From the Newsdesk

CoolSnowGlobes

Find out how CoolSnowGlobes TM utilises their ACID Membership Benefits to support their IP Rights!

 

When did you first start creating your products/designs? 

I began designing snow globes in 2000 and licensed my first collection to a giftware company. When the license expired I reclaimed the rights and began focusing on creating custom globes. In 2008 my husband joined my endeavour and we launched a collection several years later, in addition to continuing our custom design business.

Did you have any knowledge of intellectual property at that time? 

Prior to creating the snow globe collection I had been designing tableware and was adept at copyrighting and trademarking my brand and products on my own. I continued to do the same with the snow globes.

Which ACID Membership services have you used and how have you benefitted from being a member?We have recently taken on a European distributor so having uploaded our products to the ACID Copyright & Design Databank and having that support is a benefit for us and for him. We have also appreciated prompt responses and support for all of our questions and concerns.

Have you brought anything new to the marketplace recently that you would like to share? Born of the concept of a snow globe that didn’t materialise as planned, we have created our first non snow globe product, called The NightBULB. It is a hand-blown double walled glass sculpture powered by an LED. It is a personal portable light source.

What is the best aspect of ACID Membership for your business?Knowing we are a Member of ACID and have ACID’s support is very valuable. We are a US based company and the USA does not have a similar resource or support organisation for artists and designers relating to IP protections. It is such a valuable resource we wish you would “go international”!! We also display the Member of ACID Logo on our website as a deterrence for any potential copyists!

What advice would you offer to a new designer?

Begin protecting your work immediately – even if you are small and just staring out. We learned the hard way, by finding out too late that a few of the designs we created and were lax in protecting were of course the ones that were copied. You can copyright after the fact but it doesn’t provide the same protection. 
 
In addition, another hard lesson, if manufacturing in China, it’s almost more important to copyright and protect your work there first – as we didn’t know that either and have had someone actually patent our original designs there. He is now selling them worldwide and we only have leverage in countries where we have protection. If we tried to sell our own designs in China he could actually sue us. 
 
I have also worked for several large US corporations – and know that the way they often come up with “new” ideas is by trolling websites and trade shows for our collective creative ideas, assuming we won’t notice or would not have the resources to protect ourselves. Prove them wrong! And NEVER send them samples when they imply they are “interested” in your work.

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