As the most important asset for most brand owners, it is vital that trade marks are registered and managed. Ensuring that those assets are managed correctly and efficiently and allowing for their exploitation and protection is key to business success. We have considerable experience in dealing with trade mark portfolios of all sizes on behalf of clients and ensuring that those assets are correctly managed. We are able to advise on the clearance, filing and management aspects of trade marks and brands throughout the world.

Patents protect the functionality of an item, last for 20 years and give the owner a monopoly right to produce and sell that item in the territory concerned. Just like other IP rights, a patent can be licensed, sold, and commercialised in order to extract the most value from the invention. Throughout the world, patents provide inventors with an easily verifiable right which has real commercial value. New laws regarding the registration and protection of patents in Guernsey came into force in 2010. The combination of this cutting edge legislation and the tax advantages of holding IP assets in Guernsey makes the island a potentially lucrative platform from which to register and exploit patents. Although Guernsey does not provide for first registration of a patent, any overseas proprietor of an overseas registered patent may be registered as the proprietor of a patent in the Guernsey register. Provided that certain criteria is fulfilled, and the invention is new, contains an inventive step and is capable of industrial application, the invention may be protected through placement on the register.

Guernsey is the first jurisdiction in the world to offer registered image rights, a new form of intellectual property, and its image rights law is potentially the best way for those in the public eye to protect their assets. Guernsey's image rights legislation and register allows owners of such rights to register them and create a more clearly separable and marketable asset. In the same way that a trade mark demonstrates distinctiveness for a company or product, so an image right will demonstrate the distinctiveness of an individual. By structuring image rights royalties for celebrities and personalities, for example through a Guernsey image rights holding company, an individual (or their employer) could enjoy substantial savings on income and capital taxes. They would not be subject to local taxes either provided the beneficial owner of those rights is not resident in Guernsey.

IP now affects most businesses in some way, whatever their size. From start ups to well established blue chip enterprises, from sports personalities to pop stars, we are able to help maximise the value of your IP and its benefit to you. From the first step of identifying the type of IP and how it should be owned, to its on-going management and commercialisation, we provide straightforward commercial advice. By concentrating on the detail from the outset, we enable your IP to work for you and provide businesses with the appropriate tools to maximise return on investment. We advise on the management and ongoing requirements related to the ownership of the IP itself together with licensing, structuring and IP substance requirements in Guernsey.