The Inventors’ Handbook
By Peter Bissell and Braham Barker
CONTENTS
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 2
The Essentials of Success .................................................................................. 3
Facing Reality (and learning to like what you see) ............................... 3
20 great ways to blow your chances................................................... 4
Rule number one if you want to win................................................... 5
Where to go from here ..................................................................... 6
Is your idea any good? ........................................................................................ 7
Is it original? .................................................................................. 7
Is there a market for it? ................................................................ 10
Does it work?............................................................................... 12
Options for profit ............................................................................................... 14
What are your options? .................................................................. 14
Licencing (the royalties route) ......................................................... 15
Starting your own business venture .................................................... 16
The hard work zone .......................................................................................... 19
Proving your idea works .................................................................. 19
Protecting your idea........................................................................ 21
How to apply for a patent ............................................................... 26
Planning and funding your project...................................................... 28
Friends and foes ........................................................................... 30
Preparing a business plan ............................................................... 33
Getting through doors...................................................................... 35
Prototype assessment ...................................................................... 37
Negotiation and agreements .............................................................. 37
Marketing and selling ...................................................................... 42
Inventor’s directory............................................................................................ 47
Useful links .............................................................................. 47-70
2
INTRODUCTION
Here is a step-by-step guide to the process of invention and innovation. It
includes guidance on pitfalls to avoid and sources of advice to pursue, tips on
developing an idea into a real product, an overview of protecting your intellectual
property and advice on ways to get an idea into the commercial world - from
licence deals to making and selling a product yourself. The handbook was
commissioned by NESTA and was written by Peter Bissell and Graham Barker.
The Inventors' Handbook is based on the experiences of its authors in dealing with
inventors and inventions. All opinions expressed are, unless specifically stated, solely
those of the authors. While all reasonable care has been taken to provide
appropriate advice and information in the handbook, its accuracy cannot be
guaranteed. The handbook is intended for guidance only, and its authors and
publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions or their
consequences.
© 1999 Peter Bissell and Graham Barker. The copyright in the NESTA
Inventors' Handbook is held by Peter Bissell and Graham Barker. This
copyrighted material should not be used for commercial gain without the prior
permission of the copyright owners being sought. Last updated October 2002.
3
THE ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESS
Facing reality (and learning to like what you see)
Every industry and every market needs a constant flow of fresh ideas to turn into
new or improved products, processes and services. Companies want new ideas to
beat their competitors or get costs down. Consumers crave new products when
existing stuff doesn’t excite them any more, or doesn’t solve some new problem.
And any industrialized society that can no longer rely on selling its wares dirt
cheap needs an innovation culture if it is to keep on generating wealth.
But only a relative handful of very big companies can now afford to do their own
research and development. For the majority it’s much cheaper and simpler to buy
in new ideas - once they’ve taken some recognizable and promising shape - from
other sources. That creates a wealth of opportunity for inventors, designers and
small innovative companies.
Yet most inventions fail. Accurate figures are impossible to come by, but one UK
survey suggested that the odds stack up something like this:
• Only 1 in 100 inventions more than covers its costs.
• Only 1 in 300 inventions makes a significant difference to a company.
• Only 1 in 1400 inventions is a world beater.
This looks like a pretty abysmal failure rate, but it needn’t be anywhere near as
bad as this. Most failures are either inevitable because of flaws in the idea, or are
made inevitable by the inventor’s mishandling of some aspect of development.
Inventors who focus primarily on avoiding mistakes have a much better time of it and that’s what this web site is all about.
If you’re going to succeed, you first need to adopt the right feet-on-the-ground
attitude towards your idea and its development. So:
• Don’t think invention. Think business opportunity.
• Don’t expect anyone to beat a path to your door (unless they intend to rip you
off). Good things will happen only if you get out there and make them happen.
• Companies often complain that inventors aren’t on the same wavelength as them.
To you, your idea is your baby, precious and unique. To companies it’s just
another log on the fire. Swallow whatever it is you need to swallow and get on
that wavelength.
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• Innovation brings rewards but it also brings risks, so always control your costs
and always limit your risk. (See Rule #1 if you want to win later.)
• A typical development timescale is 2-3 years - often more and rarely less - so
plan carefully and never rush into anything.
• Learn continuously, especially about the market and/or companies you’re aiming
for. you’ll get lots of conflicting advice along the way, so you need a good store
of knowledge to make sound judgments.
• Be as professional as you can in all your dealings. claiming that because you’re
more of a creative type it’s okay to be disorganized, unreliable and inflexible just
won’t wash.
• No matter how highly you rate your own abilities you won’t be able to do
everything on your own, so be prepared to be part of a team that shares the
work and the spoils fairly.
• In the interests of self-preservation, regard being an inventor as a short-term job
with a limited aim: to develop your idea only to the point where potential
licensees, partners, investors or buyers can clearly judge its commercial worth.
• Beyond that point, either back off and leave the licensee to get on with it or, if
it’s your own business, forget being an inventor and go full tilt for entrepreneurial
success
20 great ways to blow your chances
Inventions usually fail for one of two broad reasons:
1 Development of the idea reveals serious technical problems.
2 The inventor makes mistakes.
In terms of sheer numbers, ‘inventor makes mistakes’ is the winner by a mile.
The good news is that most IMM failures are easily avoided, so here’s our Top
20 of how inventors go wrong. Read and digest. Once your own project is under
way, we suggest a periodic reread to give yourself a quick Failure Avoidance
Check. Better still, get a friend to read the list and tell you if you’re on it...
