Don't Fail To Protect Your Bright Ideas - Consult A Specialist UK IP Lawyer

While the concept of having a bright idea is centuries old - remember Archimedes in his bath - the thought that a bright idea could have legal protection is a relatively new one. It was not until the 19th century that the words "intellectual property" were coined, though the legal concept of copyright in the UK dates from the 1710 Statute of Anne and patent law from an even earlier statute of 1623.

The idea of intellectual property law is to allow the individual who has created something, to benefit from it, thus creating an incentive for people to invest time in developing new ideas. Intellectual property conceptually can include so many things ranging from art work, designs, literature, phrases, software, hardware, photographs, sound combinations and visual recordings - called "creations of the mind".

According to one economic study, intangible assets account for around two thirds of the value of big companies in the Western economies, underlining the importance of protecting those assets against being copied, stolen or lost. The importance of protecting individual ideas was first acknowledged in 1967 when the World Intellectual Property Organisation was created as an agency between nations.

Only "non-rival" goods attract intellectual property rights - that is, something which many people can access at the same time such a literature and music. "Rival goods" however can only be utilised by one person at any one time - think of shirt, for example.

There are numerous ways in which intellectual property can be legally protected, these include copyright, trade marking and patenting. But for anyone developing new ideas or products, it is vital to consider from the outset how you can protect your work. Even those who you work with on a project could potentially copy your developments, and so a first stage consideration should be the establishment of non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality agreements.

Attempting to protect your UK intellectual property rights will require the help and services of a specialised intellectual property adv. In order to get full protection under the law you will need to employ an experienced UK IP lawyer, who will be able to negotiate the complexes of intellectual property case law. Whilst we live in a world of instant communication, ideas can be passed around quicker than we can ever imagine, because of this it has become more crucial to take early steps to protect these ideas.