Keep Your Intellectual Property Safe In Foreign Markets

First published in Sussex Enterprise's Business Edge magazine March 2009

There are many horror stories about copycat manufacturers stealing designs of products ranging from microprocessors to carpet patterns.

Although Chinese copies have hit the headlines in recent years, authorities in many other countries don't pay much attention to intellectual property either.

A survey by Chubb Commercial Insurance in the USA last year, found that small companies were even more likely to suffer from losses of intellectual property in foreign markets than the larger corporations. So what can be done about this? How do you protect yourself? Sarah Birkbeck, a partner specialising in IP and IT litigation at the Gatwick office of law firm DMH Stallard, has these suggestions for Sussex Enterprise member companies: