Innovate UK Funding

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Jane Lambert

The start of a new year is when many new businesses and projects within existing businesses are launched. Such initiatives usually need funding and an important source of funds is Innovate UK.  Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation ("UKRI") which was established by s.91 (1) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. Its website states that it "convenes, catalyses and invests in close collaboration with others to build a thriving, inclusive research and innovation system." 

Innovate UK connects businesses to partners, customers and investors that can help them turn ideas into commercially successful products and services and business growth.  Since its establishment, it has invested £2.5 billion in 8,500 organizations which investment is estimated to have created 70,000 jobs and added £18 billion of value to the British economy (see the "About Us" page of the Innovate UK website). A spreadsheet listing all Innovate UK's funded projects and some typical case studies can also be accessed through that site.

A good starting point for anyone seeking funding is Innovate UK's Guidance for Applicants page of UKRI's website.  The General Guidance page contains an overview and provides links to the following information:

• Funding opportunities
• Before you start an application
• Your application
• What happens after you have submitted your application
• What happens if you are successful
• Funding rules
• Categories of research and development
• Other funding opportunities, and
• Updates to general guidance.

The best way to learn about current funding opportunities is to sign up for Innovate UK's newsletter.   This month's edition contains news on the Made smarter innovation: sustainable smart factory, Automotive Transformation Fund expression of interest: round 17. Innovate UK smart grants: October 2021, NATEP helping SMEs innovate in aerospace and Early ideas to improve the delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics. There is also information on Small Business Research Initiative projects.

Established businesses can access assistance through their trade associations, local chambers of commerce, local enterprise partnerships in England, Business Wales in Wales and similar organizations in Scotland and Northern Ireland.  Individuals who are not yet in business should approach the British Library's Business and Intellectual Property Centre or its national network of local partners.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during normal office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Kalifa Review fails to mention Patents for FinTech Inventions

By James Gillray   Public Domain

 

Jane Lambert

This morning the government published the Kalifa Review of UK Fintech.  As I learnt my intellectual property law while working on the legal issues of chip and pin cards and finding ways to protect banking brands before service marks could be registered for VISA International in the 1980s and have followed the sector ever since FinTech is an area of law in which I feel entitled to claim expertise.

The report is 108 pages long in a magazine-style format.  It makes findings that I would expect such as Brexit, covid and competition being threats to the UK's competitive position as well as recommendations that FinTech company founders should be allowed to retain shares with enhanced voting rights after flotation that I found surprising.

One issue that I have found to be problematic in practice but which Kalifa did not mention at all was the exclusion of "a scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, or a program for a computer" as such from patentability by s.1 (2) (c) of the Patents Act 1977. Because of uncertainty as to whether a patent will be granted and if granted whether revocation proceedings. inventors ten to rely on trade secrecy which discourages collaboration and innovation.

Although the performance of the UK FinTech industry compared favourably to those of other European countries there were no direct comparisons with the performance of the sector in countries outside Europe. There were, however, oblique references such as the greater percentage of initial public offerings on exchanges in the USA which suggested that the US FinTech industry was significantly more successful than the UK's. One anecdotal reason for the greater success of the US industry is the absence of any equivalent to s.1 (2) in the US Patent Act.   Even without that exclusion, the Americans see quite capable of rejecting applications for patents that are not recognizable as inventions (see Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. 593 (2010)).

This is no mere griping.  Many of the most exciting developments in the technology have come from small businesses which are often one-man bands.  In the early days, founders rely heavily on investment from angels or private equity investors and they nearly always insist on some paperwork from the Intellectual Property Office before they open their cheque books. 

Despite these observations and reservations, the Kalifa report is well worth reading.   Anyone wishing to discuss it with me may call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact form.

InnovateUK to fund Innovative Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author: Innovatedigital Licence CC BY-SA 4.0

Jane Lambert

It is often said that the world will never be the same after the coronavirus pandemic. If that is true,. old ways of doing things may have to be abandoned and new solutions developed   To help businesses to develop such solutions, InnovateUK has announced a £20 million fund to invest in solutions to tackle new or emerging societal or industry needs in the wake of the pandemic.

Projects suggested by InnovateUK include:

• community support services
• couriers and delivery (rural and/or city-based)
• education and culture
• entertainment (live entertainment, music, etc.)
• financial services
• food manufacture and processing
• healthcare
• hospitality
• personal protection equipment
• remote working
• retail
• social care
• sport and recreation
• transport
• wellbeing.

Funding will take the form of a grant of up to 100% of the project costs which should be between £25,000 and £50,000.   Proposals must be submitted online no later than 12:00 on Friday 17 April 2020.

Further details including an application form can be found at Business-led innovation in response to global disruption (de minimise).

If you require any help in relation to intellectual property you can book a slot on my online IP clinic on 14 April between 16:00 and 18:00.  I am also giving a talk on IP for Makers at 17:30 on 15 April to which you would be most welcome.