ACID are delighted to announce the appointment of two new ACID Advisory Council Members. Sabah Nazir is the founder and creator of Sabah Designs and also of the brand Islamic Moments. Nick Robinson is Managing Director of BabaBing Ltd. Both are ACID Members with proactive intellectual property strategies which will stand them in good stead when taking part in the biannual ACID Advisory Council meetings, the next of which is due to take place on 16th July. Read more below and also view their profiles on the ACID Advisory Council page.
Sabah Nazir, the founder and creative director of Sabah Designs a luxury stationery brand she founded in 2004 from her kitchen table is the latest member to accept our invitation to join the ACID Advisory Council.
Sabah Designs have built a strong portfolio and have been supplying to departmental stores, high-end gift boutiques, and independent bookshops and retail their products through online outlets such as Not On The High Street, Amazon and Etsy.
Sabah is also the founder of the brand Islamic Moments, UK’s first Islamic greetings card and stationery company which she set up in 2011. She strongly feels that more needs to be done at grass root levels in creating awareness of the severity of design theft and the effect it has on the originator.
Sabah was recently appointed as an ‘Exporting Ambassador’ for the Department of International Trade and is regularly invited to speak at business seminars and voluntarily mentors start-up businesses. Sabah also makes frequent appearances in the local and national media discussing entrepreneurship, women in business and is a consultant on the fast growing halal economy.
Sabah Nazir, commenting on her appointment to the ACID Advisory Council said, “As a long-standing member of ACID, I am absolutely honoured to become an Advisory Councillor. ‘Copy and Paste’ culture has been on the rise and spreading awareness on the detrimental affects this has on micro businesses and SMEs is something I actively want to become a part of.”
On Sabah’s acceptance of the invitation Dids Macdonald OBE., CEO of ACID said, “I am so delighted to welcome Sabah Nazir to our ACID Advisory Council. She is an active IP advocate and places IP protection at the heart of her growth strategy. I welcome her commitment to join a united and strong voice with her ideas to stimulate strategic direction to help our continuing work to create more dynamic progress in the fight against IP crime.”
Islamic Moments is a multi award-winning British stationery boutique offering carefully curated design-led Islamic stationery for today’s discerning customer. Sabah Nazir introduced the concept of Islamic Greetings Cards to British shores in 2004. Her company now houses the largest collection of Islamic cards and stationery in the UK and their products can be found in 37 countries worldwide. All products are designed, printed and produced with extreme dexterity and skilled craftmanship in the UK.
Nick Robinson, Managing Director of ACID Member Bababing Limited, joins the ACID Advisory Council following his recent, highly publicised issue with Aldi which has been widely covered on the BBC TV One Show, in radio interviews and in Design Week. ACID has highlighted the exposé on the ACID News Desk and social media platforms and the case features on the Spot the Difference page.
Nick is passionate about their design-led products which has fired a proactive stance and communications strategy to bring IP infringement issues to the notice of his MP and the general public and will be a valuable addition to the ACID Council. With two members of the UKIPO attending the next Council meeting, it will be an ideal platform for Nick to raise his concerns directly.
Nick previously commented “I would appeal to Government and the IP Minister to recognise that SME enterprises likes ours simply cannot cope with major retail chains riding rough shod over innovative companies like BaBaBing. Whilst Government says it has the best IP legal system in the world this is not matched by cost & time effective means of legal redress when battling with the deep legal pockets of major retail chains. Dids Macdonald’s plea for IP respect in CSR should not go unnoticed.”
Dids Macdonald OBE., CEO of ACID welcomed the new appointment, “Nick Robinson is, sadly, like many other innovative design companies in the UK who find themselves at the opposing end of supermarket chains like Aldi who produce what would appear to be copies of his design without permission. A typical strategy of the Goliath’s of this world is to perpetuate litigation and stonewall any challenge blowing the little guy out of the water. However, Nick’s resolve is strong and he believes Aldi are not only out of order but misleading the consumer that these are their original designs.”
Nick Robinson said on his appointment “As a design-led company we pride ourselves on designing our own range of child nursery products that are on trend, good quality and at a great price to the consumer. From the recent ‘infringement’ we have had from Aldi, we as a company are determined to fight ours and other small business cause for better IP rights so that these kinds of companies can be taken to justice. The government and other relevant institutions MUST be made aware that as long as this continues the future of UK product development and innovation within small business will be severely compromised. As we are in the midst of Brexit and uncertainty within this country, it will be small business that will provide the green shoots of economic activity after Brexit through design and innovation, and therefore must be protected by better IP protection. Both BabaBing and ACID share the same beliefs in IP protection, and therefore both will continue to lobby government and other institutions in creating better IP laws.”
BabaBing Limited have tasked themselves with designing inspirational, modern, practical and reasonably priced baby products to help the everyday parent when bringing up their child. Each member of the BabaBing team have a vast amount of experience whether it be in Product Design or Sales so that each product that is developed ticks all the right boxes in design, quality and price.
Spread the Word
