Once again, Anti Copying in Design (ACID) were delighted to be part of the Furniture Makers’ Company (FMC) Young Professional Industry Experience (YPIE) programme, kicking off the first week with a talk and workshop on intellectual property (IP).

Dids and Laura thoroughly enjoyed the engaging and though-provoking workshop, which was particularly fuelled by questions on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and sustainability.

Sustainability is a huge part of the future of design, and upskilling tomorrow’s designers with ‘green skills’ is imperative for both innovation and our planet. However, equally imperative is protecting green ideas, processes and skills through robust IP strategies.

Each year, ACID runs a competition as part of YPIE setting an essay question of ‘Why IP Matters to my Brand/Business’. We always receive excellent entries, and this year was no exception, so we awarded both a winner and runner up prize!

Our runner up, Daniel Edmunds from Dreams, cited the importance of IP in both innovation and brand differentiation. Daniel stated “IP matters to Dreams because it underpins innovation, protects brand integrity, supports exclusive offerings, and enhances overall business value.” You can read Daniel’s full article here.

Daniel’s words resonated with the ACID team, and it was an extremely tough call to pick the winner!

However, the importance of IP for future, sustainable innovation and full lifecycle design cannot be echoed enough. That’s why our winning piece had to go to Carl-Henrik Andersson, founder of Category Furniture – his own endeavour that ensures no piece of furniture ever goes to waste.

Carl’s piece reflected the importance of IP for setting up a business, as well as in sustainable approaches to design, stating “IP matters to my brand as it ensures I am rewarded for my hard work of creating a brand identity and new innovative solutions; regarding the prevention of furniture going to landfill, whilst also providing security in the event of infringement.”

Carl is the very deserving winner of a year’s free ACID membership, and you can read his full article here. Carl received a year’s free membership of ACID and his article will appear in the prestigious annual Austin Friar publication, renowned for its authoritative insights, trend analysis, and celebration of design excellence.

ACID would like to congratulate everyone who took part in YPIE 2025 and wish them an extremely successful future; we’re sure you all have fantastic careers ahead of you!