Intellectual Property

Course Title: Intellectual Property

Course Duration: Half Day

Sample Course Content

Overview

This comprehensive half day programme has been developed to provide the participants with an understanding of the importance of intellectual property within business contracts.   

Training Objectives

To provide course delegates with an appreciation of the importance of intellectual property rights within the business environment. To provide the delegate with an understanding of the key types of intellectual property and the contractual steps that need to be taken within business agreements to both protect the organisation and exploit the value of intellectual property owned by the organisation. The course is designed to be applicable to all business sectors. On completion of the course delegates should have a greater degree of confidence in dealing with and negotiating the Intellectual Property aspects of business agreements.

Target Audience

The course is aimed at the organisation’s commercial and purchasing staff and other disciplines who have an interest in research and development contracts or are involved in the sale of the organisations proprietary products or software and who would benefit from having the information and skills to maximise the organisations exploitation of its Intellectual Property while concurrently protecting the organisation from potential intellectual property infringement claims.

Format

This comprehensive half day course is based on formal presentation material from the expert trainer and practical case examples / studies. Time will be set aside for participants to raise issues of particular interest to them.

Special Features

The course is run in a workshop format to facilitate participants raising any issues of particular concern to them.

The Expert Trainer

Mike is a qualified accountant and commercial specialist and provides commercial consultancy services to clients in the UK and overseas related to contracting with the UK MoD and the aerospace industry.

He has a broad experience of practical commercial interaction with the UK MoD gained over a thirty year period of working within the UK aerospace and defence industry and has held a number of senior commercial positions in major companies within the UK defence industry including the post of Commercial Executive at Racal & Commercial Director at Thales Avionics Limited.

Course Content

Day 1

1. Overview of the main intellectual property rights

·         Patents

·         Designs

·         Copyright & Database Rights

·         Trade marks

2. Patents & Design Rights

·         Registering patents and designs in the UK, EC and other overseas countries.

·         The essential elements of a patent application

·         Cost & benefits of patent and design right applications

·         Alternatives to patents – trade secrets

3. Licencing Agreements

·         Benefits of Licencing-in and Licencing-out

·         Valuing Intellectual Property

·         Key issues to consider – using checklists

·         Example manufacturing licence

·         Overview of EU and UK competition law impacts

·         Licences granted within R&D agreements

4. Contractual Clauses

·         Formulating contract clauses to gain contractual protection

·         Buyer and Seller perspectives of IPR indemnities & rights of use clauses

5. Copyright

·         Computer software and copyright law

·         “Off the shelf” and “bespoke software” licencing

·         Example software licence

·         Marking of documents and computer software

·         Protection of databases.

·         Formulating contractual clauses

6. Confidential Information

·         Writing effective non-disclosure agreements

·         Key issues to consider

7. Trade Marks

·         Protection for names and logos