The Enemy Within: Mitigating The Risk of Employee IP Theft

When one thinks about IP theft it is often assumed the biggest risk is a competitor copying a patented product or a brand. However, a recent analysis of insider threats conducted by DTEX,  a workforce cyber intelligence and security company, confirms one of the biggest threats is actually employees stealing sensitive intellectual property when they leave an organization. The report, which can be found here, confirms that twelve percent of all employees take sensitive intellectual property (IP) with them when they exit a company.

We live in an age where employee mobility has never been higher and the ability to access and transfer data has never been easier. This is a dangerous combination for companies with sensitive data to protect i.e. every company! This data, which includes customer and price lists, sales information and confidential know-how, are all business critical and it can be extremely damaging when it falls into the wrong hands.

This is why it’s vital businesses take steps to safeguard their intellectual property. Restricting access only to those who need to use it, the extensive use of passwords, strict IT policies and exit interviews are all steps that can be taken to help reduce the risk.

If IP is stolen by an employee, legal action can be taken to limit the damage and recently there has been a significant rise in the number of claims against disgruntled employees who have stolen confidential information.

The good news is that these cases are covered by intellectual Property Insurance so, if you are concerned about the theft of your companies crown jewels, give us a call. We can talk through your options and how best to mitigate this risk.

If you would like a quote for Intellectual Property Insurance all you need to do is complete the short form here and we can get you on cover within hours.

 

Meta takes steps to protect intellectual Property online

 

Just a quick not to make you aware of additional tools Meta are making available to help brands stop infringement of their Intellectual Property (IP) rights on Facebook. Many of my clients are concerned about their trade marks being ripped off online and the changes to Meta’s reporting procedure should make it easier for brands to highlight concerns and have action taken.

Further information can be found in their press release here where Meta sets out the steps it has taken to help IP right holders on the site.

Remember, if you are concerned a third party may copy your IP whether online on elsewhere or that you could be sued for infringing a third party’s rights then IP insurance can mitigate this risk cost effectively.

All you need to do is complete the form at the link here and we can obtain a quote for you within 48 hours.

IP right holders across the UK and Europe now rely on IP insurance to enable them to take decisive legal action to protect their IP and their businesses. Action they would not be able to take otherwise.

Get in touch today.

I Feel The Need…The Need For IP Insurance!

My twelve year old son loves planes and, at the last count, has seen Top Gun: Maverick three times, twice with me! Its a great movie that manages to feel new and exciting whilst capturing the magic of the first movie.

However, its huge success has not gone un-noticed and Paramount, the films producers were recently hit with a copyright infringement action by the heirs of Ehud Yonay, the author of the article “Top Guns” which was published back in 1983, and inspired the first “Top Gun” movie.

Paramount paid a licence fee to use the article prior to making the first movie but that licence reverted to the Authors estate (Ehud Yonay died some years ago) in May 2020 and, whilst production on the movie had finished by that date, its release was delayed due to covid.

So who owned the copyright at the relevant date?

Paramount have stated they intend to defend the claim vigorously (as you’d expect with so much at stake) so we’ll have to wait for the court’s decision in California to know the outcome.

The moral of this story is that copyright, patent and trade mark disputes are on the rise and are costly. So whether you’re Paramount or the owner of a single patent, I would urge you to consider putting IP insurance in place. Not only will if fund unwanted IP litigation but can also act as a deterrent especially if a better funded third party is thinking about ripping you off.

Obtaining an IP insurance quote is easy, just head to our website here and complete the online form and we will get back to you with a quote within 48 hours.

Protect your investment in IP today and get in touch.

 

 

Great Patents Need Insurance

Sometimes you have to hold your hands up to the genius of humankind. A colleague was recently at a cricket match and saw a man carrying this multi cup beer holder and anyone who has had to carry multiple pints without this device will know what a life saver it is. No more having to walk away from the bar at 1mph, no more spillage and most importantly, no more fear of dropping the lot!

On further investigation, it appears the clever entrepreneur who invented this beauty has also taken steps to protect it by registering intellectual property, in this case a patent (see the drawing below). This is very sensible as I am sure we will soon be seeing this device in sports stadiums around the world.

So not to be left with a bad hangover, the next sensible step will be to buy a patent insurance policy to mitigate the risk of this device being copied.  Unfortunately, as with all successful IP, larger competitors are bound to want a piece of the action but a patent insurance policy would level the financial playing field and allow action to be taken to stop any copycats.

If you’d like to get a quote for patent insurance please head here to complete our short form and we’ll obtain a quote for you within two working days. The policies will cover the cost of enforcing rights against infringers and also defending claims that you have infringed others rights. Premiums start from around £80pm for UK cover.

Its vital cover is in place before any potential claims arise so don’t delay and complete our form today.

 

The Star Wars Intellectual Property Reveal

LucasFilms are notoriously protective about future projects and for good reason. The leaking of plots, stills and videos of new releases can hurt sales. However, there is one element they cannot keep under wraps and that’s their Intellectual Property registrations,

As reported in the online magazine Fansided here eagle eyed Star Wars fans noticed that on 26th July 2022 Lucasfilm filed three new trademarks for the terms, “The Great Circle”, “The Galactic Circle”, and “Circle of Resistance.” Now, at this stage, not many people know what these trade marks will ultimately be used for but as the article points out, it doesn’t take a big stretch of the imagination to assume they will be used in connection with a new Star Wars movie – And if that’s true, don’t forget you heard it hear first.

