Intellectual Property (IP) Crime
IP Crime can relate to a number of different infringements. For example, when commissioning designers to build a new website, you need to be sure that the agreement that is in place between your business and the web developer ensures the ownership of the IP in the content of the website to your business. Otherwise, your website designer will own the content of your website.
Impact
If you don’t own the IP for your ideas, you may end up in a position where your work can be easily copied and imitated without any recompense for you. Furthermore, IP crime can be hugely profitable for criminals with very little investment.
Prevention
To protect your IP from theft and unauthorised usage, you should patent your IP assets. Speak to experienced IP lawyers; they will be able to discern what can and can’t be copyrighted and what IP you may have.
Report it
For advice on reporting Intellectual Property infringements contact your local Trading Standards Service
You may also want to contact the Intellectual Property Office for advice on IP enforcement