The document provides an agenda for a networking and information day hosted by Companies House. The agenda covers various topics related to Companies House including an introduction, the limited company, online filing, information services, intellectual property, and question time. A 30 minute comfort break is also included on the agenda.

2. Marsha Purdie
Tanya Peake
Heather Gopsill

3. Agenda
 Welcome to our Networking & Information Day
 Companies House
 The Limited Company
 Online filing
 30 minute comfort break
 Our information services
 Key conclusions
 Intellectual Property – what is this?
 Information & Demo Points – ask us!

4. Who we are

5. What we do

6. How we do it

7. Why we do it
‘the heart of company information in the UK, recording the life
events of companies for ALL to see’
 A world class information exchange
 Accessible, easy to use
 Creating excellent customer experiences
 Providing trusted information

8. All company types
 Private Limited Companies
 Public Limited Companies (PLC)
 Dormant Companies
 Limited Liability Partnerships
 Community Interest Companies
 Micro-Entities

9. Secretary & director responsibilities

10. Secretary duties
Every Public Limited Company needs one
Private companies – it is optional
Usual duties include:
 Notifying changes
 Maintaining statutory registers
 Notifying members and auditor of meetings
 Providing copies of resolutions and agreements
 Supplying copies of company accounts

11. Directors’ responsibilities
 Accounts and Annual Returns are delivered
 Registered office and SAIL address is correct and operational
 Directors’ and secretaries’ details are
kept up to date
 No under 16s appointed (except for LLP)
 No upper age limit
 At least 1 “natural person” appointed (except for LLP)

13. WebFiling

17. Keep your code safe
 Make sure your code isn’t easily guessable
 Mix letters with numbers in your code
 Only share your code with trusted company personnel
 Change your code if company personnel changes
 Change your code if you think the code has been discovered
 Tell your agent before you change your code
 Use a different code for each company
 Don’t leave your code lying around

19. Single Alternative Inspection Location
Or known as “SAIL” applies if:-
Your company records & registers are not kept for inspection
at the registered office address
 Only one SAIL address allowed
 Address notification required
 Records & registers at the address required
 Also notified on annual return

20. Trading disclosures
Company name to be displayed at:
 All places of business
 Registered office address
But does not apply to:
 Primarily residential addresses
 Dormant companies

21. Trading disclosures
All items of business stationery & communications including
emails and company website must show:
 Company name
 Place of registration
 Registered number
 Registered office address
 Director information
 If being wound up, that fact

23. Directors service addresses
Based on privacy
Any address (not P.O.) for the public
register
Usual residential address for protected
register
Change notice can be completed online
Historic addresses can be “expunged” for at
risk officers

25. Annual Return
 Not the financial return
 All companies have to file one each year
 Based on your Legal Return Date
 Snapshot of the company details at this date
 Must be filed within 28 days of this date
 £13 filing fee online (£40 for paper filing)
 Over 98% are now filed online

28. Accounts
 Some Account types can be filed online
 Companies have to file accounts each year
 Whether trading or not
 Strict filing times laid down by Parliament
 Based on your accounting reference date
 Automatic penalties for being late
 No filing fee

30. Accounts – joint filing with HMRC
HMRC – Companies House statement joined up approach to using
iXBRL and a joint template
What is iXBRL?
 Download PDF template via Companies House WebFiling
and HMRC
 Submit using accounts software packages
 Prepare once – file twice

31. Joint filing

32. Accounts Filing Periods
Private Co - 9 months from the accounting reference date
Public Co - 6 months from the accounting reference date
New Companies 1st
Accounting Period
Private Company - 21 months from date of incorporation
Public Company - 18 months from date of incorporation

33. Late Filing Penalties
 Civil Penalty against the company
 Introduced 1 July 1992 and amended 1 February 2009
 Accounts only
 Accounts must be received by Registrar by due date
 Penalties are doubled for filing late 2 years running
 Appeals procedure
 Registrar has very limited discretion not to collect a penalty

34. Late Filing Penalties
Don’t forget…
Penalties are doubled for filing late 2 years running
Length of Period Public
Company
Private
Company
Not more than 1 month £750 £150
More than 1 month but not more than 3
months
£1,500 £375
More than 3 months but not more than 6
months
£3,000 £750
More than 6 months £7,500 £1,500

