Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is a term covering several distinct types of creation that have commercial value and includes inventions, designs, literary and artistic works and brands.
Exclusive legal rights are recognised for intellectual property. These exclusive rights enable owners to derive a commercial benefit from their creations. Some intellectual property rights, such as under patent protection, depend on registration with intellectual property authorities whereas other rights, such as under copyright, normally require no registration.
Irrespective of whether or not registration is required intellectual property rights provide protection against copying or use without the owner’s permission and thereby safeguard the owner’s investment in time and money and protect his competitive advantage.
As well as protecting your competitive advantage in the markets and territories in which you trade intellectual property can be used by way of licensing to control markets and territories in which you have no trading presence.
Apart from its benefit in the marketplace intellectual property is recognised as a business asset and can therefore be a useful tool for securing investment. Furthermore intellectual property may form a significant and perhaps even dominant part of business value and thus make a significant contribution to the market value of a company.
Intellectual property is often overlooked or improperly managed. However we understand that the management of intellectual property can be complicated and daunting. K. W. Peter & Co. can work with you to develop an appropriate strategy and guide you through the complexity of identifying, securing and enforcing intellectual property rights. We appreciate that intellectual property rights provide only one weapon in the commercial armoury. For this reason we take the time when working with our clients to understand the broader commercial strategy of each and every client.