Do we need a UIA in Britain?

The letters UIA stand for United Inventors Association. According to its website it is "a non-profit [organization] dedicated to inventor education and support." It delivers such education and support through videos, a blog, a monthly newsletter, internet radio station and other channels. The Association also registers local inventors clubs, accredits service providers and negotiates discounts for members from approved suppliers.

There are three grades of membership:

• Inventor;
• Club Member; and
• Premium.

Internet and club membership are free. Premium members pay an annual subscription of US$99. All members get the newsletter, list of friendly companies. discounts from service providers and the "Spot a Scam" video. Club members - that is to say, paid up members of affiliated clubs - get all the benefits of inventor membership plus a 5-part mini service and an invitation to a cocktail party at the "National Hardware Show". Premium members get a 10-part mini service, access to inventor resources and an opportunity to attend the filming of the "As seen on TV show" as well as the other benefits of club membership. According to the sponsorship page, there are over 10,000 members of the UIA.

Service providers can join as "silver", "gold" or "platinum medallion" sponsors. Silver medallion membership costs US$499, gold US$1,999 and platinum US$4,999. Sponsors appear to include lawyers, patent attorneys, publishers and many other professionals.

The UIA has a Code of Ethics which covers personal and professional integrity, governance, legal compliance, responsible stewardship and openness and disclosure. Any business that wishes to sponsor the the UIA must promise to operate in accordance with those ethics (see the eligibility criteria for sponsorship).

The strength of the UIA is that it plugs local inventors' clubs with a nationwide community. This gives it the numbers to negotiate discounts with service providers. It also enables each club to offer its members a much wider range of resources that it could possibly offer by itself. There is clearly a need for an organization like the UIA in this country.

Resources for Inventors in Yorkshire and the Humber

Yorkshire and the Humber consists of the metropolitan counties of West and South Yorkshire, the shire county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authorities of York, Kingston upon Hull, North Lincolnshire and North East England. Major cities include Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Hull and York. The region covers just over 15,420 square kilometres and has a population of 5.14 million.

Regional Development

Yorkshire Forward is the regional development agency for Yorkshire and the Humber. This agency will be abolished with the other regional development agencies by March 2012. Proposals for local enterprise partnerships have been accepted for the Leeds and Sheffield City Regions.

Business Advisers

Business Link Yorkshire is based at 1 Capitol Court Capitol Business Park, Dodworth, Barnsley, S75 3TZ. Tel: 0845 604 8048, At present it can field a team of business advisers in all parts of Yorkshire and Humberside who can offer advice and mentoring and access to other sources of advice. It also runs conferences, workshops and seminars throughout the region. The regional Business Link networks are due to be disbanded in the next few months. Taking their place will be private consultancies such as Business Doctors and business coaches like Gail Cherry of Torchlight Consulting.

Business Angels

There is a local angel network known as YABA (Yorkshire Association of Business Angels).

Clinics

NIPC Clinics offers specialist IP advice throughout Yorkshire and the Humber and beyond. Local clinics staffed by local patent agents are also operated by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys at Leeds and Sheffield Central Libraries.

Community Development Finance Institutions

There are no less than 9 community development finance institutions in Yorkshire and the Humber:

Acorn Fund

Bees Knees

Business Enterprise Fund

Donbac

Financial Inclusion Services Yorkshire

Goole Development Trust

Key Fund Yorkshire

Sirius Small Business Advice Centre

South Yorkshire Investment Fund

Inventors Clubs

There are inventors clubs in Leeds and Sheffield.

Libraries

There are Patent Information Centres at Leeds and Sheffield Central Libraries.

Professional Advisors

Jane Lambert, the only specialist intellectual property counsel outside London, practises from the Media Centre in Huddersfield. Specialist solicitors include Kate Reid, James Love, Sara Ludlam and Dai Davis. Patent agents with whom we work closely include Jane Bray, Peter Draggett, Dan Bates, Chris Hemingway and Michael Harrison. Ros Beattie of Company Solutions offers high quality accountancy services for start-ups and other small businesses. Richard Hall of pd-m International is a recommended product design consultant.

Further Information

We have a page on inventors' resources in Yorkshire and Humberside on the Inventors Club websitewhich we shall expand and update as and when we can. We have an Inventors Club group on Linkedin which covers developments affecting inventors throughout the UK. You can of course also join the Inventors Club if you want. The membership rules are here. There is no subscription but we may charge for special services such as showcasing inventions and access to professional services. Anyone who wishes to contact us should call us on 0113 320 3232 or use our online form.

