An unusual trademark battle ... from Swansea

IN ALL this financial doom and gloom, it's heartening to discover that there is always something to have a laugh at.

Step forward Captain Beeny, described by the Western Mail as a "self-styled Welsh superhero and serial election deposit loser". He is to battle with Selfridges, claiming trademark infringement. Find out what it's all about here.

Scientists against life form patents

GLOBAL civil society organisations and independent scientists have voiced their concerns over patenting knowledge designed for combating the impact of climate change in agriculture, reports financialexpress.com.

Claiming that such patent rights would make the seeds costlier and would not allow poor farmers to fight the onslaught of climate change, Pat Roy Mooney told an international conference on food security and climate in Delhi: "There are ample local seeds of different crops resistant drought, salinity and water logging. If these traits are used to develop new seeds and patent rights are extended over them, then it would amount to a situation where science has no social responsibility for combating climate change."

He said around 532 applications have been filed in patent offices across the world for patent rights over the knowledge designed to combat the impact of climate change in agriculture. These patent rights have been claimed by leading multinational companies including BASF, Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont, Bayer. Swaminathan Research Foundation has also claimed process patent rights over three varieties of rice and one on mango, he said.

Mae Won Ho, the director of the UK-based Institute of Science in Society, said that patenting of genes should not be allowed because it is possible that one DNA has many functions and several DNAs have the same function. “This is a nature’s gift and should not be patented,” she added.

Jeans wars - it's all in the tags

FORMER American gangsta rapper Master P has found himself on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Pepe Jeans, which is claiming that the latter day mogul - who now goes under the moniker P Miller - has infringed its trademark.

Pepe claims that Miller's logo, which encompasses the letter P and is encircled with wings, is too close to its own.

However, Miller has struck back, claiming that his trademark was recorded with the US Patent and Trademark Office on April 1, 2003 - some two months before Pepe registered it with the same office. He is counter-claiming against both Pepe and its directors, alleging malicious interference.

“I went to the website of PepeJeans.com and couldn’t find a circled-P anywhere, on their clothing, or the brand advertising within the site,” Miller told AllHipHop.com.

“I’m the future of affordable fashion and big brands will always hate me. I make clothes for underprivileged and underserved families. I sell jeans for $20 and t-shirts for $10. People don’t buy my clothes for the logo. They buy them because it’s high-fashion at an affordable price.”

Miller has recently signed a major deal with Wal-Mart to stock his lines. He added: "Since they saw fit to go after my retailer, I will return the favor and file suit against several of their retailers like Macy’s, Dr Jay’s, Nordstrom, and Eastbay.”

Appointment strengthens Astrum team

PATENT attorneys Astrum have made a key appointment to the expanding team with the appointment of Paula Pegler.

Paula, pictured right, joins the Newport-based company as a paralegal, overseeing patent applications and supporting managing director Gillian Whitfield, pictured left, who will step up the development of the fast-expanding business.

The pair have worked together previously, before Dr Whitfield set up Astrum. She said, “People qualified to Paula’s level are very rare outside London, so I’m glad that she has decided to join us.

“Paula’s work on the procedural aspect of patents will allow me to concentrate on bringing in new clients and grow Astrum successfully. Her appointment will herald the start of another significant chapter in the company’s development.”

Paula will work as the formalities administrator, drawing up the documents for a patent application, monitoring dates and liaising with clients. In turn, Dr Whitfield, who will be president of the Newport Chamber of Trade (ngb2b) from July, will continue building links with technology and innovative companies in South Wales and further afield.

She said, “I am pleased to be part of the team at Astrum, and I look forward to working with Gill and supporting her in the future development of the company.”

Looking to the past to help our future

We cannot compete with the labour costs of emerging countries, so the best way Wales can do business is through innovation – but how can we inspire the next generation of industrial pioneers?

Here, Dr Gillian Whitfield argues that it should be encouraged in schools, by looking to an illustrious past of Welsh invention

YOU may be surprised to hear this, but it was the Welsh that first flew, made the internet possible, ensured that climate change became an international issue, revolutionised the way we shop, and developed the system that would play a huge role in delivering Britain from the Nazis.

