Dr Margaret Hartnett, an experienced European patent attorney, believes that creative companies who do not take early steps to product their intellectual property (IP) are putting future success at risk.

To help bring this advice to the UK's creative industries, she has brought together experts from companies like Google, Nokia and Sony for a two-day conference this September called Digital Spark. Topics covered include IP law for beginners, combating counterfeiting and protecting profits.

Dr Hartnett said: "For digital, creative businesses their value isn't in the traditional physical assets like goods, machinery and buildings. Up to 70% of their company value is intangible and they must be able to protect this.

"Understanding how the trademark and copyright systems work is crucial  to build a creative business, and create jobs and profits, you must take steps early to assert your ownership of your intellectual property. And you must be able to take legal action to challenge anyone infringing on this."

This major international conference is being launched just days after Culture Minister Ed Vaizey officially opened a £5 million investment project at Abertay, which is providing grants and business support to new creative businesses to build prototypes and attract private investment.

Dr Hartnett added: "To help business owners and managers from across the creative industries navigate the complexities of IP law, we've brought together internationally renowned experts.

"As well as major keynote speeches from Google, Nokia and Sony executives, we're running seminars with IP lawyers, and a morning of introductory sessions on the basics of IP law for anyone completely new to this essential area."

Running on September 1 and 2 at Abertay University, Digital Spark is a unique opportunity for creative and media companies to learn first-hand from international experts how to plan - and protect - the future success of their business.

For more information about the conference, and to register, please visit http://digitalspark.abertay.ac.uk/

Url: digitalspark.abertay.ac.uk