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  • 7 ways innovators can protect their IP

    A new song; a new character; a new algorithm — in the 21st century, any of these, and many more kinds of new ideas, could make their creator’s name and fortune. That’s the way the creative economy works.
    As author John Howkins put it in his 2001 book The Creative Economy: How People Make Money from Ideas, the creative economy refers to the economic potential of activities that centre on creati

  • Dealing with onerous IP clauses in tender documents

    From design agencies to training providers, entrepreneurs and small businesses across various industries often throw their hat in the ring when organisations send out Invitations To Quote (ITQ) for upcoming projects.
    These documents set out the requirements for a project, and enables a potential vendor to assess how much to charge for its goods and/or services. But beyond noting the nature and

  • The IP of designer fonts

    No matter what service or product a company is selling, chances are they are using some kind of font in their marketing materials. While many people assume that fonts can be used freely, font programmes and their underlying typefaces are actually intellectual property protected by copyright.
    In 2009, Font Bureau, an American type foundry, sued NBC Universal for failing to secure the rights to a

  • What a longer copyright term means for creators

    As the saying goes, time is money. And when it comes to IP matters, time is an important factor for creators. A recent change to IP laws in Uzbekistan serves as a useful example of how time plays a crucial role when it comes to protecting one’s innovations.
    Uzbekistan has expanded the general term of copyright protection from 50 years to 70 years, following the death of the author. This change