Today on the podcast I'm speaking to Kirsty Brummell. Kirsty helps businesses ranging from startups to larger corporations to effectively protect, enforce, and manage their trademarks and designs. She gives advice on copyright matters and helps businesses realise the potential of their intellectual property.

It’s something I know a lot of you would like to know more about, so I was thrilled to connect with Kirsty to learn more.

In this episode we discuss the different kinds of intellectual property, how to protect yourself, how much you can expect to page, and what to do if you are working to a tight budget.

We also cover what to do if you believe someone is violating your copyright and also what to do if you get contacted by someone to say that you are violating theirs.

It’s a fantastic episode full of a huge amount of practical advice for anyone running their own business. The key takeaway is that Kirsty makes this complex subject a lot less scary - her overlying message is, whatever happens, please don't panic. I think that's a really reassuring message and hopefully you will feel the same after you've listened to the episode.

Listen in to hear Kirsty share:

• An introduction to herself and her business (02:08)
• What intellectual property is, and some of the things you might want to protect as a small business (02:43)
• How automatic copyrights work (04:43)
• Patents (07:14)
• Trademarks and protecting your brand name (08:33)
• Top tips for registering a trademark (14:14)
• What you can expect to pay for these (16:25)
• The best ways to protect your intellectual property when you are on a tight budget (17:59)
• What happens after you have protection in place? (19:38)
• Monitoring and managing issues and infringements that might arise (21:33)
• What to do when a bigger brand copies you (23:05)
• What to do if you encounter copyright infringement (25:54)
• What to do if someone says you have infringed on their copyright or trademark (28:39)
• Dealing with a cease and desist letter (30:48)
• The meaning of ™ & R in a circle (33:39)
• Her number one piece of advice for protecting your intellectual property (36:21)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

Trademark Tonic Website

Kirsty Brummell Linked In

Trademark Tonic Linked In

Trademark Tonic Twitter

Trademark Tonic Facebook

UK Gov Intellectual Property Office

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