Spotlight on… The Intellectual Property Office

In a new series of posts, I will introduce you to government departments and agencies that deliver small business services and support. In this first feature, we kick off with the Intellectual Property Office.

Introduction

The Intellectual Property Office UK (IPO) is the official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including trade marks, patents, designs, and copyright. The IPO helps people and businesses get the right type of protection for their creation or invention. It is an executive agency of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Services for small firms

The IPO offers a range of services and support to small firms.

  • Registration of trade marks, patents and designs. You can visit the IPO’s website to search for registered trade marks, designs and patents free of charge.

Trade marks protect your brand and help customers to identify who the goods or services they purchase are provided by. The trade mark could be made up of words, logos, or a combination of both – and can even be an animated logo.

It is always a good idea to check with the IPO if a brand name your heart may be set on is already covered by a trade mark.   Not doing this means you could invest time and money in your business, only to later find this trade mark already belongs to someone else. If you decide to apply for a trade mark, this can be done on the IPO website. When applying to register a trade mark, specify the goods and/or services you’ll be using on it.  It’s important you choose the correct class and terms, as your trade mark will only be protected for the goods and / or services you select in your application. The IPO’s website can help you search for, and classify, the goods and/or service you need to apply for to register you trade mark

It costs £170 to apply to register a single trade mark that covers one class of goods or services, and then £50 for any classes added thereafter. Designs protect the visual appearance of a product.  This includes, for example, 3D aspects such as shape and 2D aspects such as surface decoration. Design protection may be registered or unregistered, and there are some important differences. If you apply online, it costs £50 to register one design or £70 for up to 10. You can visit the IPO website to find out more about registered and unregistered designs. Patents protect new inventions. They cover what an invention does, how it works, and how it is made. There is helpful guidance on the IPO’s website.  It can take several years for a patent to be granted, and the process can be complex.  I would always recommend getting advice from a patent professional at an early stage of your journey. Expert patent knowledge and support can be accessed through the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA).

Copyright protects literature, artistic works, photographs, music, dramatic works, software, databases, films, radio and television broadcasts, sound recordings and published editions.  Copyright is an unregistered IP right and you get copyright protection automatically – you do not have to apply or pay a fee.  The IPO’s website has guidance about how to protect, manage and enforce copyright.

This is a useful table to show timings to register the respective forms of IP.

  • Online IP support – available via a free to access resource site. Create an account to view online tools to help you understand how IP works, how to manage and use your IP and how to leverage IP to support your business to grow.  The toolkits cover the business life cycle from “IP Equip,” covering the basics of IP, through to “IP for Investment” for businesses seeking equity finance to grow.
  • In-person IP support: the IPO partners with the British Library’s network of Business & IP Centres (BIPCs) throughout the UK to provide local access to IP guidance.  The BIPCs, located within city-centre libraries, provide access to free resources, training and events to support start-ups and growing businesses. Find your closest BIPC here.

The IPO has a dedicated Business Outreach team that travels across the UK to speak at events, helping to raise awareness of IP and its value to businesses. They also provide a range of training options, from a 30 minute online webinar to a more comprehensive two day face to face IP Masterclass. To explore their current events and training opportunities, visit Business events – GOV.UK

What’s coming up

The IPO is working with others across government to explore how to support companies to leverage their IP assets to raise growth finance.  Government is due to publish an update on this work and next steps at the end of the year.

I will publish various spotlight posts at the rate of one per month. Please let me know if there are particular departments or organisations you would like to see covered.