Does intellectual property expire?
Intellectual property refers to a company’s intangible assets, such as things it invents, designs or writes.
It can refer as well to the brand names it uses to identify its business and products.
These valuable assets help to:
- differentiate a business’s goods and services from those of their competitors
- act as a benchmark for quality and
- provide a guarantee of the products (and/or services) origin
Can you lose intellectual property rights?
UK law provides strong protection for intellectual property through trade mark, patent and copyright legislation.
There are registers for trade marks, designs and patents that provide their owners with exclusive rights and the
ability to act in relation to unauthorised use by competing third parties.
This legal protection is limited to a specific time period, and it’s the company’s responsibility to renew
protections when required.
How long do intellectual property rights last (in the UK)?
In considering the question ‘how long is intellectual property protected?’ it’s important to be aware that the
length of protection offered by the law varies according to the type of intangible asset in question.
Trade marks
A trade mark is protected for 10 years, after which it must be renewed to continue enjoying legal protection.
A renewal application can be made within a six-month period of the expiry date and for up to six months
afterwards (although there will be an additional charge in the case of late applications).
There is an additional six-month period in which an owner can apply to have its trade mark protection restored,
but must be compelling reasons to do so.
Patents
An organisation must renew its patent on the fourth anniversary of the original application.
The company must then continue to renew the patent each year around the time of the ‘due date’ – this is taken
as the last day of the month in which the initial application was filed.
Applications should be made within three months of, or up to a month after, the due date to avoid a financial
penalty.
Renewals can continue to be made for up to six months after the due date but would then incur an extra
payment, which increases for each month the application is overdue.
A patent can be renewed for up to 20 years.
Copyright
The time limit for copyright varies depending on the type of work in question:
- Written, dramatic, musical and artistic work – 70 years after death of author
- Sound and music recording – 70 years after first publication
- Films – 70 years after death of director, screenplay author and composer
How Trademark Eagle can assist with intellectual property protection
Ensuring that your intellectual property continues to enjoy legal protection can be an onerous task, and missing
the legal deadlines can result in loss of valuable assets.
Trademark Eagle assists its clients by notifying them when their renewal applications are due and will deal with
the renewal process on their behalf, ensuring retention of these valuable assets.
Contact us for more information on how we can help you.
Call: 01223 208 624
Email: enquiries@trademark-eagle.com
Or complete our online contact form