Saundersfoot carpenter William Frost flew his creation, Frost Airship Glider, over seven years before the Wright brothers made history – and for a lot longer and a lot further. Unfortunately for him, the occasion was observed rather than recorded. His plane was destroyed in a storm that night, and he was too poor to rebuild it or renew its patent.

Donald Davies developed packet switching, which allows data to be transferred between computer networks, essential for operating the internet - connecting you to Facebook, for example. Treorchy-born Davies is credited with the advancement along with US scientist Paul Baran, who independently developed it for military purposes.

Abertillery-born Sir David Brunt’s work on air quality and pollution, which began while investigating poison gas dispersal during the First World War, led to fluid dynamics, and how we detect weather change. Another distinguished Welsh meteorologist, Sir John Houghton is co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and lead editor of the first three IPCC reports that informed decision-making at the Rio, Kyoto and Buenos Aires environmental summits.

Pryce Pryce-Jones built and operated the first mail order business in the world. From Newtown, he sent goods all around the globe, to as far away as Australia, and his customers included Queen Victoria and Florence Nightingale.

Edward Bowen, a Swansea boy, developed and almost certainly saved the radar from mothballing after it went wrong in front of top brass. In turn, radar was to produce an early warning system that gave the RAF the ability to fight and defeat a vastly superior Luftwaffe in the first stage of Operation Sealion, the German invasion of Britain, which never took place after they were defeated in the Battle of Britain.

William Jones invented Pi, Arthur Moore – upon hearing the Titanic’s SOS call in his homemade wireless studio in Blackwood – discovered that radio waves could travel far greater distances than first assumed, and William Robert Grove invented the Fuel Cell. Alan Cox developed the linux kernel, an important part of open source software, William Morgan, invented the Vacuum Tube and the Coolidge Tube, and was the founding father of modern actuarial science. Dr Richard Pryce developed the times tables as a teaching aid, Robert Recorde published the first English language book on Algebra which included the equals symbol for the first time, while Alfred Russel Wallace worked with Darwin on the theory of evolution.

These were brilliant Welsh men who helped shape the world in which we live today, but are there other ways in which we can tap into their brilliance? Can we utilise them a second time around, use their example to spark a new generation of Welsh innovators?

The first question should be: why should we be looking backwards when planning for the future? Every economy needs a competitive edge, and Wales finds itself alongside other Western countries in facing huge challenges from emerging nations, while never having enjoyed the same levels of wealth as some other regions in Europe.

There is no way that we can compete with countries like China and India on pricing. The Welsh Assembly Government understands this, and has decided that the best way that Wales can compete globally is through innovation. It has set about this task by demolishing the walls between its education and enterprise departments, as well as establishing incubators, support networks and, now, the single flexible investment fund.

Many of facilities are only available once you’ve taken the step of setting up your own business. But it is at school level that Wales can really make a difference in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. Students should be encouraged to have the courage of their own convictions, and given the tools to act upon them.

We can used the examples provided by Welsh pioneers to demonstrate that background, location and circumstances need not be a barrier to innovation, while demonstrating that education is the key to a successful future.

Would the Assembly consider introducing a Welsh Innovation Day, a once-a-year event across the country - and peculiar to Wales - where students would be able to study the lives and achievements of our inventors, moving on to examine the innovation process before considering and developing their own ideas.

This last part could form the basis of a nationwide competition. It could be organised by teachers and local authorities on either an individual or collaborative basis. There could be tie-ins with local business that could bring them into the classroom, to impart their experience and oversee projects.

They could be asked to financially support the initiative, and that doesn’t only mean prizes. Businesses could back projects with promises to move them into research and development if they are good enough. My own business, for example, could offer to patent innovations arising from such projects and maintain the patents until such a time when their originator is able to develop them into a commercial viability.

It would be easy to dismiss this idea, to argue that it is beyond the abilities of students. But it should be remembered that children do contribute to innovation. Heinz, for example, is forward thinking enough to have its own children’s focus group. Its contribution to the world was the squeezy ketchup bottle that most of us now use.

A Welsh Innovation Day would allow the Assembly to pursue its aims of promoting innovation in education, fostering schools-industry links and shared skills, through an event that it unique to Wales. It may be enough to give us that all-important competitive edge.

