Intellectual Property in the Construction Industry
The construction industry is highly innovative. From new sustainable building materials and energy efficiency constructions to sophisticated building monitoring software, the opportunities for Intellectual Property (IP) protection are ever increasing. However, many construction companies do not have the requisite IP Rights to fully benefit from their significant R&D efforts.
IP Rights such as patents, designs, trade marks, copyright, and trade secrets are useful tools for your business. Successful use of them can enable you to:
Prevent your competitors from using your innovations, thereby maintaining your competitive advantage and safeguarding your R&D investments.
Build reputation and trust by demonstrating your commitment to quality and innovation.
Enhancing your brand identity, making it easier for customers to recognize and trust your products and services.
In addition, the UK’s Patent Box program can provide a lower effective corporation tax of 10% on profits attributable to UK and certain European patents.
What steps should Construction Companies take?
We would recommend that you work with an IP advisor such as ourselves to implement an IP strategy for your business. An IP Strategy does not necessarily involve investing heavily in patent protection, but rather serves to help ensure company IP is captured and evaluated, risks are identified, and appropriate actions are taken.
As part of developing an IP strategy, we would recommend that an audit of your existing and potential IP assets is conducted. Funding support for this work is available through the UK Intellectual Property Office’s IP Audit program.
An IP Audit may, for example, identify that your existing IP Rights would not protect new product developments, or that you have opportunities to secure further IP Rights (for example design rights to support an earlier patent filing).
An IP Audit may also identify issues with the use of consultants or other parties in product development. This can affect ownership of the IP Rights and is always better to address at as early a stage as possible.
The IP Strategy would also set out a process for monitoring the IP rights of your competitors. This is useful for understanding market direction and to identify potential issues so as to avoid costly disputes in future.
Depending on your business objectives, the IP Strategy can also identify routes to monetise your IP such as through sale or licensing.
If you would like to discuss any of the above points, please contact us.
About Hanna & Bird IP
Hanna & Bird IP is a Manchester-based firm of Chartered and European Patent Attorneys. We are specialists in intellectual property protection for the construction and heavy engineering industries.
