Excellent achievements shared across the firm ??
Wake Smith Solicitors
Sheffield based commercial and private client solicitors established in 1802. Legal news, views and opinions.
From Legal 500 announcements and recent team appointments, to our female staff making history.?Read what we've been up to in the latest edition of our newsletter.
Head of Will, Trust and Inheritance Disputes?John Breeze?has been named as a leading individual in his sector in Yorkshire and The Humber by a leading industry guide...
Solicitor John Breeze , who has headed up the?team since January this year, graduated from Rising Star for the last three years to Leading Individual in the 2024 list in the UK’s eminent legal directory, The Legal 500. His team at Wake Smith also comes straight in as a new entry in Tier 2 of the Contentious Trusts and Probate category in Yorkshire and The Humber.
Click here to read our full article. For further information contact Wills, Trusts and Inheritance Disputes team here.
We have strengthened our corporate team to become one of the region’s largest company and commercial specialists.
Joe Creasor joins as a newly-qualified solicitor having spent the previous 12 months as a trainee within the department, and trainee solicitor Michael Lea now joins the team; demonstrating Wake Smith’s continued commitment to development.
Corporate solicitor Millie Vaughan has also recently re-joined Wake Smith’s company commercial team led by Wake Smith director and chairman John Baddeley plus director Rebecca Robinson and associate Tom Haywood , who are all supported by corporate legal assistant Debbie Huckerby.
John Baddeley said: “I am delighted to welcome Millie, Joe and Michael to the corporate team. The trio join a team committed to outstanding client service, and has a structured training programme that promotes development of all employees.
Suzanne Porter appointed as first lady steward in historic Derbyshire court.
Suzanne Porter will hold the title of Steward to the Duke of Devonshire’s Liberties of Eyam and Stoney Middleton, Ashford, Tideswell, Peak Forest and Hartington, Crich.?Her role at the court will include swearing in the grand jury, presiding over the meetings of the court and adjudicating over any matters brought to the court’s attention.
Suzanne, who became the first female Head of the Private Client team in Wake Smith Solicitors’ long history in 2017, was recently shortlisted in the 2023 Modern Law Private Client Awards as the Lawyer of the Year – Wills & Probate category with her team up for Private Client team at the Yorkshire Legal Awards this month.
Read the full article here.
Joseph Creasor,?solicitor in the Company Commercial team at Wake Smith looks at the key commercial issues around Intellectual Property in the UK ??
In the UK Intellectual Property (IP) can be protected in a number of different ways.
Trade marks protect names, logos or other forms of ‘branding’ associated with a particular product or service, and can be registered or unregistered.
A Registered Design protects the appearance of a specific product. Designs do not generally protect how a product works. This type of protection is known differently throughout the world, such as ‘industrial designs’ and ‘design patents’.
A patent protects the technical aspect of how something works. Patents do not generally protect how a product looks, unless there is some technical reason for why the product looks like it does.
Copyright protects creative works, such as songs, books and paintings and other literary creations but cannot be registered.
Joe Creasor solicitor in the Company Commercial team at Wake Smith looks at the key commercial issues.
This article covers:
Are there any restrictions on what sort of trade marks can be registered?
In the UK, a trade mark must be distinctive enough to identify one particular company or person; it cannot describe the goods or services being offered or be the usual or generic term for those goods or services.
A mark must not conflict with any existing registered trade mark owned by another party. An application for an identical or similar mark, covering identical or similar goods or services may result in a trade mark application being refused, particularly if there is any likelihood that the existence of two such similar marks could confuse consumers. Unregistered trade marks owned by other people can also pose problems.
It is possible to register many different kinds of trade marks.? In addition to words and logos, the shape of packaging, sounds and slogans can all be registered, provided that they comply with the requirements stated above.
Licencing Intellectual Property Rights/ Royalty Agreements?
An agreement to licence intellectual property allows the owner of IP, known as the “Licensor” to have overall control of their asset whilst also granting the use of it to a third party (the “Licensee”).
There are a number of reasons an owner of IP may seek to licence their IP to a third party. The most common of these is to generate revenue from their asset. Payments made by the Licensee to the Licensor are known as royalties. Royalties are usually calculated on a percentage basis in connection with the use of the IP.?
In addition to generating revenue, other common reasons for licencing IP include the following:
Assignment of Intellectual Property Rights
An assignment of Intellectual property is when the owner of IP (the “Assignor”) sells their IP to a third party (the “Assignee”). This is commonly done in conjunction with a business sale when the seller is selling the assets in their business rather the shares.
Reorganisations to protect IP and other business assets
A company’s most valuable asset is commonly its IP; whether this is patents, technical designs, logos and slogans or product designs and drawings. Due to the value these assets hold, it is sensible to de-risk and protect them. One way this can be achieved is to assign the IP out of the trading company and into a non-trading ‘holding company’.
Once the IP is held in a holding company it can then be licenced back to the trading company. The trading company can then continue to operate and benefit from the IP with the knowledge that the IP is protected if the worst were to happen to the trading company in hard economic times.
Contact Joe, or our company commercial team for more information.
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