Business Solicitors

Complex legal minefield

Inventors and clever thinkers who come up with brilliant new ideas are sometimes surprised at the lengths to which competitors will go to adopt, emulate or sometimes even steal their work. It’s vital that you do everything within your power to protect against losing your ideas and inventions.

There are two main reasons why it is important to consult with a specialist copyright solicitor before going into the business aspects of an idea or invention. Firstly, if you are the creator of an original invention or new innovation, there are financial reasons why it is crucial you be recognised publicly as the creator. It doesn’t matter how large the field itself is, now how much money is involved in that area. Photography, writing, design, music, art and all manner of other fields have produced inventions in the last few decades that have made others very rich and changed the landscape of those fields.

Secondly you may wish to publish the work of someone else, which means you must follow a legal process by which you gain the permission to do so. Failure to properly follow this kind of process can result in massive potential problems for you or your business and is never worth the risk. The legalities involved are complicated so it is prudent to consult with a specialist solicitor to seek advice.

Keeping your invention

Having created something you gain legal rights with regards to the enterprises of that thing. It cannot be copied or unfairly used by someone else or another company. Unfortunately these rights are not protected unless you act. A specialist copyright solicitor can advice on how best to process with the process of guarding your intellectual property rights and how to protect your inventions or ideas from being unfairly used by others. Depending on the type of product or idea you have, you may gain certain different types of legal rights. Knowing which rights you do have and vitally, which ones you do not, is a tricky business! An expert with experience in this area is typically required.

Avoiding the loopholes

When some people go to apply for copyright protection on their invention or idea, they forget to examine the details of the law closely enough. Assuming that the law bodies will help them and ‘be on their side’, these inventors often lose out to legal loopholes that allow others to copy, use or represent their invention or idea themselves. For this reason alone it is worth the investment of hiring a specialist solicitor to overlook your application and advise as to where the common loopholes are and where you might wish to reconsider your wording or content. Don’t skip out on this step! Some of the world’s best inventions have been ‘invented’ by people who didn’t actually have the idea themselves.

What to do when someone steals your idea

Sometimes even the best laid plans go wrong. You could prepare everything in your application correctly and still someone could illegally copy your work. In this case you need to act quickly to avoid massive disclosure or damage to your interests and future interests. A lawyer in this case can negotiate with infringers, secure contracts and generally make sure that you are protected legally. Sometimes it only takes a well written letter from the office of a lawyer to force a potential infringer to give up on trying to replicate your idea! When they see you have proper representation they are less likely to try and benefit from your hard work.