Protecting Intellectual Property Rights

To ensure the integrity of the services we provide, our partner organisations retain their own intellectual property rights (IPR). However, on behalf of some of our standard-owning partners, we do manage the use of their IP.

For example, as part of our assessments we check that all licensees (including our Accredited Organisations) acknowledge the use of trade marks and other intellectual property. Our training material and management systems assessment standards include IP checks, and any non-compliance is raised as a top priority issue for immediate resolution prior to accreditation.

APM Group has also been granted delegated authority by OGC to issue licences for the re-use of OGC's trade marks and the Crown copyright in the official publications relating to them. This means that we issue licences to Accredited Organisations for them to use OGC's IP within their training materials and related marketing activities, as well as to non-accredited organisations and individuals who wish to re-use OGC's intellectual property within their products and services.

Find out more about our Trade Mark Licensing Scheme.

IP Infringements

Through the Intellectual Property Management Board chaired by OGC, we work together with our partners (OGC, TSO and OPSI) to actively assist in the protection of our partners' IPR by direct surveillance of websites and by using our network of Accredited Organisations to bring potential infringements to our attention and take action where necessary.

If you do encounter any cases where you suspect that OGC's intellectual property is being infringed, then please report the infringement by email to OGCInfringements@tso.co.uk.

Please provide your name, contact details and as much information about the infringement as possible, including the nature of the infringement and any contact details for the infringer.