Who owns the code? In Shoreditch that question comes up every week, and the answer is often not the company that paid for it. Copyright in software written by a freelancer belongs to the freelancer unless a written assignment says otherwise; code a founder wrote before the company existed belongs to the founder. Intellectual property solicitors in Hackney spend much of their time tidying this up before an investment round, when the investors' lawyers ask for proof that the company owns what it sells.
The borough's other intellectual property is more visible. Breweries in Hackney Wick, coffee roasters, fashion labels, restaurants and bars along Kingsland Road and Broadway Market all trade on a name, a logo and a look, and in a crowded market the copying starts quickly. A trade mark registered at the UK Intellectual Property Office is the cheapest protection available, and an IP solicitor will check whether the name is free before the signage is ordered and send the letter that usually ends a dispute. Design rights protect the shape and surface of products made by the borough's designers; copyright protects the work of the photographers, illustrators and musicians in the studios of Hackney Wick and Hackney Downs, who need licences that define what a client may do.
Disputes that cannot be settled end up in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, whose capped costs and £500,000 damages ceiling keep a claim affordable for a small Hackney business against a larger copier. Patent work is rarer here and usually involves a patent attorney alongside the solicitor.
Registrations, assignments and licences are generally fixed-fee; litigation is charged by the hour.
Below are firms offering intellectual property advice in Hackney, verified firms first. The explainer on intellectual property law and the general IP solicitors page give the background; see also the capital-wide intellectual property solicitors in London page and, for company structure and investment, business law solicitors in Hackney.
Verified