The ACID team were delighted to be invited back to Clerkenwell Design Week 2026 to provide a thought-provoking and interactive workshop on intellectual property (IP).

Following the success of ACID’s panel discussions at CDW 2024 and CDW 2025, Your Right to Protection: Understanding and Maximising IP in your Designs at CDW 2026 deep dived into notable copyright and design IP case studies, provoking significant questions and discussion from an audience comprising a variety of creative disciplines.

With an introduction from CEO Laura, ACID Legal Affiliate Gavin Llewellyn, Partner at Stone King LLP, opened the case study discussion with an overview of design rights and copyright, explaining the complexities of each, before moving on to illustrate these IP rights with three complex design and copyright cases, including the infamous design law case of Magmatic Ltd (T/A Trunki) vs PMS International, which reached the Supreme Court in 2016. ACID Legal Affiliate Robert Lands, Head of IP and Commercial at Howard Kenndy LLP, continued the menu of eye-opening cases with a further three fascinating examples, including the recent WaterRower v Liking Ltd case of 2024. Robert then went on to talk about AI in the context of IP, explaining the latest legal developments and recent cases such as Getty Images vs Stability AI in June 2025.

The audience contributed many questions and thoughts, which allowed the extensive and engaging discussion to continue well into the post workshop coffee and biscuits.

As ever, ACID are grateful for the time and expertise of our Legal Affiliates Robert and Gavin, and extend sincerest thanks to CDW 2026 for their warm welcome and continued, invaluable partnership. We look forward to CDW 2027, and beyond!

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