Clarion Events has partnered with ACID to deliver a dedicated ACID Intellectual Property Clinic for the duration of the upcoming January Furniture Show (22nd-25th at the Birmingham NEC).
The ACID team comprises IP specialist experts from the anti-copying association's legal affiliate, McDaniels Law, who will be on hand to offer free advice on IP matters including trademarks, copyright, patents, designs, and trade secrets in room 1.1, accessible from the Hall 1 entrance.
In the unlikely discovery of an infringement, the ACID team promises to help defuse the situation with the Mediation Protocol – a means by which a complaint can be communicated – and will then help to provide solutions.
The ACID team will also be on hand to collaborate with exhibitors and visitors to identify and define their IP and give advice to provide a tailored safeguarding strategy, anticipating and inhibiting potential infringements, as well as giving advice on all other IP queries.
Clarion has also negotiated a 20% discount with ACID for the duration of JFS for all new joining members. Clarion’s commitment to IP respect, compliance and ethics has been demonstrate by the show organiser signing the ACID IP Charter.
James Howard, show manager, says: “I completely understand the value and importance of ACID’s services and we are grateful for their long-standing support for JFS 2023. The reality of the current state of economic uncertainty with tight budgets and rising costs is that it is a tough market in which to launch new products, so IP is even more important.”
Dids Macdonald OBE, past master of The Furniture Makers' Company, and CEO of ACID, says: “So often, when market share becomes challenging, copyists become emboldened to take the fast track to market through infringement without the expense of research, design, and development. It is for this reason that it is even more important to be vigilant and protect design-led intellectual property, and we are delighted to support JFS 2023.”
