Intellectual property

Intellectual property, or IP as it is usually known, is one of the fastest-growing and exciting areas of commercial practice.

IP law covers a range of intangible property rights. These include:

• Trade marks
• Patents
• Registered design
• Copyright

Registered trade mark

What these terms actually mean can best be illustrated by reference to an everyday object. A good example of this is the well known Dyson(r) vacuum cleaner.

Firstly, the name 'Dyson' is in itself a registered trade mark, thereby preventing other companies from using the same name for their own brand of vacuum cleaners.

Secondly, the revolutionary 'bagless design' of a Dyson vacuum cleaner is a patented invention. This prevents other firms from copying and profiting from the innovative technology created by Dyson.

Thirdly, the actual outward appearance of a Dyson vacuum cleaner is protected as a registered design.

Lastly, the instruction manual that comes with your Dyson cleaner is a copyrighted work, preventing others manufacturers from copying it either partially or in its entirety.

Branding

One particular area of IP law that should be familiar to everyone is that of trade marks. Trade marks are everywhere. Brand owners have long known that the value of a brand name can be worth as much, if not more, than the intrinsic worth of their actual products.

Football shirts are a perfect example of this. The cost of manufacturing a replica football shirt might amount to no more than a few pounds. When one considers, however, that the retail price of these shirts can be as much as £40 a time, it is obvious that people are buying more than just a 100% polyester T-shirt. They are buying into the brand name of the club and all it represents.

The recent case of Arsenal Football Club plc v Reed demonstrates this. Arsenal owns trade marks in the Arsenal logos, and consequently took a trader of 'unofficial' Arsenal merchandise to court, claiming trade mark infringement. Surprising everyone, including most IP lawyers, the trader actually won, after the judge ruled that the logos on the trader's merchandise did not amount to trade mark use. The case has since been referred to the ECJ.

Ben Gorner:

Eversheds