IP and IT

  • Are You Data Friendly?

    Many businesses regard the Data Protection Act 1998 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Dealing With Subject Access Requests

    The Data Protection Act 1998 gives individuals the right to access information held about them by organisations. The Act governs how organisations can use the personal information they hold – including how they acquire, store, share or dispose of it....

  • 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 . A major aim of the Directive was to cut down on the amount of ‘spam’ that...

  • E-Commerce Law - Do You Comply?

    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 these new rules. The Regulations do not just...

  • Freedom of Information - What it Means in Practice

    The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 came fully into force on 1 January 2005 and it has serious implications for businesses doing business with the public sector. The reason for this is that because one of the aims of the Act is to engender greater...

  • Intellectual Property: Who Owns It?

    One of the biggest sources of disputes in industries based on innovation is a difference of opinion about who owns the intellectual property (IP) created in terms of designs, software, processes and systems. This is a general guide for businesses to the...

  • Is Your Website Disability-Friendly?

    The British Standards Institution has published guidance on making sure that your website is disability-friendly. Legislation commencing with the Disability Discrimination Act   (DDA) made it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a...

  • Patent Searches Improved

    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...

  • Protecting Your Design Rights

    Protecting intellectual property has always been a complex area of law, but in one specific area things may be getting clearer. The Registered Designs Regulations 2001 include several protections for inventors of designs. If you have a new design which is...

  • 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...

  • The Eight Data Protection Principles

    Anyone processing personal data must comply with the eight enforceable principles of good practice. Here is a checklist. Data must be: fairly and lawfully processed; processed for limited purposes; adequate, relevant and not excessive; ...

  • What to Do About Copyright Infringement

    In the UK, copyright is automatic: there is no need to register it. It is the property of the creator as soon as it is created. However, it is not sufficient to be able to prove that you thought of something before someone else, since copyright does not...

  • What to do When Your IT Doesn't Work

    These days it is increasingly the case that when your IT doesn't work, neither does your business. Clearly, the best way to deal with IT problems is prevention, which means doing regular backups, proper systems maintenance, keeping anti-virus protection up...
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