You must always be on the lookout for people trying to steal your company’s ideas. In this post, we’ll look at the UK’s IP laws and how to write an NDA agreement with LawDistrict.co.uk to keep your confidential information safe.
Knowing Your IP Rights
Intellectual property protection stops unscrupulous people from stealing your creations. However, a raw idea isn’t subject to copyright. You must develop your ideas into more tangible forms to protect them.
You can protect your creations via:
● Copyright, which protects art, media, and more, as soon as you create it
● Trademarking, which keeps your brand iconography safe from facsimiles
● Registering a design, which lets you monopolise a product’s appearance
● Patents, which prevent competitors from copying your unique innovations
Copyrighting happens instantly, but everything else takes time. For example, patenting your new invention can take up to five years. Even registering a trademark takes months.
They also last different amounts of time. Copyright lasts for the creator’s lifetime, plus 70 years, but you’ll have to renew trademarks every decade. Even patents will only last 20 years after the filing date.
The Importance of NDAs
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) legally stops someone from sharing information. This keeps your company safe from leakers — anyone who breaks the NDA could be subject to harsh legal penalties. Here are a few ways an NDA can help you:
● You can trust new employees not to sell data to competitors
● You can screen a new show or movie without spoilers getting out
● You can trust freelancers with your proprietary tech
● You can carry out beta tests and clinical trials for new products
● You can pitch new plans to investors without leaking them
You can get a high-quality NDA from a reputable document template site. The agreement will be pre-written, meaning it has every field you need for it to be legally binding. All you need to do is add any extra clauses.
With the right website, you can get a ready-to-use template within minutes, and without breaking the bank. Otherwise, you might spend hundreds of pounds drafting one with a lawyer. An online NDA template instead lets you spend this money on bringing your idea to life.
Should You Use an IP Ownership Clause?
Companies often use IP ownership clauses to stipulate that any work their employees, and even their freelance contractors, create belongs to the business. You’ll have free rein to use the work however you see fit, without fear of legal retribution.
This also helps you trademark or patent the work your team created. Protecting the material will be much simpler if your agreements show that they provided you with the rights. However, some freelancers charge extra for you to use their work to advertise the company.
Under UK law, it’s generally assumed that employees create work on behalf of their employer. It still helps to enshrine this in your work contracts, though. Without putting it in writing, you might not legally own some of your brand’s creations.
The Need for Strong Cybersecurity
However, not every threat to your information will come from somebody who works for you. The digital age brings a lot of unique challenges, including virtual threats. If someone breaks into the company’s server, for example, they can steal confidential files.
This means you should invest in cybersecurity, even if you’re a small business — anyone could be a target. Here are our tips for keeping your company safe online:
● Use strong, complex passwords and update them regularly
● Add multi-factor authentication to your company’s intranet
● Make sure employees can only access the data they need
● Use intrusion detection or prevention systems to stop hacks
● Encrypt sensitive data, whether you’re sending or storing it
● Update software as soon as possible to patch vulnerabilities
● Install anti-malware software on every compatible device
● Make sure your cybersecurity aligns with UK GDPR rules
Defending Your Ideas
If someone steals your ideas, you should be able to take legal action. However, you should first take stock of your IP and make sure you own any stolen or leaked content. For example, do you have proof that a logo is your original creation if a competitor reveals a similar one?
If you notice anyone stealing your company’s content, send them a cease and desist letter. This effectively promises you’ll take legal action if they don’t stop. In all likelihood, they will. However, you may need to escalate to the UK’s Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.
In court, you can ask for monetary damages and the destruction of the infringing goods. You can alternatively set up a licensing deal that satisfies both parties.
Final Thoughts
Keeping your ideas safe is typically more complicated than protecting tangible IP. However, with the correct documents and a good understanding of British copyright law, you should always be able to protect your business and its creations.
