IP and Food

Gary Townley

Jane Lambert

Tomorrow, between 10:00 and 13:30, Gary Townley, business and events manager at the Intellectual Property Office will talk about IP for the food and drink industry at Northampton Central Library. You can register for the event here.

I don't know what Gary will be talking about but there is a lot of IP connected with food and drink:

• plant breeders' rights for new grain and seed varieties (see my article on Protecting Investment in New Plant Varieties 4 May 2016 Linkedin);
• geographical indications for food and agricultural products;
• patents for new agricultural, food preparation, processing and distribution technology;
• trade marks for food and drink brands and 
• passing off for hotels and restaurants but not plastic lemons.

As I reported in Thought for Food 26 Sept 2017 NIPC London Gary has already spent the last two days at the Takeaway & Restaurant Innovation 2017 Expo.

IP in food production, preparation, marketing and distribution is a subject of which I do have had a lot of experience having been in some important cases and having advised and represented some rising stars in the industry. If you are involved in that sector I should be glad to talk to you. Call +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Midlands Engine Trade Missions

Jane Lambert

Earlier today I blogged about Northern Powerhouse branded trade missions in IP Northwest and IP Yorkshire. I wondered whether there was anything similar for the Midlands Engine. It turns out that there is a Midlands Engine campaign page and that six trips have been arranged.

The destinations are as follows:

• NY Now show in New York between 19 and 22 Aug 2017;
• The Trako 2017 12th international railway fair at Gdansk between 26 and 29 Sept 2017;
• Anuga 2017 food fair in Cologne between 7 and 11 Oct 2017;
• China International Industry Fair at Shanghai between 7 and 11 Nov 2017;
• Arab Health 2018 exhibition in Dubai between 29 Jan and 1 Feb 2018; and
• Auto Expo Components Show in New Delhi between 8 and 11 Feb 2018.

Places on all those missions can be booked through the DIT's Midlands Engine campaign page.

If you go on any of those missions, take care not to disclose anything that you might wish to patent, register as a design or otherwise keep under wraps except in confidence (see Duty of Confidence). Remember that there is a year's grace period for design registration (see Registered Designs and Registered Community Designs).  Don't forget the international exhibition exception provided by s.2 (4) (c) of the Patents Act 1977.

Make sure that any non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement is to be construed and enforced in accordance with English law. We are harmonizing our trade secret law with the laws of the other EU member states by implementing the Trade Secrets Directive but we are not there yet (see The Trade Secrets Directive 7 July 2016 NIPC Law).

You must also be aware of the ease with which it is possible for IPR owners to get without notice injunctions just before international exhibitions in some countries (see the penultimate paragraph of Pre-Action Correspondence: What to do if you get a Stroppy Letter ....... or worse 4 Aug 2017 NIPC Law). You should also take a look at the arbitration schemes that exist in Italy and Switzerland (see my article Resolving IP Disputes at Trade Fairs 1 June 2017).

Should anybody wish to discuss any of these matters, call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message on my contact form.

Further Reading

The Midlands Engine