Meet our IP Attaché to China

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Jane Lambert

Mr Tom Duke is our IP Attaché to China. His job is to build relations with the Chinese government to understand and actively engage with IP policy makers in that country.  He is part of a network of British IP attachés in Brazil, India and South East Asia which has significantly increased the level of support available for UK businesses operating in those markets. Based in the British Embassy in Beijing he supports over 200 companies each year on IP strategies and on dealing with problems such as infringement whenever they arise.

Every year Mr Duke and his colleagues hold a series of business outreach events across the UK called the “China IP Roadshow” with the aim of raising awareness of protecting IP in China amongst (potential) UK exporters and companies involved in other types of business/innovation collaborations with Chinese partners. This year they plan to visit Yorkshire as well as Scotland, Liverpool, Manchester and London.

Mr Duke will be in Yorkshire on 19 Sept 2017 and plans to speak in Leeds morning and Barnsley in the afternoon.  His talk in Leeds will take place in the boardroom of Northern Ballet and the provisional programme is as follows:

09:30 -  10:00	Registration and networking
10:00 - 10:30	Tom Duke, British Embassy Beijing/UK Intellectual Property Office “Succeeding in China – How to mitigate IP risk”
10:30 - 11:30	Other presentations, questions and answer and discussions
11:30 - 12:00	One to one meetings (please request at time of registration)

The Barnsley meeting will take place at the Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre and will follow a similar format:

14:30 -  15:00	Registration and networking
15:00 - 15:30	Tom Duke, British Embassy Beijing/UK Intellectual Property Office “Succeeding in China – How to mitigate IP risk”
15:30 - 16:00	Questions and answer and discussions
16:00 - 16: 30	One to one meetings (please request at time of registration)

According to the WIPO China has a population of 1,371 million and a GDP of US $18,374.71 which is even bigger than that of the USA in terms of purchasing power parity, In 2015 there were nearly a million applications to the SIPO for patents for Chinese inventions. That is more than the applications made to their national patent office by the inventors of any other country. China is an important innovator and shares our national interest in ensuring proper protection for brands, designs, inventions and creative works around the world.

Mr Duke will tell you all about registration of patents, designs and trade marks in China and Hong Kong, licensing and joint ventures and enforcement through the courts and tribunals. As the new Business and Property Courts will launch in Leeds and other major cities I will tell you all about your contractual and IP rights, remedies and liabilities in respect of your dealings with Chinese partners here.

Space is limited at both venues and demand is likely to be heavy. If you want to be sure of your place, call Steve on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 and ask to reserve a place at either venue or send me a message through my contact form.

GOSH - a special IPR that never grows old

Peter Pan statute in Kensington Gardens

Photo Wikipedia

Last week Northern Ballet danced Peter Pan at The Grand theatre in Leeds. I saw it on Saturday. It was a brilliant production and I have reviewed it in my ballet blog (see Not too sure about Fairies but I certainly believe in Rachael Gillespie 21 Dec 2014). Peter Pan was written by J M Barrie who gave his rights in relation to the boy who never grew up to Great Ormond Street Hospital ("GOSH") (see "Peter Pan and the Hospital" on the hospital's Peter Pan website).

At the time of the assignment copyright subsisted in a literary work for the life of the author plus 50 years. Barrie died in 1937 so those copyrights would have expired on 31 Dec 1987.  The expiry of Barrie's copyrights coincided with the passage through Parliament of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill. Lord Callaghan of Cardiff took the opportunity to persuade his fellow law makers to insert a new Schedule 6 into the Bill for the benefit of GOSH (see Hansard HL Deb 10 March 1988 vol 494 cc 805-60 for Lord Callaghan's introduction and the debate on the amendment).  In his speech Lord Callaghan said:

"This new schedule would not revive the copyright. That would certainly not be the intention, the purpose or the effect of it. However, it would enable Great Ormond Street to continue to receive the royalties that have been paid under the copyright. But of course any right that the hospital used to have to refuse permission in connection with the work—I think that it was hardly ever refused—disappears and will continue to disappear. Nevertheless, the hospital will continue to receive royalties which, as your Lordships may know, are negotiated between the hospital and those who perform the play or who publish books from time to time. The purpose of the schedule is to provide for that to continue. I hope that that meets with your Lordships' approval. I am grateful for the support which I have had from noble Lords on all sides of the House. I know that the hospital appreciates what has been done."