Inventor Forum

Inventor Forum can best be described as a consultancy for private inventors. It was started by Simon Brown who is a private inventor who has brought his invention successfully to market.

According to the company's website,

"Simon recognized that he would have done a lot of things differently, and saved significant time and money in doing so. But there was nobody to turn to who could provide the upfront, comprehensive road map and basic knowledge that he really needed ... so Simon has set up Inventor Forum. Bringing together a range of people who have been directly involved in a number of successful invention-based businesses from 'ground zero;, Simon can give inventors access to the knowledge, experience and support of a network of business partners, associates and professional specialist advisers (lawyers, accountants, etc) who have proven they understand the needs of the inventor-entrepreneur."

The company provides this service in three stages:

1 an initial evaluation

• 2 an extended consultation whereby Inventor Forum provides a comprehensive start-up guide with information on market research, intellectual property, tax, fund raising and so on; and

3. ongoing support and assistance.

Inventor Forum also offers services such as market research and pitched preparation to established businesses.

You can contact Simon at

Inventor Forum Ltd
Motivo House
Bluebell Road
Yeovil
Somerset
BA20 2FG

Tel: +44(0)1935 475525

Mob: +44(0)788 9911493

You can also follow him on twitter and Linkedin.

Resources for Inventors in North West England

North West England consists of the counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. It includes the Greater Manchester and Merseyside metropolitan areas as well as Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, Carlisle, Chester, Lancaster, Preston and Warrington The region covers just under 14,165 square kilometres and has a population of just over 8.85 million.

Regional Development

The North West Regional Development Agency has co-ordinated regional development until now. This agency will be abolished together with the other regional development agencies by March 2012. Proposals have been accepted for local enterprise partnerships for Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region.

Business Link

Business Link North West is based at Brian Johnson Way, Preston, PR2 5PE, Tel 0845 00 66 888. There are local advisers throughout the region.

Clinics

The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys usually holds patent clinics in Liverpool and Manchester Central Libraries but both of these libraries are closed for refurbishment. The Manchester clinic has moved temporarily to Manchester City Library at Elliott House, 151 Deansgate and meets every third Thursday. The Liverpool clinic is still looking for a new venue. Blackburn and Darwen Library arrange occasional clinics with local patent agents at Blackburn Central Library on request.

Funding

There is an angel network known as North West Business Angels.

There are no less than seven community development finance institutions in North West England:

• BBV (Bolton Business Ventures Ltd.);
• Business Finance Solutions;
• CART (Cumbria Asset Reinvestment Trust);
• East Lancs Moneyline;
• Lancashire Community Finance;
• Merseyside Special Investment Fund; and
• Moneyline Greater Manchester.

Inventors Clubs

There are inventors clubs in Blackburn (Ideas North West), Liverpool and Manchester. Like the Liverpool patent clinic, the Liverpool Inventors Club is looking for a temporary home pending the refurbishment of Liverpool Central Library.

Libraries

There are Patent Information Centres (also known as "PATLib libraries) in Liverpool and Manchester Central Libraries. Both libraries are being refurbished. The Manchester patent library has moved temporarily to City Library at 151 Deansgate. Blackburn Central Library operates an Inventors Information Point with an extensive collection of resources.

Professional Advisers

NIPC was the first and remains the only intellectual property chambers outside London was established in Manchester in 1997. Alex Khan is based in Manchester.

Janet Bray who practises from Hebden Bridge is on our patent attorneys' panel.

Michael Sandys and Joanne Shelley are solicitors specializing in intellectual property.

Michael Swift is a chartered accountant with experience of advising and assisting start-ups.

Jonathan Butters is an experienced product design consultant.

Further Information

We have a page on inventors' resources in North West England on the Inventors Club website

which we shall expand and update as and when we can. We have an Inventors Club group on Linkedin which covers developments affecting inventors throughout the UK. You can of course also join the Inventors Club if you want. The membership rules are here. There is no subscription but we may charge for special services such as showcasing inventions and access to professional services. Anyone who wishes to contact us should call us on 0161 850 0080 or use our online form.

New Angel Network: Ground Floor Ventures Ltd.

