Locating in the UK - Intellectual property

It's important to legally protect your intellectual property.

If you have a new invention to protect, you could take out a patent. This prevents other people in a certain country or region from exploiting your invention in different ways. It could also give you an important revenue opportunity by licensing others to use your inventions.

Copyright protection will apply to you if you or your business produces original work in the literary, dramatic, musical or artistic fields. If this is the case, you will have automatic copyright protection so you can decide whether these works are exploited by other people and to what degree. It also gives you the option to demand a royalty or a licence fee if you allow others to use your work.

Another key area of intellectual property is trade marks. These include signs, symbols and logos and are used to set your business apart from your competitors. A trade mark is key to the marketing and branding of your business.

Sales and marketing - from pricing and advertising to sales techniques and a profitable Internet presence - will be important to your business.

You should be aware that data protection regulations will apply to you if you hold information - either on computer or on paper - about individuals, such as customers or suppliers. Under the Data Protection Act 1998, there are certain obligations you will have to comply with.