Nick Kounoupias has been the Chief Legal Counsel for Anti Copying in Design (ACID) for some years advising the organisation on the intellectual property aspects of design lobbying issues.

In 2014 he, together with ACID’s CEO Dids Macdonald, OBE., led the successful campaign on behalf of UK designers to recognise the intentional copying of registered designs as a criminal offence. In recognition of his contribution to the design industries Nick was appointed a Liveryman of the Worshipful Guild of Furniture Makers and a Freeman of the City of London.Nick is the founder and CEO of Kounoupias IP, a boutique Intellectual Property consultancy providing strategic guidance on IP and anti-piracy matters both within the UK and internationally.

Nick is an acknowledged pioneer in the international anti-piracy world, a UK solicitor and one of the best known names in the international anti-piracy world. He has practised across all the IP sectors since 1986 both in private practice and in house and during that time developed a formidable international reputation for his depth of IP knowledge and diverse strengths.

As one of the UK’s leading experts in anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting matters Nick is in huge demand for his thought leadership on IP issues and regularly contributes to IP journals, books and regularly provides professional training on IP at seminars and webinars. Nick has crafted and delivered many tailored training courses on anti-piracy and brand protection matters across the IP spectrum and presented these to Government, statutory enforcement bodies and industry.

He successfully lobbied for and helped draft the Copyright and Trade Mark (Offences and Enforcement) Act 2002 and the IP Act 2014 and for many years has passionately represented rights owners across the world campaigning for improvements to copyright, trade mark and designs laws. Nick is passionate about protecting intellectual property rights and is regularly instructed from all over the world to advise on IP issues and to provide strategic guidance and support to UK and international IP businesses, those involved in the creative industries, academic institutions, law enforcement and government agencies.

Nick is also a fully accredited mediator and has conducted several mediations in the IP arena. Amongst Nick’s many industry appointments are the following: founder and Vice Chairman of the Alliance for IP (previously the cross-industry Alliance against Counterfeiting and Piracy) , a Board Director of the Federation against Software Theft (FAST), Chief Legal Counsel to Anti-Copying in Design (“ACID”) and its representative at the legal group meetings of the Alliance for IP, a founder and regular participant and thought leader at the UK Government’s IP Crime Group, director of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group, and former Chair of its enforcement sub-committee, a founder and a former executive director of the cross-industry Copyright Hotline, and Chairman of the anti-piracy committee of the international music collecting society association BIEM