Worcestershire sauce is a lesson in intellectual property. The name can be used by anyone, because it describes a type of sauce rather than a maker, and rival brands sell it freely; what Lea & Perrins owns is its brand, its label and a recipe that has been kept as a trade secret rather than patented for nearly two centuries. Intellectual property solicitors in Worcester make the same distinctions for much smaller businesses: which words can be registered as a trade mark and which are too descriptive, when secrecy is better than a patent, and how a label, a shape or a logo can be protected.
The county's technology sits at Malvern, where QinetiQ, the science park and the firms around them generate patents, confidentiality agreements, licences and questions about who owns an employee's invention. The big manufacturers in Worcester look after their own patents, but their suppliers and contractors often do not. The University of Worcester produces spin-outs and graduates with ideas, the Vale's growers and cider makers brand their produce, and the city's designers, photographers and software developers rely on copyright, which arises automatically but has to be proved and policed.
A Worcester IP solicitor registers trade marks and designs at the UK Intellectual Property Office, drafts licences, assignments and non-disclosure agreements, and sends the letter that ends most infringements. Cases that must be litigated can go to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, where costs are capped and damages limited to £500,000, which makes a claim viable for a small business. Patents are handled with a patent attorney. Registrations and standard documents are generally fixed-fee; disputes are charged by the hour.
Firms offering IP advice around Worcester are listed below, verified ones first. See what intellectual property law covers and the general IP solicitors guide, the business law solicitors in Worcester page for company matters, and IP solicitors in Birmingham for the larger specialist practices.
