IP and Dance

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Jane Lambert

I once heard Cerys Matthews describe Ballet Cymru as "the pride of Newport and the pride of Wales". I would not dissent except to add that that it is also the pride of the whole UK.  The reason I mention the company today is that it is about to perform Romeo a Juliet at the Riverfront Theatre in Newport. It will then visit Bangor, Brecon, Porthcawl and Milford Haven as well as venues in England.  The company will visit the Pontio Centre at Bangor on the 4 June.  I was at the Pontio the last time Ballet Cymru visited that venue and was almost as impressed by the centre as I was by the entertainment. Northwest Wales is beautiful and the M-SParc (the Menai Science Park) has created an environment for knowledge-based businesses to flourish but enterprising, innovative and creative people also need the arts. The Pontio delivers the best on stage and screen.

Ballet Cymru's production is a great show.  One of the best interpretations of Shakespeare's tragedy that I have seen.  It stands comparison with Birmingham Royal Ballet's, English National Ballet's, the Mariinsky's. Northern Ballet's, Scottish Ballet's and even the Royal Ballet's, all of which I know. I have seen and reviewed Ballet Cymru's Romeo a Juliet twice (see A Romeo and Juliet for Our Times 7 Nov 2016 and They're not from Chigwell - they're from a small Welsh Town called Newport 14 May 2013 Terpsichore).

Ballet Cymru is based in Rogerstone which is a township just outside Newport. It would be wrong to call it a suburb of Newport even though it is within that local authority's boundaries because the folk who live in that part of Wales have a strong sense of local identity. Caerleon is also within the city limits but it has existed since Roman times. One of Ballet Cymru's neighbours is the Intellectual Property Office  which describes itself as "the official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trade marks and copyright."

Copyright protects the work of artists, broadcasters, composers, dramatists, filmmakers, publishers, recording studios other creative persons from unlicensed plagiarism and other exploitation.  Unlike patents, trade marks and registered designs, it does not have to be registered in the UK. The right comes into being automatically so long as the conditions for the subsistence of copyright are net. These are originality in the case of artistic, dramatic, literary and musical works and fixation and qualification in the case of all works. "Originality" used to mean independent skill and labour but is now intellectual creation.  "Fixation" means writing the work down or otherwise recording it. "Qualification" means the nationality or residence of the author or his employer or the place of publication. Basically, that includes a British national or resident or the national or resident of another country that provides reciprocal protection to the works of British authors under the Berne Convention or otherwise. 

Copyright is not necessarily infringed by making a similar work (see Davies v Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (1986) Ltd [2019] EWHC 1252 (Ch) (15 May 2019) which I discussed in Copyright: Davies v Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club 25 May 2019 NIPC Law). It is infringed by copying or by doing in relation to the work one the other restrictive acts mentioned in s.16 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.  Similarity between two works and may suggest that there has been copying particularly when the author of the later work had the opportunity to see the earlier one but there may be many other reasons for such similarity such as functional exigency or sometimes mere coincidence.

A ballet is likely to consist of lots of copyright works.  There is the score for a start and then possibly the libretto.  Copyright can also subsist in choreography as a dramatic work so long as it is recorded in Benesch or some other notation (see my article Cracking Nuts - Copyright in Choreography 24 Nov 2011 IP Northwest).  The backdrop of the set and the designs of the fabric may well be original artistic works. There is also likely to be design right in the designs of the costumes and perhaps the props and sets. Finally, each and every one of the dancers and musicians has the right not to be filmed, taped or broadcast without consent under Part II of the 1988 Act (see Rights in Performances).

Actors tell each other to "break a leg" when they go on stage.  That is not really appropriate for dancers because they sometimes do.  They wish each other "toi, toi, toi", "chookas" or sometimes even "merde" instead.   Let's wish Ballet Cymru toi, toi, toi at the Riverfront tonight.   Do try to catch them on their tour of Wales if you possibly can.  If you want to discuss this article or copyright in general, call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Welsh University Start-Ups

Author J Newman & Co.
Source Wikipedia Aberystwyth University

 



















Jane Lambert

According to the BBC "universities in Wales are producing more graduate entrepreneurs than higher education generally across the UK(see Brian Meechan New business: Welsh universities' high start-up rate 2 May 2019). Having attended Pitch Perfect at M-SParc, having given talks there and at Aberystwyth University and having visited Bangor University's Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre, I am not surprised. Wales is a pleasant place to live, with fine research universities and, increasingly, a lively cultural scene.

