Intellectual property law protects your creative efforts and innovations.
Intellectual property law protects your creative efforts and innovations.
Your brand, software, designs and creative productions can be important business assets. Intellectual property law helps protect that value, but each right has its own requirements and limits. Guldemond Advocaten advises on acquiring, using and enforcing IP rights. We also assist businesses facing allegations of infringement.
An abstract idea does not itself constitute an exclusive IP right. Depending on its specific expression, various rights may be relevant. Copyright can protect original texts, images, designs and software, for example. Trade mark law concerns signs that distinguish products or services. Design law can protect the appearance of products.
Trade name law, database rights and patent law may also play a role. Some protection arises automatically by law; other forms require registration. We help identify the relevant rights, their holders and any gaps in protection.
Paying a designer, developer or producer does not automatically give you all rights to the result. The answer depends on the type of right, the relationship between the parties and their agreements. Different starting points also apply to employees and independent contractors.
We assess transfers, licences, restrictions on use and formalities. Consider the right to modify software, use images in new campaigns or make a design available to another manufacturer. Sound contractual arrangements prevent your business from becoming dependent on permission that was never secured.
Technical knowledge, commercial information and development plans are not automatically covered by a registered IP right. Protection as a trade secret depends, among other things, on secrecy, commercial value and reasonable measures to keep the information secret. A confidentiality clause is one part of that framework, alongside access controls and arrangements for sharing information.
Read more about trade secrets and know-how and non-disclosure agreements. When employees leave, we coordinate protection with our employment law practice.
Use by another person is not always prohibited. We first assess whether a right exists, who can enforce it and whether the disputed use falls within its scope of protection. Consent, statutory exceptions and other defences may also matter. Careful analysis avoids a formal demand going beyond what your legal position justifies.
We then determine the appropriate step: discussions, a licence, a formal demand or proceedings. Urgent cases may require interim relief proceedings. Evidence of use, the creation of the right and any loss must be preserved in good time. We also advise on litigation risks and costs before you commence a dispute.
Do not sign a declaration containing penalties or far-reaching admissions without having it assessed. Keep relevant documents and have the alleged infringement, requested measures and response deadline reviewed for justification. Sometimes an adjustment or settlement offers a solution; in other cases, a substantive defence is required.
Software, digital services, media and AI bring different areas of law together. Access to source code, rights in training material, use of images and confidentiality each require their own arrangements. We connect the IP assessment with our practices in technology, privacy and data and media, entertainment and advertising.
Would you like to identify your rights, review a licence or take action in a dispute? Contact us. Designs, contracts, registrations and examples of the disputed use help us assess your position effectively.
