Using Unaccredited Intellectual Property Businesses

Some intellectual property businesses offer various types of IP advice or services, such as searches for patents, registered designs, copyright and trade marks. Many of these suppliers advertise in local business phone directories and professional publications. Although they can do some of the leg-work for you, their services are highly limited and certainly will not extend to any kind of legal advice and assistance – even of the most basic kind. For instance, one of these companies may conduct a trade mark availability search for you and come up with a list of similar marks and trade names already in use - but they won't even be able to start registering your trade mark and certainly can't provide you with specialist IP advice.

This sort of unaccredited intellectual property business certainly would not be able to provide any sort of legal opinion as to whether the use of that trade mark would be an infringement of the intellectual property rights, if any, of the users of the unregistered marks and trade names. So if you're even thinking of using any these businesses – do make sure you know the limits of their ability.

If you're at all serious about the protection of the intellectual property owned by your business, you should really consult a specialist intellectual property lawyer ie a patent or trade mark attorney or an IP solicitor in connection with the kind of search
you require and the analysis of the search results. Provided you do make sure you pick a real specialist [as this is a very technical area of law and few solicitors, for example, have any real knowledge or understanding of law involved], you should be able to have confidence in their opinions.

The best way to find reliable and specialist IP advice from a competent intellectual property lawyer is, by referral from someone you know who has already used their services in the past and who has been satisfied. Alternatively, you might consider;

• Asking for a referral from your solicitor, accountant or bank manager who you know and trust
• Going online and checking out the websites of specialist providers of intellectual property law services – IP solicitors, trademark attorneys and patent agents
• Consulting the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) on whose website at www.cipa.org.uk  you can find specialist qualified patent attorneys

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So for city quality IP advice at local prices;

• call us today on (01722) 422300 or
• email advice@intellectual-property-lawyer.co.uk

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