But there is still more that can be done. Shortly before I spoke at the World IP Day celebration at MSParc I attended a presentation by Mo Aldalo, Tech Nation's Entrepreneur Engagement Manager for the North West at Sci-Tech Daresbury. I chatted with him briefly after his presentation, told him a little bit about M-SParc and its tenants and asked him whether Tech Nation would like to give a similar talk there. He replied that it would and I have followed that up with an email putting Mo in touch with M-SParc's management.

In my article Resources for Inventors and other Startups in Northwest Wales 5 Feb 2019 NIPC Inventors' Club I noted that "all the patent and trade mark attorneys in Wales practise in the south and mainly in and around Cardiff." The nearest ones appear to be in Chester and Liverpool and I shall try to persuade one of them to accompany me to Gaerwen when M-SParc holds another seminar on IP. Other speakers for the future could include a patent librarian to teach businesses owners and managers how to carry out simple patent, design and trade mark searches and an insurer specializing in IP insurance to talk about the various types of cover that are available.

Anyone wishing to discuss any of these topics should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact page.

Helping Wales's Home Grown Inventors

Sir William Grove, Inventor

Author Lock & Whitfield
Source Wikipedia William Robert Grove

Jane Lambert

On the Inspiration page of its website, M-SParc (the Menai Science Park) notes that "Wales is home to some of the best scientists in the world".  Many such as Lyn Evans who was project leader of the large hadron collider at CERN are employed by organizations in the public or private sectors but there are also many others in all walks of life who simply have good ideas.

One such was Willian Robert Grove whose photo appears above.  He was a prolific inventor whose inventions include the gas voltaic battery which was the forerunner of the fuel cell, a technology upon which the world is likely to rely increasingly if it is to meet its carbon reduction targets. Like me, Grove was a barrister whose practice included patents. There are still plenty of inventors like Grove today and the government seeks to harness their potential in its industrial strategy (see "Harnessing the Potential of the UK's Home Grown Inventors" - The Government's Proposed Industrial Strategy 24 Jan 2017).

Such inventors do not get an easy time for all sorts of reasons.  It is one thing to create a new product or process but quite another to market it.  If an inventor tries to make and market his or her invention he or she has to go into business which is impossible for many.  Entrepreneurship and invention do not always - in my experience, rarely - go together.  If an inventor tries to license the invention to an established business he or she meets not invented here scepticism for he or she is, by definition, an outsider.

So what can private inventors do to lower the odds against success?  One thing that inventors in other parts of the UK have done is to learn from each other.  Inventors in Northwest England have formed Ideas North West which described itself as  "a membership group of Inventors based in the North West of England" with the aim of helping each other exploit their ideas for new products or services in order to gain commercial success.  They have their own invention promotion company called Ideas North North West Limited which appears to have helped several local inventors.

According to the Wessex Round Table of Inventors, there are similar groups in most parts of the United Kingdom though it seems none for Wales as yet.  There is already a lot of support available for inventors in North Wales around M-SParc and the Pontio FabLab as events like Pitch Perfect and last week's World IP Day celebrations show.  Those of us who took part in last week's seminar would like to build up a comprehensive support network like those provided by the British Library in London and Business and IP Centres in other English cities.  There will soon be another science park in Aberystwyth where similar networks could be developed and, of course, there is the Intellectual Property Office in Newport which already hosts regular patent clinics.

if, while such networks are being developed, any inventor needs help with patenting, licensing, enforcement or other legal issues or signposting to other services such as angels, product design engineers, IP tax experts and others, he or she should call me during office hours on 020 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact page. 

Celebrating World IP Day at M-SParc: Basic Tips for Startups and other Small Businesses

M-SParc (Menai Science Park)

Author Jane Lambert
© 2018 Jane Lambert: all rights reserved

Jane Lambert

Last Friday I visited M-SParc (the Menai Science Park) to participate in Wales's celebrations of World Intellectual Property Day (see Happy World Intellectual Property Day 26 April 2019). I discovered M-SParc while I was on holiday in Beaumaris last summer and it is or at least should be a tourist attraction in its own right for its architecture and environmental engineering.  It also has an excellent eatery called Café Tanio which is open to the public as well as staff and tenants during office hours.  I had a delicious freshly cooked chicken curry, a slice of lemon and meringue pie and sparkling mineral from a local spring for just over £8.