• They don’t do proper patent and product searches, then spend lots of time and
money developing an idea that turns out not to be original. In most cases
unoriginal = unprotectable = commercially worthless.
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• They don’t research the market properly, or they interpret their findings too
optimistically. They then spend lots of time and money developing an idea that
hardly anyone wants.
• They don’t fully analyse the problem their idea addresses. As a result their
solution is off target. It may for example be too complex, too expensive, or require
too big a change in user behaviour.
• They’re obsessed with protecting rather than progressing the idea. They think that
the key to everything is ‘a good patent’. Wrong.
• They’re too secretive. This stops anyone else helping, so the idea gets nowhere.
• They think success can be bought, and spend large sums unwisely. Pretty soon
all their energy has to go not into developing their idea but into servicing a debt.
• They present the idea too early, before basic technical flaws have been ironed
out. That makes the idea’s weaknesses much more obvious than its strengths.
• Their idea is behind the times. This is typical of inventors who use knowledge
and skills acquired maybe in an earlier career, but haven’t kept up with new
developments.
• They think they know better than the experts. Though there’s always some scope
for lateral or unorthodox thinking, most industries now operate at levels of expertise
that leave non-specialists far behind.
• They fall victim to rip-off merchants and dodgy associates, of whom there is no
shortage (see Friends and foes later).
• When seeking a royalty deal they look no further than the market leaders, who
are usually flooded with ideas, and miss better opportunities in the small company
sector.
• They don’t understand what makes companies tick and so present their ideas
badly. It comes down to what we’ve said earlier: Don’t think invention, think
business opportunity.
• They bring in a fragment of a good idea and expect others to supply the rest for free, of course. (This lot are also quick to write to the Prime Minister or the
Queen when thwarted or shown the door.)
• They have wildly unrealistic expectations, like one inventor we know of who wants
a million pounds just to talk about his idea. Companies are not gold mines and
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the big up-front payment in particular is a myth.
• They’re too greedy. Even with a decent deal on the table they’ll raise their
demands every time agreement is near. They tend to pull the same stunt with
company after company, clearly learning nothing.
• A royalty deal is near but they can’t let go, insisting on all sorts of
unreasonable conditions. This is the ‘It’s my baby’ syndrome. They want control
but are often the last people who should have any.
• They ignore good advice, especially if it doesn’t match their own opinions or isn’t
very exciting. They tend to trust no one except those who flatter them with bad
advice.
• Their true motive is ego inflation rather than business. They want recognition of
their genius and are incensed when other people start ‘messing’ with their idea (to
make it work, for example).
• They don’t have a Plan B ready for when Plan A doesn’t work. Instead they do
desperate things, like selling their idea for peanuts to get out of debt. If it’s a
good idea but no company wants it, all is far from lost. See later!
• They’re nuts. Yes, here we are at last. Some claim to be the victim of burglars
who steal nothing but their blueprints. Some brandish vast manuscripts dictated to
them by extraterrestrials. They’re few in number and usually harmless, but they’re
the ones who make it difficult to call yourself an inventor and be taken seriously
Rule 1: If you want to win - here it is:
If you want to succeed, you must first do everything you can to avoid failure. That
means you must always control your costs and always limit your risk.
No rocket science there; it’s pretty obvious really. But when your sights are set on
getting a result in the shortest possible time it’s all too easy to miss or ignore the
obvious.
Other people with cooler heads can often see problems and solutions where you
can’t. This is why it’s essential to run your project on a teamwork basis, with at
least some members of your team - your patent agent, for example - experienced
enough to assess risk accurately and forewarn you of difficulties.
All projects hit some problems, no matter how well planned they are. And most
inventors’ projects run on a low budget with very little margin for error. Minimizing
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cost and risk is therefore a survival issue, plain and simple. More haste, less
speed. A stitch in time saves nine. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, and so
on.
Limiting your cost and risk is a theme we’ll be returning to again and again. But
much more important: it’s a theme that must be constantly at the forefront of your
own thinking, planning and acting throughout your project.
Where to go from here
This site aims to give you enough basic advice to be able to plan and carry out
an innovation project. The steps are much the same whether you’re a lone inventor
or a small company, and whether the idea is your own or a joint venture with
someone else (for example, a company teamed with an inventor).
It’s also built on the assumption that you haven’t got money to burn. This again
applies to individuals and small businesses. In practice, most inventors and very
small companies share the same problems, the biggest of which is usually finance.
But: throwing money at an idea will not in itself ensure its success. It may only
ensure a more expensive failure. So if you haven’t got much money, that should
be a reasonably comforting thought to set off with.
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IS YOUR IDEA ANY GOOD?
Is it original?
Is your idea any good, and will enough other people think so too?
An idea can't really be called an invention unless it contains some element or
combination of elements that is (a) completely original and (b) non-obvious that is, it wouldn't readily occur to someone skilled in that particular 'art' or
technology.
If your idea isn't at least partly original, your options are so limited that in many
cases it probably won't be worth carrying on. Why not?
• Few, if any, companies will be interested in acquiring a licence to make or sell
your idea, so you can't look forward to any royalties.
• If you do manage to get a licence deal and it then emerges that your idea isn't
original, you'll not only lose the licence but may also be sued by the licensee.
• 'Your' idea may legally belong to someone else. Infringe their intellectual property
and they too could sue you.
Making and selling the product yourself might be an option if there's no danger of
infringement, but marketing a product based on an unprotectable idea is always
risky and you'd almost certainly have trouble getting financial backing.
