Dids Macdonald is the Chief Executive Officer of ACID. ACID (Anti Copying in Design) is a membership organisation, committed to raising awareness and encouraging respect for intellectual property within individual and corporate social responsibility.

Macdonald has over 20 years experience within the design industry, initially running and owning a London based interior design practice and, latterly, as a partner in a global, niche market design and manufacturing company. Macdonald has a first hand knowledge of copying – she launched ACID as a result of her design-led products being consistently plagiarised. ACID began informally in 1996 as a round table discussion group of twelve trade associates, all of whom were concerned at the threats posed by intellectual property theft. In 1998 ACID developed into a trade organisation which now represents over 1000+ companies in the creative industries with a collective turnover of £3 billion.

Dids Macdonald is a regular contributor and speaker for various educational seminars and industry related forums discussing intellectual property issues. She is often approached as a spokesperson on main media, most recently on BBC’s Crimewatch and a contributor to the College of Law’s network TV educational programmes and lectures on design protection at many UK universities and colleges. Education is the cornerstone of ACID’s remit; Macdonald is passionate about raising awareness and IP education and believes that by simple communication of practical tips and information dispelling some of the myths surrounding intellectual property, the organisation can be a source of self-help to designers. “IP Education and awareness are key components to a robust preventative and deterrent anti copying strategy”.

Keynote presentations/speeches:

IP infringement in the Design Sector – OHIM European Design Experts Group held in Alicante, 2005
Design – Protect it, Or Forget it - ERA 2005, the World Design Congress, Copenhagen
Design Protection - Design Centre conference, Barcelona 2006
IP – Cost v Creativity – The Budget Squeeze – Hi Design, Stockholm 2006
Value your IP – Value Your Business – Excel Cruise & Ferry, London 2006
IP and Market Consequences - IGI’s annual global congress, Monaco, 2006
Combatting IP Theft – A Global Strategy – IGI’s annual global congress, Faro, 2007
Protect The Brand – Fighting the Copycats and Fakes - UK ASCBI Fashion Conference, London 2007 Handbags at Dawn - Copying at exhibitions and trade fairs, London 2008
Fighting the Fakes – Preventing Copying from Damaging Your Business, UKIPO, Coventry University 2008
presentation available on UKIPO website

In 2004 Macdonald launched ACID LOBBY, a lobbying group to represent designers and manufacturers, to put pressure on Government on four key issues, Legislative – the introduction of a new law of unlawful imitation and an improvement in exemplary damages; Moral – addressing the disparity between copyright and design right; Commercial – a National Design Mediation Scheme. In July 2007 Macdonald submitted a comprehensive submission in response to the government’s consultation on Damages. Despite pressure from ACID and The Alliance Against IP Theft The Ministry of Justice has still not published its recommendations! ACID LOBBY continues to be involved as a key influencer in the fight against intellectual property theft, in particular designs.

In 2003, 2004 and 2005 Design Week named Dids Macdonald as one of the top 50 contributors to design in the UK and in 2006 spearheaded ACID’s submission to the Gowers Report on the UK’s Intellectual Property Framework commissioned by The Chancellor. ACID’s “Educate to Protect” initiative was commended by Andrew Gowers in this report as a “private sector initiative” which “stood out as a good example of ways in which public and industry awareness about IP can be increased”. ACID continues in its search for a headline sponsor to fund this recommended initiative and broaden its scope.

Dids Macdonald is a CEDR Accredited Mediator and in Spring 2007 launched ACID’s new initiative and campaign “Mediation as a real alternative to litigation”. To date ACID’s 2000+ grass roots mediations to resolve copying complaints at exhibitions have demonstrated the power of mediation as an alternative to litigation. Less than 30% required further legal intervention. ACID’s national mediation scheme “Mediate to Resolve” was launched in April 2008 (more..) There have been nearly 400 settlements on behalf of ACID members with over £3 million pounds recovered in costs and damages, only three reached a final Court hearing