- This first appeared in The Business magazine of the South Wales Argus on Monday, May 5

A problem with US law

Thousands of US patent decisions involving claims worth billions of dollars may be invalid because as many as 46 of the 74 judges who decide patent appeals and disputes on the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences were not properly appointed, it has been reported.

Welsh innovators who gave us the modern world

Despite Wales’ relatively small population, it can boast scores of inventors who have played significant parts in shaping our world.

On World Intellectual Property Day (April 26), European patent attorney Dr Gillian Whitfield profiled some of those innovators, and argues why their achievements should be used to inspire a new generation of pioneers

THERE have been times when Wales has been accused of being too parochial, so it may come as a surprise to learn that it was the Welsh that first flew, pioneered radar, developed the internet, made climate change an international issue, changed shopping habits - and developed the BBC’s pips.

Intellectual Property means that if you created something, you can own it, and there are worldwide laws to protect your creations from being copied by others.

Innovation remains at the heart of the Welsh Assembly Government’s economic policy. It understands that we won’t compete with emerging nations like China on labour costs. So we have to look to countries like Germany to build a highly-skilled, high value economy.

Wouldn’t it be good if the Assembly was to introduce a Welsh Inventors Day in schools, drawing upon the work of these pioneers to encourage tomorrow’s innovators? Students would hear more about their achievements, and could be encouraged to believe in their own creative abilities. Tie-ins with local companies could strengthen the initiative and benefit both schools and business.

Here are some examples of Wales’ rich legacy of inventors, and the inspiring lives they led.

Edward Bowen
Born in Swansea, Edward ‘Taffy’ Bowen was a major figure in the team that developed radar, which in turn played a huge role in saving Britain from Nazi invasion.

Graduating from Swansea University College, Bowen was recruited by Robert Watson-Watt, the ‘father’ of radar, and developed the transmitter for ground-based radar. This crucial technological advantage that Britain held over Germany may never have been developed into an early warning system after a demonstration failed in front of top brass. But Bowen, who was later awarded the CBE and became a Freeman of the Royal Society, worked through the night to fix it.

Radar was as important as the Spitfire, as it allowed a vastly-outnumbered RAF to know when the Luftwaffe was coming. Unable to win air superiority during the Battle of Britain, Hitler shelved Operation Sea Lion - the invasion of the UK. It was a fundamental strategic error and led, five years later, to the defeat of Nazi Germany. Bowen died in 1991.

David Brunt
It should be Abertillery-born Sir David Brunt that we thank for the science of air quality and pollution. He first became involved while serving in the army in the First World War, investigating how poison gases were dispersed.

A brilliant mathematician, Sir David joined the Met Office after the war, and used his skills in statistics to chart fluid dynamics, or the movement of gases, which causes weather change.

Working at a time when airplanes were having an increasing impact on the atmosphere, his later research concentrated on weather conditions and human health, concluding that the ideal climate for man was New Zealand. He died in 1965.

Donald Davies

Packet switching allows data to be transferred between computer networks. Most of us take this for granted. However, had it not been for the work of Treorchy-born Donald Davies, we would not have the internet.

Graduated from Imperial College London, he went to work with Alan Turing, but it wasn’t long before he earned his mentor’s ire, spotting and pointing out errors in Turing’s seminal paper, On Computable Numbers.

He developed a packet switched network independently of American scientist Paul Baran, who originated the same system for the US military. Both are credited with its creation, although Davies focused on creating resource sharing. Appointed a CBE in 1983 and FRS in 1987, Davies died in 2000.

William Frost
A carpenter from Saundersfoot, Bill Frost first came up with the idea of constructing a manned flying machine some time in the 1890s.

His creation, Frost Airship Glider, took to the skies on September 24, 1896, over seven years before the Wright brothers made their historic flight. Observers say it covered around 500 metres – considerably further than Wilber Wright’s 120-feet, 12-second effort – before crashing into a bush.

Unfortunately for Frost, the event was witnessed and not recorded. But he did register the Frost Airship Glider (patent number 1894-20431) in 1894. Sadly, through poverty, the patent lapsed four years later. He died without wealth or recognition in 1935.

