Free advice for firms that wish to exploit their intellectual property

1 August 2008

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) has launched a free booklet aimed at helping businesses that have invented products.

The new booklet, entitled How Licensing Intellectual Property Can Help Your Business, provides information on how a business can best exploit their intellectual property.

It includes advice on how to approach and conduct a productive intellectual property licensing deal.

Licensing intellectual property, for example, can be appropriate for those who invent a product or for manufacturers and designers who configure or refine a product’s appearance.

Ian Fletcher, the chief executive of UK-IPO, said: “The ‘Innovation Nation’ White Paper published earlier this year sets out the government’s goal to make the UK the best place in the world to run a creative, innovative business. We live in a world where open innovation – the exchange of ideas, knowledge and intellectual property – is becoming the way in which businesses develop and build new products.

“Licensing is the fundamental mechanism within the intellectual property system that facilitates open innovation. I am delighted to publish this booklet, which provides an illuminating account of the key elements of licensing from a newcomer’s perspective. We want businesses to gain the most value they can from their intellectual property and also to accelerate innovative development by working in collaboration with other businesses in using intellectual property.”

The booklet can be viewed at http://www.ipo.gov.uk/licensingbooklet.pdf

Paper copies can be ordered from the UK-IPO Central Enquiry Unit on 08459 500 505.