“This is one of our most exciting initiatives,” said Dscoop global chairman Chris Petro. The university is headed up by former Dscoop member John Tenwinkel as director. Tenwinkel began his career as an Indigo 3050 operator, working his way up to head up production at a number of US print businesses and holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in graphic communications management. Over the course of Dscoop EMEA2 this week Tenwinkel will be canvassing members on what sort of resources they would like the university to prioritise. Initially the university will focus on pulling together an online repository of information from a variety of sources – not just Dscoop – such as webinars, research analysis and white papers, grouped by disciplines such as management, production and sales. However, Tenwinkel hinted that in the future the university had grander ambitions and could ultimately offer qualifications and structured training delivered via webinars, face-to-face events, online resources and exams that could result in formal qualifications. Tenwinkel is in very early discussions with a number of educational institutions on their involvement with the university. He stressed that it was very early days and the focus at this stage was simply delivering valuable content to members globally. “We’re looking at qualifications, but we have to understand where the demand is first. When we talk about certifications we have to look at the whole industry and identify where there are overarching gaps. But at this stage it’s too early to talk about formal qualifications, this is just the start of the university’s incredibly exciting journey,” said Tenwinkel. The university is currently pulling together an advisory board to help identify the content needed and also advise on potential content partners from within print and also outside, as well as being ambassadors for the university. The university, which is sponsored by HP, plans to launch its online delivery platform around March 2014, in time for Dscoop9 in Orlando, Florida. As part of the soft launch at Dscoop EMEA2, the university will live stream seven sessions today and tomorrow (7 and 8 November), accessible to Dscoop members and colleagues within their organisations. The service will also include exclusive interviews with speakers and delegates and the streamed sessions will be archived post-event. The sessions featured will include keynotes from high-profile speaker Barrie Bramley on leaving the past behind and focussing on the future and Karim Rashid, a leading industrial designer, on how the future of design is digital. Other streamed conference content will include sessions on customer relationship management, taking personalisation to the next level, transitioning from offset to digital to cross media, building your business in the new economy, imaging trends and financial performance. “Nothing can replace actually coming...

The latest development in EFI and Durst’s patent feud, which dates back to 2007, follows a ruling in Durst’s favour earlier this year by the Düsseldorf District Court in relation to Durst’s German patent no. 10 2005 006 092. Durst chief executive Richard Piock told PrintWeek at the time that this ruling gave Durst the right to stop the sale of Vutek printers with white ink in Germany and claim a royalty from customers that purchased Vutek printers with white ink in the past four years. However, EFI filed a nullify action in the Federal Patent Court of Germany asking the court to invalidate the portions of the patent asserted against EFI on the grounds that what Durst claimed had actually been disclosed years before. EFI succeeded in an earlier legal dispute with Durst covering a “utility model” – a less rigorous form of intellectual property protection – for similar reasons after German courts in Mannheim and Karlsruhe held the “invention” to be invalid. On 23 October the Federal Patent Court agreed with EFI and invalidated substantial parts of Durst’s patent. Durst, which was unavailable for comment at the time of writing, has the right to appeal....

“This is one of our most exciting initiatives,” said Dscoop global chairman Chris Petro. The university is headed up by former Dscoop member John Tenwinkel as director. Tenwinkel began his career as an Indigo 3050 operator, working his way up to head up production at a number of US print businesses and holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in graphic communications management. Over the course of Dscoop EMEA2 this week Tenwinkel will be canvassing members on what sort of resources they would like the university to prioritise. Initially the university will focus on pulling together an online repository of information from a variety of sources – not just Dscoop – such as webinars, research analysis and white papers, grouped by disciplines such as management, production and sales. However, Tenwinkel hinted that in the future the university had grander ambitions and could ultimately offer qualifications and structured training delivered via webinars, face-to-face events, online resources and exams that could result in formal qualifications. Tenwinkel is in very early discussions with a number of educational institutions on their involvement with the university. He stressed that it was very early days and the focus at this stage was simply delivering valuable content to members globally. “We’re looking at qualifications, but we have to understand where the demand is first. When we talk about certifications we have to look at the whole industry and identify where there are overarching gaps. But at this stage it’s too early to talk about formal qualifications, this is just the start of the university’s incredibly exciting journey,” said Tenwinkel. The university is currently pulling together an advisory board to help identify the content needed and also advise on potential content partners from within print and also outside, as well as being ambassadors for the university. The university, which is sponsored by HP, plans to launch its online delivery platform around March 2014, in time for Dscoop9 in Orlando, Florida. As part of the soft launch at Dscoop EMEA2, the university will live stream seven sessions today and tomorrow (7 and 8 November), accessible to Dscoop members and colleagues within their organisations. The service will also include exclusive interviews with speakers and delegates and the streamed sessions will be archived post-event. The sessions featured will include keynotes from high-profile speaker Barrie Bramley on leaving the past behind and focussing on the future and Karim Rashid, a leading industrial designer, on how the future of design is digital. Other streamed conference content will include sessions on customer relationship management, taking personalisation to the next level, transitioning from offset to digital to cross media, building your business in the new economy, imaging trends and financial performance. “Nothing can replace actually coming...

The latest development in EFI and Durst’s patent feud, which dates back to 2007, follows a ruling in Durst’s favour earlier this year by the Düsseldorf District Court in relation to Durst’s German patent no. 10 2005 006 092. Durst chief executive Richard Piock told PrintWeek at the time that this ruling gave Durst the right to stop the sale of Vutek printers with white ink in Germany and claim a royalty from customers that purchased Vutek printers with white ink in the past four years. However, EFI filed a nullify action in the Federal Patent Court of Germany asking the court to invalidate the portions of the patent asserted against EFI on the grounds that what Durst claimed had actually been disclosed years before. EFI succeeded in an earlier legal dispute with Durst covering a “utility model” – a less rigorous form of intellectual property protection – for similar reasons after German courts in Mannheim and Karlsruhe held the “invention” to be invalid. On 23 October the Federal Patent Court agreed with EFI and invalidated substantial parts of Durst’s patent. Durst, which was unavailable for comment at the time of writing, has the right to appeal....

Sydney-based Plas Image and Perth-based Qualsign, both of which will continue to trade under their own names for the next 12-18 months, became Spandex group companies at the beginning of this month. Plas Image, which was founded in 2000 by Stan Vidaic, is a distributor of rigid materials and digital roll media. Qualsign, established by Merv Hopkins in 1995, is a distributor of aluminium composite sheets, cut vinyl and digital media and had an existing relationship with Spandex as a reseller of Arlon and Avery signage materials. Alex McClelland, managing director and vice president of Spandex Asia-Pacific, said: “In today’s business environment, we cannot stand still; the status quo is not an option. Real quality opportunities for acquisition do not come along that often and we were fortunate to find two this year that offered expansion into new product areas and adjacent markets. “The addition of highly experienced industry people is another positive as we begin the task of integration. While there are some inevitable parallels in our customer bases, for the main part, Plas Image and Qualsign bring new products that Spandex did not previously offer. We are delighted with these acquisitions and welcome staff and customers alike into the Spandex family.” McClelland added that Spandex would continue to look for suitable acquisitions to “further enhance our position in the market”....