The company is now up and running successfully, perhaps you have your marketing in place and you are dying to expand. But until you are sure that all your legal protection is in place, be very careful about doing so. Make sure that anyone with whom you discuss an idea for a new invention – whether a product or a service – has signed a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement.This includes employees, potential employees, clients, partners and contractors you are planning to hire. If you don’t, you may have inadvertently disclosed your invention, given away your know-how and may not be able to protect your ideas through patent protection in the future. This even applies if someone could have seen your ideas when you were working on them in a public place – for example in a library or at an exhibition/conference and chatting about them on on-line forums. Employee contracts should include confidentiality and IP ownership clauses. During the growth and development phase, a company needs to be pro-active in monitoring any infringement of their IP
Ways you can do this include searches of registered trademarks databases, new telephone listings and the Internet. In addition, you need to be vigilant regarding your copyright. Copyright notices should be asserted on all written material originated by you or your employees and even by contractors you employ if you have made this arrangement with them. If someone infringes your copyright, you can take legal action against them as long as you can prove that you were the originator of the works and that the copying is significant, although there are some exceptions relating to issues such as whether the alleged infringement was for educational purposes. Any breaches should be challenged immediately.
IP needs to be fully integrated with a company’s business plan. And, of course, during the life of a company, these plans will change. The IP needs to be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure it is constantly aligned to the business plan. A good IP advisor will not just help a business with the legal protection aspect, they will actively help in the commercialisation process of the ideas behind the goods or services that the company is selling by helping the organisation realise the tangible value of different aspects of the IP.
Sometimes the development of new intellectual assets can shape a company’s entire business model. Even then, there are many factors that can shape the best way to realise the value from intangibles.
Case Study
An example of this is illustrated by our work with CM Engineering. Colin Morris, MD, has used his experience in the haulage industry to invent a quick-fit airline replacement for commercial vehicle braking called the Bessie system.
The Bessie is a normal airline but has quick-release couplings on both ends. For security and to comply with the latest European legislation, the tractor end is secured by a security lock. If a vehicle is fitted with a Bessie system and the driver carries a spare in the cab, he can personally change the broken line in seconds without the need for tools.
Currently broken airlines cause around 10 per cent of lorry breakdowns and all the manufacturer breakdown services agree that it is a persistent problem. Health and Safety and company policies prevent the driver from changing standard systems themselves and therefore drivers have to wait for call out engineers to arrive before they can continue with their journey. Delays occur whilst the airlines are fixed and this can mean financial penalties if the load is not delivered on time. The Bessie however allows the driver to fix the problem in minutes, remove a potential obstacle from the road or delivery yard and proceed with his journey.
Colin has worked with Coller IP to develop an international cluster of IP to protect his idea. Bessie is now a registered trade mark and the product has patent and design protection.
There are great savings to be made from using the Bessie system. Bessie complies with all relevant technical standards and has been tested and approved by MIRA. A vehicle kit, including two lines to fit now and an in-cab bag containing a pair of spares, will cost £175, with replacement lines costing £27.
Initially, the Bessie was made available for licensing to major manufacturers and distributers, but during the UK recession there were many barriers in place to concluding licensing agreements. Colin therefore chose a different business model and found partners to manufacture and assemble the Bessie system directly. The product will initially be available from airline and coupling specialist, Illston & Robson, and Colin’s latest news is that the product has been an immediate success and negotiations are also now proceeding with interest from vehicle manufacturers and leading parts factors.