British IP Day was first established by the Alliance for IP in order to celebrate the immense role intellectual property (IP) plays in UK culture and economics. IP is at the heart of all design, art, and technology. If IP is not respected and protected, then innovation is stifled, and growth will diminish.

It is difficult to imagine a service, product or activity which is not IP dependent. IP matters, providing solutions and enriching our lives. IP-rich industries are critical to the UK’s growth strategy and its protection against infringement a priority.

So this is a big shout out on  British IP Day to invite all who care about IP ownership to sign the ACID IP Charter, in recognition to all the outstanding designers who deserve respect, ethics, and compliance in design.

Dids Macdonald OBE., CEO of ACID, said, “25 years ago I co-founded the organisation ACID (Anti Copying In Design), because as a designer all our products were stolen when they were launched. So today on British Intellectual Property Day, the entire ACID team are giving a shout out to UK designers to support intellectual property ethics, respect, and compliance by signing up to our ACID IP Charter. So why don’t you join our ACID community today?”

Christine Dunford, designer at Triclimb and ACID Ambassador, said, “As an ACID Ambassador and designer, for me, the most important message about IP on British Intellectual Property Day is that a change to culture is needed. There is a recurring narrative that it is okay to steal original designs, written by those who habitually copy. At present if someone steals your design or work there is a long, costly and stressful journey to enforce your IP rights made extremely difficult by the larger well-resourced thieves of this world, coupled with an extremely complex set of design laws. I would appeal to all designers to play your part, join the ACID community and sign the ACID IP Charter, which simply calls for IP respect, compliance, and ethics.”

Anna Fine Jewellery, ACID member and jewellery designer, says, I really do think there should be a level playing field as far as copyright  goes for all designers no matter what they do. The current framework is definitely not fit for purpose. I was recently copied, not my actual work but my studio’s, by a much bigger operation and so as a sole trader there was really nothing I could do. I had no protection against this unless I had thousands to spend on legal fees trying to prove with my many months of planning and hard work.”

You can sign the ACID IP Charter for free here.

Video of Christine Dunford talking about IP

Video of Dids Macdonald OBE., introducing British IP Day

Video of Anna Fine Jewellery with her thoughts on IP