smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

All businesses, in any industry, will be creating intellectual property they need to protect, entrepreneurs are warned.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) says that most firms are unaware of the information they are creating or that they may be breaching other people's rights.

Lawrence Smith-Higgins, head of business, outreach and education at the IPO, claims he can go to any company and identify where they are creating their own property or using someone else's.

He comments that if the intellectual property belongs to the owner of the business they should make sure they know how to 'protect it and … properly manage it and maximise its value to them and their company.'

A particularly important thing to protect is the name of the firm so that other companies do not copy it and it is easier to build a brand, he remarks.

The government is currently running a review into intellectual property rights and the British Brands Group is calling on businesses to submit examples of where their packaging has been copied.

There are currently no comments on this article