This practice covers protection, commercialisation and defence of patents, trade marks, designs, copyright, database and software rights, domain names, confidential information and tech contracts. Solicitors draft and negotiate licences, assignment deeds, development and outsourcing contracts, terms and privacy notices, NDAs and distribution agreements; file applications and oppositions at the Intellectual Property Office; instruct experts; and bring or defend infringement and passing‑off claims in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court or Chancery Division, or pursue domain complaints through Nominet and UDRP panels. Matters are shaped by registration strategy, claim construction and remedies such as interim injunctions and damages.
What a solicitor handles in these matters
Work typically includes filings and prosecution before the Intellectual Property Office, oppositions and revocation actions, preparing pleadings for IPEC or the Chancery Division, applying for interim relief and Norwich Pharmacal disclosure orders, and negotiating commercial and licence provisions that address rights, royalties, warranties and carve‑outs. Cross‑border enforcement, open‑source obligations and interaction with data‑protection rules commonly generate technical and contractual complexity.