M-SParc celebrated World IP Day with a lunchtime seminar on intellectual property in its boardroom at which I was one of three speakers.  The audience included several of the park's tenants and other local businesses, representatives of Welsh Water and Coleg Menai, M-SParc's managing director, Pryderi ap Rhisiart and one of his colleagues.  The other speakers were Huw Watkins of BiC Innovation and Steve Livingston of IP Tax Solutions.  Both speakers, who are experts in their respective fields with national practices and international reputations, are based at M-SParc.  That speaks volumes about the quality of the professional services that are available to businesses in the science park as well as the rest of North Wales. London and the rest of the UK come to Huw and Steve and not the other way round.

My presentation was a short introduction to IP and I have posted my slides and handout to Slideshare in case anyone who missed my talk would like to read them. Huw spoke about the services that his company offers and Steve discussed the tax incentives that are available for innovation in technology and creativity in the arts.  After the talks, I held four pro bono consultations with members of the audience that consumed the rest of the afternoon.  I was one of the last to leave the park just after 17:00.

I can't identify the businesses or mention the topics that I discussed for reasons of professional confidentiality but I think I can give two tips to businesses in Wales and elsewhere on the basis of my visits to the Anglesey Business Festival in October, Ty Menai in January (see IP for the Welsh Food and Packaging Industries 30 Jan 2019 NIPC News), Pitch Perfect (see A Good Way to spend St David's Day 2 March 2019 NIPC News), Aberystwyth University and the Beacon Enterprise Centre in Llanelli for Business Wales (see Intellectual Property for Startups and other Small Businesses 26 March 2019) in March and M-SParc last Friday.

The first tip is that every business with customers has goodwill which is likely to be connected with its name, the names of one or more of its products or services, a logo, a combination of name or logo or some other sign.  It is in the interests of the business and indeed its customers that that sign is associated with that business and none other.  Sometimes unscrupulous competitors try to muscle in on a market by presenting their goods or services under the same or similar sign.  Other times a competitor can adopt the same or similar sign quite innocently. Either way, it can result in lost sales and damaged goodwill.

Registering a trade mark need not break the bank.   The basic office costs of an online application for a UK mark are £170 although I would strongly recommend obtaining a search before making an application  I would also advise businesses to instruct a chartered trade mark attorney to do the search, draw up the specification, correspond with the Registry and any objectors who many appear and obtain the grant  s (see Whom you gonna call? IP Professionals and what they do 2 April 2019).  Having said that, plenty of businesses have registered marks without using an attorney.  An attorney will charge a few hundred pounds on top of the search and filing fees for his or her trouble but that is one hell of a lot cheaper than the cost of an opposition.  Ideally, I would also pay for a watch service and take out IP insurance against the costs of enforcement.

The second tip is to ensure that website terms and conditions pass muster. Every website should have at least two sets of terms, namely website access terms and a privacy statement.  The website access terms are essentially an end-user software licence.  A website consists of code which has to be reproduced in order to appear in a browser.  Such reproduction requires permission and that can be subject to conditions. These could include restrictions on copying materials on the site or specifying that the terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales and that any disputes will be referred to courts in those countries.  The privacy statement must contain the information that should have been registered with the Information Commissioner. If cookies are used,  visitors must be made aware of that.  Any special or unusual use of data extracted from visitors to the site should also appear in the privacy statement.   If the site is to be used for e-commerce it must comply with The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 and The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 at the very least.   I published Basic Law for Web Designers: No. 2: Website Terms and Conditions in JD Supra on 27 Aug 2011 and although that article may be getting a little long in the tooth it is still good law.

Everybody who attended the seminar on Friday regarded it as a foundation upon which we can build.  The next step may be to arrange for a patent librarian to show how to carry out patent, design and trade mark searches, a specialist broker to talk about IP insurance or a chartered patent agent to run a clinic.  In the meantime, if anyone has a problem with a third party or an examiner, needs something drafted for a business transaction or some advice on IP law, he or she should give me a call on 020 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact form.  If it is straightforward and I know the answer I shall tell you for free. If it requires some work I will warn you and we can agree a specification of work and a fee or charging basis.  Any fee I may charge will be reasonable and properly negotiated in advance. There will be no nasty surprises.