35. Surprising Statistic

36. Don’t hide behind your advisors

37. Compliance

38. Prosecution

39. Dissolution and voluntary strike-off
 Straightforward procedure
 Company not traded or changed name in last 3 months
 Form DS01must be completed
 Majority of directors must authorise application
 £10 fee to pay
 Can take 6 months and is subject to third party objections
 DS02/LLDS02 withdrawal of application to strike off
 Reversible process via restoration process

40. Companies House
30 minute comfort break

41. WebFiling and PROOF scheme
PROtected Online Filing - PROOF
Stops the filing of certain paper forms i.e. :-
Company officers appointments / terminations / changes
Change of the registered office
Annual Return
NOTE: Accounts are not included in the scheme
Paper forms are rejected and sent to the registered office
address
50-100 Corporate identity fraud cases per month

43. Join eReminders for:
A timely email reminder of when your accounts and annual
returns are due at Companies House.
The option of a maximum of 4 email addresses per company.
An alternative to paper reminder letters sent to your
registered office address
WebFiling and eReminders

47. Searching

48. Mobile App

49. Mobile App
 Mobile app is FREE and available for Apple and Android
 Available to download from Apple App Store or Google Play
 Only free information is available on this service – no hidden
costs
 Allows you to check company information ‘on the go’
 Stats and our latest Tweets can be viewed on the App
 Feedback is welcome

50. Mobile App
Save most frequently viewed companies in
your ‘Favourites’ for Amber / Red Alerts
when AR and AA are due / overdue
Variety of sort options in favourites –
including company name, number or when
accounts or returns are next due for filing

51. WebCHeck & Companies House Direct
WebCHeck
No subscription
Pay as you go
Company name availability
search
Detailed filing history
Free current appointments
report
Disqualified director
search
Document download area
Monitor service
Companies House Direct
Monthly subscription
Monthly invoice
Company search
Officer enquiry
Disqualified directors
search
Document packages
Insolvency history
Full filing history
Certified document
ordering
Document download area
Monitor service

52. Monitor
 FREE Service available via CHD and WebCHeck
 Part of the 3-point-plan to prevent corporate identity
fraud
 Email alert service for documents filed by ANY company

53. Other products
 Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI)
 Free Company Data Product
 Free Accounts Data Product
 Bespoke Products

54. The Companies House Service
 Transforms our electronic services, with modern technology
and a new web service
 Better and simpler for customers, making it easier to view and
update company information

55. Companies House Service

60. Key conclusions
 Think “e” – and enjoy the benefits now
 Filing online saves you time
 Meeting filing deadlines saves you penalties
 Up-to-date records create confidence in your company
 Our Information online can help you
 Companies House is here to help you
Web: www.gov.uk/companieshouse

61. Online user panel
 Help us understand how you use our online services
 Your Feedback and Your experiences
 Details on GOV.UK

62. Thank you for listening!
Any feedback?
eventsteam@companieshouse.gov.uk

63. Contact us
Telephone: 0303 1234 500
email: enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk
Follow us: Facebook: facebook.com/CompaniesHouse
Twitter: @CompaniesHouse
LinkedIn
Companies House You Tube Channel

64. Question Time

65. providing company
information that
customers value
“
”

66. An Introduction to Intellectual Property
Gary Townley
Business Outreach & Education

67. Intellectual Property Office
Executive Agency within Department of Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS)
1000+ staff based in Newport in South Wales, 20 based in
Victoria, London
Our task is to help stimulate innovation and raise the
international competitiveness of British industry through
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

68. Business investment has changed
- in UK as elsewhere
IP
Fixed Capital
£ billion
Source EU COINVEST and Haskel et al

69. IP Baseline Survey
70% of delegates who we spoke to acted upon the
information they received
98% of our trade mark filings and 87% of our patent filings
are made online
Our Twitter followers rose from 21,000 in April 2013 to 35,000
by March 2014
19% rise in demand for domestic trade marks in 2013/14

71. A Registered Trade Mark is...
Any sign which is capable
of being represented graphically
Any sign which is capable of
distinguishing the goods or services
of one undertaking from another
“A Badge of Origin”

72. What can be registered?
Smell
Colour theme Shape theme
Domain name Slogan
Name Logo
Non-traditional Music

74. Why infringement searches?
Avoid expensive mistakes
Awareness of competing marks
Early resolution of potential problems

75. UK Applications
Fees:
Application fees: £170 – Includes one Class
Additional Classes £50 each (up to 45 Classes)
Timeline:
Examination within 2 months of filing
Registration (unopposed) in 5 months