The government accepted Lord Callaghan's amendment and it is now Schedule 6 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Paragraph 2 (1) confers on the trustees of the hospital a royalty in respect of any public performance, commercial publication or communication to the public of the whole or any substantial part of J M Barrie's play Peter Pan ("the work") or an adaptation of it. This provision creates a unique intellectual property for the hospital rather than a copyright as such.  This right cannot be assigned (see paragraph 7 (1)) or applied to any other purpose within the National Health Service (paragraph 7 (2)) and the cy-près rule does not apply (paragraph 7 (3)).

The exceptions that would have applied had copyright not expired continue to apply to this special IPR (see paragraph 3). Paragraph 4 provides that no royalty shall be payable for "anything done in pursuance of arrangements made before the passing of this Act."  This provision creates an anomaly in that it refers to arrangements made before the passing of the Act rather than its commencement. The Act was passed on 15 Nov 1988 but did not come into effect until 1 Aug 1989.  It is clear that royalties would not be payable for anything done in respect of Barrie's play between 31 Dec 1987 when copyright expired and the 15 Nov 1988 but it is not clear whether a royalty would have been due for arrangements made between royal assent and the commencement date. This difficulty is now entirely hypothetical because any claim by the trustees would now be statute barred. Moreover, Lord Callaghan remarked that many theatrical promoters continued to donate to GOSH after copyright expired.

Paragraph 6 provides that sums received by the trustees by virtue of this Schedule, after deduction of any relevant expenses, shall be held by them on trust for the purposes of the hospital. Disputes as to the amount of the royalties payable to the trustees are to be referred to the Copyright Tribunal under paragraph 5.

These provisions apply only to the United Kingdom. The minimum term of copyright in the rest of the EU was extended to 70 years by the term directive (Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights OJ L 290, 24.11.1993, p. 9–13). That extended term expired on 31 Dec 2007 except in Spain where it continues until 2017 (see Publishing and the Stage on the GOSH website). In the USA copyright in the play continues until 2023.

It is of course possible for those who wish to benefit the hospital to donate to GOSH and they may do so through the GOSH charity website and I encourage them to do so.

Should anyone wish to discuss this article or copyright law in general he or she should call me on 01484 599090 or 020 7404 5252 during normal office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Post Script

We have our own children's hospital in Leeds which also needs support (see Leeds Children's Hospital Appeal). Happily Peter Pan (otherwise known as Gavin McGaig) and Tinkerbell (Alice Bayston) paid them a visit on 16 Dec 2014 (see Peter and Tink at Leeds Children's Hospital on Northern Ballet's website). They are two of Northern Ballet's promising dancers and I was fortunate enough to interview Gavin earlier in the year (see Meet Gavin McCaig of Nothern Ballet 3 Sept 2014),  If you want to contribute to the Leeds Children's Hospital appeal click here for its "Just Giving" page,

Northern Ballet wins the Achievement in Marketing Category of the UK Theatre Awards

The performing arts are an important industry in the UK. According to the report Private Investment in Culture 2007/08 published by the Arts & Business section of Business in the Community culture was worth £7.7 billion to the UK economy in 2007.  It may reasonably be assumed to be worth somewhat more now. Northern Ballet is astute as to the value of the arts to business and hosted a breakfast meeting for businessmen and women on the 23 Sept 2013 which attracted patent attorney Debbie Slater from Urquhart-Dykes & Lord as well as me (see Jane Lambert "The Things I do for my Art: Northern Ballet's Breakfast Meeting" 23 Sept 2013 Terpsichore).

During Q & A at the meeting the company's chief executive officer Mark Skipper said that while there was once a time when patronage of the arts was an act of philanthropy it was now one of mutual self-interest.  The reason for that response is that performing arts companies are brands in their own right.  In the case of Northern Ballet this was recognized yesterday by their winning the marketing category at the 2013 UK Theatre awards (see the company's press release "Northern Ballet scoops national marketing award"  21 Oct 2013).  Northern Ballet was granted that award for the success of its communications campaign for Northern Ballet’s tour of The Great Gatsby.

"More than 50,000 people watched a performance of The Great Gatsby in 9 venues throughout the UK including a sell-out run at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. The campaign generated in excess of £1.2 million of ticket sales exceeding financial target by £150,000."

Incidentally, I saw that ballet when it opened in Leeds and reviewed it in "Life follows Art: the Great Gatsby" 8 March 2013 Terpsichore.

