Wednesday 11 April 2018

Welcome to NIPC Cornwall

St Piran's Flag
Author Jon Harald Søby
Licence Reproduced with kind permission of the author
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Jane Lambert

In Commercial Exploitation of Space: Space Industry Act 2018 10 April 2018 NIPC Law, I discussed the government's aim as set out in its Industrial Strategy white paper for the rapid expansion of the British space industry. If the government succeeds, one of the regions that should benefit more than most will be Cornwall. That is because the Goonhilly earth station is already located in Cornwall and there are advanced plans to develop Cornwall Airport Newquay into a spaceport (see Spaceport Cornwall).

A spaceport is a facility for the launch and/or receiving of spacecraft (see What is a spaceport on the Spaceport Newquay website). S.10 and Schedule 1 to the Space Industry Act 2018 specify a number of requirements for the licensing of spaceports and these are likely to be supplemented by regulations made under the Act. It is therefore likely to be a number of years before a licence can be obtained for space vehicles to be launched from Newquay.  Nevertheless, there is already a cluster of aerospace businesses around the airport according to the Aerohub website and there is plenty of room for expansion after a licence to operate a spaceport is obtained.

Aerospace is not the only advanced technology in Cornwall.  According to Tech Nation a digital cluster has formed in the Redruth and Truro area which is described as "small" but "increasingly mighty".  In addition to such obvious advantages as a relatively mild climate and the outstanding beauty of the coast and countryside offering a high quality of life Cornwall benefits from improving broadband connections delivered by Superfast  Cornwall and a developing educational and research infrastructure provided by the Combined Universities in Cornwall.

Those universities in conjunction with the heritage and tourist industries have also facilitated the development of a strong creative sector in sector covering everything from software development to the performing arts and indeed their interface in the digital arts.  Arts Council England has invested in a number of projects in Cornwall as can be seen from the South West England pages of its website.

Finally, it should not be forgotten that although Cornwall's traditional agricultural, fishing, maritime, mining technology and tourism industries have been challenged over the years never disappeared. Business in those industries continue to innovate and flourish as a result.

All that activity leads to intellectual assets that require legal protection and effective management  and that is where I come in. For most of my career I have advised startups and other small businesses in the North of England how to protect and make money from their investment in branding, design, technology and creative works and represented then in negotiations and proceedings in the courts and Intellectual Property Office. In 2013 I moved to London from where I offer those services to small and medium enterprises everywhere including Cornwall. The purpose of this blog is to advise and assist businesses in Cornwall and their professional advisers on legal issues that may affect them.

Anyone wishing to explore those issues or intellectual property or technology law generally should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

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