Stéphane Ambrosini (Marks & Clerk LLP)

This workshop explains the presence, pitfalls, detection and capture of intellectual property rights in digital projects to a non-specialist audience.

Whether a start-up founded on a software implementation of a new concept, or an established business engaged in the digitisation of technical and/or service processes, most companies are today engaged in transformative digital projects. 

The implementation of digital developments involving software and hardware components, whether in-house or contracted out, incorporates most forms of intellectual property rights, which presents numerous pitfalls to the unwary, but which businesses have a vested interest to identify and track, and sometimes capture as distinct intangible assets. 

The scope of this workshop is to explain to a corporate, non-specialist audience, which aspects of digital projects relate to which registrable forms of IP rights, namely patents, designs and trademarks; how to identify and track IP rights as projects get underway and achieve milestones; how to prevent common IP pitfalls; and when and where to seek registration opportunities. 

The workshop is designed for attendees to gain an understanding of:

- key distinctions between the commercial motivations underlying digital projects and the main legal tests involved to determine IP registrability;

- which aspects of digital concepts may gain IP protection respectively by patents, designs and trademarks;

- recommended business practices about IP rights identification, ownership and internal management;

- how are patent, trademark and design rights applied for and prosecuted to grant in practice.

Expert: Stéphane Ambrosini (Marks & Clerk Luxembourg LLP)

Level: Beginner - Intermediate

Objectives:

- acquiring a practical understanding of intellectual property rights within the context of digital projects ;

- acquiring a basic understanding of common IP issues and constraints to the protection of digital developments as set by legal tests and practice across various jurisdictions ;

- acquiring a practical understanding of IP registration procedures, timing, geo-locating and timescales, in the digital field.