We will accept in certain cases, such as validations of European Patents, payment of annuities, Trademark applications and Trademark Renewals, your written instructions. In all other cases, such as drafting patent applications, drafting licencse agreements,etc. we we shall send you a letter (an "Engagement Letter") confirming your instructions. If you subsequently instruct us on a further case or other matter we may if appropriate send you another Engagement Letter. The Engagement Letter and these Terms of Business (the "Terms") will together form the contract between us (the "Engagement Contract").

You will have been asked to sign, date and return one copy of the Engagement Letter accompanying these terms to accept these Terms of Business and any particular terms in that letter. In any event, by instructing us to act on your behalf, you will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by the Terms unless otherwise agreed, or varied, in writing by one of our partners.

Where our client is a company, we will accept instructions from any person who appears to be duly authorised to act on behalf of the client company in such matters unless we have previously been instructed only to accept instructions from specified persons. We accept no liability for any loss to the client company incurred as a result of the person not being duly authorised to issue such instructions.

Please notify us promptly of any change of personnel or name or address or of any change in ownership of rights. Official registration of such changes is often desirable. We will address correspondence to the last address notified to us and this will fulfill any duty that we may have to communicate with you.

As part of our work we shall, where appropriate, advise and remind you of deadlines (other than renewal dates). It is your responsibility to give us instructions in sufficient time for us to meet those deadlines and to advance any applicable fees so that the funds arrive at our accounts to give us the time to pay the fees on your behalf before the deadlines end. Unless explicitly agreed by us, we do not advance any fees on your behalf. Any funds received will be attributed to our invoices first. Only when our fees have been paid in full, remaining funds will be used to pay the official fees. In case official fees are not fully paid, this will lead to a loss of rights. Therefore please take the utmost precautions that our invoices are paid in full. 

You cannot assume that each email message copied or sent to one of our legal professionals was actually opened and read by him or her unless you receive a non-automated reply message indicating that he or she read the substance of your message.

To enable us to represent you effectively, you will cooperate fully with us in your matter(s). You and your agents will fully and accurately disclose to us all facts and documents that may be relevant to a matter we undertake or which we may otherwise request. This information will form the basis of our legal advice.

All oral instructions should be confirmed in writing. We cannot be held responsible for any misunderstanding or misinterpretation of oral instructions.

The files that we maintain on behalf of our clients are considered to be the property of our clients. However, we reserve the right to destroy the contents of any file after an appropriate period has elapsed following the closure of the file. Therefore, our clients should advise us if for any reason they require that the file be forwarded to them after it has been closed.

We reserve the right to retain any file until all payments due to us by the relevant client have been made.

If responsibility for a file is transferred to another firm or representative, we may copy all or part of the file for our own records. A fee for transferring the file may be levied.