The British Library Inventors' Club

British Library
Author Jack1956  Public Domain  Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

I am delighted to report that the British Library has set up an "Inventors Club". and I wish its organizers and members every success,  The Club meets on the last Monday of every month. The next meeting will take place between 18:00 and 19:30 on 29 April 2024. According to the Eventbrite registration card, there will be talks by innovators who have already brought their products to market or have licensed their intellectual property,   The organizers are Mr Bob Lindsey who set up and chaired an inventors' club in Kingson and Mr Mark Shehan who has been the British Library's "inventor in residence",

I have written a longer article about this initiative in NIPC London.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 or message me through my contact page.

No Invention Left Behind - Making Money from an Invention

Author SimonTrew
Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 
Source Wikimedia Commons

Jane Lambert

If you are an independent inventor - that is to say, an inventor not employed in a capacity in which you are likely to create an invention - there are two ways by which you can profit from your  invention. One is by manufacturing and marketing the invention yourself as Percy Shaw did with cats' eyes (see Well at least a Yorkshireman invented Cats' Eyes 20 July 2014 IP Yorkshire). The other  is by licensinBIPCCase for Inventor Academies 27 Jan 2018.

As many of the inventors I see in my IP clinics or at local inventors' clubs are of a certain age  it should be noted that a lot of help is available for older people who wish to open businesses. The European Commission recognizes that senior citizens are increasingly interested in becoming entrepreneurs and is exploring how to benefit from the knowledge and skills of seniors, and how to ensure that they are able to go into business for themselves (see the Senior entrepreneurs page on its website). The Commission has published a Senior Entrepreneurship Good Practices Manual which presents 24 good practice examples from around the EU including the UK.  One of the more interesting initiatives mentioned in the manual is the Latvian Inventors Association's mentoring scheme.

Licensing or assigning an invention is often seen as an easier option than going into business but that is not always or perhaps even usually the case.  Someone with an established business has to be persuaded to set up a new production line and distribution channel for a product that he or she did not invent. Such a person will require a lot of persuasion especially if the inventor has no knowledge, experience or status in the industry. The established business owner will require the inventor to show the owner how the business will benefit from the invention which means that the inventor will often have to do much the same business planning and market research for a licensee as he or she would do for him or herself.

This is the third of a series of articles entitled "No Invention Left Behind". The others are The Case for an Inventor Academies and the WIPO's Inventor Assistance Programme. The next will be on the IP law that every inventor should know.  Should anybody wish to discuss this article or invention generally, he or she should call me on 020 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact form.

Animated Advice from across the Pond

Standard YouTuve Licence


Jane Lambert

In Animated Advice 18 March 2016 NIPC News I introduced readers to some animations published by the Intellectual Property Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization and others. One of the films I mentioned was the IPO's IP BASICS: Should I get a patent?

Today I want to share with you an even more helpful animation published by the US Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") so long as you bear in mind that the USA is a different country, with different institutions and different laws. However, the United States like the United Kingdom is party to a number of international agreements such as the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS") which requires each country's intellectual property laws to be broadly similar.

Here are also some points to bear in mind for British readers:

• The USPTO is the place to start for inventors in the USA because it is the intellectual property office for that country but inventors in this country can start either at the Intellectual Property Office in Newport (look you) or the European Patent Office in Munich ("there's lovely for you!" as they say in Wales).
• Our law does not expressly define an invention though it does list a number of things that can't be patented as such like computer programs or methods of doing business which are not specifically excluded in US law. Also, we cut out some of the verbiage like "machine" or "composition of matter." Basically, an invention can be patented on this side of the Atlantic if it is a product or process.
• One reason why I really like this animation is that it advises inventors to consider writing a business plan and carry out some market research. I've been ramming that message home in my IP clinics, talks to inventors' clubs and blogs for years. Here is just one of my articles: "Why every business plan should take account of intellectual property" 3 Apr 2016 NIPC News.
• The places where you can get help with your invention in this country would be the Business and IP Centres at the British Library next to St Pancras Station in London and the central libraries of Birmingham, Exeter, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Manchester, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich and Sheffield. Those libraries are also part of a wider network of public libraries that are associated with the EPO called PatLib. If you study the list you will find help available in Aberdeen. Belfast, Glasgow, Plymouth and Portsmouth.  We no longer have anything quite as good as Business USA.gov in this country but we do have the Business and Self-Employed pages of the gov.uk website. Also, you can call me on 020 7404 5252 any time during business hours and I can point you in the right direction.
• As in the USA, you can apply to the IPO or EPO for a patent without instructing a patent attorney but I would strongly advise you against it.  I know patent attorneys don't come cheap but there are funding schemes here to help you (see How Small Businesses can fund IP Advice and Representation 3 Sept 2016 NIPC News). By the way, the terms "patent agent" and "patent attorney" mean different things in the USA. There, a patent attorney means a lawyer specializing in IP but a patent agent is a non-legally qualified professional who prosecutes patent applications. Here, the terms patent attorneys and patent agents are used interchangeably. Patent attorneys in the UK are members of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys which used to be called the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents until a few years ago. Finally, the expression "pro se" is not used in this country. Those who apply for patents without the help of patent attorneys are usually referred to as "unrepresented applicants". 
• In this country, we don't have "utility", "design" or "plant patents" as such but we do have registered and registered Community designs (for the time being) and EU and national plant breeders' rights  (see Jane Lambert Protecting Investment in New Plant Varieties 4 May 2016 LinkedIn). What Americans call "utility patents" are simply "patents" here.
• There is no call centre in Newport or Munich like the Inventors Assistance Center but both the IPO and EPO publish guidance for unrepresented applicants on their websites and the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, Ideas 21 and I hold free consultations with an IP professional at towns and cities around the UK. Check out CIPA's IP Clinics page and Ideas 21's regular advice sessions in London. Mine are held in Barnsley on the second Tuesday of every month and you can book your appointment through the BarnsleyBiz Surgeries page.

