Please read these terms and conditions carefully before using these services.
This page sets out the terms and conditions (the 'Terms') that apply to the use of the IP-support webpages. By registering for an account and accessing the services available via these webpages, you are agreeing that you do so subject to these terms and conditions.
What's in these Terms?
1.1 These Terms tell you the basis on which you may use, and agree to use the IPO’s online support tools available on the IP-support webpages.
Definitions
2.1 Save where the context requires otherwise, where the words set out below are used in this document, they will have the definitions given below:
| means an account which allows access to the webpages listed as links on www.ipo.gov.uk/ip-support/. Such an account can be set up at www.ipo.gov.uk/ip-support/user/register. | |
‘content’ | means anything that’s available through the services, including text, audio, images and anything else included in the tools, resources and learning materials. |
‘IPO’, ‘us’ or ‘we’ | means the UK Intellectual Property Office. Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office. |
‘IP-support webpages’ | means the webpages listed as links on www.ipo.gov.uk/ip-support/. |
‘services’ | means the services available via the IP-support webpages. These services include tools, resources and learning materials relating to intellectual property. |
‘terms’ | means these terms and conditions. |
‘user’ | means an individual who has set up an account to use these services, and ‘users’ shall be construed accordingly. |
‘you’ | is a reference to you as an individual user of the services (and 'your' shall be construed accordingly). |
Who we are
3.1 These services are operated by the IPO. We have our offices at Concept House, Cardiff Road, Newport, South Wales, NP10 8QQ and at 3rd Floor, 10 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0NB.
Services available via the IP-support webpages
4.1 The services allow users to access tools, resources and learning materials relating to intellectual property.
User responsibilities
5.1 By registering for an account and accessing the services, you agree to these terms and conditions and agree to use the services in accordance with them.
5.2 By registering for an account and accessing the services, you confirm your name and the email address used for registration are correct, and agree to let us know of any change to those details.
5.3 You will ensure the account is protected at all times against unauthorised use or modification and that the information within the account is protected at all times against disclosure to any unauthorised party.
5.4 If the IPO suspects unauthorised access to the account or to information within it, the IPO reserves the right to block access to the account and services.
5.5 You agree:
5.5.1 not to use the services in any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation;
5.5.2 not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of the IP-support webpages except as permitted by these Terms;
5.5.3 not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:
- any part of the IP-support webpages;
- any equipment or network on which the IP-support webpages is stored; or
- any software used in the provision of the IP-support webpages.
By using our services you accept these Terms
6.1 By using our services, you confirm that you accept these Terms and that you agree to comply with them.
6.2 If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use our services.
6.3 We recommend that you save a copy of these Terms for future reference.
6.4 You agree to use our services only for lawful purposes. You must also use them in a way that does not infringe the rights of anyone else.
Links to external websites
7.1 These services include links to websites that are managed by other government departments and agencies, service providers or other organisations. We do not have any control over the content on these websites. We’re not responsible for:
7.1.1 the protection of any information you give to these websites;
7.1.2 content on these websites; or
7.1.3 any loss or damage that may come from your use of these websites, or any other websites they link to.
7.2 You agree to release us from any claims or disputes that may come from using these websites.
7.3 You should read all terms and conditions, privacy policies and end user licences that relate to these websites before you use them.
We may make changes to these terms
8.1 Please check these Terms regularly. We can update them at any time without notice.
8.2 By continuing to use the services after the terms and conditions have been updated, you indicate that you agree to the changes made.
We may make changes to our services
9.1 We may update and change our services from time to time to reflect our users' needs and our priorities. We can change or remove content at any time without notice.
We may suspend or withdraw our services
10.1 We do not guarantee that our services, or any content on them, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of our services for business and operational reasons without notice.
10.2 The IPO reserves the right to amend, extend or withdraw without notice any part or all of the services.
You must keep your account details safe
11.1 To create an account you will be required to:
11.1.2 provide a valid email address which is specific to you as an individual and where you can be contacted; and
11.1.3 provide a password.
11.2 This email address will be used for account verification and logging in to your account.
11.3 If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party.
11.4 We have the right to suspend or terminate access to any user account, at any time, if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms.
