IP and IT

• ICO 'Must Do' Data Protection Guide   The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published a guide to protecting personal data ,' hich it describes as outlining the procedures organisations must follow to ensure data security. In the wake of a fine of £200,000 being handed...
• Data Loss - What to Do The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued guidance for organisations that lose personal data, having reported that it has been notified of nearly 100 such incidents to date. One of the less intuitively obvious suggestions is to think...
• Enforcing Copyright - The Basics Copyright is a right that exists as soon as you create the copyright material. You do not have to apply for it. There are some exceptions to copyright, but unless one of these applies, anyone else using your material without your permission is infringing...
• E-Commerce Law on Disclosure - Compliance Guide The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations introduced specific legislation to underpin e-commerce. If your business has an Internet presence then you need to make sure that you are not falling foul of theserules. The Regulations do not just apply...
• IPO Guidance on Brexit The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has published a guide on how intellectual property (IP) law is likely to be affected following Britain's withdrawal from the EU. The IPO's aim is to 'continue to protect all existing registered European Union Trade...
• Direct Marketing Via E-mail - Regulations UK law relating to the sending of unsolicited direct marketing material by electronic means are based on the EC Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications and are modified by the General Data Protection Regulation which started to be enforced in...
• Dealing With Subject Access Requests Many businesses regard the Data Protection Act 2018 as something that merely requires a lot of form filling and the payment of fees, but there is a lot more to it than that. The purpose of the Act is to protect a person's right to privacy with regard to...
• Dealing With Breach of Patent When you discover that a business has breached your patent, what should you do? The answer to this question has two elements. The first is based on what you can do in law and the second is based on business strategy. Firstly, before picking a fight with...
• Registering a Trade Mark Your business has its own unique brand and reputation and it is vital in a competitive marketplace to ensure that these are protected from unscrupulous third parties. Some business owners do not believe there is any point in registering their trading or...
• Patent Searches Checking for existing patents in force is easy (and free) if you use the UK Intellectual Property Office's (UKIPO) patent databases which are accessible online. The new databases replace the Patents Journal and are designed to make obtaining information...