One of the things about twitter is that you never know who you may meet. Somebody who has just started to follow me is Ground Floor Ventures Ltd.

Ground Floor Ventures is an angel network. On its website it describes itself as follows:

"Ground Floor Ventures is about bringing together entrepreneurs with investors and, unlike other existing 'angel networks', we choose not to charge entrepreneurs to come along and pitch. This means Ground Floor Ventures gets really interesting opportunities that the other events miss out on by pricing out the early stage entrepreneurs. We look for unique businesses which have the potential for serious growth and we aim to attract entrepreneurs looking for a relatively small amount of investment (typically under £30k) so that investors don't have to be 'squillionaires' to reach into their pockets and 'get in on the ground floor' of fabulous business opportunities."

Its next pitching event is on 7 February. If you want to learn more, contact Jack Symons on 07717 171345 or email him on jack@groundfloorventures.co.uk

Online IP Clinic

An IP clinic is a free consultation with an intellectual property professional such as a patent or trade mark agent or specialist lawyer. Sometimes you can also see some other professional like a business adviser or marketing consultant.

Since 2005 we have operated walk-in clinics in a number of towns and cities in the North of England with the help of local professionals. Our clinics have been hosted by friends such as Gumption and Bennett Brooks. Clients have been referred to us by other friends such as Bmedia and Business Link Yorkshire.

The North of England, however, is a big place and there is a limit to the number of people we can get to see. We also want to make sure that our clients see the right sort of professional. There is not much point is talking to a product design consultant about a complaint of copyright infringement or a barrister about funding. Also we have had enquiries from people as far apart as Buckinghamshire, Glasgow and South Wales.

So we have decided to put our clinics on line. Inventors and entrepreneurs can now get in touch with us by calling our roll free number, 0800 862 0055, or using our online form. Once they get in touch with us we contact an appropriate expert and ask him or her to give the client 30 minutes or so basic advice. It's all set out in the FAQ on our clinics website.

So what sort of enquiries can we deal with? The answer is: "All sorts." Just like other patent clinics we can introduce you to a patent or trade mark agent who can advise you on patenting or trade mark or design registration. But we also have

• barristers and solicitors who can tell you about enforcement, licensing, manufacturing and joint venture agreements
• engineers and product design consultants who can talk about prototyping and testing, and
• angels and community development finance institutions who can talk about funding.

So, whatever your industry, and whatever your position whether managing director, private inventor, academic or professional adviser, if you need a bit of help from your friends, give us a call.

Son of Business Link: Cable announces new business mentoring network

A further indication of what's hoping to replace Business Link emerged yesterday when Business Secretary Vice Cable announced plans for a new single network of mentoring providers. According to the Department's press release, there will be a single online gateway to mentoring from the summer of 2011.

In his speech Cable said

“The best people to advise new entrepreneurs and existing businesses are those who have already started and run successful companies. Mentoring is a very effective way of promoting start-ups, higher productivity and growth amongst established businesses, so I am delighted to announce this new network."

According to Business Matters, mentors will be offered tax breaks for their trouble but they will received no cash as such.

Resources for Inventors in the East Midlands

The East Midlands covers the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northanptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. According to Wikipedia the region's population is just under 4.2 million and its land area is 15,627 square kilometres. Major towns and cities include Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Lincoln and Northampton.

Regional Development

The East Midlands Regional Development Agency is the regional development agency for the East Midlands. Proposals for local enterprise partnerships have been accepted for Derby and Derbyshire and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and the South East Midlands.

Inventors Clubs

There does not appear to be an inventors' club in the East Midlands as yet. However, the Sheffield Inventors Group welcomes members from Derbyshire and the Birmingham and Black Country clubs are within comfortable driving distance of most of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Should inventors from the East Midlands wish to set up their own club, we should be glad to help. Call us on 0115 824 9090 or use our online contact form.

Clinics and Libraries

There are no PatLib libraries and hence no CIPA clinics in the East Midlands. However, each of the county and district council library authorities have good on-line and printed business information resources. If anybody from the East Midlands wants advice on any aspect of inventing he or she can contact our clinic using this form. We shall put him or her in touch with a local professional advisor.

Business Advice

Business Link East Midlands is at Innovation House, Riverside Park, Raynesway, Derby, DE21 7BF Tel: 0845 058 6644.

