McDonald’s president steps down

Hamburger chain and restaurant group McDonald’s has said that its president and chief operating officer Mike Roberts has resigned.

Mr Roberts, 55, has been at McDonald’s for almost three decades and started out as a regional purchasing manager

Ralph Alvarez, president of McDonald’s USA, will succeed Mr Roberts.

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POSTAL CHANGES

POSTAL CHANGES ARE HERE

Royal Mail is upping its campaign to alert businesses and private customers to changes in its postal pricing system, due to come into force on 21st August.

The new ‘Pricing In Proportion’ scheme will price letters and parcels according to their size and shape, as well as their weight.

Royal Mail is currently unveiling a £10m advertising campaign and is sending a leaflet to every mailing address in the country to raise awareness of the changes.

Under the new system, parcels will fall into one of three categories:

Letters, such as a standard birthday card, with a maximum thickness of 5mm will cost 32p.

Large letters, such as magazines, with a maximum thickness of 25mm will cost 44p.

Packets, which comprise anything larger than a large letter, will cost between £1 and £4.74.

Royal Mail claims 85% of items will be the same price or less, and two-thirds of business items will be cheaper. But there are fears that some small businesses which send out a lot of brochures or printed literature that require large envelopes will be hit hard by the new pricing policy.

Companies will be able to test which category letters fall into through a plastic template or ruler that will be available through Post Offices and stationers.

Source BBC

Welcome to Business Extra

Videos are good medium to provide training Hence thinking of new technoligies we are starting video sessions from Today. First Video an Introduction from Patrik Blunt.

1. Introduction from Patrik Blunt.

Length: 00:17

Bit rate: 404kbps

Online spend to double by 2010

By 2010, one in five purchases that would not have happened in a high street shop will take place on the internet, helping online spend to double by the end of the decade, according to PayPal.

In a study to coincide with the launch of its new guidance for e-businesses, the global payment system predicts that online consumer spend will reach £39bn by 2010.

The staggering increase, it says, will be driven by 24.9m new shoppers by the end of the decade, a 71% rise last year’s total. These will shoppers will also account for 49% of the adult population.

PayPal estimates that this growth will add a further £3.2bn in spending, as 20% of non-purchases on the nation’s high streets will be made at internet businesses.

The company has warned businesses to start trading online now or risk missing out on potentially huge profits.

“Over the past few years we’ve seen the internet gradually eating away at the high street,” said Carl Olav Scheible, Head of Merchant Services at PayPal.

“By 2010, we expect substantial sums previously spent on the high street to have moved online. We have worked closely with the market experts to produce a simple but effective guide which can provide small businesses with the essential tool kit that many of them are lacking.”

PayPal has launched its Trade Online Project, which outlines the seven building blocks of eCommerce and covers the different types of solutions to use and elements such as the ‘search and selection’ with the ‘checkout’.

Respect other people’s designs

If you make, sell, import or use articles that infringe someone else’s design right or registered design it can cause great damage to your business.It may result in legal action being taken against you and you could be ordered to pay considerable costs and damages to the person whose designs you’ve infringed – even if you haven’t intentionally copied them.

It is good business sense to check that any design you intend to use as part of your business doesn’t already belong to someone else.

Carrying out a search

To find out whether a design is registered in the UK search the design database on the Patent Office website. You can also use this if you want to find out who owns a design registration if you want to negotiate to buy or lease it.

Even if a design isn’t registered it could still hold design right and you could end up in court if you infringe it intentionally. See the page in this guide on what is design right?

In some cases it may be appropriate to get an expert to conduct a more in-depth search. Find a patent agent on the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents website. Find a trade mark attorney on the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys website.

Defend your design against infringement

Your designs are likely to be an important part of your business’ success. If anybody sells, imports or uses your designs without your permission you’ll probably want to take action.

If your design is registered

If you think your design is being infringed send a carefully worded warning letter to the potential offender. They may be genuinely unaware of the infringement or they might stop when they know they’ve been found out.

If this doesn’t work, you’re entitled to sue anyone who infringes your design for damages whether the infringement is intentional or not.

If you suspect infringement and you’re only at the stage of applying for design registration you should contact the Patent Office Central Enquiry Unit on Tel 08459 500 505 and ask for urgent examination and registration of your design.

If your design isn’t registered

Again, it’s worth sending a carefully worded warning letter to the person or business you suspect of copying your design.

If this doesn’t work, you can still take court action. But you will have to prove that you hold design right and that the alleged infringers have copied your design – as opposed to the two articles merely looking the same. This can prove difficult and expensive.

