PROTECT YOUR INVENTION IDEA WITH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
We work closely in collaboration with our sister company Albright IP to protect your innovations.
Albright IP offer practical, potent and cost-effective Intellectual Property to help you protect your creative vision, innovation and investment. Albright IP can assist with all aspects of global IP protection and enforcement, including Patents, Registered Designs, Copyright and Trade Marks.
ALBRIGHT IP
Working alongside Albright IP allows us to consider the best Intellectual Property strategy for clients throughout their projects.
Our unique partnership allows potential patentability of new design ideas to be evaluated directly with our patent attorneys from the outset of a project. This ensures that we strike the right balance of filing IP early, but doing so with a design that is mature enough to result in robust intellectual property protection.
PATENTS
A patent protects new inventions and how they work. If a patent application is granted, it gives the inventor the ability to take legal action to prevent others from reproducing and selling their invention without permission.
Duku are experts in developing innovative patentable design solutions which can strengthen your patent application. If you have a new product idea or invention, our expert attorneys can help you to secure patent rights in almost any country and are on hand to offer patent advice at any stage of the patenting process including costs, timescales and deadlines for all important phases of applying for a patent.
TRADEMARKS
A trademark can be used to protect logos, business, product or service names. Registering your brand, logo or company name as a trademark strengthens and protects your position in the marketplace, strengthening your brand when you are ready for Manufacturing.
Our experienced trademark attorneys will guide you through the trademarking process, providing initial searches of the UK trademark register and invaluable advice to give your brand the protection it needs in the UK, Europe and beyond.
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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FAQs
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property (IP) is the process of protecting a physical product, graphic design or name. Protecting these assets can protect your idea and brand from being replicated. Patents and registered design rights can be used to protect physical products. Trademarks can be used to protect a brand name and/or logo.
Who are Albright IP - Patent Attorneys?
We are twinned with Patent Attorney firm, Albright IP, with over 25 years of IP experience to offer advice and assistance.
How much does it cost to get a patent?
If you chose to use a patent attorney they will have fees associated with creating your patent application. There are costs associated with filing a patent which can be found in the UKIPO website.
What is a patent?
A patent is a legal instrument which is submitted to a national body to give you the rights to your invention or development. Once granted, the patent ring-fences your piece of the market and gives you the power and control to solely manufacture and sell your idea. Depending on the country your idea will be protected for between 15 - 25 years.
Can I patent my idea?
To patent an idea, it must be both unique (i.e. novel) and sufficiently clever (i.e. inventive), then granted patent rights can be obtained.
What do you need to patent an invention?
You will need to have thoroughly thought your idea through and be able to write a patent application describing your idea and the innovative elements of it. Technical diagrams and drawings are helpful to explain the idea in detail in your application, to make sure the idea is explained as clearly as possible.
How do you patent an idea in the UK?
Patents are submitted to the UK Intellectual Patent Office (UKIPO), where the claims being made by them are reviewed. The UKIPO may ask for amendments to allow the patent to be successfully accepted. This process can take time and is often best performed using an experienced patent attorney.
How do you patent an invention in the EU?
A European patent application (Euro-PCT patents) provides a means of obtaining patent protection in some or all of the more than 30 contracting states of the European Patent Office (EPO) by filing a single application. In other words, you can potentially protect your invention across the whole of the EU market based on a single patent application.
How do you patent an idea internationally?
Patents are granted as territorial rights. It is not yet possible to obtain “worldwide” patent protection through a single patent. You can file a separate patent applications in individual countries known as a ‘national filings’ but this can be an expensive and long process.
However, a PCT application is a single patent application, which sets the ball rolling for patenting in most industrialised countries. A PCT patent application defers the costs of multiple foreign filings. It provides a good quality novelty search, and allows you to amend the claimed subject matter in the light of the search before conversion into national and regional patent applications.
Do I need a product designer to develop my invention before I patent my invention idea?
The further developed your design is the stronger your patent application is likely to be. You may uncover novel ways of solving a problem during design and prototyping that you can incorporate into your initial patent application. Or you may find something you thought would work doesn't which you want to remove. Either way if you can wait until the later stages of product development then this will only help your patent.
Do I need a patent attorney to file my invention idea?
We strongly recommend using an experienced patent attorney, like Albright-IP. A well written patent, created by a professional, is more likely to be approved then one written by yourself.