Catharina Waller, senior trade mark and patent attorney in our Branding, IP & Trade Marks team has recently spoken to the Financial Times in an article discussing how charities can explore IP protection to shield their status.
The article discusses how the concept of patenting ideas for tackling social problems might seem counter to the charitable sector’s fundamental mission, the value of patents and other forms of intellectual property protection can be useful tools to help aid charitable organisations achieve their goals.
Catharina highlights that even when patent protection is beyond the budget of non-profits, there are plenty of other forms of IP protection available such as terms and conditions, copyright notices, trademarks and design registrations. Catharina goes on to state that trademarks can be particularly valuable as “they are relatively cheap to obtain and you get a lot of bang for your buck”. “After a charity’s expertise, its staff and its volunteers, its brand is often its most valuable asset and protecting that is very easily done by a trademark registration.”
If you would like to read more of Catharina’s thoughts on this topic, then please click here to read the full article.