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Read moreTips for buying or selling your home
Moving home can be one of the most stressful events of many people’s lives. From the paperwork, to organising your finances, there are many things to keep on top of and it can easily become an overwhelming process.
Whether you are buying or selling your property, here are some steps you can expect as you navigate your way to your dream home.
Planning on selling your home?
The process of selling a house takes around two to three months, on average.
Firstly, if you have a mortgage, you will need to speak with your mortgage advisor to find out the outstanding balance and let them know whether you wish to purchase another property.
In the case of buying another property, you may be able to take your mortgage with you, which is when you ‘port it’.
Planning on buying a home?
If you are taking out a mortgage, then you will need to find out how much you are entitled to borrow, which depends on factors such as your credit rating, income, as well as the deposit that you intend to put down.
Before you consider buying a new home, it is important to have a budget in mind and to know what you can afford.
Whether buying or selling, find the right legal help
As buying and selling a property is a legal transaction, you will need to enlist a solicitor to deal all with the paperwork relating to the sale, including the transference of ownership and the exchange of contracts.
Both buyer and seller will be given a completion date following the exchange of contracts and money will be transferred to the seller.
What is conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the legal transfer of homeownership from the seller to the buyer and the process starts when the offer is accepted and finishes when they receive the keys.
What is a legal conveyancer?
A legal conveyancer is trained to deal with various aspects of property law.
Once an offer is accepted, the conveyancer will deal with the purchase and transfer of the property.
If you need help or advice on related matters, then speak to our property law experts today.
Tips for protecting your intellectual property
Today is World Intellectual Property Day which takes place to raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life and to celebrate the contribution made by inventors around the world.
It is the perfect chance to brush up on the importance of intellectual property in the development of a business and how it must be protected to ensure its ongoing success.
So, what can businesses do to protect their intellectual property and ensure they respect other people’s property?
Carry out checks early on
It is a good idea to carry out patent and trademark searches early on in the development of your business to see whether someone else has already protected them. It is better to know early and act accordingly, rather than finding out later down the line which could prove costly.
Develop a strategy
When you are making your business plans, be sure to include your strategy for intellectual property. Future investors to your business will want to know how you have protected your IP and how it will impact future income streams. Think about questions such as have you carried our patent checks? Are you planning on filing a patent abroad?
Keep on top of security
Make sure that your business IP information is secure, for example, keep documents in a secure place and password-protect sensitive documents.
Reach out
Regional business support providers can be a big help in supporting businesses where you can learn from others in business and how they protect their intellectual property. In England, each region has a Local Enterprise Growth Hub, while the UK Patent Library Network and Business and IP Centres can also help.
Protect yourself from theft
Make sure consultancy and employment contracts state that you own any intellectual property made for you.
Keep records
Make and keep records of the development of your own intellectual property, such as signed and dated copies of designs. This will be very useful should you need to protect your rights in the future.
Find out if you need a licence
If you are looking to copy a creative work, such as a photograph, film, or music, you must ask the owner for permission. For example, artists who want to remix an existing piece of music must see if the material is covered by copyright and whether a licence is needed to copy it. If so, you must carry out a diligent search to see who owns the work you want to copy.
Do you need help to protect your intellectual property? Contact our team for expert advice today.