Transfer of Intellectual Property
Marcus Smith, Nico Leslie · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2018
Abstract This chapter focuses on how intellectual property rights are transferred, and the consequences and implications of this. Although the transfer of a patent was originally governed by the common law, the common law rules have long since been superseded by statutory provisions that govern the transfer of the legal title in a patent. The present provision is contained in section 30 of the Patents Act 1977. Meanwhile, section 90(1) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 provides that copyright is transmissible by assignment, by testamentary disposition, or by operation of law, as personal or moveable property. The chapter also considers the transfer of moral rights, industrial design right, and trademarks.