Russell Edson

Areas of expertise

Experience in the design industry

Design industry experience: 6-10 years

I work with leading UK and European design agencies and their clients, ranging from SMEs to multinational consumer product manufacturers and brand owners, to protect IP arising from design and development projects and to manage the risks relating to infringement of third party IP rights.

Case Studies

Protecting The Results of Design Projects

IP rights are created in any design project. It is important for designers and their clients to understand early-on what rights will be created at which stages in the project, who will be the eventual owner of those rights, how will the ownership be properly transferred and, importantly, how to register and protect those rights appropriately. I can advise on all these points and regularly help designers and/or their clients to develop an IP strategy aligned with project time lines, to get suitable and timely protection for the outputs of the project.

Managing the Risks of Infringing Third Party IP Rights

When setting out on a product development project, it is important to understand what third party rights might already exist in the market place and how to manage the risks of infringement. Managing those risks within a suitable budget can be a difficult balance to achieve. I can help design and analyse searches for third party rights, identify key risks, give detailed infringement opinions where necessary, and advise on alternative strategies to help focus on the most relevant risks to your, or to your client’s, project.

Getting IP to Pay for Itself

The UK Government now provides a Tax incentive for obtaining patents on innovative products. Where a product is patented, qualifying profits made from the patent are taxed at a reduced rate of UK corporation tax of 10%. Those revenues can include sales of the patented product, the licensing of the IP to a third party, as well as the sale of the patent itself to an end client who will exploit it.

Resources