Funding

East Midlands Business Angels Ltd. is the local angel network. There are three community development finance institutions in the region:

• Derby Loans
• First Enterprise, and
• Leicester Moneyline.

Professional Advisers

So far we have one panellist in the East Midlands, the trade mark attorney Mr. Philip Cooper of VeryMark.

There are several well known firms of patent and trade mark attorneys as well as law firms that specialize in intellectual property in the region but we do not yet know any of them well enough to recommend to recommend to private inventors with limited budgets. We advise inventors to shop around and tell us what you find.

Further Information

We have a page on Inventors' Resources in the East Midlands on the Inventors Club website which we shall expand and update as and when we can. We have an Inventors Club group on Linkedinwhich covers developments affecting inventors throughout the UK which you can join. You can of course also join the Inventors Club if you want. The Membership Rules are here. There is no subscription but we may charge for special services such as showcasing inventions and access to professional services. Anyone who wishes to contact us should call us on

0115 824 9090 or use our online contact form

Resources for Inventors in the East of England

This is the second of my regional surveys of resources for inventors.

The East of England covers the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. According to Wikipedia the region has a population of 5.39 million in a land area of 19,120 square kilometres. It is home to one of the world's greatest research universities. According to the Intellectual Property Office there were 1,844 patent applications from the region in 2009 placing it third behind South East England and London with 2,777 and 2,752 respectively. Its regional development agency is the East of England Development Agency. Three local enterprise partnership proposals have been accepted from the East of England, namely Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Kent Greater Essex and East Sussex.

Inventors Clubs

I am aware of only one inventor's club in the region. That is CHASE (the Cambridge High Tech Association of Small Enterprises) in Cambridge. The Association meets on the first and third Tuesdays of most months, holds an annual dinner and an occasional conference. Further information can be obtained from Jeff Veil on 01223 721499. I would have expected to find inventors clubs in Bedford, Chelmsford, Colchester, Hatfield, Ipswich, Luton, Norwich and Southend. If inventors in any of those cities want us to help them set up an inventors club they should call us on 01603 343030 or contact us through this form.

Clinics and Libraries

There are no PatLib libraries and hence no CIPA clinics in the East of England. However, each of the county and district council library authorities have good on-line and printed business information resources. If anybody from the East of England wants advice on any aspect of inventing he or she can contact our clinic using this form. We shall put him or her in touch with a local professional advisor.

Business Advice

The HQ of the local Business Link is at Zenith Court in Hatfield. There are local Business Link offices in each of the major towns and cities of the region. Advice and mentoring is also available from Keith McCallum who holds the Business Doctors franchise for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

Funding

Eastern Capital Alliance is a local angel network. There are three community development finance institutions in the region:

• Foundation East in Bury St Edmunds; and
• NWES and WEETU in Norwich.

Professional Advisers

There are several well known firms of patent and trade mark attorneys as well as law firms that specialize in intellectual property in the region but we do not yet know any of them well enough to recommend to recommend to private inventors with limited budgets. We advise inventors to shop around and tell us what they find,

Further Information

We have a page on Inventors Resources in the East of England on the Inventors Club website which we shall expand and update as and when we can. We have an Inventors Club group on Linkedin which covers developments affecting inventors throughout the UK which you can join. You can of course also join the Inventors Club if you want. The Membership Rules are here. There is no subscription but we may charge for special services such as showcasing inventions and access to professional services. Anyone who wishes to contact us should call us on 01603 343030 or send us an email.

Venturefest: Innovation Showcase, 16 Feb 2011

One of the highlights of the Yorkshire business calendar over the last few years has been Venturefest Yorkshire. This is a one day conference and exhibition which takes place at York race course every February brings together Yorkshire business, professions, schools and universities. The next Venturefest takes place on 16 February

One of the best events of the day is the Innovation Showcase. This is an opportunity for up to 30 young high growth companies to compete for a prize worth at least £10,000. Among the advantages of participating in the showcase are a stand worth over £400 and opportunities to meet investors, professional advisers, senior industry specialists and other like minded entrepreneurs,

The business must be in Yorkshire. It must be less than 36 months old. And it must be involved in science, technology or innovation. Application forms can be downloaded here. Further information can be obtained from Anne Salisbury on 07881 505428.