Non-originality is by far the largest single cause of invention failure.
If you find out early on that your idea isn't original, no harm is done. You might
even be able to improve it so that it is original. But if you don't bother to find
out and carry on regardless - as far too many inventors do - you could easily
land yourself in serious financial and legal trouble. Consequences can include costly
patent applications and prototypes, total loss of credibility, and legal action by an
aggrieved licensee or intellectual property owner.
A classic blunder is to assume that your idea must be original simply because
you've never seen or heard of anything like it. You must search for prior art, a
legal term that means anything already known and recorded that is close enough to
your idea to enable someone to say 'It's been done before'. Prior art embraces all
media and every period of history and includes every unworkable and pointless idea
that has ever been recorded anywhere in the world, so it's possible that your idea
for a mobile phone accessory could be deemed non-original because something like
it was described in a 1930s science fiction novel.
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It's important to be thorough in your search, because the more prior art there is
relating to your idea, the slimmer will be your chances of claiming a significant
degree of originality.
To find out how original your idea might be you should carry out two searches
before you do anything else, and certainly before you spend any serious money on
your idea. And do both searches. One isn't a substitute for the other.
1 Product search
You need to find out what's already on the market that is (a) similar to your
idea and (b) tackles the same problem.
It's obvious why you should look for products with a similar form and function, but
why look for products that are different? The reason is that most inventions are a
solution to a problem and there's nearly always more than one way of solving that
problem. Before you can make any kind of judgment about the commercial potential
of your idea, you need to know about all the competition it might face. In this
respect originality searching overlaps with market research.
The easiest way to look for product information is to use a search engine that
allows you to refine your search as much as possible, such as www.google.com.
Finding the most productive search term may not be easy, so keep trying different
variations until you start (or stop) getting relevant results. If you're stuck for
search terms, go looking for specialist words used 'in the trade'. For example, a
search we once did on internet transmission of personal health data - pulse, blood
pressure etc - found very little until we discovered a news report containing the
terms e-health, e-care, e-monitoring and telemedicine.
2 Patent search
It's equally important to carry out a patent search to find out if the inventive
elements of your idea are already known and recorded in patent literature. If they
are, your chances of getting worthwhile protection for your idea may be much
reduced.
Before you start it's important to understand two things:
• Even though the vast majority of patents never become products, the fact that
they're on record makes them valid prior art. It's the existence of the idea that
counts.
• Prior art knows no boundaries of time or place. Any idea similar to yours is
potential prior art, no matter when or in what country it was patented.
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You can carry out your own search for nothing (see Free patent searching using
http://gb.espacenet.com/ below) or pay someone else do it for you. If you're
willing to pay, options include:
• A patent attorney (find one via www.cipa.org.uk). This is not the cheapest way
of searching but the expense may be worth it in the long run, as the real skill in
patent searching lies in interpreting the findings and this can be difficult for the
non-expert. A strategy possibly worth considering is to do your own search as far
as you can, then take your findings to a patent attorney and ask him/her to carry
on from there.
• The UK Patent Office's Search and Advisory Service
http://www.patent.gov.uk/patent/sas/index.htm). A full patentability search typically
costs £ 500-800, though 'simpler searches that can be safely limited to a search
of computerised databases cost a minimum of £ 270'.
• The British Library's Patents Online service
http://www.bl.uk/services/information/patents/poss.html). Costs will vary but typical
subject searches 'usually cost between £ 90 and £ 160. We agree a price limit at
the outset and will not exceed this without your permission'.
• A search service at one of the major libraries which belong to the Patent
Information Network. Find your nearest PIN library at
http://www.bl.uk/services/information/patents/patentsnetork.html). Costs and types
of service offered may vary.
Free patent searching using Espacenet
By far the most convenient way to search and view worldwide patents is to use
Espacenet, the European Patent Office database at http://gb.espacenet.com/. Not
all patents are yet on the database but with 30 million or so patents to look at in
full and further millions cited in search reports, for most subject areas Espacenet
will have or guide you to the most relevant patents.
We only have space here for a 'just enough to get you started' guide to using
Espacenet, so before you embark on a serious search it may be well worth
reading the British Library's excellent guide to patent searching at
http://www.bl.uk/services/information/patents/search.html, and perhaps downloading
the Espacenet manual at http://www.european-patentoffice.org/espacenet/info/manual.htm. There are also help files within Espacenet click on the '?' icon.
For general information on patents and other forms of intellectual property visit the
UK Patent Office at http://www.patent.gov.uk/about/index.htm. They publish several
free guides that can be either downloaded or ordered online.
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Using Espacenet - a VERY brief guide
Use the Quick Search page that first appears, or - better - click on the red text
line that reads 'Worldwide - 30 million documents' to open up a more detailed
search page.
Key in your search term and click Search. You should get a list of patent numbers
and titles. Scan the titles and with luck you'll be able to tell straight away whether
your search term was useful.
Don't just do one search with one search term and think that's it. Remember that
like any database Espacenet can't do your thinking for you. It will only find what
you ask it to find, not what you want it to find, so for an effective search cover
every angle you can think of by using a range of different search terms. Some
may find nothing while others may find many hundreds of patents. It's a fair bet
that if Espacenet finds nothing that matches, it isn't because there's nothing there
but because you're not using the right search term. By refining and changing your
search terms you should eventually get a manageable list of the patents that seem
most relevant.
