Dids Macdonald, CEO of Anti Copying in Design (ACID) and a Liveryman and Second Assistant of The Furniture Makers’ Company, has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in Her Majesty’s Birthday Honours for her services to the design industry.
David Dewing, Master of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers said: “We are delighted to hear the news of such an honour for Dids, which is well deserved as she has been totally dedicated to the cause of anti-copying for many years, campaigning for change which culminated recently in the new IP Act going through Parliament.
“British investment in design must be protected, for the furnishing industry as well as others. Our designers are among the best in the world and copying is one of the biggest threats they face to their business. Dids and her organisation ACID are to be commended for the work they do to combat copying.”
Dids Macdonald commented: “I am immensely proud of this recognition and honoured to be awarded an OBE. This highlights the importance of intellectual property which underpins all successful design brands, of which there are so many within the furnishing industry. I am determined to continue to raise awareness about ACID’s ongoing campaign ‘Commission it, Don’t Copy it’.”
Dids was a partner in a successful small company designing and producing decorative accessories, but with success came blatant copying every time a new product was launched and she nearly lost her business several times.
She spent considerable time fighting off the copyists and then co-founded a voluntary based round table action group in 1996 called Anti Copying in Design (ACID) to create a plan to help small “Davids” conquer global Goliath copyists. At the time (1996) there was no organisation to help designers protect their intellectual property.
ACID is now recognised as the leading UK design and Intellectual Property (IP) organisation, helping thousands of designers to protect their intellectual property through IP awareness.
After ACID’s 15-year campaign, history was made on 1 October 2014 when the IP Act became law. The intentional infringement of a registered design is now a criminal offence.
