It’s conference season right now, so guess what? I have more slides for you! Last month I spoke at Social Gaming 2012, a conference bringing together the gambling industry and a few select figures from the interactive entertainment industry…including me. I was asked to give a presentation on the use and legal status of virtual… Continue reading The use and legal status of virtual goods and currency
Month: October 2012
The games tax break doesn’t mean Grand Theft Auto: Weston-Super-Mare!
Earlier today I wrote a quick update on where we are with the UK games tax break. A few well-intentioned Twitter followers of mine immediately joked that games being required to go through a ‘cultural test’ to gaint the tax break would result in red telephone boxes throughout games, etc etc. This is a bit… Continue reading The games tax break doesn’t mean Grand Theft Auto: Weston-Super-Mare!
The UK games tax break – a quick update
It’s been a while now since the UK government made the surprising but welcome announcement in March 2012 that it would introduce a tax break for the games industry. What’s happened since then? Consultations, consultations, consultations… The government announced that it would hold a consultation process with stakeholders, to be split into two parts. The… Continue reading The UK games tax break – a quick update
What you need to know about the UK patent box
My colleague Clare Nicholson of Osborne Clarke has put together a great presentation on the UK’s patent box regime – a tax efficient structure for holding patents in the UK. I thought you might find it interesting…
Spry Fox settles with 6Waves – does it matter?
Spry Fox and 6Waves have settled their legal dispute over allegations that 6Waves had cloned Spry Fox’s game Triple Town. News of the lawsuit received great attention and no small amount of oppobrium directed at 6Waves. News of the settlement has received similar fanfare. But does this really matter to the wider games or software… Continue reading Spry Fox settles with 6Waves – does it matter?
Small UK IP lawsuits get quicker and cheaper (in theory)
A long awaited development in UK civil procedure is due to make low value IP infringement claims quicker and cheaper. It is called the small claims track, it will be open for IP infringement cases worth less than £5,000 and it will be heard by the specialist Patents County Court. My friend Rosie Burbidge, a… Continue reading Small UK IP lawsuits get quicker and cheaper (in theory)
Don’t leave money on the (legal) table
When you’re contracting with someone else, think wider than your product’s immediate revenue stream potential. That’s what I want to write about in this post. We see too many contracts where the product owner is partnering up with another guy without thinking as far as he/she could about what the value they’re giving away. Let’s say… Continue reading Don’t leave money on the (legal) table