John Houghton
Another distinguished Welsh meteorologist, Sir John Houghton is co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and lead editor of the first three IPCC reports that were to inform the decision-making at the Rio, Kyoto and Buenos Aires summits.

Once a professor in atmospheric physics at the University of Oxford, Sir John – CBE and FRS – is a former chief executive at the Met Office and founder of the Hadley Centre, the Met Office’s research centre for climate change.

Martha Hughes Cannon

Llandudno-born Hughes Cannon emigrated with her parents to the United States when she was three, and would go on to become a doctor, suffragist and the first woman ever elected to the US Senate.

Her family became Mormons and moved to Salt Lake City. She worked at Deseret Hospital from 1882 to 1886, and the Utah State Department of Health is currently housed in the Martha Hughes Cannon Health Building there.

Hughes Cannon became involved in the Utah Equal Suffrage Association and, following the restoration of women’s right to vote, she successfully stood as a Democrat against her Republican candidate husband Angus and went on to serve two terms as Utah’s Senator.

During her time in office, she successfully pressed for funding for speech and hearing-impaired students, introduced a law regulating working conditions for women and girls, and established a board of health. She died in 1932.

William Jones

3.14159265358979323846… and on and on it goes. Pi, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, and a seemingly endless number, was first devised by Welsh mathematician William Jones.

Born in Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd in Anglesey in 1675, Jones taught maths on board ships and in London, as well as working in government.

A close friend of Sir Isaac Newton, he published Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos in 1706, a theorem on differential calculus and infinite series.

His son, also called William Jones, discovered the Indo-European language group, which includes Welsh.

Arthur Moore

It was in the early hours of April 15, 1912 that Arthur ‘Artie’ Moore, sat in his homemade wireless studio near Blackwood received the world’s first SOS call, from the Titanic.

It had previously been thought that wireless could travel just a fraction of the 3,000 miles between South Wales and the Titanic’s last known position. Artie’s discovery brought him to the attention of Guglielmo Marconi, who had sent the first ever wireless communication over water from Lavernock Point, near Cardiff.

Artie joined the Marconi Company and worked on radio fittings on military ships. Later, he developed the thermionic valve that allowed further radio advancement and patented an early form of sonar, before his death in 1949.

Pryce Pryce-Jones

Newtown in Powys is where Pryce Pryce-Jones built one of the very first mail order companies into a global business.

Pryce-Jones had established himself as a successful draper when the arrival of the railway and an expanded Post Office led him to realize that remote rural customers could be reached by sending them leaflets from which they could order.

As the railway network grew, Pryce-Jones was able to count Queen Victoria and Florence Nightingale among his customers, and sell Welsh flannel in America and Australia.

He built the Royal Welsh Warehouse, a Newtown landmark, and was also knighted and served as MP for Montgomeryshire. He died in 1920, before the Great Depression led to his company being sold.

Other notable Welsh pioneers

Alan Cox
Developed the linux kernel, an important part of open source software.

William Robert Grove
Invented the Fuel Cell.

Frank Hope-Jones
Developed the Synchronome electric clock system – the 'pip' signal first broadcast by the BBC.

Dyfrig Jones
Developed the theory of planetary radiation.

Ernest Jones
Introduced psychoanalysis into Britain and North America.

William Morgan
Inventor of the Vacuum Tube and the Coolidge Tube, and founding father of modern actuarial science.

Dr Richard Pryce
Developed the times tables as a teaching aid.

Robert Recorde
Published the first English language book on Algebra which included the equals symbol for the first time.

Herbert Ackroyd Stuart
Developed and patented a compression ignition engine in 1885.

Sir Tudor Thomas
World famous eye surgeon, he pioneered ophthalmic corneaplasty in the 1930s.

Alfred Russel Wallace
Worked with Darwin on the theory of evolution.

- This feature first appeared in the Western Mail's Magazine on Saturday, April 26, 2008

Let's Face(book) the music and dance

MARK Zuckerberg, the multi-millionaire founder of Facebook, is facing a trip to the courts to fight over the trademark for his popular internet site.

Former classmate Aaron Greenspan says that the term "facebook" was in common use across the Harvard campus where the website was started. As such, he says, Zuckerberg had no right to trademark it back in 2005. Mr Greenspan, who runs a business selling a variety of software, wants to use Facebook in a title of a book he's writing.

