Intellectual property rights – ‘Forest Schools’

The FSA have been approached by a number of individuals in the Forest School sector asking for clarification about the intellectual property rights and ownership of the term ‘Forest Schools’. The Intellectual Property Office have today confirmed that Archimedes Training Ltd have trade marked the words ‘Forest Schools’ but that the trade mark only applies when these words are used in conjunction with the Archimedes logo. This means that the term forest schools can be used to refer to the plural of a forest school site (a number of forest schools) without infringing on Archimedes’ intellectual property rights. We hope that this clarifies the situation for our members and the sector as a whole.