No text or data mining, or web scraping
12.1 You shall not conduct, facilitate, authorise or permit any text or data mining or web scraping in relation to our services. This includes using (or permitting, authorising or attempting the use of):
12.1.1 any "robot", "bot", "spider", "scraper" or other automated device, program, tool, algorithm, code, process or methodology to access, obtain, copy, monitor or republish any portion of the services or any data, content or information accessed via the same; and/or
12.1.2 any automated analytical technique aimed at analysing text and data in digital form to generate information which includes but is not limited to patterns, trends and correlations.
12.2 This clause 12 shall not apply insofar as (but only to the extent that) we are unable to exclude or limit text or data mining or web scraping activity by contract under the laws which are applicable to us.
Viruses, hacking and other offences
13.1 When using these services, you must not introduce viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or any other material that’s malicious or technologically harmful.
13.2 You must not try to gain unauthorised access to the services, the server on which it’s stored or any server, computer or database connected to it. You must not try to log in as someone else or try to bypass our security measures.
13.3 You must not attack the services in any way. This includes denial-of-service attacks.
13.4 We’ll report any attacks or attempts to gain unauthorised access to the services to the relevant law enforcement authorities and share information about you with them.
Use of content available via the IP-support webpages
14.1 The content of our services is not intended to be comprehensive, and details which may be relevant to particular circumstances may have been omitted. Accordingly, it should not be regarded as being a complete and authoritative source of intellectual property information, and readers are advised to seek independent professional advice before acting on anything contained herein. The IPO cannot take any responsibility for the consequences of errors or omissions.
14.2 Any newsletter articles included in this website and/or opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Intellectual Property Office but remain solely those of the author.
14.3 Most content available via this service is subject to Crown copyright protection and is available for you to use under the Terms of the Open Government Licence ("OGL"). Some content is exempt from the OGL, for example personal data or third party rights - check the list of exemptions.
14.4 You can reproduce content published on this service under the OGL as long as you follow the licence’s conditions.
14.5 If you want to reproduce a piece of content from this service but are not sure if it can be reproduced or whether it’s covered by Crown copyright and the OGL, please contact us at [email protected] for permission, explaining the purpose of use and full details of the content you wish to use.
Disclaimer
15.1 Whilst we take care to ensure the accuracy of the information provided through these services, the IPO cannot take any responsibility, and accepts no liability, for the consequences of errors or omissions. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our site is accurate, complete, up to date, or free from bugs or viruses.
15.2 The IPO is not liable for any loss or damage that may arise from use of our services. This includes:
15.2.1 any direct, indirect or consequential losses; or
15.2.2 any loss or damage caused by civil wrongs (‘tort’, including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise.
15.3 This includes (but is not limited to) the loss of:
15.3.1 income or revenue;
15.3.2 salary, benefits or other payments;
15.3.3 business;
15.3.4 profits or contracts;
15.3.5 opportunity;
15.3.6 anticipated savings;
15.3.7 data;
15.3.8 goodwill or reputation;
15.3.9 tangible property;
15.3.10 intangible property, including loss, corruption or damage to data or any computer system; and
15.3.11 wasted management or office time.
How we may use your personal information
16.1 Your IP address will be shared with our third party service providers to monitor site availability and to maintain the performance of our services. We will not use your IP address to identify you in any way.
16.2 We will also hold your name, email address, username and work sector on our records.
16.3 This data processing is necessary for the performance of this contract with you. We will only use your personal information as set out in our privacy policy. The privacy policy explains:
16.3.1 what information we collect from you;
16.3.2 how and why we collect, store, use and share your information;
16.3.3 your rights in relation to your information; and
16.3.4 how to contact us if you have a query or complaint about the use of your information.
16.4 We will only contact you for feedback if you have given consent for this. You can withdraw your consent at any time in “My Account”.
16.5 All personal information is handled in accordance with the relevant intellectual property legislation, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.
Linking to the services
17.1 We welcome and encourage other websites to link to link to our home page and services, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.
17.2 You must not:
17.2.1 charge your website’s users to click on a link to any of the IP-support webpages; or
17.2.2 establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.
Storage of data
18.1 The service will be hosted in UK based data centres. All data will be stored in line with UK Government best practice to ensure data security.
Providing feedback
19.1 Users can provide feedback by emailing us at [email protected]. This feedback will help the IPO to improve the services so that they better meet user needs.
Governing law and jurisdiction
20.1 These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
20.2 The English courts will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, these Terms and/or the services. This means that all claims relating to these Terms and/or the services can be settled by a judge (or a number of judges) in an English court. However, we retain the right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these Terms in your country of residence or any other relevant country.
These Terms were most recently updated on 12 December 2023.