Given that so much has been said over the past couple of years in relation to the negative aspects of The Trunki Decision – the well-documented ruling in respect of the scope of protection offered by a Community Registered Design – it is pleasing to see that Magmatic owner Rob Law is now putting on a brave face and proselytising the Government’s new business growth campaign. The self-styled ‘Trunki Daddy’ is currently one of the faces plastered on billboards around the country*, hawking the government scheme to all and sundry. So what is this scheme that has encouraged luminaries such as Mr Law to present themselves to the world in glorious magnified poster form?
GREAT BUSINESS
Crown Copyright
Arriving at the website for the campaign, it seems as though it is called Great Business, and feeds into the wider Britain is GREAT, and although the tag line of Business is Great BRITAIN is a little grammatically peculiar, it certainly beats the frankly terrifying image of Henry VIII staring unblinkingly at Heathrow, under the auspices of Heritage is Great BRITAIN.
Whilst undeniably a bit naff, which is the prerogative of any Government campaign, the website is actually rather good, condensing a lot of critical information about the important first steps when growing a business in a user-friendly format.
Essential Intellectual Property
Importantly, the website emphasises the importance of Intellectual Property to a business which is in its early stages, and it is encouraging to see that the topic is now being taken more seriously. There is a growing recognition that innovation is vital in order to foster business growth, and that Intellectual Property is a central component of the commercialisation of that innovation.
Intellectual Property should be front and centre in the minds of businesses expending significant capital in design, research and development, and helpful tools such as IP Equip, the IP Health Check, and the Growth Voucher programmes will hopefully help more people to consider taking those first few tentative steps into the world of IP, and thereby open up greater avenues for business expansion. Anyone could, after all, be the next Rob Law, and that’s great (BRITAIN).
* based on a sample size of one – London Road, Cheltenham