| Intellectual Property Awareness
Arcadia Food Industries Ltd is the largest miller of gram flour in Europe, with a significant business in spices and other food ingredients. For over 25 years they had sold their goods under the brand name FAMOS. FAMOS had been registered as a trade mark but because of an oversight the registration had not been renewed. Noticing that FAMOS was no longer protected, someone else registered it in their name, the aim being to licence the use of FAMOS back to the owners, or possibly even use it themselves. The unregistered brands of other prominent West Midlands businesses were also targeted, including NAWAAB of the Nawaab Group of restaurants, and TAHIRA which had become the premier brand for Halal products. After over a year of uncertainty and legal costs Arcadia managed to have the registration struck off. They have now re-registered FAMOS as their trade mark.
This is a real life example – Not protecting your Intellectual Property impacts not only on your business but on your brand and reputation too.
In today’s volatile climate it is important that business leaders understand intellectual property (“IP”) and the intangible assets of their business. Having the necessary rights in place can help determine the economic value of these assets.
We are working closely with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office UK to raise IP awareness with our customers. Every business uses or creates IP. It could be in the name it trades under, the process it uses or the products and services it provides. IP is an asset, but unlike most other assets it is more likely to have been neglected because it is not easy to identify and value. This is especially problematic in the case of IP that has been internally generated, rather than purchased or licensed for a fee.
Subsequently if intangible assets are not properly accounted for this could lead to sub-optimal investment decisions being taken by investors. As a result of poor valuation of their intangible assets, including their IP, companies can encounter problems raising venture capital and access to finance can be problematic.
In its 2007 Budget, the Government confirmed its commitment to assist businesses in reviewing best practice guidance for reporting their intangible assets. A review of this work was part of a Treasury report published in November 2006. The Report , ‘Gowers Review of Intellectual Property’, charged government to consider whether guidance for firms on reporting of intangible assets could be improved.
The Intellectual Property Office has provided a great deal of guidance in this regard which is designed to improve the quality and accessibility of advice currently available to business about reporting their intangible assets including their IP rights.
| This guidance has been obtained from and has been reproduced on the Business Link website with the permission of the Intellectual Property Office. The Intellectual Property Office have also developed an online IP tool, IP Health check which aims to provide further assistance to businesses in determining and valuing their IP rights. |
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Useful Links
If you would like to know more about IP, you can download the following material which has been obtained from and has been reproduced here with permission from the UK Intellectual Property Office:
Alternatively, you can find out more from the Intellectual Property Office’s main website
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Related Links
You can also find out about industry related IP issues here:
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Anti Copying In Design - ACID
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Federation Against Copyright Theft - FACT
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Motion Picture Licensing Company - MPLC
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The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys
tel: 020 7405 9450 - CIPA Internet Site
The Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys
General Inquiries Tel: + 44 (0) 20 8686 2052 - ITMA Internet Site
Queries
If you have any queries or would like more information on the above, please contact:
Intellectual Property Office Enquiry Unit on 0845 9 500 505*
*Call charges & Information
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