Manchester Inventors Group: 2 Nov 2010 18:00

The next Meeting of Manchester Inventors Group will take place at the Becker Room on the 1st floor of the City Library, Elliot House, 151 Deansgate at 18:00 on Tuesday 2 November 2010.

There will be a talk by David Martin titled "Want Business funding?" Mr. Martin is business development manager at Business Finance Solutions which is a community development finance institution ("CDFI"). He will talk about the funding solutions his CDFI offers for innovation, invention and technology, as well as normal businesses that
cannot obtain funding from traditional banks. A not-for-profit, Government-backed initiative, CDFI provide alternative finance for existing and start up businesses in the region, with £950,000 of European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) available to lend to new and existing businesses,
specifically in the technology sector.

As ever this is an opportunity to network with other inventors and talk to support agencies in a safe and confidential environment. If you need any further information about this meeting, do not hesitate to contact Chris Brown on 0161 234 1991.

Government's Strategy on Growth published at last

The Coalition's long awaited white paper on local growth has now been published and can be downloaded here. It is intended to implement part of the government's strategy to stimulate growth set out in its green paper "A Strategy for Sustainable Growth" published last July.

The Coalition's strategy is very different from that of the outgoing Labour government's which was based on funnelling funds through the Regional Development Agencies and Business Link networks. The new strategy focuses on creating conditions for growth and promises very little money apart from infrastructure improvements and the Regional Growth Fund.

As most of us are used to a more corporatist model, the government's thinking is hard to follow. Those who want to understand the thinking behind it should read the Department for Business Innovation and Skills economic paper "Understanding Local Growth" also published this month. Without an economics background, this paper is hard going, but the important bit is the table on page 10. That shows that productivity per person has actually fallen during the years in which the RDAs existed in every region except London and the South-East and that growth has been appreciably slower outside those regions. That paper taken as a whole has convinced me of the need to try something else.

For most readers of this blog the most important things to mention are local enterprise partnerships ("LEPs") and the Regional Growth Fund ("RGF"): -

• LEPs I discussed local enterprise partnerships in my article of 21 Oct "Local Enterprise Partnerships begin to take Shape". In its white paper the government announced that it had accepted 24 of the 62 proposals to establish local enterprise partnerships. These include the proposals from "city regions" like Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield as well as those from predominately rural areas like Cornwall, Cumbria and the Marches. It will be from those local enterprise partnerships and any business support services that they may sponsor that the private inventors, who now look to Business Link and the RDAs, will obtain advice and help on commercializing their inventions in future.
• RGF: The money that used to be channelled through the RDAs will now come through the RGF which is now accepting bids (see "Information for Applicants" and the application form guidance). It should be noted that there will be a lot less money about than before and that it will be targeted.

I shall keep readers of this blog informed of developments.

Sheffield Inventors Group

The next meeting of Sheffield Inventors' Group is on Monday 1 Nov, 18:00 to 19:45.

The guest speaker will be Gail Cherry of Torchlight Coaching, who will be running an interactive session entitled ' Make a commercial opportunity happen'.

Her theme will be: "How the process of business planning helps balance the strong attachment to your invention, to gain focus on the business of getting it to the right people, in the right place, at the right time, for the right price."

As always, the venue for the meeting is

Reference and Information Library
Central Library
Surrey Street
Sheffield
S1 1XZ

Contact Pat Weston on 0114 2734736
Email: information.library@sheffield.gov.uk

Resources for Inventors in North East England

On 9 September 2010 Mark Prisk, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, announced a new collaboration between the British Library, NESTA, Newcastle City Library and Northumberland University for a new Business and IP Centre in the City along the lines of the British Library's Business and IP Centre in London (see "Mark Prisk announces new business advisory service" on the Real Business website).

What's There Now?

That announcement prompted me to look at what is available for private inventors in the North East and indeed the rest of the country. As I want to provide a resource for inventors in the North East I should be very grateful if folk from the region could let me know if I have missed anything. They can get in touch with me either through our contact form or on our local number 0191 580 8090.

Inventors' Clubs

First up is that there does not seem to be a local inventors' club in North-East England. I could not find one either through googling, the excellent WRTI's directory of inventors' clubs or any other source. Now there are patent attorneys and patent clinics in the region so there must be inventors, As inventors like to get together there are almost certainly informal gatherings of inventors. But that is not the same thing as a club with regular meeting, networking and mutual assistance. Having helped set up the inventors clubs in Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield and having supported the ones in Blackburn and Manchester we'd like to help. Again, if any local inventor, patent librarian, business angel, local government officer or entrepreneur would like our help, please let us know.

