Date 22 June 2010

Regional businesses are now benefitting from a greatly increased intellectual property service from St Albans-based corporate firm SA Law. And for his significant contribution, IP specialist Nathanael Young was promoted to Associate on 1 June.

Over the last six months, Nat has played a key role in expanding the breadth of SA Law's IP offering in response to growing client needs. As a result, SA Law is rapidly becoming a regional centre of excellence for this complex area of law.

This was recently demonstrated when SA Law represented a retail supply company in heavyweight litigation over a patent licence. The case, worth £5 million, was successfully concluded after 18 months in the courts and a 17-day trial.

"The focus of our service is to help businesses capitalise on the full breadth of their intellectual assets", explains Nat. "We ensure that the unique aspects of your products or services are being financially exploited to their full potential. But equally, it's about putting protections in place that prevent competitors from taking advantage of your creative innovations. This of course includes the ways in which you promote your products and services, such as your brand."

Intellectual property is a vital consideration throughout the life cycle of a business. Without protection, start-ups that bring innovation to a market would soon find their competitive advantage eroded as competitors absorb those ideas. At the other end of the cycle, one of the primary causes of business sale failure is the discovery that valuable intellectual assets are not officially 'owned' by the business through copyright, trade mark or other protections.

"We're delighted with Nat's hard work to expand the breadth of our intellectual property practice," adds Robert Ryall, SA Law's Head of Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution. "Our clients are already feeling the significant benefits of an increased team offering, and we all look forward to further expansion over the coming years."

For further information, please contact Nathanael directly on 01727 798034 or at nathanael.young@salaw.com.