Scottish news coverage of IP
Two stories were brought to my attention about IP in the Scottish press. The first “Protection is there to stop rivals making a monkey out of you” in the Scotsman is a quick review of what the various IP rights are and how they are important to businesses. One area that I’d like to add is domain names. Not an IP right per se, but domain name issues get tied up with considerations of trade marks and the UDRP can be used to help protect your business from competitors misusing your mark on the internet. It’s important to think about the legal strategies involved in this area if the company is going to have any kind of web presence.
I know that some people have the reaction to IP mentioned in the article:
Usually, eyes start to glaze over when the term “intellectual property” is thrown into a conversation.
… but I actually find that when I tell people that I’m an IP lawyer that they are pretty interested. It’s a much better conversation starter than saying that you do personal injury and getting into a heated debate over tort reform.
In “Leading the fight for your rights“, The Herald reports on clothes designer Katherine Hamnett, who spoke at “Encouraging Creativity” — an event sponsored by Maclay Murray and Spens for World Intellectual Property Day. Hamnett’s talk centred on ethics in IP law, and she mentioned issues patenting human genes and the use of her designs for causes that she does not support.
Echoing the same message as the Scotsman story, Fiona Nicolson of Maclay Murray and Spens had this to say:
Intellectual property is “extremely important”, says Nicolson. “The value of businesses is now in intangible assets and not in the tangible ones.” She cites Microsoft as an example. “If businesses in Scotland are going to make it, each needs to understand and capitalise on the value of intangible assets: or, in other words, their intellectual property.”
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