Search tip 1: search separately for all the possible names that describe the thing
you're looking for - for example sledge, sled, toboggan - and bear in mind that
British and US English words and spellings can differ - for example tyre/tire,
aluminium/aluminum, tap/faucet, nappy/diaper.
Search tip 2: instead of separate searches for different forms of the same word,
use an asterisk to find any word longer than the spelling you specify. For example:
to find drive, driving, driven, drivable and drivability key in driv*; to find track,
tracking, tracker or tracked key in track*.
Now you've got your list of possibly relevant patents, you need to find out more
about them.
To look at a patent on the list, click on its number to view its Abstract. In many
cases this will immediately tell you whether the patent is relevant.
If you're not sure about its relevance or want to look at it in more detail anyway,
click on one of the boxes at the top or on its number in the Abstract window.
This downloads the first page and gives you full access to the document. This
includes its claims, drawings and often a search report, which you can get to by
clicking the boxes at the top of the window.
In most cases you won't need to view or download the whole patent (some are
very long). Key things to look for are:
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Drawings. The first page usually carries a single drawing which is often enough to
tell you whether or not the patent is relevant. To look at more diagrams click on
the 'Drawings' box at the top of the window.
Patents cited. Also generally on the first page. These are earlier patents or
documents considered relevant by the official examiner. This list can be extremely
valuable in helping to widen and improve your search.
Search reports. Click on the 'S.R.' box - if it's there - at the top of the window.
The search report lists key patents or other documents which the official examiner
thinks affect the novelty of the idea. Each patent listed is given a letter code. For
meanings see the key at the bottom of the report. The most significant are 'X' and
'Y' category patents indicating that one or more of the current applicant's claims are
considered not to be novel or inventive.
Claims. In effect, the claims are the inventor saying: 'I think my invention deserves
a patent for these reasons'. Looked at in conjunction with the search report, the
claims may give you some indication of the possible strength of that patent, but it
has to be said that in many cases only a patent attorney or someone with
equivalent skills can express an opinion worth having.
Assessing your findings
When you think you've done your absolute best to find relevant patents and have
run out of numbers to look at, you may be able to conclude with some confidence
that (a) your idea is covered wholly or partly by prior art or (b) it isn't, in
which case it may be original.
If your idea is clearly covered by prior art, you can't patent it and your
development options are limited. If the picture is less clear, only a patent attorney
is competent to study your findings and advise on the protectability of your idea.
(Many patent attorneys provide free initial consultations of around half an hour. If
you're organized, a lot can be achieved in that time.)
Important
• Carry out both a product search and a patent search.
• No patent search - not even the official Patent Office examination - is regarded
in law as conclusive proof of originality.
• Update your prior art searches periodically as your project progresses, because an
absence of prior art at the time of your search isn't necessarily a permanent
absence. Your search won't reveal unpublished applications or patents (in the USA
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nothing at all is published until the patent is granted), so if you go ahead with
development of your idea it's essential to 'top up' your patent search every few
weeks, even after you've filed your own application.
• Don't ignore evidence you don't like. The whole point of the product and patent
search exercise is to go looking for evidence you don't like.
Is there a market for it?
Originality on its own means nothing. You must now research possible markets for
your idea to find out if there is likely to be enough demand at a price that will
yield a profit to justify developing it as a product.
A healthy market-price-profit relationship is fundamental to success. If a product
can’t be made for less than 20-30 per cent of its retail price, it usually isn’t
worth carrying on because the risk of losing rather than winning is too great.
Questions you must attempt to answer include:
• Does anyone actually need your product?
People may prefer to stick with existing products - the devil they know - unless
your idea promises to be clearly better and no more expensive. Never
underestimate the sticking power of a well-established product, even if the shine is
long gone from it. An underwhelming ‘So what?’ reaction to your idea means
there’s a big tide against you so it might be wiser not to enter the water.
• What’s the competition?
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of all competing products, including totally
dissimilar ones if they’re used to tackle the problem your idea addresses. Reassess
constantly as new or improved products come on stream.
• What’s the best market for your product?
Markets are now so fragmented that it’s often a non-obvious one that pays off, so
spend plenty of time searching for off-piste gaps in the market.
• How healthy is that market?
What’s it worth and is it moving up or down? Are there any technological or other
changes looming that might affect its fortunes?
• What’s the easiest market to enter?
Crucial if you intend to market your own product. Making easy sales has to be a
priority at first, so if your target market is hard or costly to enter, identify a ‘soft’
- perhaps local - market to start with even if it’s less profitable. Experience and
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a trading record will soon make it easier to crack the tougher nut, and will also
help attract backers.
• At what price and quantity might your product sell profitably?
Price isn’t everything, but it might as well be. As a general rule your price must
fall within the range set by competing products or services, even if your product is
likely to be much better. Then estimate potential unit sales per year, and what
percentage of the market that represents. (Go low rather than high. In the early
stages even one per cent may be wildly optimistic.)
• What’s the most marketable aspect of your invention?
It may turn out that only part of your idea is marketable. If this can be
incorporated in an existing product or design it may be pointless to develop the
whole invention.
Market research strategy
• You’ll probably have to do your own research. Professional research is usually
too expensive, and in any case you need your own finger on the pulse of the
market, not someone else’s. (Having said that, you may be able to get useful
free or low-cost help from a university needing real-life projects for its marketing
students.)
• Make market research a permanent activity. The more you learn about the market
as you go along, the better will be your chances.
• Don’t use consumer surveys or questionnaires as the sole basis of major
decisions about your project, as consumers often say one thing and do the
opposite. Talk primarily to retailers and manufacturers who have to gamble huge
sums which they may not recover if a product doesn’t sell.