Further Reading

2 Apr 2022 Diwrnod Eiddo Deallusol y Byd / World Intellectual Property Day

26 Apr 2019 Jane Lambert  Happy World Intellectual Property Day

10 Apr 2019  Jane Lambert Anglesey to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day

Happy World Intellectual Property Day

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Jane Lambert

Today is World Intellectual Property Day and Francis Gurry, the Director-General of the WIPO, has recorded the above message for us.  According to the WIPO, more than 400 grassroots-organized celebrations are planned worldwide of which 17 will be in the United Kingdom.  M-SParc (Menai Science Park) near Gaerwen on Anglesey will host Wales's contribution at 13:00 today with talks from Steve Livingston of IP Tax Solutions and Huw Watkins of BIC Innovation and me.

Every year World IP Day is celebrated around a different theme.  This year the theme is IP and Sport.  This is particularly relevant to Anglesey as it is famous for yachting and many other sports.  The wide range of sports that are available on the island, as well as climbing, hill walking and other land-based sports in Snowdonia, attract tourists from all parts of the world.  As Carole Beckford, a sports marketer on another island, notes in an article for the WIPO magazine, IP, sports and tourism are a perfect match.

As next year will be an Olympic year, there are special articles on the IP journey of the Olympic games and ambush marketing.   That is obviously important for broadcasters and sponsors but it also benefits schoolchildren and adults who participate in sport and other physical exercises for fun since every Olympic city has to invest in heritage activities as a condition for hosting the Games.  In
Intellectual property rights: driving global sports, the chair of the Sports Rights Owners' Coalition discusses the enormous sums that his members invest in grassroots sport.  This is done not out of altruism but self-interest, as it is in schools and clubs that stars like Gareth Bale and Alun Wyn Jones, are first noticed. 

Steve, Huw and I look forward to our talk this afternoon.  If this event succeeds we shall try to organize IP advice clinics and other events at Gaerwen.  If you have not already registered there is still time to do so here. If you can't attend today's seminar, call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form and I shall send you my slides and handout,

Choosing the Right IP Protection

Author Ron Maijen
Licence Creative Commons Attribution0Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Source Wikipedia Playing Card

Jane Lambert

There is usually more than one way to protect an intellectual asset.  A brand, for instance, may be protected by trade mark registration or by the law of passing off. A business owner's choice will depend on many factors such as the business's resources, the value of the intellectual asset, the vulnerability of the IP right to cancellation and so on.

Trade Mark Registration
A trade mark can be registered for the United Kingdom alone or for the whole of the European Union including the United Kingdom for so long as the UK remains a member of the EU.  It is also possible to register a mark in some or all of the countries that are party to the Madrid Protocol by applying for an international registration. 

In each case, there are three sets of costs to take into account.  The first is for searches to ascertain whether there are any early registrations that might conflict with the application. Secondly, there are the fees charged by each office for processing the application.  These start at £200 for an application to the Trade Marks Registry of the Intellectual Property Office ("the IPO") for the registration of a mark for one class of goods in the UK.  Thirdly, there may be attorneys' fees for conducting the search, drafting the application and dealing with objections from examiners or third parties in the IPO or indeed the registries of any of the other countries in which registration is sought.  Sometimes a hearing may be necessary for which counsel must be briefed.  The cost of a trade mark application may, therefore, range from a few hundred pounds for a single country where there is no objection to many thousands of pounds for a contested application.

A registration may be challenged even after it has been granted on the grounds that the mark should never have been registered or that it should be revoked because it has not been used or it has ceased to be distinctive.  The challenge may be brought in the registry or by way of counterclaim in infringement proceedings.

Although some trade mark infringements are criminal offences in the UK, it is primarily the registered proprietor's responsibility to enforce his or her rights.  The small claims track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court ("IPEC") can hear claims for damages of £10,000 or less that can be tried in no more than a day.  In the small claims track the costs that can be recovered from an unsuccessful party are limited to a few hundred pounds.   Claims up to £500,000 that can be tried within 2 days can be brought in IPEC's multitrack. The costs that may be recovered from an unsuccessful party in IPEC are capped at £50,000. Any other claim has to be brought in the Chancery Division of the High Court where cases and costs are managed but the amount that can be recovered from the unsuccessful party is unlimited.

