Craft Focus - April/May 2021 (Issue 84)

93 ACID To find out more, visit www.acid.uk.com it’s not necessary and you won’t lose copyright protection by not displaying it. Q. I have protected the name of my business because I have registered the name at Companies House Registering a name at Companies House gives you no protection at all, save that your company name can’t be used by anybody else. It doesn’t affect trading names. There are lots of businesses that trade under a different name to the one which they have registered. So, in order to protect your name, you either have to register it as a trade mark at the Intellectual Property Office or you have to show that you’ve got a significant reputation in that particular brand. Trade Marks can be officially registered and you can then use the registered sign ® beside the name registered. Alternatively, you can rely on an unregistered trade mark and place the letters ™ beside your name. Registering your trade mark is ACID’s advice because the more you build up your brand under your name the more valuable it becomes and having a registered trade mark offers stronger protection. Q. If someone makes seven changes or a % change to an existing design, it becomes a new design This really is one of the most common myths! Copying does not have to be exact. It is, in essence, comparing two works, or pieces, or products and asking if they look substantially similar or not. You can make one change and it may completely alter the nature of an item, or you can make a hundred changes and they would not be significant. Legal advice from a specialist IP lawyer is the best way forward if you need an opinion on whether a design is too similar. Q. At what point do you need to register a design? E.g., can you register a design after you have started selling the product? In the vast majority of countries, including the UK, EU and US, you have a year’s grace to register your design starting from the time you first showed the design to the public. So yes, you can start selling, see how it goes and then make an informed commercial decision on protection if you weren’t sure initially. See more information about how to register a design here. ACID Members support their unregistered designs by using the ACID IP Databank to underpin their rights before they register. Q. Can a registered design right be extended beyond the 25 years term of a registered design? No, is the short answer. The public policy argument for this is that you are granted a monopoly right at registration and the bargain is once you have had that period to exploit that monopoly, the design is free to all. However, some of the larger and more IP savvy organisations, particularly in the telecoms market, will improve an existing design and then register that improvement. We have a Member who is in the kitchenware sector and each improvement is registered. The client has more than 10 incremental designs registered which in effect extends the life of the product. Q. If I commission a designer or photographer, who owns the IP rights? If you pay for a design to be created to your brief or a photographer to undertake photographs for you, regardless of payment, the IP is owned by the freelancer unless an IP assignment of rights is signed. Many still think that if they pay for the design, they automatically own the IP rights, this is incorrect. Generally, IP advice doesn’t have to be rocket science! The basic principles of becoming ‘IP Savvy!’ can be achieved by creating an IP strategy. For example, look after your trade secrets and know-how. After all they are what sets you apart from a competitor, they are your crown jewels. Create simple agreements for confidentiality or non-disclosure, especially good when creating collaborative work, because it’s good to be able to rely on the small print if things go wrong. Ensure, therefore, that IP is covered in all your agreements. If you have been copied, always get specialist IP expert advice from experts – it’s worth it. ACID members can benefit from initial free legal advice, and it’s good to know that taking legal action isn’t always about ending up in court; few cases do! Often a strongly worded letter before action (LBA) will do the trick. If you don’t want to be copied, say so with a simple IP statement that ACID can help with! And If you’ve got a good idea keep it safe – careless talk can cost the competitive edge. In a recent ACID survey 90 per cent of contributors said that IP theft was blatant and deliberate. So, manage your risk. IP is one of your most valuable assets to exploit and achieve growth. Protect it or forget it!