Until then, May The Force Be With You!

 

 

Patent and Trade Mark insurance

Safeguard iP

In today’s modern economy company value is predominantly tied up in intangible assets such as brands, innovative product or process, copyright or trade secrets etc and whilst most businesses insure other (less valuable) business assets like buildings, stock and staff they overlook Patent Insurance and Trade mark Insurance to protect their most valuable asset.

In an environment where it is cheaper to copy then create, there is always a risk that successful IP will be ripped of by a competitor. Copycats take the view that smaller businesses wont have the funds to stop an infringement of their rights and often this assessment is accurate, given the significant costs of enforcing IP rights through the courts. IP insurance levels the playing fields and allows smaller companies to fight back and preserve the value of their intellectual property.

The cost of intellectual property insurance starts from as little as £100pm for UK cover, so there is every reason for IP rich businesses to consider putting IP insurance cover in place, before its too late. Its vital to protect investment in IP today!

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of Patent insurance and trade mark insurance go to our website here and if you’d like a quote you just need to complete the short form here and we’ll get back to you in 48 hours.

 

 

FICPI World Congress 2022

I am delighted to have been asked to share my knowledge of Patent, Trade Mark and Copyright insurance at the FICPI World Congress, which is taking place in Cannes in September. This congress will be one of the largest gatherings of IP Attorneys in the world.

I will be talking about how SME’s can mitigate the cost risk of Intellectual Property litigation by having a robust insurance policy in place.

If you are attending the event please let me know so we can set some time aside to meet.

If you are not attending, I shall post my presentation on this site after the event.

In the meantime, if you are concerned about the risk of IP litigation please read up about the benefits of having cover in place here and if you’d like to obtain a quote please complete the short form here

Disney’s Mickey Mouse Problem

2024 is a big year in the life of 95 year old Mickey Mouse. Ever since he was a young mouse, his family, in the shape of Disney, has wielded its considerable power to protect his value to the company ($3bn in merchandise sales alone in 2019).  This power extended to successfully lobbying the US government on no less than three occasions to change US copyright laws. When he was born on 1 October 1928, Copyright protection in the US lasted 56 years. When this was close to expiring Disney supported the Copyright Act 1976 which extended the length of Copyright in the US to 75 years. And you’ve guessed it, when Mickey’s copyright was close to expiring in 1998 they further lobbied the government to have protection for Copyright extended to a whopping 95 years.

Despite further lobbying, Disney appears to have now run out of road and is facing up to the fact that, pretty soon Mickey Mouse will be in the public domain and can be ‘owned’ by anyone. In fact, any third party will be able to use the Mickey Mouse character as it was originally created and create their own Mickey Mouse stories or stories with the character.

I imagine, there will be many publishers, film studios and merchandisers rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect however, the right to reproduce this world famous character is not unfettered.

To ensure continued protection Disney has over the years, filed a number of trademarks that protect certain catchphrases and signature outfits worn by Mickey and his mates. So if anyone is considering replicating Mickey, they need to be very careful to ensure that consumers don’t assume the work originated from Disney. If any such confusion arises, you can be sure one of Disney’s vast team of lawyers will come knocking on your door to serve trademark infringement papers and, given the sums at stake they wont be wearing trade mark Disney smiles.

The interesting point here is it’s not only Disney that are affected. Hugely famous books, records, plays and characters will be coming to the end of there copyright life every year and it will be fascinating to see how commercial entities capitalise on this and how the creators (or most likely their estates) fight back.

If you are concerned that a third party might copy your trademark, copyright or patent please do get in touch here and we can advise on the best way forward. Taking out Patent Insurance, Trademark Insurance and/or  Copyright Insurance is an excellent way to mitigate this significant business risk.

IPR Gorilla Conference

I am delighted to be presenting at the IPR Gorilla conference on 27th July 2022, which covers a range of IP related topics. I will be talking on the pros and cons of Intellectual Property Insurance during a session entitled “Off-Balance Sheet Litigation Finance – what are the options?”.

The full day agenda is excellent (see link below) and attendance is reasonably priced so, if you’d like to expand your knowledge of IP, it would be great if you could join us.

The IP Gorilla Agenda

If you’d like a patent, trade mark or copyright insurance quote please don’t hesitate to get in touch here

 

Future Brand Owners Beware

According to Trade Mark Attorneys Mattheys & Squire there has been an unprecedented rise in Trade Mark oppositions in the UK which is bad news for companies looking to launch new brands.

Their report, which can be found here confirms that the number of Trade Mark applications that are opposed by third parties increased from 3,584 in 2020 to a whopping 8,026 last year. This means not only is it getting harder to obtain Trade Marks for new company’s and products but the cost of obtaining these rights is also going up.

There are myriad reasons for this ranging from Brexit, which has led to a huge increase in UK applications to Trade Mark owners taking more proactive steps to protect their marks.

Either way, it is not good news for SMEs already facing increasing costs for goods and services across the board.

The good news however, is that it is now possible to mitigate the cost of these oppositions by insuring the risk. IP Insurance policies not only cover the costs of IP litigation but also the cost of third party oppositions, and not a lot of people know that!

Getting a quote could not be easier.  Simply complete the form at Here and we’ll get back to you in 72 hours with a competitive quote for you to consider.

To learn  more about the policies, have a look at our FAQs.