• Don't trust the opinions of friends, relations, neighbours, work colleagues etc.
They will lie to you.
• To limit disclosure, get people to focus on how they perceive and deal with the
problem your idea addresses rather than on the idea itself. This also ensures that
you’re not just fishing for approval of your idea.
• Treat informed criticism seriously, as it may identify weaknesses in your idea.
Some business objections - for example too small a market - may be an early
sign that the idea may only succeed if you market it yourself.
• Use only primary sources of information: the horse’s mouth, not a newspaper
report of what the horse said. Journalists rarely bother much about getting their
facts straight.
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• Keep records of all your research for use in later stages of your project - for
example, to help persuade potential licensees.
Free or cheap market information sources
• Increasingly, the internet.
• Large libraries with commercial departments, and the libraries of universities that
run business and marketing courses. A wealth of business and technical information
can be found in them.
• The patent system. Looking at recent applications by companies can tell you a
lot about what may be heading for the market.
• Trade fairs and exhibitions. Most industries have their own events, which can be
so important that companies gear product launches to them. They can be a
wonderful opportunity to poke at rival products and find out who does what.
• Company literature: catalogues, brochures, annual reports etc.
• Anyone ‘in the trade’: the older the better, as they’ve usually seen lots of new
ideas come and go.
Does it work?
To stand any chance of raising interest in your idea, you must be able to show
either that it works or can be made to work. Which generally means a prototype.
And here we run into a problem of exactly how to deal with this, the last of the
‘Big Three’ questions that determine whether you’ve got anything worth taking any
further.
Unlike prior art searching and basic market research, both of which require roughly
the same effort whatever the idea, the cost, time and effort involved in prototyping
can vary enormously depending on the nature of the idea.
For many ideas, prototyping and testing - and raising finance for it - is one of
the biggest hurdles. It’s quite common for innovators in high technology fields to
raise funding and set up an R&D company for the sole purpose of proving that an
idea works.
Therefore, the bulk of our advice on prototyping is in Section 4, The Hard Work
Zone: Proving your idea works and Prototype assessment. But don’t go there yet...
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What can you do right now?
Even if your idea falls into
if it falls into that category
stage to convince yourself,
sound enough to be worth
the deep development category - correction: especially
- you must do as much as you can at this very early
let alone anyone else, that your idea is technically
pursuing. Conviction on its own is not enough.
The good news is that you probably won’t have to spend too much on your
prototype(s), as the general idea isn’t to show the product working but merely the
idea or inventive step working.
Working prototypes (as opposed to models) fall broadly into three categories:
• Pre-prototype
This can be a very rough and ready affair made from any cheap or scrap bits
and pieces. It can be to any scale and needn’t remotely resemble a finished
product. What it must do though is show that the inventive step at the heart of
your idea actually works. A pre-prototype is primarily for your own use and is
unlikely to impress potential licensees or investors. It may however help you get
advice or support from product designers, business or technical advisers etc.
• Presentation prototype
This is the one you show to companies to demonstrate that (a) the inventive step
works and (b) the product has the potential to look right. You use it as a
bargaining counter to:
1 Demonstrate the effect of your inventive step and back up your claims about its
technical and commercial benefits. You should if possible conceal the inventive step
itself.
2 Demonstrate to a company or investor that more development is justified. This
development should lead to further, more polished prototypes.
The more you can afford to spend on your presentation prototype, the better; but
most companies know that lavish spending at this stage is usually unnecessary and
will settle for evidence that you’ve done your best with limited resources. In some
circumstances it may be sensible to make it resemble an existing successful
product; this helps company people ‘see’ your idea better, and also suggests that
costs can be reduced by using standard components.
If cost is a real problem, a good tactic - expanded on in Proving your idea works
- is to present your pre-prototype alongside a non-working but better-looking
model.
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• Pre-production prototype
Usually only worth attempting later on, when design problems have been sorted out
and a finished product is starting to emerge. It’s generally expensive in terms of
the technical and design expertise that has gone into it, and is thus unlikely to be
affordable by most inventors. It usually takes collaboration with an interested
company to reach this stage.
Now you can read the rest, in Proving your idea works!
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OPTIONS FOR PROFIT
What are your options?
The story so far:
• Your idea seems to be original.
• There is a specific market to aim it at.
• To be competitive it must be priced at around £x.
• To make a decent profit it must sell around y units a year.
It’s now time to do some hard thinking.
Before making any move that involves serious money or risk, consider a golden
rule:
The potential reward from your idea must be much greater than the cost and risk
involved in getting it on to the market.
To find out how to calculate the sort of return you might expect to get from your
idea see Negotiation and agreements.
It may be worth going out on a limb for an idea if there’s a real prospect of
huge worldwide sales. But if you’re looking at low volume sales in a limited
market, your idea may not be worth any significant risk, no matter how good it is.
Your two broad options from now on are:
1 Aim for a licensing (or royalty) agreement with a company. See Licensing (the
royalties route).
2 Make and sell the product yourself, either alone or as part of a joint venture
with a partner or another company. See Starting your own business venture.
A licensing agreement is probably the best option for most inventors and most
inventions. But your chances of getting one are likely to be much improved if
you’re prepared to assume some kind of entrepreneurial role. Here, then, is a third
option that in effect allows you to achieve (1) by doing (2):
3 Make a business of developing your invention.
Whatever your idea, you’re more likely to get the support you need to succeed if
other people - companies, potential partners or investors etc - see you make
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some significant commitment to your idea. Without it you’re unlikely to get any
matching commitment from them.
