 minutes from London by road or rail and 15 minutes from Bristol International Airport. We can travel to meetings if required.
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Independent approach
We are an independent professional law firm here, not a legal factory turning out mass-produced products. In our experience, determined case-handling is more likely to produce effective results.
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Turnaround time
Solicitors at Humphreys & Co. look to input not only
careful legal work and precision but also the determination
to keep matters moving. They aim to work in clients' real
interests with energy and pragmatism.
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Communication skills
Solicitors at Humphreys & Co. always try to open up the
legal process by giving advice and explaining options to
clients in a concise and straightforward way, identifying
clear courses of action whatever the technical or legal
complexities of the subject. |
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