Clinics

According to the City library website intellectual property advice is available at the City Library in the Charles Avison Building, 33 New Bridge Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AX on Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons. Appointments can be booked through information@newcastle.gov.uk or 0191 227 4100. According to the CIPA website this advice is provided by local patent agents.

Libraries

The City Library at 33 New Bridge Street is a member of the PatLib network and offers lots of printed and on-line resources on all aspects of business law including patent, trade mark and registered design searches for which it charges a fee.

Funding
In addition to national banking, angel and VC networks there are several strong local financial institutions. These include the Entrust business angel network and 4 local community development finance institutions, namely Five Lamps, Northern Pinetree Trust, PNE Group and Street North East.

Regional Development

The Regional Development Agency ("RDA") for the North East England is One North East which, of course, will go the way of the other RDAs very shortly (see "Local Enterprise Partnerships begin to take shape" 21 Oct 2010). There is a regional Business Link based at Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, SR7 7TT, Tel: 0845 600 9 006. The RDAs will be replaced by local enterprise partnerships ("LEPs") and proposals have been submitted for County Durham, Northumberland, North Tyneside and the whole North East. Some of these can be accessed from the BIS website.

Professional Advice

There are lots of patent and trade mark agents and some law firms that belong to the Intellectual Property Lawyers Association in Newcastle and other towns and cities in the region. We don't yet know any of them well enough to recommend for private inventors who will have limited budgets and would advise such clients to ask around and shop around and let us know what they find. The same goes for accountants, business advisers, marketing consultants, product designers. We have a page on Inventors Resources for North East England on the Inventors Club website which we will update as and when we can.

Further Information

We have an Inventors Club group on Linkedin which covers developments affecting inventors throughout the UK which you can join. You can of course also join the Inventors Club if you want. The Membership Rules are here. There is no subscription but we may charge for special services such as showcasing inventions and access to professional services.

IP Insurance Five Years On

Exasperated by the absence of British companies among the top 10 companies that had been granted UK patents between 2004 and 2005 I wrote in September 2005 the article “Why are there no British Names in the Patent Office's Top Ten?” The reason then as now was that the cost of obtaining and enforcing a patent in the UK was beyond the means of most small and medium enterprises. In the article I discussed the ways in which intellectual property infringement litigation could be funded and came to the conclusion that before the event insurance was probably the best option. The very next day I wrote the article “IP Insurance: Does it Work?” and mentioned one instance where it seemed to do so. The next day in this blog I wrote an article especially on “IP Insurance”.

Since 2005 the following developments have taken place:

· S.74A and s.74B of the Patents Act 1977 (providing for advisory opinions by the Intellectual Property Office on patent infringement and validity) have come into force;

· Sir Rupert Jackson has reviewed and reported on Civil Litigation Costs; and

· the Civil Procedure Rules and Practice Directions have been amended to limit costs in Patents County Court actions at £50,000 on liability and £25,000 on quantum which theoretically makes litigation in the Patents County Court only marginally more expensive than in Germany.

The cheapest intellectual property insurance service that I could find in 2005, Intellectual Property Insurance Consultants, is no longer with us but its prime mover Ian Macleod seems to be working now for Alfa Insurance Facilities. Ian Lewis who made Miller into what appeared to be the market leader in this sector in 2005 has founded Samian Underwriting Agency. David Freer, who used to be with HSBC Insurance Consultants, is now a director of Marsh. However, I have also found several new entrants to the market.

Below are the intellectual property insurance services that I have been able to identify. If anyone knows of any broker, underwriter or other intellectual property insurance service provider that I should add to this list, please let me know.

Service Provider	Contact
Abbey Legal Protection	0870 600 1480
Alfa Insurance Facilities	Ian Macleod 01903 23 22 86
Camberford Law	020 8315 5066
Charles Milnes & Co.	020 7923 4655
Marsh Brokers Ltd.	David Freer 07770 740237
McParland Finn Ltd.	Mark Philimore 0113 366 2369
Miller Insurance	020 7031 2819
Professional Insurance Agents Ltd.	01323 648000
Samian Underwriting Agency	Ian Lewis 020 7954 4430
Temple Legal Protection	01483 577877