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When innovative concepts, designs arise in a business, those in charge need to recognise them and take appropriate action to protect them, where they have commercial value. The products of creative thought and intellectual effort, if they are novel and original, can often be protected by law. Patented designs for instance can provide a monopoly right for up to twenty years. Business managers also need to know how to check that they are not infringing the rights of other businesses, when introducing new designs or concepts. Professional advice in this area is usually necessary, but can be expensive. This module should help businesses save money by knowing the questions to ask and asking them at the right time.

Learning outcomes

After completing this element you should:

• Be able to recognise different products of creative thought and intellectual effort as intellectual property and differentiate between them
• Have a basic understanding of how the protection the law in the UK provides for different types of intellectual property
• Understand how to avoid conflict with the rights of others and how to check whether a specific item of IP is original
• Understand what options apply to the protection of different types of business IP
• Know when professional advice is needed and the key questions to ask of professional advisers

The element is available available here.

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