Protecting Your IP Is Serious Business

Karan White and Jamie White from Pod Legal were the proud hosts of World IP Day 2013, Creativity: The Next Generation held in May at the Novotel Melbourne on Collins. A fresh early morning start saw a flurry of excited and colourful individuals gathering around the coffee machine. Everyone was there to share in the unique opportunity to learn about how IP works to contribute to the flourishing of music and the arts and driving the technological innovation that helps shape our world. As a creative, I am interested in learning more about patents, copyright, trademarks and how it impacts on the work I do.

Whoever we are, wherever we live, whatever our circumstances, we all have the capacity to create. And it is this human creativity and inventiveness that is responsible for improving the quality of life in every sphere. – Dr Francis Gurry, Director General, World Intellectual Property Organisation

 

Privileged to be sitting up front I viewed the line up of inspiring guest speakers, which all came from a varied background of the legal, business, creative and innovative industries. John Jenkins, marketing manager for Victoria and Tasmania IP Australia, opened the floodgates on what the next disruptive technology could be. He delved into the current structure of IP Australia on a national level and explained in detail the measures being put in place to handle the influx of IP applications as the world of innovation grows at an alarming rate. John also went on to demonstrate different scenarios where the lack of IP was detrimental to the owner in taking their creations to market, particularly in today’s transparent and fast-paced society where the game changes constantly.

Jamie White, solicitor, director and IP lawyer from Pod Legal discussed what Intellectual Property means and the value it brings to a business.

Nicole McCormack, national manager of Professional Services at CommBank & Women In Focus ambassador, shared her views on innovation. Did you know that CommBank has a Property Guide app that uses augmented reality technology, takes rich data and maps it onto a real world view via your iPhone camera, giving you key insights about the property you’re viewing instantly? With such technology, the need for clear and concise IP advice and proper implementation is paramount.

Shane Davis, founder and executive director at Literacy Planet Perfect, led discussions into the use of new media to create inspiring and engaging platforms for learning. According to him, children today are growing up in a world of technology which are being used within a classroom environment to motivate teaching and learning within the current school system. “Students are reassuringly connected in a safe, socially active space that allows for natural competitive spirit to drive literacy achievement in a fun and creative way”, he said.
Dr Adrian Medhurst, an inventiologist at Inventium spoke about how to outthink, outsmart and outlast your competitors. His work focuses on the latest and greatest findings from psychology and neuroscience to help organisations gain a competitive edge through ongoing innovation.  “It is our ability to innovate that directly increases profit, decreases costs, and can position an organisation as an employer of choice”, he said.

Nikos Psaltopoulos, from themanroom.net, summed up the learnings and the impact this event has made on creative folks like me and the importance of protecting our intellectual property.
“Creative people are usually so busy exploring new initiatives and creating opportunities that sometimes the legalities of their industry are far from their minds. World IP Day was an opportunity to learn about the legalities of IP in a relaxed open forum and ensure this critical and necessary area remains top of mind.”