A widely used prostate cancer drug was discovered in laboratories in Sutton, and the royalties from it have helped fund research at the Institute of Cancer Research ever since. That is intellectual property working exactly as intended: an invention protected by patents, licensed to a company able to bring it to market, and paid for by the people who use it. As the London Cancer Hub grows around the Royal Marsden at Belmont, patents, licensing agreements, research collaboration contracts and confidentiality agreements are becoming a Sutton speciality rather than a central London one.
Most intellectual property questions in the borough are smaller. A café on the High Street or in Cheam Village wants to know whether it can register its name; a Wallington tradesperson discovers a rival using a similar logo and a similar van; a Worcester Park photographer finds their pictures on a letting agent's website; a software developer working from home in Carshalton is asked by a client to sign a contract that quietly transfers everything they have ever written. Each has a legal answer, and the answer is cheaper the earlier it is asked.
An intellectual property solicitor in Sutton searches and files trade marks and registered designs at the UK Intellectual Property Office, drafts licences, assignments and non-disclosure agreements, and handles infringement, which in most cases ends with a letter and an undertaking. Where it does not, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court hears claims with capped costs and damages of up to £500,000, keeping a dispute proportionate to the business behind it. Patent drafting is usually shared with a patent attorney.
Trade mark and design filings and standard agreements are typically fixed-fee; disputes are charged by the hour.
Intellectual property solicitors around Sutton are listed below, verified firms first. See what intellectual property law covers and the general IP solicitors page; business structures and contracts are covered under business law solicitors in Sutton, and the London-wide list is at intellectual property solicitors in London.
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