Platform, white-label, B2B supply, SaaS, affiliate and outsourcing agreements drafted for regulated environments.
Practice area 07
IP Registration & Protection
Brands, software and content are often a digital business's most valuable assets. We register them, protect them across markets and document who owns what.
Discuss your matterTypical deliverables
- Clearance and filing strategy
- Trademark and patent applications
- IP ownership map for the group
- Assignments and licence agreements
- Domain dispute filings
- Renewal and watch calendar
A cross-jurisdiction capability, supported across the jurisdictions in our directory. See jurisdictions
Overview
Why it matters
For digital businesses, the brand, the software and the content are frequently worth more than anything else on the balance sheet — and they are exposed in every market the business reaches online. Unregistered brands, software built by contractors without an assignment and domains held in personal names regularly surface in due diligence, bank reviews and disputes.
We plan filings around the markets you operate in and intend to enter, manage registrations through to grant, and put the ownership, licensing and enforcement documentation in place. Where a patent or trademark office requires a locally registered attorney, we coordinate that step.
Scope
What we do
- 1.
Trademark Registration & Protection
Clearance searches, filing strategy and national, regional and international applications through to registration, and action against conflicting or infringing marks.
- 2.
Patent Registration & Protection
Patentability assessment and filing strategy, with applications prepared and prosecuted together with registered patent attorneys where the office requires it, and support in protecting granted rights.
- 3.
Copyright Protection & Registration where available
Protecting software, content and creative works: ownership, licensing and enforcement, and registration in jurisdictions that offer it. Registration is neither available nor required everywhere.
- 4.
Domain Name Disputes
Recovering and defending domain names, including UDRP complaints and national dispute resolution procedures.
- 5.
IP Portfolio Support
Portfolio reviews, renewal calendars and watch arrangements, and alignment of IP ownership with the group structure.
- 6.
IP Agreements
Assignments, licences, development and contractor agreements, and the IP terms in technology and commercial contracts.
Jurisdictions
Supported across jurisdictions
IP Registration & Protection is one of our cross-jurisdiction capabilities: we support it for businesses across the jurisdictions in our directory. What the law requires, and how the work is delivered, differs between jurisdictions; where local qualification is required, we coordinate locally qualified counsel.
- Europe18
- Asia & Middle East4
- Americas & Caribbean11
- Africa & Indian Ocean6
Industries
Where we apply it
- iGaming & GamingB2C operators, B2B suppliers, platforms, aggregators and affiliates.
- Fintech & PaymentsPayment and e-money institutions, PSPs and acquirers, payment facilitators and embedded finance.
- Crypto & Digital AssetsCASPs and VASPs, exchanges, custodians, wallets, token projects and crypto payments.
- Forex & InvestmentsForex and CFD brokers, investment firms, trading and investment platforms.
- Digital Platforms & MarketplacesOnline marketplaces, platform operators and intermediary business models.
- Technology BusinessesSoftware, SaaS, data-driven and ICT businesses operating across borders.
- High-Risk & Regulated Digital BusinessesBusiness models that banks, payment providers and regulators treat with enhanced scrutiny.
Questions
Frequently asked
In which markets should we register our trademark?
At a minimum, where you operate and where you expect to operate in the next few years, and in markets where copying is a known risk. Regional and international filing systems can reduce the cost; we compare the options against your market list.
Our software was built by contractors. Do we own it?
Not necessarily. In many jurisdictions, copyright in work created by an independent contractor stays with the contractor unless it is assigned in writing. We review the contracts and put assignments in place where they are missing.
Related
Related practice areas
Group architecture, incorporation, substance and governance built around your licences, banking and investors.
Privacy compliance and GDPR programmes, notices and DPAs, DPIAs, data mapping and ROPA, transfers, audits and breach response.
Regulatory, business model, perimeter, payment, gaming, crypto-asset and cross-border opinions for banks, partners and investors.
Discuss your matter with a senior advisor.
Share a few details about your business and plans. We will come back to arrange a confidential initial conversation.