Digital Union To Host Intellectual Rights Event With Ward Hadaway

The region’s largest network for digital businesses has teamed up with one of the UK’s leading law firms to host a free event to keep them safe from competitors stealing their big ideas.

Designed especially for Creative and Digital businesses who want to move away from simply providing a service for customers and have the drive to establish themselves as an independent and protected force of their own, Plan it, Produce it, Protect it, will take place on 5th July at the offices of Ward Hadaway in Newcastle.

Billed as a business workshop and networking event for Digital Union members and their Digital friends, the event will explore the commercial and legal aspects of how businesses can go about identifying and planning a new product while getting on with day to day client briefs.

Digital Union and Ward Hadaway will be joined by speakers from the likes of the Department of International Trade, E software firm Websand, branding agency Blumilk and Iykaa.com for an event that will also focus on how businesses can monetise their products and tackle the legal issues around entering into licensing deals.

Digital Union’s Leader, Jim Mawdsley, explains: “We are increasingly seeing both through Digital Union and our wider Generator networks that there are an increasing amount of agencies developing their own products that they could licence or sell to a wider market.

“This can be a lot more complicated than businesses may think as they’re entering the world of copyright protection, licensing and IP. They need to make sure no-one steals their ideas.

“Having worked in the music industry for nearly 30 years you can imagine the amount of conversations we have had around these issues but now it is even more prevalent within the agency world. We thought that along with our sponsors Ward Hadaway it was time we helped our members and the wider sector to explore the issues further and this event will certainly lift the lid.”

Ward Hadaway, based in Newcastle with offices in Leeds and Manchester, is one of the UK’s Top 100 law firms.

Employing more than 450 staff nationally, including many nationally recognised legal experts, the company is among the top-ranked law firms in the country according to independent legal guides and is well placed to advise the region’s creative digital entities.

Alex Shiel, Partner and Head of the Intellectual Property and IT team at law firm Ward Hadaway in Newcastle, has advised a raft of businesses in the technology sector on how best to protect and commercialise their ideas for more than 20 years.

And, speaking ahead of the forthcoming seminar, he added: “Digital businesses are hives of invention and innovation and are home to some of the most creative people in the economy.

“However, there is a big difference between having a great idea and making the most of it.

“At the seminar, I will be taking attendees through the process of developing, protecting and commercialising their intellectual property to ensure they are not only getting the credit for their ideas but they are making them pay.

“Hopefully the event will help digital businesses to make more of the great work which they produce every day and to open up new avenues for generating revenue.”

Plan it, Produce it, Protect It, will take place at Ward Hadaway’s office on Newcastle’s Quayside on Wednesday 5th July between 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm.

To book your place at the event CLICK HERE.

For more information contact Digital Union’s Networking manager, Rachel Peacock on 0191 255 4462.