No masterpiece

ANOTHER troll story, this time from the US. A small, Pennsylvania-based patent company Rembrandt is suing 14 US businesses, among them some of the best known corporations in America.

Rembrandt claims it owns the rights to part of the technology being used to facilitate the digital TV switchover. It wants millions of dollars in royalties from companies like Walt Disney Co's ABC, General Electric Co's NBC Universal, CBS Corp and News Corp's Fox Broadcasting for patent infringement.

Now the American Antitrust Institute, a non-profit advocacy group, is asking federal regulators to bar Rembrandt from enforcing its patent. The Government may be persuaded, as it has ploughed $1.5 billion into the switchover, giving $40 coupons to every home in the US.

Stripping out the stripes

THE question of when is a trademark not a trademark can now be answered by adidas, which would say: “When it is two stripes and not three.”

Tired of lookie-likey, value-priced sports gear from the likes of C&A, H&M and other manufacturers, the German manufacturer took the matter to the European Court of Justice, pointing out that similar designs often feature two vertical, parallel stripes of equal width.

Judges dismissed arguments that stripe motifs should be free to be used by anyone, reported Earth Times. Instead, they found that by consumers establishing a link between the two designs it was enough to cause confusion.

It was the end of a 10-year-plus battle. Anne Putz, adidas spokeswoman, told Bloomberg: “We do not seek to prevent the use of decoration, but the use of striped markings that confuse consumers.''

Google ‘trademarking’ creates “free for all”

INTERNET giant Google has caused howls of online outrage with its announcement that it will allow companies to bid for sponsored listings of rival brands.

Until now, if a user entered “Bloggs Logs”, for instance, it would be given the link to the website of the company of the same name, However, under the new rules, which are expected to come into effect on May 5 and mirror those already in existence in the US and Canada, Frances’ Branches could now bid for that sponsored link and have users divert to its website instead.

It led swiftly to calls for industry watchdogs to oppose this development. TTGLive reported that Google UK director Matt Brittin believes the change would give users “greater choices”. But he added that companies would not be allowed to use competitors’ brand names in adverts.

But Kane Pirie, Travel Republic finance and operations director, said: “Google’s move is a most unwelcome development and it will create a free-for-all with everyone bidding on everything.”

However, not even a week after the Google announcement, a court case began in the US that could bring an end to its plans. e-consultancy.com reported that Computer repair company Rescuecom is suing the internet business for allowing its competitors to purchase adverts that appear when somebody searches for "rescuecom", a trademark.

Trademark and patent attorneys already believe that the case could have considerable ramifications for the future of online trademark law if Google wins. If it doesn’t, the case could become a long, drawn-out affair.

Here be trolls

IT’S a nightmare scenario for small businesses. You’ve set up on your own, the tills are ringing and the company is beginning to pull in a profit. Then a letter arrives through the door, accusing you of trademark infringement and threatening to stop you operating unless you pay a lot of money to the trademark’s owner.

The practice, according to BBC Scotland, which caused chaos in the US, has now hit our shores. The owners of two juice bar businesses in Glasgow, one of them the city’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year, were contacted by John Blanchard, of Never Give Up Ltd, who claimed they owed his company a licence fee running to tens of thousands of pounds.

The BBC investigation found that Never Give Up has attempted to register trademarks for around 34 different juice-related names, at least four of which belong to existing juice companies, at the government's Intellectual Property Office in Newport.

However, most of them, including the two Glasgow businesses, are still in the application stage, and Mr Blanchard doesn't even own them yet.

Trademark and patent trolls have become such a problem in the US that corporations like Google have taken expensive legal action to curtail their activities. Typically, a troll will register the name of a business already in existence and then demand money to lease or sell it back.

Trolls may not be on safe ground when engaging in this kind of practice, as companies that trade under the name for a considerable period are responsible for building the reputation of the trademark – something the courts will take into consideration.

However, says Dr Gillian Whitfield, Astrum managing director, the safest option is to register the trademark when the company is formed. “You can apply for it, and use the ‘TM’ mark even while it is in the application process,” she said.

“While many troll cases have been thrown out as worthless, you have to ask yourself if you have the time and the resources to fight this case. Better safe than sorry.”

