If you’re part of a startup, the sort of advice given by the professional services sector might not be what you want to focus on – you want to build an exciting product – but it is indispensable. Most people simply can’t get to where they need/want to be without the guidance of lawyers, accountants, tax specialists, and so on.
Often though, the support seminars held by these sorts of companies haven’t been devised with either technology or startups in mind, and you have to tease out the relevant information for …

A new scheme designed to help fledgling technology businesses secure a share of a £1 million equity funding pot has been launched by Birmingham City Council, with the support of Birmingham Science Park, Aston (BSPA).
In scenes that are likely to be reminiscent of television’s Dragon’s Den, budding entrepreneurs will pitch their ideas to a panel of senior figures from the city, in the hope of securing between £20,000 – £100,000. The fund, which will be managed  by Finance Birmingham, is targeted at start-up technology companies, including those that have qualified …

- Comment from Intellectual Property specialists and e4f sponsors Marks & Clerk Solicitors on European ruling on M&S vs Interflora keywords case -
Marks & Spencer and other companies which buy competitors’ trade marks as search engine keywords have suffered a blow in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), today. In its long-awaited ruling in the case between Marks & Spencer and Interflora, the CJEU ruled that purchasing another party’s trade mark as a keyword could infringe the trade mark proprietor’s rights.
The Court ruled that infringement occurs if …

Birmingham Science Park Aston’s entrepreneur programme attracts further funding
Members of Birmingham Science Park Aston’s (BSPA) specialist technology business incubator will receive a further boost thanks to the Birmingham office of financial and business advisory firm Grant Thornton.
The international firm is the latest organisation to sponsor BSPA’s Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) initiative, which provides start-up businesses working in the technology sectors with assistance and guidance to help them get their ideas off the ground.
The e4f incubator is open to technology start-up businesses and provides funding support, office space and access …

Brands given right to block their names from new .XXX domain: Comment from Intellectual Property specialists Marks & Clerk

The new .XXX domain – for which domain name applications open on the 7th September – has been designed for use by the adult entertainment industry (AEI), leading to fears that non-AEI brands might have their trademarks held to ransom as they seek to protect their brands from association with the AEI. In response to this, it has now been revealed that brand owners will be able to block their trade …