Wherever you are in the country, you can call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

PatLib Libraries in the UK

Manchester Central Library

Author habiloid  Licence CC BY-SA 2.0  Source Wikipedia Commons

Jane Lambert

Yesterday, the Intellectual Property Office published an updated guide to PatLib (patent library) centres in the United Kingdom. These libraries are part of a European network of over 320 patent information centres that provide information on patents and other intellectual property rights to the public.

There are now 15 PatLib libraries in this country, the latest being Hull and Northamptonshire Central Libraries. The others are at Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool. Llandudno Junction, London. Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Sheffield.

As well as offering access to Espacenet and other on-line databases, many libraries offer other services such as searches, patent clinics, watch services, workshops and seminars and inventors clubs. The services offered by each British library are listed in the guide.

The Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield central libraries are linked to the British Library in a national network of Business and IP Centres. This network is sponsored by the Arts Council of England, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Intellectual Property Office. Last week I attended the opening of Sheffield Business and IP Centre and wrote about it in Sheffield Business and IP Centre Launch 24 Jan 2015 IP Yorkshire.

Inventors, entrepreneurs, business owners and others who are not close to a Business and IP Centre or a PatLib library can nevertheless benefit by subscribing to the British Library's Business and IP newsletter and joining its Linkedin and Facebook groups.

Further Reading

29 Jan 2015 Northamptonshire Central Library joins the PatLib Network IP East Midlands
24 Jan 2015 Sheffield Business and IP Centre Launch IP Yorks
17 Jan 2014 Alternatives to Invention Promotion Companies
2 Jan 2015  Putting IP at the Heart of Your Business Plan   4-5 IP
2 Sept 2014 Sheffield Inventors Welcome Joyce Gray  IP Yorks
15 Aug 2014 Sheffield Business and IP Centre IP East Midlands
18 Oct 2013 Where to get free basic Information on Intellectual Property IP South East
14 Oct 2013 Business and IP Centre National Network IP Yorks
21 July 2013  Finding the Right IP Advice IP North West
10 July 2013 Practising the Dark Arts in Leeds and Sheffield - roll up to be enlightened IP Yorks
6 Mar 2013 Enterprise and Libraries: a New National Network of Business & IP Support
5 Oct 2012 Organizations that Inventors in Manchester should know about IP North West
21 Jan 2012 BIPC Newcastle
15 Aug 2011 Inventors Resources in Northern Ireland
2 Apr 2011 Resources for Inventors in South East England
21 Mar 2011 Business Support Update
23 Jan 2011 Resources for Inventors in Yorkshire and the Humber
5 Dec 2010 Resources for Inventors in North West England
26 Oct 2010 Resources for Inventors in North East England
21 Oct 2010 Local Enterprise Partnerships begin to take Shape
2 Mar 2006 Liverpool Inventors Club
15 Jan 2006 New Leeds PatLib Library Website

BIPC Newcastle

Newcastle City Library

Author UserUltra7  Licence Public Domain  Source Wikipedia Commons

Jane Lambert

On 26 Oct 2010, I blogged an announcement by Mark Preece MP of a new collaboration between the British Library, NESTA, Newcastle City Library and Northumbria University for a new Business and IP Centre in Newcastle along the lines of the British Library's Business and IP Centre in London (see Jane Lambert "Resources for Inventors in North East England"). I am pleased to say that the Centre is now open at Newcastle City Library, and it has a website and Twitter feed.

The home page of the website claims to be the "only dedicated Business and Intellectual Property Centre outside London". Leeds Business and Patents would be entitled to argue with that. Like Leeds, the BIPC sets out to be  "a comprehensive one-stop-shop for the region’s business talent, offering everything from research materials to subscription database access; tailored 1:1 consultation sessions to the latest business journals."

The BIPC's resources include:

• A wide selection of business reference and lending books.
• Free factsheets and guides (including Trade Marks, Design, Copyright, Esp@cenet, Historical Patents Searching, Patent Information and IP protection)
• Current and backdated newspapers and journals including Management Today, Investors Chronicle, Trade International, Moneyfacts, Marketing, People Management and Contrax Weekly.
• A dedicated seating/study/networking area for business use.
• Display cabinets exhibiting successful case studies and historical patents journals.
• 2 x Apple Macs and 1 PC dedicated to business use.
• Business database subscriptions including Keynote, Cobra, Corporate Researcher and Which?
• A private interview room with PC/internet access.
• Interactive ‘Skills Swap’ networking board.

Resources available in the wider library include a 100-seat café with a terrace area, printing, photocopying, scanning and faxing facilities and free internet and Wi-Fi.   All good stuff.

The enterprise is a joint venture between the City and British Libraries, Newcastle Science City, Northumbria University, the Bdaily business network, some local solicitors and the Newcastle branch of a firm of patent and trade mark agents. Advertised services include assistance with business planning, patent, trade mark and design searches and skill training.  BIPC has an interesting programme of events starting with business coaching and a talk by Trevor Baylis on 24 Jan 2012. It plans to develop a range of services on the London model.

One thing that they do seem to lack in Newcastle is an inventors group like the ones in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield.   When I published my article in 2010, I received a number of enquiries and offers of help from inventors in the North East.  Our chambers would be very glad to help set up such a group in Newcastle if anyone would care to contact us on 0191 580 8090 or through our form.

The Library is open until 20:30 on Monday to Thursday.   It shuts at 17:30 on Friday and Saturday and 17:00 on Sunday.   Its address is 33 New Bridge St West, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AX.