76. Trade Mark Registration Overseas
Paris Convention - six months priority
OHIM – Community Trade Mark
e-filing fee €900
Madrid Protocol

79. Registered Designs
Protects shape or configuration (3-D)
and/or pattern or ornamentation (2-D)
No protection for function, materials
or technology of manufacture
No protection when form is dictated
by function (ie: no design freedom)

80. Design Registration No 3001664
Registered Designs

81. Design Registration No 3001664
Registered Designs

82. Multiple Applications
£60 for first design
(£40 application + £20 publication)
£40 for subsequent designs
(£20 application + £20 publication
Renewal fees every 5 years
Maximum term 25 years

83. Registration Overseas
Paris Convention – 6 Months
OHIM - Community
Design
Hague Agreement
(1/1/2008)

85. Criteria for ‘patentability’
Patents are for “technological innovation”, though the
Patents Act 1977 fails to define the word “invention”
Inventions must be new - not known
anywhere in the world prior to the filing date
Inventions must have an ‘inventive step’ - not
obvious, a simple adaptation or combination
Inventions must be industrially applicable
and have a ‘technical effect’

86. What is a Patent ?
State Inventor
A Bargain
Fees
Technical Description
Exclusive Rights
20 years

87. 1 A vehicle transmission assembly including a change speed transmission having a
casing, an input for connection to an engine or motor, a first epicyclic gear train
which is connected to the input and in use selectively provides a reduction ratio or a
direct ratio to a second epicyclic gear train which in use selectively provides a
reduction ratio or a direct ratio to a third epicyclic gear train which in use selectively
provides a reduction ratio or a direct ratio to a forward transmission output, each
epicyclic gear train comprising a sun gear, an annulus gear and a set of planet
gears mounted on a respective carrier and intermeshing with the respective sun
and annulus gears, and first, second and third coupling means associated with the
first second and third epicyclic gear trains respectively to selectively couple one of
the sun gear and the annulus gear of the respective gear train to the casing or to
the carrier, each coupling means comprising a synchromesh selector slidable on a
member fast with the said one of the sun gear or annulus gear and engageable with
the casing when slid in one axial direction and with the carrier when slid in the other
axial direction.
Claim 1

88. Obtaining Patent Protection Abroad
Separate national filings
Patent Co-operation Treaty
(PCT)
European Patent Convention
(EPC)

89. Working with others
Prior use or disclosure will invalidate a patent
application - use ‘Confidentiality Agreements’
Agree in writing who will own any I.P. arising
from the collaboration before commercialisation

91. What Copyright protects
Books, technical reports, manuals, databases
Engineering, technical or architectural plans
Paintings, sculptures, photographs
Music, songs, plays, dramatic works
Promotional literature, advertising
Films, videos, cable or radio broadcasts
Computer software

92. How long does Copyright last?
Literary, musical, artistic & dramatic works:
author’s lifetime plus 70 years
Sound recordings, TV & radio broadcasts &
cable programmes: 70 years from first broadcast
Publishers’ right (typographical layout etc.):
25 years
Films: 70 years after the death of the last of:
director, composer of the score, the author of
the screenplay and the scriptwriter

93. Who owns Copyright?
Usually the first creator or author...
…or their employer if produced in the
ordinary course of their employment
However, a contractor will retain ownership
unless their contract is explicit to the contrary
Even if the creator sells their rights, they have
‘moral rights’ over how their work is used

94. Registered Design
Copyright: labels & artwork
® Registered Trade Mark
‘TM’ unregistered
Patents: several dozen!
Bringing it all together

95. Gov.uk/ipo - 0300 300 2000
Information@ipo.gov.uk

96. •A free, interactive e-learning tool, 4 short Modules
•Helping advisors increase their knowledge in identifying IP assets
•IPO certification on completion
•A basic overview of IP at your fingertips at anytime
•Portable pocket solution to help top up your IP knowledge
•Download from the Apple store iTunes & the Android app store
•Free and confidential online diagnosis tool
•Help your business grow through Licensing, Exploiting & Franchising
•Identifying and adding value to your IP assets
•A series of free business guides to understanding IP
•Explaining the different types of IP rights & how to protect them
•A great starting point for those beginning their IP journey
•Accredited interactive course with in depth training on IP
•Available in person and online (coming soon)
•Study Guides and downloads

97. Thank you
Gary Townley
gary.townley@ipo.gov.uk