Ownership of intellectual property

Care should be taken when discussing with your trade mark or patent agent the appropriate applicant for the registration.

This may of course be you as the author of the work, the owner of the invention or the proprietor of the business which wants to register a trade mark.

However, bear in mind that intellectual property can be a very valuable form of property. This is probably most true of new inventions, but if it is proposed to set up a new company to commercialise a particular invention in which intellectual property protection is sought, then it might be an idea for the owner of the invention to retain the intellectual property in it, rather than transfer it into the new company. In that way, if the venture fails, the owner has a chance of starting again. Careful planning should be undertaken.