Hi all New to this forum but have read all the threads about these Dessault cases with great interest. I received the same email yesterday and would be grateful if someone could tell me what the outcome of their situation was given that over a year has passed since this discussion was active....are you all in prison? Or sold your homes to pay for a licence?! A little bit about my situation; I am a designer and have from time to time used Solidworks although it is not my default package hence the reason I couldn't afford to lump out the thousands they ask. I am a soletrader and only do this as part of my income, the rest of time is spent lecturing at a university. If pressured I would probably buy the basic license to get them off my back but I fear they will press for the full premium pack which is mega £££££. I certainly can't afford it at the moment. Any input would be greatly received, last night's sleep was restless to say the least.

Hi chaps. I know this is a few months on but I’ve supposedly received one of these emails from CHCJ and got a slightly different story. Im a designer who uses CAD (specifically Solidworks) regularly. However up until March this year, this usage was wholly on an employed basis under full license from the companies who employed me within their office premises. I have just set up on my own (as in - less than. 6 weeks ago) and after a bit of searching bought a second hand Solidworks machine I found on Gumtree which was loaded with what the chap assured me was a legit copy of Solidworks 2017 and 2018. (It’s perfectly normal to run these versions concurrently). As well as some ancillary software that runs alongside. I had always intended to get my own Solidworks licence - as I wanted to upgrade to 2019 anyway but obviously I tested the machine for a week or so to make sure it could handle what I needed and whether I needed to upgrade anything - I did, as it happened, and bought a hefty RAM Upgrade. (At this point I should note - just for detail that the machine is actually a high spec Mac Pro running windows on boot camp - I liked this idea as I also make music in my spare time and the opportunity to dual boot into a little studio set up was a big plus.) I then set up my emails etc. (The email is - I fear you’ll see this coming - linked to the business domain I own and have just set up) so it would be used in the office. However I then removed Solidworks and phoned up the local reseller in Cambridge to find out how light my wallet was about to get. - I know from experience you can buy a monthly license package which is slightly less eye watering. Brilliantly - they signed me up to this thing called the Solidworks entrepreneur programme which gives startups like me free Solidworks for the 1st year and a discount thereafter. Which I was accepted for and given a brand new temporary license that I installed on my newly clean system and a meeting set up with the reseller for next week (today) in order for him to visit my office and install a permanent version based on my needs. This is all seemed great until this Thursday I got a call from him saying that he’d been phoned by Solidworks to say that I wasn’t eligible for the programme because there was an ongoing piracy case against my company. I pressed him for more details and he said I should have received correspondence from the solicitor named in this thread in relation to allegations of using pirated software. Which I haven’t. - emails checked and checked again. He promised to phone back on Friday but didn’t. Im now terrified that I’ve used a pirated version of Solidworks on that machine - which will be linked to the domain and email i set up. - which has - like the other chap on this thread “design” in the name. And that I’ve just installed the license they gave me on the machine with the same MAC address and IP. I should mention that IF the versions which were already installed on the machine WERE pirated - then I can see no way of an unwitting user being able to tell. When the loading screen popped up after i clicked on the icon to launch Solidworks it read “verifying licenses” just as it should. I had no reason to think it wasn’t 100% kosher. Sorry for the ramble. Any thoughts? I can’t afford to pay for the whole thing in one hit. And the version on my machine was the top notch affair with about 6 different add-ons. I’ve literally just started my business and I’m terrified. I’ve got my first contract due to begin this week and as it stands I won’t be able to work.

Hi All, hopefully you can advise me on a sticky spot I’ve just landed in. I’ve had what I believe to be a perfectly genuine threat-o-gram from a firm of solicitors representing Dessault Systems, makers of the Solidworks CAD package. They’ve correctly identified that I’ve used their software without a licence, but erroneously connected it with my very small business operation for which I own a domain and sell a few bits and pieces online. I manage my website, email etc on the same PC that on which I have Solidworks installed. The two uses are wholly independent. I’ve seen the template letter on the CAB website and will be sending off a request for them to comply with Pre-action protocol and prove when I used it. They probably can (whether they do or not remains to be seen). What they most definitely can’t do is connect it to my small business, other than via my ISP. They’ve put 2 and 2 together and come up with 5. I would like to add something to this effect in my response - asking them to prove I used it for my business and pointing out that they will find this impossible. What do you think? Thanks in advance

Contravention date was the 12/3/2014 and I can barely remember at chichester college West Sussex , I’ve received a letter from zzps on behalf of Ethical parking management stating “notice of intended legal collections £150 debt unpaid” and they have given me 14 days. Contravention details: vehicle not parked in designated area. All I have is this letter, I was most likely issued a ticket at the time but I do not have it now and I have no other correspondence other than this. Am I really going to have to pay this? All tho blood out of a stone comes to mind. Any help would really be appreciated. Thank you.

