LAURA NEWBOLD BREEN JOINS ACID AS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Anti Copying in Design (ACID) is delighted to announce the appointment of Laura Newbold Breen as Chief Operating Officer. Laura will begin her new role on 4 December 2023.

Having previously been Head of Legal for Magmatic Ltd, which owned the Trunki brand prior to its successful transition to new ownership earlier this year, Laura brings a wealth of relevant experience through her incredible journey on the inside track of a company which, despite its incredible success, had to battle many copycat storms along the way. What better experience could she bring to ACID than being at the coal face of what many in the UK face.

Many within the design world will know only too well the “Trunki” case, which reached the Supreme Court whereupon the learned judges delivered a verdict that fundamentally surprised and disappointed the industry.  Debate about the knock-on effects of the judgment and disbelief in the legal system have permeated through every level of those involved with design, design law and policy making for many years since.

On her appointment Laura said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining ACID, especially during their 25th year. Having been a proud member of the ACID Sector Council, I know all too well the constant IP difficulties faced by UK designers. At Magmatic Ltd, I was deeply involved in the seemingly relentless IP challenges, which gave me the opportunity to learn about IP at grass-roots level and develop a multi-faceted, resourceful approach to Brand Protection. Having also been heavily involved in product compliance and quality, I am extremely passionate about UK manufacturing and supporting our precious UK designers and SMEs.

Dids’ drive, tenacity and ambition is a true inspiration and it is an honour to be working alongside her as we continue this exceptionally important work”.

Dids Macdonald OBE., CEO of ACID said, “The team and I can’t wait for Laura to bring her incredible IP knowledge, experience and insight to the team at a pivotal time in our history, twenty-five years from its inception.  We are at a defining moment in our future where the beat has got to get louder to ensure UK designers who bring so much to the UK growth table, are supported with design laws that work and a system in which copyists are challenged a cost and timely effective framework. For too long, copyists have strangled innovators and Laura is just the person to ignite a new fire in our ongoing campaigning”.

Anti Copying in Design (ACID) is a trade association for designers and manufacturers with a diverse membership ranging from individuals to multinationals and spanning many industry sectors. The organisation is committed to fighting design theft and lobbying Parliament for design law reform. Members have many free benefits including access to a specialist intellectual property legal hotline for initial free advice and, if relying on unregistered Community or UK design rights, have unlimited use of the ACID IP Databank to help protect their intellectual property (IP) Rights.  ACID’s key objectives are protection, deterrence and education, working towards a safer commercial trading framework, enabling originators to fully exploit and maximise their IP rights.

Contact: Dids Macdonald E-mail: Didsm@acid.uk,com web: www.acid.uk.com