Our host at the breakfast meeting was Laraine Penson, Northern Ballet's Director of Communications.  She collected the award on behalf of her company at a luncheon at The Guildhall yesterday.  At the ceremony she said:

"The arts are full of creative communications professionals who are working very hard in a competitive market and difficult economy. I accept this award on behalf of the communications team at Northern Ballet. This award recognises the achievements of the whole company because if the production and performance didn’t meet the audiences expectations all our work would be for nothing.”

The press release notes that Northern Ballet has been shortlisted for the cultural category of the Welcome to Yorkshire "White Rose Awards". As everyone knows one can't wish an actor good luck. You say "Break a leg!" instead. But you can't really say that to a dancer.  My ballet teacher tells me that the balletic equivalent is "chookas" though others say "toi-toi".  Let's wish Northern Ballet both.  As I experienced recently, for only the second time in my lifetime, an institution from our region is capable of true artistic greatness (see "Realizing Another Dream" 15 Sept 2013).

Further Reading
David Wilson "Pythagoras and Pliés – Mathematical Beauty" 5 March 2011 Dave Tries Ballet
Jane Lambert "Cracking Nuts - Copyright in Choreography" 24 Nov 2011 IP Northwest
Jane Lambert "Ballet and Intellectual Property - my Excuse for reviewing 'Beauty and the Beast'" 31 Dec 2011 IP Yorkshire
Jane Lambert "Northern Ballet's Ondine" 14 Sept 2012 IP Yorkshire
Jane Lambert "From Bar to Barre" 20 March 2013 Terpsichore
Jane Lambert "Intellectual Property and Ballet" 20 April 2013 Terpsichore

Northern Ballet's Ondine

Undine, a fairy tale by Friedrich de la Motte Fouquée has inspired several films including Neil Jordan's, a number of operas including Tchaikovsky's and at least three ballets of which the most famous is probably Sir Frederick Ashton's. Ashton created the ballet for Dame Margot Fonteyn.to a score by Hans Werner Henze in 1958. It is a major three act work and was one of the Royal Ballet's staples in its golden age.  No wonder the choreographer David Nixon felt "intimidated by the history of Ashton's interpretation and the beautiful and challenging score of Henze" when asked to stage the work for Ballet du Rhin  and Northern Ballet.

I drove to the West Yorkshire Playhouse yesterday with considerable apprehension last night because I have seen Fonteyn dance and admire greatly Ashton's work. As I have said in "Ballet and Intellectual Property - my Excuse for reviewing 'Beauty and the Beast'" 31 Dec 2011 and "Cracking Nuts - Copyright in Choreography" IP North West 24 Nov 2011, Northern Ballet is a good company and Nixon is a good choreographer but could they really carry this off?   Well as a matter of fact they have - and spectacularly.   In my humble opinion this is Nixon's best work yet.  Indeed, it is probably Northern Ballet's best work to date.

Though he has kept Henze's score Nixon's Ondine is very different from Ashton's.  Instead of a sprite appearing in a waterfall, Nixon's story begins with a child on a beach teasing a fisherman by stepping in his nets. That child is Ondine and her appearance in the prologue sets the theme for the rest of the ballet.  Last night that role was performed delightfully by Caitlin Noonan of the Northern Ballet Academy.   The grown up Ondine (Martha Leebold), falls in love not with Palemon but with a knight called Brand (Tobias Batley). They marry to the distress of Beatrice, (not Berta) danced by Dreda Blow.  A sort of Giselle in reverse but instead of tragedy Ondine takes pity on Beatrice and allows her to live with her and her husband. The ménage à trois turns out not to be a good idea and Beatrice and Brand decide to take a boat trip.  Brand's eyes wander towards Beatrice, a storm erupts and Ondine jumps overboard. Thinking that Ondine is dead Brand and Beatrice decide to marry but just as they do another storm breaks out and the sprite Ondine reappears from the sea to reclaim her husband.

The ballet creates very powerful roles not only for the three principals, Leabolod, Batley and Blow but also for Sebastian Low who danced the priest and Kevin Poeung and Hironao Takahashi and indeed several soloists and coryphees in a spectacular wedding divertissement in the third act. All were good and it is perhaps unfair to name names but my eye was caught by Matthew Broadbent.   I am sure the public will see a lot of him in the next few years.

The final ingredient of the success of the work was Jerome Kaplan's set and costumes working skilfully projected with the lighting team. Surf, for example, was represented by the hems of the girls' skirts as they entered silently onto the stage in the prologue and left silently at the end. The waves and eddies of the sea by ingenious photography or lighting that suggested photography.

