Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2018 (Issue 106)

ACID’s CEO Dids Macdonald discusses how to promote design originality and the importance of copyright protection There’s always a buzz around spring with an abundance of fresh new ideas emerging from revived inspiration! Maybe it’s the prospect of leaving those January blues behind! But how do you protect new designs from the competition and reap the benefits if an idea actually comes to marketplace? Difficult, but downloading a little common sense and becoming IP savvy could make that precious difference! Imitation isn’t flattery if it costs you your livelihood. Creative skill, talent, research and development take time and budget so it’s important that design originators see the fruits of their investment. So here are a few tips to ensure that you think about your intellectual property and use it to leverage growth and all important sales. Most companies in this sector are lone, micro and SME so education, awareness, prevention and deterrence should be the cornerstones of your approach to design protection. We’re here to help the good guys defeat the bad and also promote design originality as a real route to growth – for the creator, not design thieves! To support this, we also shout loudly about copying with our new ‘Spot the Difference’ initiative on social media. how to protect your ideas from design thieves 96 giftfocus