Passing off
The right to bring an action for passing off arises automatically so there are no application costs.  On the other hand, is usually more difficult and hence more expensive to bring such an action than it is to sue for trade mark infringement.  The claimant has to prove that he or she has goodwill by reference to a trade mark, trade name, logo, get-up or other indicia which usually requires voluminous evidence of sales and advertising. Secondly, he or she has to prove that the defendant has misrepresented a connection with his or her goods, services or business by, for example, using the same or similar name, mark, logo or get-up. Thirdly, the claimant has to prove loss or damage such as loss of sales or reputation.

Actions for passing off can be brought in the small claims track or multitrack of IPEC or the High Court with the same costs consequences as for trade mark litigation.  Actions for passing off are often brought with trade mark infringement claims.

Since it has become possible to register marks for services, there are very few businesses that decide deliberately to rely solely on the law of passing off. Quite apart from the ease with which a trade mark action can be brought, a trade mark is a right that can be assigned, charged or licensed for money or moneysworth which is not the case with an action for passing off.

Designs
A new design with individual character can be registered for up to 25 years for the UK alone as a registered design or for the whole of the EU including the UK as a registered Community design ("RCD").  Any design that can be registered as a registered design or as an RCD enjoys automatic protection against copying throughout the EU including the UK for 3 years as an unregistered Community design ("UCD").  As the UK is now party to the Hague Agreement concerning the International Registration of International it is possible to apply for the registration of the design in the contracting countries from a single filing.

Original designs of the shape or configuration (whether internal or external) of the whole or part of an article made by UK nationals or nationals of certain other countries are protected automatically against copying for up to 15 years in the UK by unregistered design right.

Artwork for surface decoration can be protected automatically against copying for the life of the author plus 70 years by copyright in the UK and other countries. Certain other designs can be protected by copyright for the same term as works of artistic craftsmanship.

The process of registering a design or RCD is simpler than the process of registering a trade mark because there is no substantive examination.  Accordingly, the process is quicker and cheaper. The IPO charges £50 to register a single design as a registered design and the European Union Intellectual Property Office ("EUIPO") €230 to register an RCD. However, design registrations can be challenged after grant by cancellation proceedings in the IPO or the EUIPO or by way of counterclaim in infringement proceedings.

Design registration is appropriate for high-value items that are likely to be on the market for a long time such as jewellery or electrical appliances.  For toys, fashion items and other items that are likely to go out of style quickly the terms provided by UCD and unregistered design right may be quite long enough.

Actions for the infringement of registered designs or RCD must be brought in the Patents Court or IPEC multitrack regardless of value.  They cannot be brought in the IPEC small claims track.  Claims for the infringement of UCD, unregistered design right or copyright may be brought in the IPEC small claims track or multitrack or the Chancery Division.

Technology
Those who have created a new product or process can choose to disclose it to the world in return for a patent or to keep it under wraps in the hope that nobody will work out how to make or use it.  In the case of CocaCola and Chartreuse, keeping stumm can be a very effective strategy as I noted in Trade Secrets and Non-Disclosure Agreements 1 April 2019.

Patents are the most difficult and expensive IP right to acquire but they can also be the most valuable.  They prohibit not just the copying of an invention but also making, importing, distributing, keeping or using it.  A person who makes or uses an infringing item can be liable even if he made or used the product or process quite honestly without referring to the patented product or knowing the existence of the patent.

Patents can be granted for the UK alone by the IPO or for the UK and up to over 40 other countries by the European Patent Office ("EPO"). Patents can also be granted pursuant to a single application in all the countries that are party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty ("PCT"). An application for a patent for the UK alone rarely costs less than £5,000 (see Dehns The Cost of a Patent).  According to Roland Berger, the cost of obtaining and maintaining a typical European patent in up to 6 countries from 10 years cost over €30,000 (see Roland Berger Market Research Study on the Cost of Patenting).  Registering the patent in the USA, China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Russia, India and other industrial countries can easily exceed £100,000.  In addition to searches and office fees, applicants have to pay for renewal fees which increase over the years in some countries. 