Milking it for what it’s worth

Most innovators will know that they need to protect their creations, but how does the process work? Arella Creations, which has patents pending on its Topster design, tells how its design went from the drawing board to the high street.

IT WAS 2005, and Steve Thomas’ three-year-old daughter Ella was drinking milk “like it was going out of fashion”. The harassed father found himself making multiple trips back and forth to the kitchen, tearing the tops off plastic bottles, slopping milk all over the side, down the front of the bottle, and making a mess in the fridge.

His irritation focused on the pouring part of the process and, “having always been creative”, he began experimenting with tape and funnels, eventually settling on a design for the Topster, an easy-to-use device that answered Ella’s demands as well as providing a solution for a wide range of users.

Some two-and-a-half years later, Steve formed Arella Creations with co-director Michael Farr, who also works as a lawyer in Cardiff, while Steve still works at Nationwide’s head office in Swindon. Since the start of this year, it has sold 8,000 pairs of Topsters, supplying them through a deal with high street chain Lakeland.

“After all this time, it’s great to see people buying it,” said Steve. “We have a website, and we’ve been getting some great feedback. One customer said the Topster really changed her life. It essentially turns your milk bottle into a jug, with loads of benefits. I’ve found that once you start using it, you never want to go without.”

Ella, who is six, now fetches her own milk, as does Steve’s arthritic mother-in-law, who previously faced extreme difficulties in making a cup of tea while her husband was at work. Now the Topster has given her back a degree of independence.

Steve and Mike - whose two children Andrew and Rebecca, along with Ella, gave the company its name - knew that the design would need protecting. After shopping around for patent attorneys, they settled on Newport-based Astrum, run by Dr Gillian Whitfield.

“Gill was fantastic,” said Steve. “I never knew there was such a thing as patent attorneys, but once I did, I knew I had to get one involved in what we were doing. Mike went to see one or two and I saw a couple in Bath, but they didn’t seem very interested. It was like sitting in a doctor’s waiting room.”

Mike said, “We heard of Gill through the Wales Innovators Network. What I really like is that she is passionate about our product. She’ll happily drop documents off at the Patent Office (in Newport) at 11pm to make sure we make a deadline. She’s given us European protection on the design. It’s very important for us that she believes in what we’re doing, and that she’s coming on a journey with us.”

Arella Creations currently produces two colours – blue and green, for full fat and semi-skimmed. There are plans for a red version, to denote skimmed, and a black and white Friesian cow design. This may lead on to some character designs.

Although Topster is manufactured by a plastics moulder in Gloucestershire, with whom Arella Creations can place orders of any size, Steve and Mike both admit that distribution is the biggest challenge currently facing the business.

Steve said, “I think the potential for Topster is pretty big. There are 24.5 million households in the UK. If we put our product into 10% of them, which isn’t a big percentage, that would mean a significant amount for us. I’d like to see Topster sold in supermarkets, right next to where the milk is. Then you can go in, get your milk and get your Topster at the same time.”

- Topster retails at £2.99 for a packet of two. Visit www.lakeland.co.uk or www.thetopster.co.uk for more details.

- Astrum is currently in the process of registering the Topster trade mark. For more details on how you can protect your designs and branding, visit www.astrum-ip.com.

(This feature first appeared in the South Wales Argus on April 1, 2008)

Don’t pop those corks just yet

THERE were great celebrations in a small part of France recently as notoriously strict Gallic wine lawmakers for once decided to say “oui” to proposals to extend Champagne country.

OK, so it’s only 40 villages in the Rheims area, and it was preceded by decades of internecine feuding. But it’s less a right to grow and more a licence to print money, as the other 319 champagne-producing communes (village districts) are struggling to keep up with the rocketing worldwide demand for fizz – some 339 million bottles last sold year, with the UK only second to the drink’s home country as the biggest consumer.

But is it a good move for the brand in the long term? It all depends on whether this decision sets a precedent. Suppose demand continues to rise, will this put more of France under vine? Of course, there’s a finite limit to ‘the right conditions’ such as flinty soil, but every time the area is extended, the brand becomes diluted.