I am writing on behalf of a friend. I do apologise if this is within the wrong thread. My friend is a designer of a certain range of garments. She has a very particular signature style across her designs and has been in business designing such products since 2014. I understand the garment itself and its construction isn't copyrighted, however, her designs, which include texture, layout, colour and overall feel are protected automatically as the creator, is this correct? It has recently come about that several new competitors have entered the market and have been copying and/or deriving designs from the original designs my friend has created. These designs are so close in comparison, that it could be easily misrepresented as one of hers and therefore damage her reputation, not to mention the financial loss. A cease and desist letter was sent to all parties, however, this has so far been unsuccessful. I contacted each of them posing as a customer and asked that they might recreate one of her very best designs for me, and I got a resounding "yes of course, it'll cost xxxx". This clearly show that the competitor in question has no moral issue with the blatant copying of other people's intellectual property, and I wonder what rights my friend would have to fight this. My concern is that if the competitor realises that nothing can be done, this will give her more reason to then continue copying and potentially get even worse in a bid to annoy. What is the best course of action for such a case? Obviously my friend owns the right to her style and there are laws that are to protect her, however, with costs and such, it's a sticky position.

Hi. I have created a deck of Tarot cards using graffiti images, based primarily on the art work of Banksy. The images are all from publicly viewable graffiti, as opposed to the recent 'Dismaland' exhibition in Weston-Super-Mare, which was purpose built and required an entrance fee to view it. All the work I've used is unofficially attributed to Banksy, although there's no way of knowing this for certain. Public graffiti, nomatter how popular the artist, is classed as criminal damage and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years upon conviction. My question is this... if I were to commercially produce such a deck of cards, would I be opening myself to legal action? I have tried to send messages to Banksy asking for permission, but there's been no reply as yet. Any profits from such a venture are to be donated to a social welfare charity.

Hi peeps, here we go again. Every year there seems to be something, even though been trying to keep my head down low! So I need some advice. Last year (1 year 7 months ago) I purchased a domain for a potential get back "into work business", I purchased the domain name based on personal experience and the service provided. I checked IP search and at the time there was "no trademark" nor application for one. I had no trouble securing the domain I wanted. Upon developing the website I noticed another website with a similar plural version of my domain name although a different TLD. The website was not providing the same service but providing a connection between people such as myself and those who wanted people such as myself. A portal. Plural and Singular domains often coexist, and as our services were different although in similar area, I didn't think anything more of it. End of this May, I received a personal email basically telling me I had infringed on their IP due to complaint/confusions, that I set up the website in "bad faith" claiming I am "passing off" against their name and threatening court which will be extremely costly to me. I responded immediately, reasons I was denying this claim and that this claim appeared to be an attempt at "reverse domain name hijacking". Nonetheless, I offered a compromise of a disclaimer, and if this was not acceptable to consider alternatives that would satisfy them. I didn't hear anything back from them, until few weeks ago just prior to going on the first holiday in 8 years. Literally few days before. I was setting up a market stall on a Sunday morning in town, when a man came up to me and said you have been served regarding a domain you own. I was so shocked! Basically a package with letter, form to sign on my own headed paper, and images of my website, twitter and facebook and theirs. It was from a solicitors in London now acting on behalf of the man who contacted me initially. They are very prestigious by all accounts. Their claim infringement of IP and demanding I hand over my domain to them immediately and sign the paper to the affect I would remove my fb and twitter account, not set up another similar sounding website or (and this is what got me) any variations and pay costs. (front page said if I did this by x time they would waver costs). I contacted an IP lawyer who gave a free initial consultation, sent him docs, and he felt that yes they had a case but I also had one and that it was going to cost me at least £600 to start the process of rebuttal. Well, I didn't have that kind of money. My holiday was a birthday present from my family and not wanting to dampen my holiday, I wrote back saying I had prearrangement and i would get legal advice upon my return, but as a gesture of good will I would put a disclaimer on my website, and deactivate (not delete) my fb and twitter accounts in the interim. They wrote email and letter back saying the noted the deactivation and have given me till 5th Dec. So, here I am. Been doing lots of research on their alleged intellectual property rights. They first applied to trademark in oct 13 months after I had set up site, but it was in response to someone else trying to get trademarks, they opposed it, and managed to get the other parties application over turned, however their own application was withdrawn (due to non payment of second fee). They then applied for a EU trade mark with an image of their website name, it's in the publishing stage, but they also are trying to get that name IP (uk) and that's in the examination stage. So technically, they don't own the trademark of that name, yet. They have a case under "common law". Sorry it's long and not to bare my predicament any longer, just wondering how I should tackle this? I am happy to remove website (as I have had no client so far via it) for out of pocket expenses (realistic wise) and set up with a new domain however suggesting this may be deemed as my intention which it most certainly was not! I feel their demands of signing to any variants is unreasonable without stating what those variants are, due to the descriptive and generic nature of the service, and area they could oppose me at every turn. Would truly appreciate any help and advice, thought tackling Barclays was hard enough but this is way out of my league!

