Confidentiality and Intellectual Property

The Expertise Wales website, operated by Welsh Government, aims to foster cooperation and collaboration between Welsh businesses. As such, please be aware that any ideas, proposals or solutions that you submit via this site will be shared not just with Welsh Government staff but also with companies, consultants and other organisations.

Therefore, the information that you submit should be non-confidential. Whilst the more information that you are able to provide the better, you should not disclose details of any new technology or invention that may jeopardise your right to apply for patent or other forms of IP protection at a later date.

We recommend that you take independent legal advice if you have any concerns about confidentiality and intellectual property rights before you share your ideas or proposals with us.

You should also make sure that you have the right to disclose the information to us and that, in so doing, you will not be in breach of any agreements that you have with third parties or other third party rights.

Collaborations can be extremely beneficial to businesses, whatever their status. It is important that all parties agree terms and conditions before starting any collaboration, including terms relating to confidentiality and the ownership and protection of intellectual property rights. Again, we recommend that you take independent legal advice in this regard.

Further information about confidentiality and Intellectual Property is available from the Welsh Government’s Innovations Specialists or Intellectual Property Managers,  whose contact details are available here.