Some of you, who remain less than impressed with Gallic snobbery, may be thinking “good”. But any business that wants to protect their brand value can learn a lesson from the way that the French have shielded one of their finest exports.

Think about it – no matter how many times a wine expert tells you that certain supermarket Cava is superior, you’ll still buy a bottle of Bollinger or Laurent Perrier for that special occasion, and you’ll happily pay more.

Blessed are the cheesemakers?

Recent trademark battles over Parmesan and Pashmina have once again highlighted the need to protect trademarks, argues Dr Gillian Whitfield, Managing Director of Astrum

IT’S hard not to be seduced by the romance of a great of small Italian cheese makers battling the might of the German government, just as it is difficult not to raise a smile at the thought that all the trouble has been caused by Parmesan cheese.

But this recent European Court of Justice case, which supposedly concluded in triumph for the Italians, once again highlights why companies must protect their trademarks from the very start of trading.

It is the latest in a long line of food wars. We now know that Parma Ham, like Parmesan, must come from the Parma province, champagne must come from Champagne, and Newcastle Brown Ale must come from Tyneside. However, it does not necessarily follow that Cheddar cheese has to be made in a specific part of Somerset.

Why is it that Parmesan succeeded where Cheddar failed? Well, as with so many European rulings, it isn’t that straightforward. While Parmigiano Reggiano must come from only one side of the Alps, the victory was only a partial one for the cheesemakers who, unlike those exhorted in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, probably feel a little less than blessed at the moment.

The highest court of law in the European Union also decided that Germany, which had been prosecuted by the EU for failing to protect Parmesan’s protected designation of origin, or PDO, was under no obligation to go after manufacturers that contravene this ruling.

The Italians appeared philosophical about the matter. "The glass is half-full and half-empty," Igino Morini, spokesman of the Parmigiano cheesemakers' group, opined afterwards. "Germany has been acquitted, but the court has recognized that the term Parmesan can only be used for Parmigiano Reggiano."

Law is often practical in its findings, and the Parmesan case had a ring of something slamming hard shut long after Dobbin had cantered off to the meadow. The same applies to Pashmina. India and Pakistan have for decades disputed the Kashmir area where it is found. Now the latter is objecting to the former’s application for a Geographical Indicator Patent.

Let’s hope that the judge remains pragmatic, as both countries are on to a hiding to nothing over this issue. They are both around 10 years too late, as Pashmina has become a regular item in Western fashion circles for some time now.

Both Newcastle Brown Ale and champagne are protected by geographical indicators, while Cheddar is not. Scottish and Newcastle was able to demonstrate that its special brew could only be made with water from the Tyne, while the protective cartel of champagne producers also effectively argued that climate, soil and other local factors played their part in producing a distinctive grape.

It’s the champagne producers who provide the lesson for companies in Newport and Gwent that want to safeguard their distinctive trading positions. The best defence against other companies attempting to trade off the back of your reputation is to trademark your business from the very start. Don’t believe those people who will tell you that there is nothing that can be done against infringement from emerging economies like China – worldwide protection awarded here will work there, too.

Trademarking is common sense. No business can countenance the thought of inferior products or services being associated with its name. Only that way will you be truly blessed.

How knockoff DVDs could cost you your job – and health

Counterfeit goods and piracy – also known as intellectual property crime – has become a multi-billion pound business that is coordinated by organised criminals.

Now the Intellectual Property Crime Report, from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, has revealed the true impact it is having on our economy. Dr Gillian Whitfield, managing director of Astrum, pictured left, assesses its findings

YOU can view it as an act of rebellion – cheating the system. A chance to get the latest films at a fraction of the cost of buying them in the shops, and frequently months before they go on general release, often arises in pubs and shopping malls.

But would you be willing to buy a knockoff DVD if you knew that the sale could have a direct adverse impact on the livelihoods of the people around you, and the economy in general?

When Apollo Video Film Hire went into liquidation last year, with the closure of over 100 shops in the UK, including its Music Zone chain, industry observers said its misfortunes was considerably contributed to by piracy. As well as a loss of local business, which can change the make-up of our high streets, intellectual property crime has been described as “the biggest threat to the prosperity and development of our creative industries”, by the Alliance Against IP Theft. Small wonder, when you consider that publishing, music, film, software and arts contributes more than 1 trillion euros to the European Union’s economy each year, employing over five million people.

