ACID, the trade body concerned with helping designers and manufacturers to protect their intellectual property, explains what can be done to prevent someone ripping off your design - and what action you can take if you find out it's already happened.

ACID CEO, Dids Macdonald’s said: “Imitation isn't flattery if it costs you your business. It nearly cost me mine!”

And so she shares her expert advice on how to best protect your intellectual property below, to ensure that you are prepared to protect your designs:

Cross all your T's and dot every I

If costs permit, make sure you register your designs as comprehensively as possible. UK and EU registration authorities do not examine your registrations, so what you submit is what you have to rely on. So, the more detail you include, the better!

Alternatively, if you can’t afford registration, ACID membership will give you access to a Design Databank through ACID Marketplace which holds over 300,000 designs. This doesn’t add to your desig...

In his last article, Tahir Basheer of law firm Sheridans explained what anti-competitive arrangements mean for you. This week he explains vertical agreements and how fashion businesses can be affected by them.

In this article I will focus on vertical agreements – where it is probably easier for an unsuspecting business to fall foul of the rules, especially in the fashion industry where most businesses have arrangements with a large number of suppliers and distributors.

Avoiding infringements

The main types of vertical agreement that commonly face competition issues are distribution agreements. Competition issues will NOT arise where the agreement is within the same group, or where the agreement is with an authorised agent.

This is one of the main benefits of appointing an agent rather than a distributor; however, there are also associated downsides such as the ability to be bound by the agent’s actions. No doubt you are thinking that this legislation could catch a lot of your agree...

Being a fashion start-up business owner means that you need to wear a lot of hats, and one of the most challenging to make fit, is the legal hat.

So this week, Tahir Basheer of law firm Sheridans explains what issues need to be addressed regarding structuring an employment contract.

Numerous recruiters from high street brands regularly attend the Graduate Fashion Weeks, eager to get their hands on the next wave of emerging talent and sign them up. In the wake of this employment feeding frenzy, it seems apposite to stress the importance of brands making sure that they get it right when it comes to employment contracts.
No matter who you are hiring, be it designers straight out of university or seasoned directors looking to shake up your business strategy, if brands do not take the right steps to ensure they have proper employment contracts in place, they can face big problems.

This is an area in which we have seen things go really wrong for both brands and designers. In the absence of...

Many fashion start-ups seek out investors in order to grow their businesses, but there is a lot that you need to know about as part of preparing for investment. Tahir Basheer of Sheridan's law firm has some key information that you need to know.

Funding is a crucial factor in any successful start-up’s story. An injection of cash can provide the additional working capital that gives a start-up the platform to scale in a way that would not be possible with its finances alone.

Raising money is something many aspirational start-ups may have to prepare for. Funding might come from a personal contact (if you are lucky!) or a third party investor. Before you seek out investment you should ensure the business is in tiptop shape.

Every business will have its own individual needs and quirks; however, there are certain legal considerations when preparing for investment that is common for all:

Choose the right corporate vehicle

Most investors will want to receive shares for (at least part of)...

If you are considering crowdfunding to launch your fashion product, there are a number of legal issues that should be considered before trying to raise money through such a platform.

Tahir Basheer of Sheridans law firm shares his advice to keep you ahead of the game (note: most of the points are relevant to Equity Crowdfunding).

There are three main types of crowdfunding:

Debt Crowdfunding

Investors loan money directly to an individual and hopefully receive their money back with interest. Also called peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, it allows for the lending of money while bypassing traditional banks. Returns are financial, but investors also have the benefit of having contributed to the success of an idea they believe in. An example of a Debt Crowdfunding platform is the Lending Club.

Equity Crowdfunding

Investors buy shares in a company and become part owners. They make a return on their investment either by being paid a dividend or by selling their shares at a later date, when the ...

Your brand is the part of your business that communicates to the outside world who you are, the quality of your goods and services, and your company’s image. Therefore, it is an important and valuable asset. One way of protecting your brand is through registering it as a trademark.

The rise of brands converging across various industries has meant that trademark lawyers have to monitor changes in the law more than ever.

At Sheridans, our trademark specialists advise a number of individuals, brands and agencies in innovative projects across all leisure, media, and entertainment.

We provide a one-stop-shop from brand genesis through to brand development, exploitation and protection and provide cost-effective advice on trademarks, filing strategy and brand development.

Our clients receive relevant, focused advice for reaching their business goals.

In this article, we provide some “top tips” for the use of trademarks to protect your business.

1. Why register?

Trademarks are a valuabl...

A well-written and curated fashion press release is a sure way to get into the inboxes of key fashion editors. If executed well, it may secure you much desired editorial coverage and publicity.

But writing one is easier said than done. So let's take a look and demystify it – shall we?

To begin with, remember that a press release should be clear, informative, visually exciting and specific.

Be clear

Let’s take it from the top, literally.

1) Start with headed paper. Your company logo should appear clearly at the very top of the page, as it appears everywhere else. This consistency should already be a cornerstone of your marketing strategy.

2) Set clear instructions on when this fashion press release should be published. Write ‘FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE’ at the very top of the page on the left.

3) Give it a title: Each collection and a newsworthy story about your brand will require a new fashion press release. Make it easy for the reader to know at a glance what the release is about...

The fashion industry is a highly visual marketplace. Most designers communicate design ideas through many different mediums. These include drawing, toiling and sampling.

What if you are given the gift of the imagination but not that of creation on paper?

Or worse, you cannot explain your design methodology to anyone?

A lightning sketch made on a scrap of paper, in felt-tip pen, can be the starting point of an impressive first collection. However, while your designs are viable in your head, they may not translate so easily to your team.

Your pattern cutter will need more than a rough rendering and your manufacturer will demand even more.

It should be reassuring to know that not all designers are able to articulate their vision through the medium of drawing. They choose to select existing images and to create collages of their unique ideas. These are then shown to an illustrator or pattern cutter, who transforms them into technical drawings.

So, what is required of the designer who...

Finding the right fashion manufacturer for your idea is not an easy task at the best of times. In fact, entering the world of manufacturing can be a heady mix of initial excitement followed by angst, unnecessary expense, and frustration.

Please don’t let that put you off.

By thoroughly researching the market you will find the right type of manufacturer. One that can do all they profess, for a fair price and the quality you are hoping for.

If you know nothing about how the industry works, read up on it via the Toolkit articles.

But in order to find THE ONE, you need to forget all you think you know and instead use your common sense and wise up. In fashion manufacturing, appearances can be deceptive.

What may look like an amazing factory and you may think "...how lucky to have found it" can bring your business down. And one that looks like small and not so "professional," can be the best thing that happened to your business.

Let's show you how to vet a factory and what to look for ...

Did you know that it takes 10,000 litres of water to make one pair of jeans? Please don’t let that put you off working with denim fabric. It’s one of the most distinctive, hard-wearing and versatile fabrics available for use in the fashion industry. It can be fashioned into clothing, accessories and footwear. Its cotton base threads can be combined with wool to add warmth, or with silk to add sheen. It absorbs dye fantastically and fades over time to add a distinctive vintage patina.

Denim fabric, as we know it today, was made famous by two Americans: Jacob W. Davis, a tailor from Nevada, and Levi Strauss, a denim manufacturer. They used it in the mid 19^th century to produce their famous jeans. However, it is thought that the name "denim" is derived from serge de  Nîmes, meaning "serge from Nîmes," after weavers in Nîmes, Frances attempted to replicate a fabric originally developed in Gênes (the French word for jeans), but ended up with a different cotton twill, which is what we now k...