On Monday 15^th November we will be part of the ‘Create Your Future’ event (http://bit.ly/bu6gBq). This event, at the Hospitium in York which runs from 11am to 3pm, opens the line up for York Business Week. It is a series of workshops, seminars, talks and general networking. We are putting together a workshop for the event on intellectual property for those in the creative sector. The title of our workshop is ‘Intellectual Property –made less stuffy!’. Its aim is to help uncover the hidden treasure in your business by advising businesses on how to recognise, protect and make money from their creative business.

It does not stop there though. On Friday 19^th November we will be opening our office to any business that wants a FREE 30 minute consultation on the legal needs of their business (We will also provide a cup of coffee and biscuits!). It could be about your intellectual property, your commercial contracts or even a guide on how to get the most out of your creative assets – you decide what you want to talk to us about. Our doors will be open from 9.30 to 4.30 and you can book your appointment through our marketing manager, Thomas Ashurst, at ta@yorsolicitor.co.uk or on 01904 449933.

(visit www.yorkbusinessweek.co.uk for details on all events)

Dr. Eileen McMorrow was keen to highlight the intellectual property that is created by web designers and the best methods that can be used to protect the creativity that the designers produce. Attending the event were Owen Turner and Annabel Eager from United by Design, Lisa Hesler from Lisa Hesler Marketing Solutions, Jennie Walker from Integral, Design and Media, Jim Semlyen from Semlyen IT, Kelly Molloy and Steve Nicholls from NY Design and Ben Sky and Mike Warren from Per Call Ltd. The event also allowed for some great networking.

“It’s great to meet and discuss the legal issues that face web designers”, said Dr. McMorrow, “in the current climate every business has a need for an effective website, due to the increased importance of having an online presence. It is vital that web designers know their legal rights and hopefully this seminar provided them with a greater insight.”

YorSolicitor plans to host the seminar again, on 9^th November, so if you or anyone you know is interested in finding out the best ways to protect your creative assets online, then please contact Tom Ashurst on 01904 449933 or at ta@yorsolicitor.co.uk and book yourself a place on our seminar.

We look forward to seeing you!

York Business Week will commence on the week starting 15^th November.

The aim of the week is to promote York as a City of business; a key objective for York Professionals. The schedule for the week is based around some existing events, with additional events put together by organisations who have offered their support, including the City of York Council, York Eco Business Centre, York St John University, York Social Enterprise Network, The University of York, NYBEP, Learning City York, Science City York, Business Link Yorkshire, York Science Park, Make York and York Professionals.

The week’s events are being co-ordinated by Nick Eggleton of Acute Marketing.

YorSolicitor is keen to play a role in this project, as we are always looking for ways to bring more opportunities to York. What we have offered is a FREE 30 minutes consultation with ANY business in York at our offices, 105 The Mount on Friday 19 November between 9.30 and 4.30. We believe that every business has creative assets which separate that business from the competition. What we do is provide legal documents that work to protect these assets of yours, so that you can keep on being creative!

To book a free consultation, please contact Tom Ashurst on 01904 449933 or email ta@yorsolicitor.co.uk

On both the 2^nd and 9^th November, YorSolicitor, a York based solicitors’ practice that specialises in Intellectual Property, Commercial Law and IT Law, will be running a seminar for Web Designers that will provide answers to complicated legal issues surrounding the inspiration, design, creation and implementation of websites and corporate brands. Subjects covered will include:

-  Ownership issues – (such as software, design & layout and images)

-  Corporate branding

-  E-commerce

-  Who owns what?

-  What intellectual property are you creating?

-  Domain names

-  Data protection and Privacy

-  Terms and Conditions

-  Overview of Laws

The seminar will be run by Dr. Eileen McMorrow, Principal Solicitor of YorSolicitor who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in aspects of I.P, Commercial and IT Law that affect web designers on a day-to-day basis. It will run for 2 hours from 12.30 to 2.30. A buffet will be provided also. After the seminar, attendees will have a greater understanding of the complex laws that can often be overwhelming and confusing. Through gaining this insight, those who attend will learn how best to protect their assets so that their creativity is rewarded through a healthy profit. Places on the course are strictly limited so we would encourage people to book ahead to secure a place.

Cost: £15.00 (this includes drink and food)

If interested please reply either by E-mail to ta@yorsolicitor.co.uk, by phone on 01904 449933 or, alternatively, through our LinkedIn profile at http://uk.linkedin.com/in/eileenmcmorrow.

On top of this, we will put together a packaged offer of necessary contracts for web designers, which can be taken up by attendees at a very cost-effective price!

We look forward to hearing from you,

Eileen

Yorkshire has long been seen as one of the most advanced areas in the country for intellectual property, with some of the country’s top solo I.P solicitors and patent and trade mark attorneys being based in Yorkshire, and the meeting represents a rare chance for these people to congregate, learn more about Westlaw, discuss I.P issues and negotiate ways in which to keep Yorkshire at the top. Attending the meeting were James Love of James Love legal, Howard Lock of Howard Lock Intellectual property, Nick White of Tangible IP, Michael Harrison of Harrison IP and, from London, Barbara Cookson of Filemot.

“It’s really exciting to get some I.P experts together in York”, said Dr. Eileen McMorrow, YorSolicitor’s Principal Solicitor, “We, at YorSolicitor, are always looking for ways to get together and collaborate with other specialists in our field and we are delighted that this event provides further opportunity for this to happen”.

When setting-up, establishing and maintaining a business it is important to make sure that you have all the necessary written contracts in place so to avoid any pitfalls in the long-term.

