Terms of engagement
These terms govern IP management work performed by Curiterealm from 4 Whitecliff Cl, Manchester M14 5XN. A signed statement of work controls if it says otherwise.
Who we are
Curiterealm provides intellectual property management services: docketing, filing coordination, watching, renewals, audits and commercial support.
Where a task is reserved to solicitors, patent attorneys or trade mark attorneys under UK law, we instruct a regulated professional. We do not hold ourselves out as a solicitors’ practice or as IPReg-registered attorneys.
1. Instructions
Work starts when we accept written instructions and, where we have asked for one, a payment on account. Email from the address you nominate is a valid instruction channel.
2. Fees
Professional fees are quoted in sterling exclusive of VAT. UKIPO, WIPO, EPO and foreign official fees are passed through at cost. Invoices are due within 14 days. We may pause filings if an official-fee on-account is unpaid.
3. Your materials
You warrant you are entitled to give us the documents and samples we need. Title to your IP remains yours. Our templates, docket methods and report formats remain ours; you receive a licence to use deliverables internally.
4. Confidentiality
Unpublished inventions are handled as confidential. We will not file in a way that creates a public disclosure without your written go-ahead. Third-party attorneys we instruct are bound to equivalent terms.
Limits, law and complaints
Deadlines at the UKIPO and other offices are unforgiving. We need complete instructions with enough time to act. We are not responsible for loss caused by instructions arriving after we have warned that a deadline cannot safely be met.
Advice on foreign law is given through local agents. Outcomes of examination, opposition and litigation are not guaranteed.
Our aggregate liability for a matter is limited to the professional fees paid to Curiterealm on that matter in the twelve months before the claim, except for death, personal injury or fraud, which cannot be limited.
English law governs. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction. Complaints should be sent to [email protected]; we respond in writing within ten working days.
Either party may end an ongoing management retainer on 30 days’ written notice. We will deliver the then-current docket and remaining originals, and you remain liable for fees and official fees incurred to the end date.