International trade in counterfeiting and piracy is estimated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to be worth $200 billion a year, and £1.3bn in the UK alone. Here in Wales, seized counterfeit goods have included everything from mineral water to a fake Dalek, taken in Cardiff.

Such criminal activity is hugely affecting our health service, too. “In the UK alone, the Treasury lost £191bn to tobacco smugglers in the five years to 2005,” Jan du Plessis, the Chairman of British American Tobacco, has claimed. Over half of the two billion cigarettes seized by HM Revenue and Customs in 2005-2006 were believed to be counterfeit, with the Tobacco Manufacturers Association estimating that two billion cigarettes smoked in 2006 came from illegal sources, making a shortfall in duty of £18.5bn.

This trade increases the strain on already-stretched NHS resources, by robbing it of valuable funding while delivering possibly more people into its care, as counterfeit cigarettes have been shown to contain up to 160% more tar, 80% more nicotine, and 133% more carbon monoxide.

IP criminals have also moved in strength into the drinks market. At least one person has died from drinking illicit vodka, while another was put into a coma for 11 days for drinking another counterfeit brand. Here in Wales, a raid on an illegal vodka factory in Cardiff found that drink produced there contained 38 times more than the permitted level of methanol and “possessed the chemical composition of a diluted industrial methylated spirit which, if consumed, would be injurious to human health”. The vodka was also discovered in a number of other authorities, including here in Newport, as well as in Bridgend and Torfaen.

Other health concerns surrounding counterfeit goods have included sunglasses that are not shatterproof or afford UV protection, safety-critical mobile phone goods like batteries and car chargers, and Panasonic was prompted to warn that fake batteries for its camcorders could lead to explosions. In July last year, one US manufacturer said counterfeit, untested parts for its cranes were being produced in Asia.

The Intellectual Property Crime Report also found that IP theft was having a considerable impact on innovation. Almost a quarter (23%) of SMEs surveyed recently believed that their businesses had been affected by such criminal activity, with job losses of 5% or more on the previous year, giving rise to the very real possibility that companies could be affected to the point where their viability could be called into question.

In addition the International Chamber of Commerce reported in 2005 that investment and technology transfer were being hit. “Businesses are less likely to transfer advanced technology, or invest in production or R&D facilities in countries where they are likely to have their products copied or technology stolen. This is particularly true of industries where intellectual property plays a key role, such as IT, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, which many countries aspire to develop,” it found. When you consider what a premium the Welsh Assembly Government places on attracting high value work of this kind, this takes on added significance.

Businesses are affected by IP theft on a number of levels. Counterfeit goods undercut prices, and successful, consequential litigation is difficult. But they also serve to damage the reputation of brands – particularly those in the luxury market - reducing sales of real goods and making it much harder to market to new customers.

Organised IP criminals, often operating on an international level, are having an impact on our lives in other ways, too. Many are engaged in identity theft. Even more disturbing, child labour and illegal immigrants are exploited to bring us these illegal goods.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency, which calls intellectual property theft a “serious organised criminal activity”, has said, “Criminals at all levels are involved in IPC. Serious organised criminals are particularly involved in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit products. Mainland Chinese organised crime groups are heavily involved in the distribution of counterfeit DVDs and exploit illegal immigrants or asylum seekers to sell them on the streets in the UK”. A recent BBC undercover investigation found evidence of Chinese criminals employing illegal immigrants to sell DVDs in order to pay back as much as £15,000 they had charged them for bringing them to the UK.

In 2006, HMRC intercepted more than 128 million counterfeit and pirated articles in over 37,000 cases. This compares to 2005, where customs seized 75 million articles involving around 26,000 cases. All the evidence suggests that these figures will continue rising.

The Intellectual Property Crime Report describes IP theft as “a double-edged crime”, unfairly undercutting the legitimate trader while defrauding and threatening the customer. It makes a series of recommendations (which can be seen at www.ipo.gov.uk/ipcreport.pdf). However, all of us, at street level, can make a difference here.

(This feature first appeared in the Western Mail and Chamber Chat, December 2007 and January 2008)