However, it can be  difficult to know which contracts your organisation needs.

The following are examples of contracts which businesses regularly need.

-       Properly drafted Confidentiality Agreements

This is a legal contract that outlines confidential information, knowledge, ideas and other confidential material which are being exchanged between a business and an interested party. This contract provides a business with  some security that their ideas will remain confidential. If it is correctly drafted it is legally binding.

-      Properly drafted Licence Agreements

In order to protect the respective interests of both parties who wish to license intellectual property, it is necessary to sign a written Licence Agreement. The Licence Agreement specifies the rights and responsibilities of both parties and the extent of the licence.

-      Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions is a phrase generally applied to the general conditions under which a business trades with its customers. It is important to keep your business terms and conditions up-to-date to reflect changes in case law which  in turn would affect any court decisions with respect to contractual disputes. The main reason for having proper terms and conditions is to avoid potential disputes by having maximum certainty in your trading contracts.

-      Risk Management

It’s important that your contract contains risk management clauses as these clauses can help remove, reduce or share risk and can stop you getting into hot water!

By covering these areas, through properly drafted agreements and contracts, you can avoid many of the pitfalls that face an organisation and get on with making a profit! Follow this video link for more detailed top tips from Eileen:http://www.yorsolicitor.co.uk/data/newsitem4.html.

It is hard now to consider IT law separately from e-commerce since so many business contracts are formed online.

Things are changing so rapidly with social networking displacing email as the main form of communication online. You can see here the changing trends:

http://mashable.com/2010/08/02/stats-time-spent-online/

Areas that might be described as more traditional IT law work include advising on IT contracts. These vary from purchasing contracts for equipment, systems and services to software development, maintenance contracts and systems integration contracts (not to mention a huge variety of software licenses!).

Websites can be describes as baskets of intellectual property contained, for instance, in the underlying software, the written content, pictures, logos, layout etc. It is essential to have proper contracts for website development as this protects both the developer and the end user. These contracts can also ensure that IP ownership issues are properly addressed, and this will help to avoid any disputes down the line.

E-commerce law continues to develop and YorSolicitor can provide you with terms of use for your website and advice on website hosting, linking, privacy policy and data protection. This is an area which is bound to adapt and change as social networking and web-based interaction continues to escalate and take up an ever increasing amount of our waking hours.

Eileen McMorrow

I have always felt that the term “intellectual property” can give people the wrong impression of what it covers. I suppose it attempts to describe the fact that it is the sort of property which is the product of human intellect. However, although some intellectual property is very complex and has required a great amount of ingenuity to produce (for example some biotechnology or other complicated inventions), other examples can be quite simple for example a simple advertising strap –line or the design of a T-shirt.

Maybe the terms “creative assets” or “intangible assets” are better ways to describe this huge assortment of assets. These range from written materials and pictures that attract copyright to objects attracting design rights of various kinds to inventions which can be patented. Even the name of your company may possibly be protected in the form of a trade mark.

However we describe these assets  it is clear that when you create something which has value as an asset, you need to understand what type of IP (if any), is contained within it, how to protect it and how to exploit it. This is where YorSolicitor can advise you so that you can build up a portfolio of IP and derive an income stream from it. Advice can also be provided when you enter into contracts with other parties so that everyone is clear about who owns what.

Much of the current emphasis is on “New Media” and this is an area where IP becomes very blurred as the legal system struggles to keep up with new technology and ways of sharing information.

So-Intellectual property or IP- a diverse set of assets which every business owns to some extent- and who can afford to ignore any assets especially at the moment?

YorSolicitor is delighted to announce that we have successfully relocated our office. The move represents a further step in the right direction from York’s premier intellectual property and commercial law solicitor practice. YorSolicitor can now be found at 105, The Mount in York.

YorSolicitor, established in 2006, is the only solicitor’s practice in York that focuses specifically on intellectual property. We cover a large variety of intellectual property including registering trade-marks and advising on patents as well as many other aspects including copyright, design and database rights. We also cover areas of commercial law, IT law and we also can provide an accredited mediation service (CEDR) which can resolve disputes quickly and, most importantly, cost effectively. YorSolicitor’s service is geared towards identifying and protecting our client’s assets in order to gain the maximum profitability from them. Since YorSolicitor’s creation our reputation has been steadily growing as well as our client base and the relocation allows for further expansion which represents great news for the organisation.

YorSolicitor’s philosophy is based on getting to know our client’s business in detail so that, armed with full knowledge and understanding, we are best place to provide exactly the right advice at the right time. It is through this very personal approach that we are able to achieve such high standards, and our move allows us to continue to do this on a greater scale. Our new office is bright, spacious and very convenient to get to for our clients as it is based in the centre of York. ‘We are delighted to have finally made the move to 105, The Mount’ said Eileen McMorrow, principal solicitor of YorSolicitor ‘the move marks another achievement for our ever-developing organisation – we look forward to settling into our new home, increasing our client base and expanding the practice even further’.

YorSolicitor is dedicated to getting results for our clients, so if you have a question or a query, not just regarding intellectual property but also commercial law, IT law or commercial mediation then YorSolicitor is here to help. Eileen McMorrow would be happy to have an informal discussion to see if we can help.

We can be followed on Twitter (@yorsolicitor) for regular updates about our activity and relevant news regarding our field of expertise.

You can also contact us with any legal queries by e-mail at emcm@yorsolicitor.co.uk or via the phone on 01904 449933 and we can arrange an appointment.