Attorneys' fees are also more expensive than for design and trade mark applications since the specification has to be sufficiently clear and complete to enable a person with the appropriate skill and knowledge to make or use the invention after the patent expires. The monopoly claimed must be broad enough for the owner of the patent to have the widest possible protection but it must not be so wide as to be invalid.

Patents granted by the EPO can be challenged immediately after grant in proceedings called "opposition". In the UK and other countries, patents can be challenged in the office that granted them in revocation proceedings or by way of counterclaim in infringement proceedings.  Such proceedings tend to be expensive.  According to TaylorWessing's Patent Map, patent infringement proceedings can cost between £200,000 and £1 million in London.  Claims have to be brought in the Patents Court or IPEC multitrack. They cannot be brought in the small claims track.

Businesses can rely on the law of confidence and the new Trade Secrets Directive to prevent unauthorized access to, use or disclosure of undisclosed technical information for so long as it remains outside the public domain. Trade secrecy has proved to be an effective way to protect the source code of computer programs over the years.  That protection is lost once the information enters the public domain which can result from reverse engineering or parallel research and development.

Software is also protected from reproduction by literary copyright for the life of the author plus 70 years. Data can be protected from unauthorized extraction and re-utilization by database rights. A modified form of unregistered design right can protect semiconductor topographies from unlicensed reproduction for up to 25 years.

Creativity
Works of art and literature including broadcasts, films and sound recordings as well as original artistic, dramatic, literary and musical works are protected automatically from copying, publishing, renting and lending, performance, communication to the public and adaptation for the life of the author plus 70 years. Her Majesty's Government is party to the Berne Convention which extends such protection to most countries of the world.  Actors, dancers, musicians, singers and other performers automatically have the right to object to the unauthorized broadcasting, filming or taping of their performances and the distribution of copies of those performances by virtue of Part II of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Those rights are known as rights in performances.  Broadcasters, film and sound recording studios which have contracted to record such performances also have the right to object to unauthorized broadcasting, filming or taping. Although piracy (copyright infringement on an industrial scale) and bootlegging (infringement of rights in performances on an industrial scale) are criminal offences, primary responsibility for enforcing copyrights and rights in performances rests with the rights holders. They can bring claims up to £10,000 in the small claims track of IPEC, £500,000 in the IPEC multitrack and all other claims in the Chancery Division.

Conclusion
This is the toolkit that is available to rights holders. I shall discuss how to select those tools at my talk on What is IP? et cetera at M-SParc (the Menai Science Park) on Friday, 26 April 2019 at 13:00 (see Anglesey to celebrate World IP Day 10 April 2019 and Maximizing your Intellectual Assets  23 April 2019).  If you want to attend you can register here.  If you can't make that seminar but would like my slides or handout or wish to discuss any other IP matter, please call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Maximizing your Intellectual Assets

Jane Lambert

Intellectual assets are creations of the mind that give one business a competitive edge over others.  They include brands, designs, technology and creativity.  They are assets because they generate or safeguard revenue.  The laws that protect them are known collectively as intellectual property ("IP").

You probably have a business plan but how well (if at all) does it take account of IP?  If it doesn't then it should for the reasons I set out in Why Every Business Plan should take Account of IP 3 April 2016 NIPC News.  It can make all the difference between the success or failure of your business venture but it is not easy to do because "not every accountant or solicitor is IP savvy and certainly not every business adviser."

In that article, I said that I would be giving talks around the United Kingdom on IP and business planning.   As part of Wales's celebrations of World Intellectual Property Day, I shall be talking about that subject at the M-SParc (Menai Science Park) at Gaerwen on Anglesey between 13:00 and 14:00 on Friday, 26 April 2019 and I have gathered a team of experts on innovation and IP tax incentives to join me.

 I shall discuss the available legal protection - copyrights, design registration, patents, trade marks, trade secrets, unregistered design rights and so on - how you can obtain those rights and other things.   Huw Watkins of BIC Innovation will talk about ways his company can help you develop and distribute your new products and services.   Steve Livingston of IP Tax Solutions can advise you of the tax incentives and other opportunities available to you.  These are three short complimentary presentations that will not be available anywhere else.

This is one seminar you should really try to attend.  You can register for the event through Eventbrite.  If you really can't make it on the 26 April 2019, call me on 020 7404 5252 or contact me through my contact page and I will email my handout.  I am also happy to talk about this article and any other IP matter you may want to discuss.