The best way to convince them of your commitment may be to run the
development of your idea as a business.
That needn’t mean giving up your day job unless you actually want to change your
lifestyle (in which case, go straight to Starting your own business venture). It’s
relatively easy to run a very small, home-based business in your spare time. Even
if you prefer to license your idea to a company it can be a good idea to set up
a temporary business with the limited aim of achieving a licensing agreement.
The key advantages of operating this kind of temporary business are:
• Many of your expenses become tax deductible.
• Companies and others will take you more seriously.
• You avoid the deadly ‘inventor’ label.
• You’re more eligible for grants and support schemes not normally available to
individuals.
• It’s the most convincing form of market research. If you make sales, you can
then show companies hard evidence of the value of your idea.
Licencing - the royalties route:
Unless you’re already in business or have a burning desire to jump ship and be
your own boss, you’re likely to prefer to reach a licencing agreement with a
company.
This means you grant a company the exclusive right to use your intellectual
property for a fixed period, during which they produce and sell the product made
from your idea. Your reward is an agreed percentage of sales known as a royalty.
(And a royalty is ALL you’ll get. Contrary to popular belief, it’s extremely rare for
companies to give inventors large pre-sales lump sums even if they’re to be
deducted from future royalty payments.)
For many inventors the big advantage of licensing is not that it necessarily offers
the best prospects of getting the product to market (it may offer the worst) but
that it offers the lowest personal risk.
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On the other side of the fence, most companies now can’t afford in-house R&D,
making them more willing to look outside for new ideas. Although that normally
means licensing in existing products from other companies (this could be you if
you start your own business!), it also creates opportunities for licence-hungry
inventors.
In broad terms a licence:
• Protects you by making the company reward you for the use of your idea.
• Protects the company by preventing you from then selling your idea to others
(unless the licence specifically allows it).
• Enables either of you to take action against others who steal or copy the idea.
A word of warning though if you’re not the sole owner of the idea: ALL its
owners must agree to the granting of a licence. It only takes one ‘difficult’ coowner to give you two problems: an idea going nowhere, and a power game that
has to be resolved. It happens a lot, so be careful in your choice of partners.
Licence or business start-up?
Many inventions suit licensing or business start-up equally, so it’s down to your
choice. Some inventions however are much better licensed. For example:
• ‘Add-on’ inventions dependent on an existing product. Your best (and perhaps
only) bet is usually an agreement with the company making that product.
• Products whose manufacture is unavoidably expensive to set up.
Other inventions may fare better as business start-ups. For example:
• Products in ‘brain’ industries where small players can thrive: for example
software.
• Cheap-to-make products which depend primarily on astute marketing.
• ‘Conviction’ products that an entrepreneur believes will succeed if marketed in a
way that other companies can’t or won’t try.
What can be licensed?
Any intellectual property, including:
• Know-how or confidential information.
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• Copyright works.
• Shapes and patterns.
• Patents for inventions or improvements.
• Trade and service marks.
When trying to reach agreement with a company, you MUST include EVERYTHING.
It’s quite possible to have a blockbuster agreement with a separate licence - and
a separate royalty - for all of the above. No one can predict how the different
components of your intellectual property will change in value over time - like a
little-known trade mark that becomes enormously valuable later - so NEVER be
persuaded to exclude anything ‘minor’ from your licensing agreement.
Finally
Even if you prefer to start your own business, licensing out your product - once
it’s successful - can widen your markets, increase your profits or limit your risk.
Starting your own business venture
If you've tried and failed to get a licensing deal with a company, a good positive
move is to consider starting your own business, making and selling the product of
your idea.
That means you’re no longer an inventor waiting for something to happen; you’re
an entrepreneur making things happen. For many inventors this shift in thinking and
behaving is the key to success. (We must however put in a health warning here:
many people aren’t cut out to run a business and shouldn’t attempt it.)
Starting your own business venture needn’t mean giving up your existing job, and
it certainly doesn’t mean abandoning your goal of a licensing agreement. If
companies say ‘We like the idea but don’t think it will sell’, all it may take to
change their minds is some proof of sales. For many products that involves setting
up only a very small business that you can run in your spare time from home.
But for anyone running any business, survival has to be the number one priority.
Entrepreneurs may be risk-takers, but good entrepreneurs limit their risk as much
as they can. One, who started his business in a chicken shed and is now a
multi-millionaire, says: ‘If you want to be successful you must first avoid failure.
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You can’t hope to get it right if you don’t first reduce your chances of getting it
wrong.’
Your initial goal should therefore be to operate a business for only as long as it
takes to find out if your product sells. You’re out to prove a point, not make a
profit. And if the product doesn’t sell, you must be able to get out fast with
minimal loss.
Only you can decide what kind of enterprise you’re going to run, but these
guidelines on reducing cost and risk for a start-up business apply pretty generally:
• You’ll probably need a business plan
You’ll definitely need one if you want investment; even if you don’t, a good
business plan can help pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. See Planning and
funding your project later.
• Minimize start-up costs by working from home
Communication is the name of the game, so all you may need is basic home
office facilities. a phone, fax, computer and business letterheads.
• Subcontract manufacture
Your main role is to market and sell, so shop around for manufacturers. Don’t be
swayed by price alone. Quality, on-time delivery and credit terms may be more
important. A product with several components may need more than one
subcontractor (in which case it may be cost effective to do your own final
assembly).
