"Common law"

Legal principles developed through judicial decisions or identified by commentators as opposed to legislation.

"Enactments"

Legislation such as Acts of Parliament, secondary legislation, EC regulations and directives.

"Intellectual Property"

The collective name for the bundle of laws to protect investment in brands, new technology and the arts. For further information, see "What is Intellectual Property".

"Person skilled in the art"

See the definition in "What is an Inventive Step".

"Secondary Legislation"

Legislation made by a minister or other authority under powers conferred by an Act of Parliament. These include statutory instruments and EC legislation made under powers granted by the European Communities Act 1972.

"State of the Art"

See the definition in "What is an Inventive Step".

"WIPO (The)"

The initials "WIPO" stand for "World Intellectual Property Organization". That Organization is a specialist agency of the UN. It is responsible  for administering various treaties and conventions by which its member states agree to protect the brands, designs, inventions, works of art and literature and other intellectual property of each others' citizens. It also maintains an Arbitration and Mediation Centre to facilitate the resolution of intellectual property disputes between residents of different nations. See the "General Information" page on the WIPO website for more details.