Dids, ACID’s Chair and Co-Founder, and Past Master of the Furniture Makers, and Laura, ACID CEO were delighted to return to the Furniture Makers’ Company (FMC) 2026 Young Professional Industry Experience (YPIE) programme, kicking off the first week as always with an intellectual property (IP) workshop.
The YPIE team were led through the essential IP rights, risks and remedies. Once again, AI and Sustainability were the hot topics of the day with the YPIE team asking thought-provoking questions around responsible AI use, including the impact of GenAI and data scraping on brands and designers.
Once again, ACID set an essay question of ‘Why IP Matters to my Brand/Business’ with the winner receiving a certificate, bottle of champagne, their feature included in the prestigious Austin Friar and, of course, pride of place in ACID’s news desk and magazine!
As ever, it was so difficult to choose a winner. The runner up prize of a certificate and bottle of champagne went to Fyn Duncan, independent furniture designer-maker and lead of the Young Furniture Makers’ Society (YFMS). Fyn’s piece emphasised the importance of IP to aspiring designers, stating “Given that I intend to design my own work, and that it is highly original, it will be essential to protect my designs from copycats that might try to recreate to a lower spec and also undermine my pricing. This is especially true for commissioned work, as no client wants to see a cheap replica of their personally designed piece up for sale”. Fyn’s dedication to supporting budding designers speaks to ACID’s core aims and objectives. We look forward to supporting him and the YFMS! Read Fyn’s runner up piece here.
| The winning prize went to Charlotte Rumsey, Customer Experience Team Manager at Hypnos, who delved in the heart of why protecting a brand is so important for longevity and consumer trust through consistent quality and reliable reputation, saying “Hypnos is a registered trademark and is recognisable within the bed and wider furniture industry. It also has a lot of history being a family business that was established over 120 years ago. With that in mind it is important that the brand is protected. As we create a high-level product it would reflect badly if anyone was to use our branding on something that they created that may not be up to the same standard. It also creates a level of protection for consumers that may be a fan of our brand as they know they’re buying from us”. Read Charlotte’s winning piece here. |
Both Fyn and Charlotte demonstrated the importance of IP throughout the creative and brand-building journey. Whether starting out or long-established, IP will always be an essential component to your furniture career.
ACID extends a huge congratulations to all who took part in YPIE 2026 and wish you all very bright and happy futures.
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