Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Intellectual property definition

What does Intellectual property mean? Intellectual property describes intangible legal rights in creative, technical and branding outputs used and enforced in commercial practice, often abbreviated to IP or IPR. In the UK and Ireland the term is descriptive rather than a single statutory definition; discrete rights arise under specific regimes, typically including copyright, patents, trade marks, registered and unregistered designs, database right, trade secrets and confidential information, and the common law tort of passing off. These rights are territorial, generally time‑limited (trade secrets/confidential information can subsist indefinitely if secrecy is maintained), and confer exclusive rights that can be licensed, assigned, charged as security and...

Copyright in a consultant's appointment under the CDPA 1988: ownership, licensing (including BIM), sub-consultants, payment, extensions, assignment and moral rights

Published by a LexisNexis Construction expert

Practice notes

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Determining who holds Intellectual property in the designs, drawings, specifications and similar materials created for a construction project is vital for all participants involved in the process. The copyright owner of the designs produced will wish to safeguard their rights, limit how and to what extent others may use them, and secure Recourse and remedies where infringements occur. Conversely, parties that must reproduce or rely on the designs need to ensure they possess sufficient rights and permissions to permit such use. In the construction sphere, designs are commonly prepared by the architect, civil and M&E engineers, as well as by the contractor itself and its subcontractors. Consequently, clauses addressing copyright Ownership are a standard fixture of professional appointments, building contracts and collateral warranties used on such projects. This Practice Note concentrates specifically on such provisions within a consultant’s appointment.

Copyright in designs

Copyright subsists automatically in any original artistic work; the author does not need to register their rights formally or apply for this protection. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988), the term artistic work expressly embraces any painting, drawing, diagram, map, chart or plan...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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