Offshore Europe - a confidentiality free zone?

The temptation to showcase your business to the tens of thousands of international delegates visiting the biennial Offshore Europe event is understandably colossal.

However, in the current climate where technology has never been more important, putting the right protections in place to safeguard your business should be a priority: ultimately ensuring you’re well placed to stand apart from your competitors and tap into what is a massive commercial opportunity.

Showcasing new technology

There is a natural conflict between exhibiting and maintaining commercial confidentiality.

After all, research and development departments don’t have open days for good reason; yet we accept our competitors as well as our clients will visit us at shows such as Offshore Europe.

Technology is rightly high on the energy sector’s agenda, but speed to market shouldn’t be your only competitive advantage, and events such as Offshore Europe can be a minefield when showcasing your latest innovations.

In the worst-case scenario - a patentable new product is prematurely launched into the public domain, losing a 20-year legitimate monopoly.

It makes no difference if you gather the world’s media for a speech by your president or have a ‘soft launch’ by putting your innovation at the back of your stand. If passing delegates can see it (and they will, and take a photo of it – whatever the rules say) then likely there is no going back.

In such situations, whilst it might be too late to involve your UK attorney, there may be potential to still file a patent in certain overseas jurisdictions.

Filing a UK patent on the very day you made public disclosure might also be possible, but even with a patent attorney on speed-dial there remains a major problem.

Company name

So what if you have no patentable products to exhibit?

What about your new company name instead?

Has a filing date for trade mark registration been established, for example?

You wouldn’t be the first delegate to play “name snap” between exhibitors. Does “GE” stand for General Electric or Golden Eagle where you come from?

Deciding whether or not to seek an emergency court order whilst the show is running can prove a huge distraction!

Would the media be sympathetic to the corporate victim or the ‘innocent’ infringer?

Would you win?

It’s a conundrum for the media relations department as well as the lawyers.

Copyright protection

What about copyright protection?

Does your marketing collateral carry the copyright symbol, the year and the name of the copyright owner?

These features aren’t essential to claim copyright protection in the UK, but Offshore Europe is an international show.

Likewise there is no copyright registry in the UK, but there is in the USA.

Just before you pick up a brochure think about the photos in it. Copyright and moral rights arise out of photography: the moral right is the right to be acknowledged as the creator/photographer of the work.

Now, the photographer can waive his or her moral rights, and your engineer-turned-amateur-photographer hopefully won’t complain, but what about the client on whose platform the picture was taken?

Your master services agreement may well have prohibited any photography without the client’s consent.

The fact your client is now represented two aisles away from your stand is suddenly a mixed blessing!

Off the record?

As for confidentiality, it’s safest to assume all conversations on the stands are not confidential.

We can document non-disclosure agreements between principals, but anonymous delegates passing in their hordes can leave your company potentially exposed.

Some exhibitors have the benefit of private booths, and lawyers have been known to spend entire shows documenting deals in them.

However, whether it’s back-stage, out-front or in the restaurant, confidential negotiations are best kept outside the exhibition halls.

There’s no doubt many deals are announced at shows; however, the vast majority are really signed well in advance, with the announcement held back until maximum coverage - and a captive audience - can be secured.

Taking the time to have these vital protections in place, such as trademarks or patent applications in time for major events such as Offshore Europe will protect your business and safeguard your new technology.

In turn, this means you make the most of this significant commercial opportunity with tens of thousands of delegates under one roof: differentiating your business in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

To find out more, drop by and see us at stand 2C20.