Council of Ministers backs EU signing of ACTA

EU ministers have given their backing to a controversial international intellectual property (IP) rights treaty paving the way for representatives of the trading bloc to sign the agreement. 20 Dec 2011

UK's first intellectual property attaché to begin work in China this week

The UK Government has appointed an intellectual property (IP) expert to provide advice about the enforcement of IP rights to companies looking to do business in China, it has announced. 12 Dec 2011

Out-Law Guides

  • How design rights can add value to a business

    The original version of this article appeared in the April 2006 issue of BNA International's Patents Copyrights & Trademarks journal. It has since been updated and amended. It was last updated in...

  • Registering a design in the UK

    This guide is based on UK law. It was last updated in September 2008. Applications are filed at the United Kingdom Designs Registry which is a part of the UK Intellectual Property Office, an...

  • Designs: the basics

    This guide is based on UK law. It was last updated in September 2008. A registered design is a monopoly right for the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, ...

  • Registering a design in the EU

    This guide is based on UK law. It was last updated in September 2008. Applications are filed at the Community Designs Office, known as OHIM ( Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market ). A...