Seek advice

Design law is a complicated area and it’s advisable to seek help from experts if you think someone is infringing your design. Trade mark attorneys and patent agents are lawyers who specialise in this area. Find information on design law on the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys website. Search for a patent agent on the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents website.

There are alternatives to legal proceedings. It may be possible to avoid a court hearing by entering negotiations with the infringer or using a method of alternative dispute resolution such as mediation.

The UK Patent Office’s mediation service specifically mediates between businesses and individuals involved in Intellectual Property disputes. Find out about the mediation service on the UK Patent Office website.

Design right and registration

How to register a design

If you want to register a design you have to apply to the Patent Office.

An application for design registration requires just a few illustrations showing different views of the design and some information about how the design might be applied.

The design’s creation must involve freedom of design – in other words it must be created by free thought and not simply by copying key elements from other designs.

You need to send the following to the Patent Office Design Registry:

• design form 2A – download design form DF2A from the Patent Office website (PDF)
• your illustrations – get detailed information on illustrations at the Patent Office website
• your fees – get detailed information on fees at the Patent Office website
• fee sheet – you must send in a fee sheet form for the UK, EU or international with your application and fee – get detailed information on fee sheets at the Patent Office website

Your application will be examined within two months of its receipt and, providing there are no objections, your registration will normally be granted within three to four months of application.

You can apply for registration any time up to 12 months from marketing your design but it can make good business sense to apply as early as possible.

Getting advice

Design registration can be a complex area – trade mark attorneys and patent agents are lawyers who specialise in this area. Find a patent agent on the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents website – or find a trade mark attorney on the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys website.

How design right and registration can help your business

Design right and registered designs protect the original designs you use in your business.It’s worth protecting your designs because they can be an important asset and play a key role in the success of your business. They can distinguish your goods from competitors, be an important selling point and form an essential part of your business’ branding.

Your registered designs can also be worth money. Instead of exploiting them yourself, you can license or sell your registered designs, providing an important source of revenue for your business.

Indeed, some businesses exist solely to collect the royalties from a registered design they have licensed.

Some products can be protected and then licensed with a combination of a registered design, a patent and trade marks.

You must inform the Patent Office using the appropriate forms if you intend to license or sell a registered design.

Read further information about licensing on the Patent Office website.

Key differences between design right and design registration

Design right	Registered design
Applies only to three-dimensional articles – except for Unregistered Community Designs where they do apply	Applies to both two and three-dimensional articles
Covers the shape and configuration of products, internal and external – Unregistered Community Designs cover the whole product	Covers appearance of product, resulting particularly from the features of lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and materials of a product or its ornamentation
Automatic right	You must pay to register a design at the Patent Office
Lasts up to 15 years in the UK and three years in the European Union	Lasts up to 25 years in the UK only
You have to prove that you hold the design and that deliberate copying has taken place in infringement actions	Don’t have to prove copying in infringement actions
Less likely to act as a deterrent against infringement	More likely to act as a deterrent against infringement
Difficult to establish for selling and licensing purposes	Easy to sell or license

What is a registered design?

What is a registered design?

A registered design is a monopoly right for the appearance of the whole or part of a product, resulting particularly from the features of lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and materials of a product or its ornamentation.

These designs could be anything from patterns on textiles or plates to the shape of a car or part of a product, such as a kettle handle.

Registering a design with the Patent Office gives extra protection in law. You’re entitled to sue infringers for damages whether the infringement is intentional or not. This protection is in addition to your design right, which is automatic. For further information, see the page in this guide on what is design right?.

To register your design it must be:

• new
• have individual character – that is, give an appearance of originality

Unlike design right, a registered design covers two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional articles, and ornamentation too.

It gives you the exclusive right to make, use or stock any item incorporating your design – and take action against those who infringe this right. For further information see the page in this guide on how to defend your design against infringement. It can be a very valuable piece of intellectual property that you can license or sell.

Limits of design registration

You can’t register designs concerned with how a product works, and there are limitations in applying a design to the interior of a product. If you’ve invented an innovative product you may be able to apply for a patent.
Design registration is territorial. A UK registration lasts for five years initially but can be renewed for another four five-year periods.

Registered community designs

A registered Community design is for single design registration and is valid throughout the European Union.
Regulations ensure consistency between design registration systems in the UK and the European Community. They also:

• provide protection against groundless threats of infringement of a Community design in the UK
• make it an offence to claim falsely in the UK that a design is protected as a Community design

For more information on registering designs in other countries, see our guide on intellectual property protection overseas.