In these challenging times, qLegal recognises the importance of extending pro bono legal support to small businesses, including to charities and social enterprises.
In November 2021, qLegal was delighted to join forces with The Fore, an organisation that provides support to charitable organisations and social enterprises. In addition to helping charities access finance and grant funding, The Fore helps charities upskill by organising training sessions on a wide range of topics. qLegal’s Public Legal Education programme stepped in to deliver an online workshop on intellectual property law.
Intellectual property is the cornerstone of many for-profit and non-profit businesses. Identifying, protecting and enforcing a charitable organisation’s intellectual property assets can be fundamental to the organisation’s success and growth. To create awareness on this important topic, a team of four students involved in qLegal’s Public Legal Education programme, hosted a two-hour, free online workshop entitled “Why and How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Assets”. The aim of the workshop was to empower the audience with basic knowledge of intellectual property law.
The qLegal students engaged with representatives of 30 charities from across the UK to cover a wide range of information on intellectual property law, from copyrights, trade marks and patents to trade secrets and design rights. The students explained in detail the importance of protecting intellectual property assets and also discussed ways to commercialise these assets. The online workshop was interactive and ended with a question and answer session at the end.
Several members of the audience subsequently applied for bespoke legal advice from qLegal’s Legal Advice Clinic, resulting in an online interview followed by a detailed legal advice letter.
The Fore believes any charitable organisation with the talent and drive to create social change should be able to access the support it needs to fulfil its potential. The Fore’s mission statement is very much aligned with qLegal’s commitment to help the next generation of lawyers help the next generation of clients to create value in the world.