Many sports, but also many work environments require protective clothing to prevent athletes or workers from severe injuries. However, due to the rigidness of the material often used for this kind of clothing, it can be rather uncomfortable to wear. This is what made Richard Palmer and Philip Green, both material scientists at the University Hertfordshire/UK and passionate snowboarders in their free time, think about developing a new material that would be flexible but stiffen on impact.

NewMusicNow was founded in 2013 with the aim of providing musicians with a tool that improves the efficiency of their work and the quality of their performances. Since then, the company has been working intensively on the development of a “page-less scrolling“ technology, which is an App available at the Apple App Store.

The story of the company began in late 2011 when a professional musician, a computer engineer and an expert in business management detected a couple of problems and disadvantages musicians were facing when using “traditional” music sheets.

It has been three years since the Paris Agreement of the United Nations has taken effect with the aim of substantially reducing the risks and effects of human-caused global warming. Yet, our environment is still paying the price for our collective overconsumption of energy and natural resources such as fossil fuels.

The present case study traces the journey of ALLWINTER Ltd., a young, visionary company active in the fast-growing snowboarding industry aiming to expand their business and build up a strong IP portfolio. You will learn more about the different Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) attached to marketing new products in this field, and which steps need to be taken especially with regard to patenting.

EU certification marks relate to the guarantee of specific characteristics of certain products and/or services. This makes the EU certification mark a perfect tool for certification bodies, as it is an official indication that the goods and services bearing their certification mark comply with their identified (quality/technical) standards.

In our last case study, you will see how a German certification body, PGM, utilises the EU certification mark to certify the quality of drill bits all over the EU Member States.

You want to commercialise your products with the support of external business partners? The story of this Italian SME, Celegon Srl, teaches us how crucial it is to take confidentiality measures and IP protection into consideration before entering into any business partnership.

Sometimes, bitter experience may result in positive consequences and bring success.

Check our latest case study to learn how facing increasing number of infringements paved the way for a company to restructure its business plans by considering IP, and why developing a sound IP management strategy is of utmost importance especially when doing business based on innovative products.

Design protection is sometimes undervalued, being considered after patent and trade mark rights for businesses when it comes to IP protection. However, design is a crucial element in identifying a company’s innovative brilliance to its clients, and protection of design rights is generally a very straightforward process.

In this Case Study, a Finnish SME shows us the importance of taking concrete steps for design protection to increase the company’s value, and how it deters potential free riders from infringing on their products.

Innovative products provide competitive advantage for their owners as long as proper intellectual property (IP) protection measures are taken. In order to ensure a product’s market success, and combat potential infringers successfully, it is necessary to take all characteristics of the product into account, and consider IP in a broader aspect.

This Case Study from Romania presents a real-life example of the significance of IP, when a company’s business strategy is based on new and innovative products or services.

Competing in global markets is always challenging, especially for SMEs. It is even tougher in some particular sectors such as agrofood, where big players dominate the whole market.

In this Case Study, we meet a Latvian company and witness how they gained a strong presence in the international arena by following a rational trade mark strategy and how they make use of IP rights as a tool to achieve success when doing business abroad.