Intellectual Property & Commercial Practice

Recommended for Studio Owners/Directors, Account Managers, Independent contractors & freelancers

Who owns your design work? This workshop aimed at studio owners will take the mystery out of intellectual property. As well as some practical advice on contracts and commercial law, Bret Gower will help us to understand our legal position on copyright and trademarks. The workshop will also touch on creating and protecting business value with a view to succession planning.

The challenge for designers in terms of intellectual property is making sure you know where you stand, who owns what and how to advise clients so they know where they stand too. Another biggie in any design business is balancing the tension between the creative process and commercial reality. Often the client needs to be educated about the value being created and why that long-term value delivered by the creative process ought to be properly reimbursed.

Finally, we will discuss the complicated issue of succession, and some legal steps to consider to help make your business a saleable entity and approach the following issues:

• Who owns the copyright, you or your client?
• Does copyright apply to an idea?
• What is “fair dealing” when it comes to copyright and how does it work?
• What is the difference between ™ and ®?
• Why is it important for a trademark to be distinctive and not descriptive?
• How can you enforce your copyright and trademark rights?
• Is a written contract really necessary?
• How to make sure you get paid?
• Who is going to buy your business if all of the goodwill is attached to you?

About the facilitator:

Bret Gower is a former graphic designer turned brand agency owner, and now an intellectual property lawyer as part of the commercial law team at Smith and Partners, West Auckland's leading law firm. In this workshop, he applies his unique hybrid skill set to the challenges facing studio owners in a constantly changing social and business environment.