Gift Focus inc Attire Accessories - March/April 2021

MCDANIELS LAW TALKS IP LANDSCAPE POST-BREXIT ACID legal affiliates McDaniels Law talks through changes and challenges following the UK/EU deal and an initial summary and some sensible IP Essentials to consider. Kelly Hudson, Director and Trademark Attorney said: “Well, as we are all aware, the UK finally left the European Union on 31 st December, 2020, having agreed the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement only a few days earlier, on Christmas Eve. Although the full implications of this deal are not yet clear, the picture in respect of intellectual property rights, including the all-important rights in designs, is clear and you should be taking steps to deal with the resulting changes. These changes are set out in more detail here. We will focus primarily on issues around design right and trademarks and touch briefly on copyright and patents.” Dids Macdonald, OBE., ACID’s CEO talks about designs, she says, “EU design rights have been a valuable tool for designers seeking to protect their creations. There are two EU design rights; a Registered Community Design (RCD) and an Unregistered Community Design (UCD) which provide significant protection for products across the EU at relatively little cost. The UCD in particular was very useful for designers as it arises automatically with no cost or administrative burden on designers. In leaving the EU designers will unfortunately suffer a reduction in protection in EU 27.” Kelly Hudson added: “It is good news for designers that the Supplementary Unregistered Design right (SUD) will be available as a strong unregistered design right, however, a design will not qualify for a SUD where it is first disclosed in the EU, and equally a design will no longer qualify for a UCD where it is first disclosed in the UK. This means that designers relying on unregistered rights will have to decide whether to seek UK protection or EU protection. This is potentially a significant loss, particularly for any businesses that export or have plans to export in the future and will force more business to consider applying for RCD’s to ensure protection in the EU.” Trademarks: A trademark is a vital tool to protect your business and your reputation. They act as a badge of origin and serve to distinguish you and your goods or services from those of your competitors. Prior to Brexit it was possible to obtain one EU trademark (EUTM), which covered the whole of the EU, including the UK. Following Brexit EUTMs will no longer provide protection in the UK. Copyright & Patents are by and large unaffected. CAPRICE LAUNCHES CLIMOTION TECHNOLOGY The shoe manufacturer is set to launch its new Climotion technology in time for the AW21/22 season. The technology stands for CLI (climate), MOTION (movement) and EMOTION (feeling) and offers softness, flexibility, cushioning and climate regulation for a new walking experience. The heart of the Climotion technology is a newly developed, ultra- soft and elastic footbed made of high-tech elastomers paired with honeycomb shaped air chambers. Thus, the foot is gently embedded as in a cozy soft cushion. The combination of the innovative material and the elastic honeycomb structure with embedded channels enables a complete and permanent ventilation of the foot. Thanks to a memory effect, the sole adapts ergonomically to the shape of the foot. Jürgen Cölsch, managing director of Caprice, says, “The current challenging times call for new creative approaches. With the Climotion technology developed by Caprice, we meet the current high demand for innovation and added value. At the same time, we provide our retail partners with a very innovative and fashionable collection segment with strong unique selling points. This contributes to increasing the attractiveness of the product range. When you wear shoes with Climotion, you will experience a completely new walking sensation and enter a new dimension of comfort. Hereby we underline again our ambition to offer every customer a unique and unforgettable walking experience.” www.caprice.de DUKE & DEXTER APPOINTS DAVID STERN AS CHAIR Award-winning footwear brand Duke & Dexter (D+D) has announced the appointment of David Stern, former global CEO of Crabtree & Evelyn, as chair. David, who has over 30 years’ experience in retail and consumer brands and a track record for digital transformation, will help boost the global growth of the London-based company, which is backed by investor Mercia. David, who started his career at the New York department store Macy’s, has managed global brands such as Lux, Dove Beauty and John Frieda and held senior positions at companies including Unilever plc, where he launched its first e-commerce venture. He has also founded and ran his own home and personal care products business. Most recently he helped to transform Crabtree & Evelyn from a loss-making retailer with 400 stores to a fast- growing, profitable digital business. Archie Hewlett, CEO of D+D, added: “David brings a wealth of experience and has a seriously impressive track record for robustly scaling online, digitally-focused brands. In the light of the rapid digital transformation that has taken place, our main priority is on carefully building out our ecommerce channel across the globe. It’s a privilege to have David join us as chair.” 100