Spring Fair, Autumn Fair, Top Drawer, PLMA: for anyone in the gift, home and stationery industry, the exhibition calendar is where deals get done.

It's also, whether exhibitors realise it or not, the moment their brand and designs are most exposed. A crowded hall full of buyers, retailers and competitors is exactly the environment where a great new product catches someone else's eye, and not always for the right reasons.

At National Business Register Group (NBR), we spend our time helping businesses protect the names, logos and designs they've worked hard to build.

Before the show

Do The Groundwork Before the Show, Not After

The biggest mistake we see isn't a rival copying a product, it's a business exhibiting a name, logo or design before it's actually protected, then discovering someone else has registered something similar.

A quick search of the trade mark and design registers before you commit to a stand name, product line or logo can save months of dispute later.

If you're launching something new at the show, try to get your trade mark or registered design application filed before the doors open, not after. Once your trade mark is registered, you can display the ® symbol in connection with the goods and services covered by the registration. It can also act as a visible deterrent to would-be copyists and brand imitators.

Know what you've got

Know The Difference Between "Protected" and "Protectable"

Original designs often benefit from automatic IP protection through copyright and/or unregistered design rights, although the level of protection varies.

Overall, it's weaker and harder to enforce: you would generally need evidence showing that your design existed first and that the competing design was derived from, or copied from, your work rather than created independently.

Unlike unregistered rights, a registered design generally does not require you to prove copying. The key question is whether the competing design creates a different overall impression on the informed user.

There is a 12-month grace period after you first show a design publicly, at an exhibition, online or anywhere else, during which you can still file for registration without losing novelty. This grace period preserves your ability to seek registration, but it does not prevent competitors from seeing and attempting to imitate the design in the meantime.

On the show floor

Brief Your Stand Team

Your team on the stand are your first line of defence, so make sure they know:

Beyond trade marks and designs

Don't Accidentally Lose Confidential Information

Trade marks and designs are only part of the picture.

If your product incorporates a unique manufacturing process, formula, technical specification or sourcing method, that information may be best protected as confidential information or a trade secret.

If sensitive details need to be disclosed to manufacturers, distributors or development partners, consider using a suitable confidentiality agreement before sharing them.

When you get home

After The Show

Once the stand's packed away, keep a dated record of everything you exhibited: photos of the stand, sketches, prototypes, catalogue copies, even for designs you haven't formally registered.

This article was provided by HGA member National Business Register Group (NBR). Additional HGA notes have been included to help members put the advice into practice when preparing for their next trade show.