Introduction

Our Autumn seminar series has now finished but will be followed hot on the heels by our Spring seminar series.  More details will be forthcoming in the New Year.

The last seminar in the Autumn series, "Design rights:  underused and underrated", gave an opportunity for attendees to explore the complex world of designs and the protection afforded by design laws as compared with other intellectual property laws, in particular copyright and trade mark laws.  Please click here to see the pack that was handed out to all attendees. 

Designs form an important part of a brand and we are committed to assisting our clients, both existing and prospective, to ensure that they maximise the potential of their brand.  To this end, our brand management package offers a free review of your design and trade mark portfolio in a cost-effective manner.  On the basis of our audit, we will offer to manage your portfolio for a fixed annual fee, guaranteed to be at least 15% below your existing management costs.  For further information on our brand management package, please click here.

This month's edition of Inform provides a comprehensive update on the recent case law exploring data protection laws, including the Court of Appeal's decision in Chief Constable of Humberside Police v. The Information Commissioner that the Police can retain records of previous convictions without breaching data protection laws.  We also explore indications that the EU is raising the bar for data protection compliance standards.