All very well but this is supposed to be an intellectual property blog not an arts paper I hear my readers say. Well so it is and here is my IP lesson. Before the show an announcer warned the audience not to take any photos or movies with phones or cameras. Why? Because this ballet was a performance falling within Part II of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 and performers rights are infringed by any fixation (that is to say recording) without their consent.  Bootlegging - filming and taping on an industrial scale - is actually an offence under the Act as well as an infringement of the  dancers' economic and moral rights.

Northern Ballet's Ondine is at the Quarry Theatre in the West Yorkshire Playhouse until tomorrow.

Ballet and Intellectual Property - my Excuse for reviewing "Beauty and the Beast"

One of my passions is ballet. In a funny sort of way I owe my career in intellectual property to ballet because I discovered Lincoln's Inn while looking for free parking within walking distance of the Royal Opera House one matinee.

There are some connections between intellectual property and ballet which I discussed in some detail in "Cracking Nuts - Copyright in Choreography". That article was my excuse to review David Nixon's "Nutcracker" in my IP North West blog on 24 Nov 2011. As Yorkshire folk don't like to read stuff that's been served up before I have to think of something new now. Having squeezed the Massine v de Basil lemon dry in my other article I've decided to review Northern Ballet's "Beauty and the Beast" which I saw at The Grand Theatre in Leeds last night. I shall also mention some of the company's services to Yorkshire business as well as some of things that Yorkshire business can do for Northern Ballet.

Beauty and the Beast is not an easy story to choreograph. Scottish Ballet had a go with Thea Musgrave's score many years ago. I reviewed for "Aien" (St Andrews University student newspaper) when it was premiered at The King's Theatre in Edinburgh in 1969. Ballet Cymru also seems to have had a version in its repertoire. Another link with IP, incidentally, since Ballet Cymru is based in Newport, the same town as the Intellectual Property Office. And, of course, there is the Birmingham Royal Ballet's version. But none of those versions has ever achieved the popularity of works like Coppelia, Giselle, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake. Will David Nixon's version do any better? The answer is that I am just not sure.

Beauty and the Beast has an awkward story line with two sets of main characters:

• Prince Orian who gets turned into a wild beast; and
• a King Lear type figure with three daughters (one of whom is "Beauty") who are turned out of their house by the bailiffs as a result of the girls' extravagance and end up in an old bus in a forest where the old man gets mugged by the beast.

There are also strong roles for good and wicked fairies and the beast's steward. There's also a mishmash of music from Bizet, Poulenc and Saint-Saëns. No wonder my companion (a considerable artist in her own field) and I asked ourselves what was going on in the interval.

Beauty and the Beast is also a very big ballet demanding a very big stage for Duncan Hayler's set. The Grand is an intimate theatre not ideally suited for ballet and its stage did not do it justice.

As for Nixon's choreography the first two acts reminded me of early McMillan - works like Anastasia which are not performed very often nowadays for a reason. But the last Act reminded me of Balanchine and I think it was that Act which saved the ballet. The pas de deux between Beauty - danced exquisitely by Martha Leebolt - and the beast showed just what the choreographer can do. Also impressive were Victoria Sibson and Hannah Bateman who danced the fairies, Hironeo Takahashi, the beast's servant and the coryphées, Michela Paolacci, Ayana Kanda, Christie Duncan and Isabella Gasparini who were four sprites. The last Act of the ballet could well stand as a work in its own right. I hope to see that Act many times again but I would happily skip the first two acts with its old bus and bailiffs.

Before I turn to Northern Ballet's business services and how to sponsor a dancer, I should mention I-Candy, a gorgeous confiserie, patisserie and ice cream parlour a few doors down and on the same side of the road. My friend had one of their waffles with hot white chocolate and I had some chocolate cheesecake thereby undoing all the good work in the gym a few hours earlier. Well it is Christmas.

Now back to business. Northern Ballet's building can be hired for conferences, exhibitions and even a Girl Geek dinner. Are you listening Imran? You'd have a sell out. Here's a video about the place.


Businesses can also sponsor the company as a whole or indeed individual dancers. You will need a good IP lawyer for that. I shall certainly sponsor a dancer just as soon as I can. I hope that some of my readers - especially my patent and trade mark agent clients - will do the same.

Happy New Year folks.