rights to exclude others from infringing the patent. Without any agreement to the contrary, joint owners of a patent may make, use, or sell the patented invention without the consent of and without accounting to the other owners. Therefore, you should have a written agreement between individual inventors who collaborate on a patent to ensure that proceeds get equitably distributed to all the inventors.Many people complain about the cost of the patenting process—in terms of time, effort, and expense. Remember, though, that the higher-cost patent generally provides more protection than the other methods. Carefully written technical disclosures and well-drafted claims require both technical and legal competence. How do you get protection The UK Patent Office accepts applications and grants rights in each of these areas, but patents valid in the UK can also be obtained from , The European Patent Office (EPO) and registered trade marks valid in the UK can be obtained from the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). You should note that for security reasons an application to the EPO has to be cleared by the UK Patent Office first. You will find the relevant forms in the appendix. Contact DetailsTrade mark enquiries should be made to our Enquiry Unit on: Telephone UK callers: 08459 500 505 (charged at local rate) International callers: +44 (0)1633 813930 Text phone: 08459 222 250 Fax: +44 (0)1633 813600 E-mail: enquiries@patent.gov.ukIn summary, the engineer of today is in the enviable position of being at the forefront of technology and simultaneously being more responsibility for the IP protection of the products, which are the product of his/her intellectual efforts. Whiles in the past engineers have shunned much of the sales/marketing areas connected with the product development cycle. The area of promoting the IP protection of a product line is one in which engineers can directly contribute to the bottom line, ...
