Lidl v Tesco dispute: The Court of Appeal upholds the UK High Court judgment
Tesco have failed in an appeal against 2023’s judgment that ruled that Tesco’s Clubcard logo infringed Lidl’s IP rights.
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SMEs can apply now for funding towards an audit of their intellectual property via the UK Intellectual Property Office’s (UKIPO) Intellectual Property (IP) Audits Plus service.
The service aims to provide SMEs with guidance and advice in respect of IP management, commercialisation and marketing to ensure that they can obtain their IP rights, identify opportunities to use them in their wider business strategy and maximise their value.
The IP audit will be carried out by an IP professional and will provide you with clear recommendations as to how your business could leverage value out of your IP and how to develop an IP management plan to integrate your IP assets into your wider business strategy.
To apply for an audit, you must be an:
The total value of the IP Audit is £3,000 (including VAT). The UKIPO contributes £2,600 (inc VAT) towards the audit and participating companies must contribute the remaining £400 (inc VAT) on completion of the report.
The funding cannot be used to prepare and file an application for a patent, registered trade mark or design – it can only be used towards the cost of the audit.
SMEs who are successful in receiving the funding can choose any qualified UK-based IP professional to carry out the audit. Wilson Gunn is included on a list of recommended suppliers who can carry out the audit.
The current scheme runs until March 2017. Updated in April 2017: We have received confirmation that this funding will still be available until March 2018.
Applications are submitted to the IPO via your dedicated Innovation Specialist through the innovate2succeed or EEN programme.
If you are not already part of the innovate2succeed or EEN programme, we recommend getting in touch with your local EEN contact to find out more.
If you have any further questions, please contact us.