Invention Con 2023 - Practical Advice for Inventors, Makers and Entrepreneurs from across the Pond

Author US Patent and Trademark Office Licence Standard YouTube Licence Source USPTP

Jane Lambert

An important difference between the United Kingdom and the United States lies in the public's appreciation of independent inventors. The life of an American inventor is not exactly a bed of roses as the story of the film Joy shows, but it is fair to say that independent inventors in the USA are encouraged in a way that British independent inventors are not.  One of the ways in which they are encouraged is an annual online conference called Invention-Con which I discussed in Invention-Con 2022: The US Patent and Trademark Office's Online Conference for Inventors, Makers and Entrepreneurs on 22 July 2022.

It will be obvious from the video clip above that another Invention Con has taken place since I wrote that article.   This time some of the proceedings have been recorded on YouTube.   They include:

• A welcome from Derrick Brent, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; 
• A welcome from Vaishali Udupa Commissioner for Patents, 
• Licensing your intellectual property;
• Branding and trademark protection;
• Sean Wilkerson, Robyn James and Eric Peterson: Turning passion to profits; and 
• Understanding Manufacturing.

All those clips are well worth watching.  Much of the information and advice would apply here though it has to be remembered that the USA is a different country with different laws, different institutions and a very different business culture.

In my article, I wrote:

"There is no reason why other countries (including ours) should not stage similar conferences. We do stage events like the British Invention Show but there is nothing like Invention-Con. There is a great need for practical advice on patent, design and trade mark prosecution, grant, equity and loan funding, setting up businesses and scaling up which Invention-Con appears to deliver."

For the last 20 years, I have founded and chaired inventors' clubs, given talks, run IP clinics and given practical advice to independent inventors in this and my other publications.  I think the time has come to consolidate these activities in one place.  I am assembling my articles and case notes into a single pdf manual which will be free to download.   I shall continue to canvass support for a British equivalent to Invention-Con.

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

Is China still the Best Place to outsource Manufacturing?

Author Daniel Case Licence CC BY-SA 3.0  Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

For the first 20 years after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, it was almost instinctive for small businesses in the UK to look to China to outsource their manufacturing. There were many reasons for that. Labour was relatively cheap.  Components and raw materials were abundant and locally sourced.  Freight costs were tumbling as the belt and road initiative unfolded.  There was even talk of London becoming "the Western hub of Chinese finance" (see HM Treasury and George Osborne Chancellor welcomes London renminbi clearing bank 18 June 2014).

As a result, much of my work was connected with China in one way or another.  I was asked to review and occasionally draft manufacturing agreements or licences with Chinese manufacturers.  I warned clients that their UK or European patents, trade marks or designs afforded no protection against in other countries and urged them to seek legal protection in their principal markets and sources of supply. Quite a few infringing products have been tracked to China, sometimes even by manufacturers that had made the outsourced product under licence.

I have noticed a significant drop in demand for legal services relating to China in the last 2 years and it is not hard to see why.  The Trump administration imposed tariffs on Chinese goods.  The British government restricted Chinese investment in infrastructure projects such as 5G telecoms and nuclear power.  Protracted lockdowns to suppress covid have interfered with production. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and sanctions on Russia have cut overland links to Western Europe.  Chinese labour is becoming scarce and hence more expensive as a result of the one-child policy.  Spiralling transport costs have eroded whatever price advantage remains. Concern over human rights and worries over a possible invasion of Taiwan has added to a change of attitude towards China.   It is hardly surprising that there has been a rethink on outsourcing to that country.

Of course, China remains an enormous market with a faster rate of growth than most countries even now.  The best way to supply that market remains through joint ventures with Chinese businesses or licensing.  But manufacturing in China to supply the UK or other European markets is ceasing to be feasible.  There are alternative outsourcing manufacturers in countries like India, Indonesia and Bangladesh but they are also a long distance away and the manufacturing sectors of Bangladesh and Indonesia are less developed.  At a time of rising costs, businesses that can supply their customers from shot supply chains enjoy an advantage.

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

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.