Terms & Conditions

A©ID is the trading name of Anti Copying In Design (A©ID) Limited, an English registered company which has the company number No. 3402512 and Registered Head Office Fifth Floor, Suite 23, 63/66 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8LE. A©ID is a membership organisation, committed to raising awareness and encouraging respect for intellectual property within corporate social responsibility. The ACID Membership Office is based in the Midlands and all correspondence should be sent to ACID Ltd, 34 Electroline House, 15 Lion Avenue, Twickenham, TW1 4JH.  By joining A©ID you are joining an organisation which is committed to its objectives to the benefit of its members.

Prior to joining A©ID all applicants must ensure that they read and understand the following Terms & Conditions. Please ensure that you also download, read and understand the Code of Conducts and Joining Criteria which are available at the bottom of this page.

What A©ID Will Do

By being a member of A©ID we will grant you a non-exclusive licence to use the ACID name and logo in the course of your business in order to communicate to the public the fact that you are a member of the organisation and for the purposes explained in these terms and conditions. The A©ID name and logo are registered trade marks owned by ACID. The Member of ACID logo may be utilized on your headed notepaper, web site and other marketing and publicity material. As part of the license granted to you we licence you to represent that you are an A©ID member and encourage you to promote this fact as we believe that this is a powerful symbol of deterrence in anti-copying and IP theft related strategy.

We will provide you with the necessary image files in order that you may incorporate the use of the ACID name and Member of ACID logo into your business strategy.

We will also give you access to the A©ID IP Databank as part of your membership. This facility is to encourage you as a member to lodge with A©ID details of your designs in order that this may serve as a robust acknowledgement and evidence of your creation of your designs and can be used to assist in verification of creativity if you ever need such assistance.

Another benefit to which you will have access is ACID Marketplace where you can upload product images to show publicly with safer trading. All viewers need to register and any viewings of your products are tracked and recorded on your profile.  You can also offer a Member to Member discount of your choice on your products or invite design buyers to view more securely.

A©ID also provides access to ACID legal affiliate teams (through an online contact form) who can deal with member queries.

ACID Members agree to read and understand the Additional Legal Affiliate Information document from ACID which clarifies the benefits of initial free legal advice and reduced legal fees should they instruct an ACID Legal Affiliate, as well as the protocol for the conduct of disputes.  ACID Members consent to any Lawyer, whether an ACID Legal Affiliate or otherwise, whom they instruct to represent them in relation to any dispute, discussing the matter with another ACID Legal Affiliate who is instructed to represent their opponent in the matter on a “without prejudice” basis at an early stage in order to explore the possibility of resolving the dispute amicably.

What We Expect From You

As a member of A©ID we expect from you and you agree to the following:

1. to have the utmost respect for Intellectual Property and adhere to a strict anti-copying policy within your organisation
2. to promote A©ID and its aims and to support A©ID in its fight against IP theft
3. to pay your membership fees by the specified date
4. to adhere to the joining criteria
5. to promote and maintain ethical standards of conduct and at all times deal fairly and honestly with the public and with the business community
6. at all times act in a professional manner and not engage in practices which would bring the design industry or ACID into disrepute
7. ensure that your designs and products conform with all relevant laws and regulations and that your employees and agents are fully aware of all such laws and regulations
8. not deliberately or knowingly copy the designs, products, name or trading style of another company or business
9. not to engage in any practice or activity which unfairly competes with the business or is detrimental to the goodwill or reputation of another company or business
10. In the event that a dispute arises between you and one or more A©ID members concerning the origin, ownership or integrity of one or more designs or products, you agree to submit to the A©ID Mediation Scheme (or another similar scheme approved by the A©ID Committee) and to attend at least an initial session of no less than three hours in an attempt to resolve the dispute. This will not prevent A©ID members seeking urgent interim relief in appropriate circumstances. In such cases, A©ID should be notified that such steps are to be taken.

Membership Fees

The membership fees are set out and published on the web site but may vary from time to time.

Membership fees are payable for a full calendar year. No part years are offered. What we do offer is payment of those fees by instalments over a period of time providing that you sign up to our direct debit scheme.  All members choosing this option will pay an annual administration fee of £10.00 plus VAT on top of their subscription fee.  This enables us to deal with the additional running costs associated with payment type.

Your liability for the membership fees is for the full year of joining and if you do decide that you no longer wish to be a member, but part of your membership fee remains unpaid, you will still be under the obligation to pay the remainder of any fee outstanding.

We do not store credit card details nor do we share customer details with any third parties.

Ending Membership

A©ID may end your membership at any time if you, in the reasonable opinion of A©ID are in breach of any of these terms and particularly the obligations set out under “what we expect from you” as these are key to our objectives and our aims.

You may resign your membership at any time if you wish by simply letting us know in writing that you no longer wish to be associated with A©ID.  If you wish to resign at the end of your current subscription year, you must notify us of your intention to do so in writing at least one month prior to your next renewal date. This is particularly important for Direct Debit payers and notice should be sent by email to [email protected]

Whilst we are happy to welcome previous members back to membership please be aware that if you wish to return after 6 months from your last expired date you will be treated as a new member. You will need to pay the joining fee and you will not have access to your previous record of invoices and IP Databank uploads.  You will be assigned a new record with a new Membership ID.

What Happens When You Leave

When your resignation from ACID membership takes effect , the licence you had for the use of the A©ID name and logo is automatically revoked.

You must immediately remove the A©ID name and logo from your publicity material, website and other media on which you have used the  A©ID name and logo. As you are no longer a member you cannot benefit from your prior association with A©ID and we hope you understand that.

Any hard copy designs stored for you on the ACID IP Databank will need to either be returned to you for a fee or destroyed at your election.  When you receive written confirmation from us of your effective leaving date you have the opportunity to choose the option you want by completing an online form.

Any membership fees which remain unpaid must be paid within 30 days of leaving A©ID membership. We hope you understand that we are a not-for-profit organisation which relies on membership fees in order to promote its aims and objectives for the benefit of members. Whilst we allow members to pay by instalments this does not relieve you of the liability to pay the remainder of your subscription fee if you leave part way through a year.  We do not offer refunds of membership fees to any Members who choose to discontinue membership part way through a year.