Hi to all I have been legally parking my taxed,mot'd and insured vehicle on a public road which is a cul de sac as it has public access to a small wood where I walk my dog. The residents (mostly retired people) have a dislike of people parking on their street I've even suffered abuse shouted even though I'm simply going about my law abiding business and there is public access at the end of it and the vehicles are legally parked and not restricting their access in any way. Today I noticed new signs have been installed saying "ROAD USE HOUSEHOLDERS ONLY" they appear to be legit council signs, there is no info of any fines/punishments should a non resident park on this public road or have any double/single yellow lines been painted. Any ideas as to what my legal position is should I decide to park my vehicle for an hour while I walk my dog?. Is this sign even legal as I see this as an infringement of my civil liberties I pay road tax, this is a public road I should have every right to legally park on this road. Your thoughts would be very welcome

Hi, Apologies if this is not in the right section I did try looking and have ended up posting it here. I have been associated with a name and have been using this name on a public scale. Now recently someone has patented the name and lodged a complaint to trading standards who have seized all my goods. I am challenging the patent on the terms of 'passing off' and creating a file. The IPO have said that it could be up to 8 months until a decision is made on the outcome of my complaint. Does anyone know whether trading standards can release my goods before this if I serve enough info to prove my common law rights to the name? The lady dealing with the case at trading standards seems in no rush and states that she may make her decision based on the decision of the IPO. In the meantime im loosing money and recognition as a business. As for trademark attorneys, I cant afford one as the costs are too much for me to afford. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks Mojo

Hi everyone, hoping someone can give a little advice. A friend of mine has just started a small hobby business selling hand-made cosy sacks for small pets. Lots of people make them and there are various online tutorials showing how to sew them etc. She sells them mostly via her facebook page, but also on eBay and Preloved. Over the last couple of days, she has been receiving angry messages on facebook and ebay from another seller who makes them demanding she remove hers from sale immediately. This seller claims her sacks are copyrighted and that my friend is infringing on her intellectual rights by making and selling them. Obviously this is silly as my friend's designs are not exactly identical and as I said before, many people make them for sale. The reason this nasty seller seems to be picking on my friend is because they have both used the same fabrics for some of their products. It turns out that they both live in the same area and are likely using the same store to buy their materials. A complete coincidence. Yesterday, the angry seller registered the copyright with some online company that gives you a fancy certificate and registration number. I know this means very little, as it's no proof that the work is hers, but she has now faxed a copy to eBay with the intent of getting my friend's listings pulled. She has also allegedly reported my friend's page to faceboook. Just now, my friend received an email from Preloved saying her advert had been removed due to this person's report. My friend is very upset and doesn't know how to defend herself from these attacks or protect her ads and listings on various sites. Does she have any grounds to get a solicitor involved? And is there any where she can get some free legal advice? She has been trying to call her local CAB all day, but the phone is constantly engaged. Thank you for any advice.