A research group at the University of York publishes a paper on a new enzyme, and a company in Germany starts selling a product based on it six months later. Whether anything can be done depends on what was protected before publication, and that question, asked too late, is why the city's intellectual property solicitors work so closely with the university, the science park at Heslington and the bioscience companies that have grown up around them. A patent application, drafted by a patent attorney and filed before the paper went out, would have changed the answer.
York's IP work has two other strands. The first is creative: the city is a UNESCO City of Media Arts, and its games studios, film and animation companies, designers and musicians need copyright assignments, licensing deals, contributor agreements and the occasional takedown notice. The second is tourism and food. The names and logos of York's attractions, tea rooms, gin distilleries, breweries and chocolate makers are valuable trade marks, registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office, and copying is common enough that a solicitor's letter is a regular event. Design rights protect the look of products sold in the city's independent shops; confidentiality agreements protect ideas pitched to investors.
Most infringements in York are resolved by a letter before action, a negotiated licence or an undertaking. Where a claim must be issued, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court hears smaller cases with capped costs and damages of no more than £500,000, and bigger cases can go to the specialist courts in Leeds.
Fixed fees for trade mark filings and standard agreements are usual; disputes are charged hourly.
The IP solicitors who cover York are listed below, verified firms first. The guide to intellectual property law explains the rights in more depth, the IP solicitors page describes what they do, and the business law solicitors in York page covers contracts and company matters.