• If you do need premises, rent them
Look for the least tying tenancy agreement, not the lowest rent. Other businesses
often have spare space and may be more flexible than a formal landlord. Don’t
think of image (yet) because that’s too expensive.
• Try to get orders before you have to manufacture
Encourage advance orders by offering attractive discounts, even if that erodes your
profit. At this stage, covering your costs is more important. (Evidence of orders
may also get you a bank overdraft, but in general be wary of banks as they tend
to be fair-weather friends.)
• Insist on payment with order
A big problem for most businesses is late payment. Offer inducements for
prepayment or prompt settlement; again it’s less profit but also less risk.
• Project planning
Projects always last longer than originally calculated, so make sure that any delay
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won’t cost serious extra money. For example, don’t buy perishable stocks or
change-sensitive items like brochures until you really need them.
• Choose your customers with care
Lots of small orders is good because it spreads your risk even if it increases your
admin. Treat large orders with caution: don’t move a muscle without a written
order, and if in doubt insist on prepayment, stage payment or a deposit to cover
essential costs.
• Don’t hold more than a minimum of stock
Match production to demand. Some of your costs may rise if you can only place
small orders with suppliers, but limiting your risk is more important. Never produce
or stock up solely on verbal promises of a large order.
You can start your own business venture in three ways:
• On your own
Simple and controllable, but you may not be able to get far enough alone.
• With partners
Fine if you all pull together, but beware power struggles.
• As a joint venture with another company
A large company might help develop your product so that they can better assess
it, but if they then don’t see enough profit potential they may dump it. A more
meaningful joint venture is likely to be with a smaller company, who might want
your idea more but be reluctant to take the plunge into full, expensive commitment.
Your willingness to lighten their load could make all the difference. For example, if
you can handle marketing they save thousands of pounds immediately.
If you get such a joint venture opportunity, consider it very seriously. A company’s
involvement can dramatically increase your product’s market potential AND reduce
your exposure to risk.
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THE HARD WORK ZONE
Proving your idea works
To stand any chance of persuading companies, investors or key purchasers to take
an interest in your idea, you must be able to show:
1 That it works.
2 That you have done all you reasonably can to perfect it.
You have to go those extra miles because companies much prefer ideas with as
few unresolved problems as possible. You may see only a few loose ends that
shouldn’t take much tying; an experienced company or investor may instead see a
knotty problem that might still be unresolved many costly man-hours later.
There’s also a large gap, which many inventors don’t appreciate, between what it
takes simply to make a product and what it takes to manufacture it efficiently and
profitably in large numbers. Bridging that gap usually involves at least partial and
often total redesign. The greater the redesign requirement, the higher will be the
cost to the company and the less certain the outcome. Because of this, companies
and investors may turn you down even if they like the product and think it will
sell. That’s why you need to create something as close to a finished product as
you can manage or afford.
Warning!
1 Protect your idea if your inventive step is likely to be disclosed during prototyping
or design. That may mean being committed to patent application deadlines earlier
than you want. See Protecting your idea.
2 This stage could seriously strain your pocket. If you involve anyone else to
share the cost, you’ll lose total control of your idea but a part-share of something
is better than sole ownership of nothing.
3 If for this stage you need investment way beyond your means, think less about
spending your own money and more about (a) talking early to suitable companies
with a view to licensing or joint venture or (b) business start-up strategies
including government grant applications.
Prototyping options
You can test your idea to your own satisfaction using any cheap materials to hand
(the first hovercraft was cobbled together using tin cans and a vacuum cleaner).
After that, here are your choices:
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1 Trial batches of product or near-product
By far the best persuader. You’ve got real product to show, and you’ll gain vital
knowledge about manufacturing costs. You can leave samples and not have to
worry so much about their return, and companies can do much more realistic
testing and assessment.
Unless you can make trial batches yourself, get some legal protection or approach
designers and manufacturers only if they sign a confidentiality agreement.
If cost is a problem it may be worth teaming up with a suitable (perhaps small
and local) design and/or manufacturing company.
Near-product is what you get when compromises are made to make the exercise
affordable. For example: the tooling for an injection moulded plastic product normally
costs thousands of pounds, but a company may be willing to make a cheaper
makeshift mould that lasts long enough to produce a limited number of acceptable
samples.
2 Full-size prototype or scale working model
If you can, use the same materials that would be used in manufacture. For cheap
and decent-looking components, cannibalize real products or use standard casings,
readily available for many types of product.
If your prototype is too large to make at home, a local factory might loan you
fabrication space or do the job for you on reasonable terms. It could lead to a
useful partnership.
3 Rough working prototype plus non-working model
If money is tight or components are hard to get, use any cheap materials for the
prototype as long as it shows how your idea works, and present it alongside a
model of what you think the product should look like. Use any cheap workable
material for the model - for example, painted wood for plastic.
4 A short video
More a support prop than a substitute for any of the above, but useful if:
• Your product has a lengthy operating cycle.
• Demonstrating it requires a site visit or a special environment.
• You need to show people using it.
• Your prototype can’t always be relied on to work!
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• Your product needs to be seen by personnel not at the initial meeting.
• You need to record a one-off demonstration event: for example, trials of your
prototype against competing products.
Home video standard will do. Keep it plain and simple and edit it to around 3-4
minutes so it doesn’t over-occupy a typical first meeting of 30-45 minutes. BUT:
tapes can be easily copied and count as disclosure so:
• Make sure your idea has some legal protection first, and
• Don’t include close-ups of the inventive elements of your idea.
