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Before you discuss your idea with developers think about legal protection. Whatever the idea, it’s important to develop the habit of being selective about who you reveal your ideas to during the early stages before you’ve explored the possibilities. That’s because confidentiality is the only way to protect a mere idea. 

If you have an idea for an app, chances are the first thing you’ll want to do is to find someone to develop it for you. I’d advise against discussing the idea with any developers at such an early stage.

You’ll likely be keen to take action to get going with your project, so I’d suggest you interview a number of developers to understand whether they would be suitable for your project without actually telling them about the idea itself. 

Have another “idea” to discuss with them rather than your actual one as you find out about their past experience in developing apps, whether they have testimonials or...

The renowned inventor, Thomas Edison, famously declared, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”. His point was that hard work is required to transform an idea into a successful product.

So, when you have a great idea for an app or any other innovation, which instinct is telling you could be ground-breaking, bear this in mind. The idea just has potential at this stage.

To transform the idea into your vision for it involves addressing numerous issues along the way.  And whether you will ultimately have a successful app depends on whether your idea is well received. 

Did you know that Magic Cab was launched 3 years before Uber? However, they didn’t implement the idea as well as Uber and hence haven’t had the level of success Uber has enjoyed. 

Talking of Uber, Apps are so widespread nowadays. I certainly use a number of them. Each one is great at addressing a particular need, be it Voice Recorder Pro for excellent...

It is surprisingly easy to overlook the importance of IP in the early stages of the creative process.

Some people believe that tasks like choosing a business name for a new product or service does not involve legal considerations, that they can pick any name, do a check on Google, and if nothing untoward is found, proceed to use the name.

It’s actually trade marks that govern ownership rights in names, so it’s essential to search the trade mark registers. A Google search is not enough. Not everything you need to know about a name shows up on Google.  People risk losing everything overnight when they use names that don’t take account of registered trade marks of others.

Microsoft’s EU trade mark registration of Skydrive shows clearly that a registered trade mark will not protect anyone against an infringement claim by a third party. Ultimately Microsoft had to rebrand. So, it’s just not enough to simply register a trade mark.

Another example of why...

Everything begins with an idea. Every idea invariably results in an intangible manifestation of it once it’s brought into the real world.

Even if the idea involves creating something tangible, say a new gin, so that you have a physical end product – a bottle of gin - many components that are necessary to the existence of that product will be intangibles. There’s the brand name, the logo, product packaging, appearance or shape of the bottle, any website, marketing collateral and social media profiles, and the gin formula itself.

Intellectual property law is the legal area that governs intangibles, so it has a significant role in today’s digital world. Nowadays knowledge fuels our economy so that most assets of our businesses tend to be digital.  Our increasingly digital society makes intellectual property of central relevance. The term “Intellectual property” covers a large area of law, including patents, trademarks, copyright, designs...

A basic, fundamental question people often ask me is What exactly is Copyright?

Of course, people have heard the term and have a basic understanding, but often there are gaps in their knowledge, or confusion around particular facets of the subject. 

Sometimes I’m asked for examples of copyright, or why it’s important to have copyright, and how to avoid copyright problems and so on.

Copyright is a large subject and has many different facets to it.

My aim in this blog is to answer 3 essential questions about what copyright is by giving you

1. Examples of copyright
2. Reasons why you might want to have copyright.
3. Some ideas for how to avoid some common copyright problems.

These are three essential, need to know pieces of information about copyright. As copyright is a large subject you’re bound to have plenty of questions. Do feel free to ask them in the comments below.

Examples of what copyright protects.

Copyright is a type of intellectual...

Google is an example of a company that has built itself into one of the largest brands on earth thanks in many ways to its intellectual property. Its brand was worth $100 billion dollars in 2017.

Google’s IP includes its search algorithm, know-how, patents, copyrights and its trademarks. A highly important component of its IP will be Google’s know-how which is kept confidential, so users have difficulty gaming the system.

Otherwise, Google’s reliability as a search engine would be damaged if inappropriate websites could readily appear prominently in search results.  The less relevant a search result is when a user searches for something, the less likely they would be to turn to Google next time they needed to search for something. So, a lot hangs on keeping its methodology and other secrets to itself, and even making changes every so often to keep the algorithm fresh and unknown to the world at large.

Confidentiality and other intellectual property rights play...

Building your business’ Intellectual Capital is the way to increase the value of the business because it’s the intangible assets that account for most of the value of corporates nowadays – as much as 70-80% - rather than the tangible machines, buildings and other hard assets.

I’ll be coming back to this theme again and again in future blogs because I see some entrepreneurs dealing with their IP registrations and compliance with a minimal understanding of Intellectual Property, and its role in bolstering these intangible assets. 

I often wonder if those same people would deal with their own physical property transactions with so little background understanding of the transaction.

It’s important to note that intellectual property is PROPERTY and therefore needs careful handling. There are courses like Legally Branded Academy which is suitable for established businesses and startups. So, if you haven’t already taken the time to understand...

 Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, says

‘It had always been a girlish dream of mine to love someone whose name was Ernest. There is something in that name that seems to inspire absolute confidence.’

In this quote Oscar Wilde captures the significance of names. How a name alone can lead to our having faith in a person called Ernest. We subconsciously form an impression of the individual as someone serious in intent or purpose, and sincere.

From this it’s clear that a mere name evokes certain reactions and emotional responses.

So, bear this in mind when you’re naming anything in your business. The name can give customers an idea or feeling about your business even before they have experienced working with you.

Names are hugely important in terms of your intellectual property as they contain the value of your brand. So, they deserve serious attention.

After all your name is the first thing to come out of your mouth every time you pitch...

Pablo Picasso reportedly said, “Good artists copy; great artists steal.” The general thrust of this quote is right in that thieves and copycats are as common in business as in any other walk of life.

Confidentiality is one of the Core 3 IP rights that you should understand well because it plays an important part in business protection, particularly around ideas, systems, processes and your database.

You may think intellectual property is there to protect ideas.

We humans the world over are territorial. Just think of land border disputes, garden fences, your favourite mug in the office or even leaning on your partner at a party, subconsciously letting everyone know that they are taken.

We even have designated spaces where we live, work and socialise. In a civilised society, everything has its place, and we have grown accustomed over the millennia, to assuming that others will respect these boundaries, as we put them up.

From a biological perspective, we became...

Let me start by asking you a question. Why are you in business? Or why are you planning to start one? What’s your motivation? Do you hope to make it big, be the next Richard Branson or Anita Roddick? Or are you just intending to be self-employed?  Certainly, when I founded my law firm, Azrights 13 years ago all I wanted was to work flexibly while raising my 2 daughters. However, aspirations change over time. I discovered a love of entrepreneurship and my ambitions grew. You may find your aspirations change over time. Bear them in mind as the IP actions you need to take do depend on the direction you’re taking.

IP for small business

I’ve had 20 years’ experience in IP work now, but when I founded Azrights I’d just worked on the IP projects of blue chip companies like Reuters where I’d been an in-house lawyer. Due to the enquiries we were receiving at Azrights I became aware of the problems small businesses encounter with IP....