Other support materials
Any of these can help if you can get them done at modest cost:
• Product packaging. Expensive to do well, so only worth considering if you’ve got
a finished product.
• An artist’s impression.
• A draft leaflet or brochure. It can impress companies with your market-oriented
thinking, and can also spell out what your product does and why it’s so good.
Testing and assessment by companies
Before designing or making your prototype:
• Find out how it’s likely to be tested by companies
... and build a prototype that’s rugged enough to come back to you in one piece.
Some products, like anti-theft devices, may have to be tested to destruction, in
which case you need either a supply of samples or the test report of a reputable
independent organization such as a university. Most universities will test commercial
products at reasonable rates, but you may have to hunt around to find a
department with suitable test facilities.
• Find out what safety or performance standards your product might have to meet
The British Standards Institution (BSI) or a local trading standards department may
be able to advise you what they are. Your prototype may have to demonstrate at
least the potential to meet appropriate standards if it is to interest companies.
If you intend to market your own product, BSI or other test fees can be a very
large item in your costings. There may also be a lengthy wait before your product
can be tested or before approval is granted.
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Help with design or redesign
Design is the key to turning a prototype into a marketable product. You must think
about design from the very start, as even an excellent prototype may not impress
companies if the underlying design is impractical or inappropriate. The true value of
your invention may not be spotted if it’s buried inside a poor design.
A good designer can be invaluable in dealing with manufacturers, who need (a)
detailed specifications before they can make anything and (b) access to someone
who talks their language if problems arise.
If you don’t have the right design skills, you have four options:
1 Hire specialist designers. That’s expensive, and before work starts agree in
writing on how much of the added intellectual property value they’re entitled to.
2 Bring a designer on board as a partner, for a realistic (that is, large) share of
eventual profit rather than direct fees. Again, for both your sakes you MUST get a
written agreement sorted out before work starts.
3 You may be able to get low-cost help with prototypes and/or design from a
university, many of which need real-life projects for their students. You must accept
though that a successful outcome can’t be guaranteed.
4 There may be a DTI or EU-subsidized scheme to help with design. Some
schemes involve partnership with a university. Universities these days can be
extremely helpful to small businesses, so don’t be afraid to approach them.
Getting quotations from manufacturers
Shop around, as manufacturing costs can vary widely. Small firms may be better
for prototypes and trial batches, as large companies with advanced equipment may
be cheaper only at very high volume (but for that reason get quotes from them
too). Ask for quotes based on the detailed drawings you or your designer have
produced and make sure they represent exactly what you want. A late request for
what seems like a minor modification can add enormously to the final bill.
Protecting your idea
At some stage - but after you’ve proved its originality, or you’ll simply be wasting
time and money - you’ll have to:
• Define your intellectual property - the aspects of your idea that are novel and
should belong to you.
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• Establish a recognized date of origin for your idea.
• Obtain the most appropriate form or forms of legal protection for it.
This is so that you have:
• Freedom to disclose your idea in relative safety.
• Something to form the basis of a licensing agreement.
• Possible priority over other people with similar ideas.
PLEASE NOTE: we’re not just talking about patents! First, there are several forms
of legal protection of which a patent is only one. Second, a patent may not be
the most appropriate or valuable form of protection for your idea.
We make this point because many inventors get hooked on patenting and ignore
the product and the business opportunity. They believe that once they’ve got a
patent, all doors will fling themselves open. Wrong: but more of this later.
Meaning and importance of intellectual property
Whoever eventually markets the product from your idea - a licensee company or
your own business - must have for its own protection the legal right to stop
unauthorized people profiting from the specific knowledge that makes your idea in
some way unique.
That specific knowledge is your intellectual property. It has to be defined precisely
and expressed in some suitable form so that the rights in it can be traded like
any other commodity. (Most countries legally recognize intellectual property
ownership.)
Intellectual property typically consists of a written technical description accompanied
by visual representations: technical drawings, sketches, photographs, computer
simulations or all of these. All these together should explain clearly and exactly
what your invention does and how it works. The more precisely you describe and
define your intellectual property - and the best person to do this is usually a
patent agent - the more easily can commercial or legal decisions be made about
it.
Dangers of disclosure
Disclosing your idea in any way before protecting it may prevent you from getting
adequate protection later. Your intellectual property will then have no value and be
29
impossible to license. (You may still be able to market your own product at your
own risk, but it won’t be an auspicious start.)
So until you protect your idea, discuss it only in strict confidence and only with
people who need to know. Patent agents, solicitors, Government officials, patent
librarians and Patent Office staff all observe confidentiality as a matter of course,
but to deal with anyone else you need at least a confidentiality agreement (see
Confidentiality agreements later).
Legal disputes
You also need legal protection so that if there is ever a dispute about your idea,
answers can be found to these basic legal questions:
• Who owns the idea?
• What is the date of origin of the idea?
Crucial if two or more inventors emerge with very similar ideas.
• Is the idea really original?
Infringers commonly argue that the idea they’ve copied isn’t original. If a court
agrees, any patent or other protection may be instantly void.
• How does the idea work?
An idea is hard to protect if it isn't clear how it works, which is why clear and
detailed intellectual property is vital.
Know-how
Know-how is something of an oddity, but it can be an enormously valuable part of
your intellectual property. It means something like ‘tricks of the trade’ or ‘trade
secrets’. Know-how needn’t be disclosed in a patent but can be sold or licensed
even if you don’t have a patent. It can also be a powerful bargaining counter
(see Negotiation and agreements). For example, you may have saleable knowhow if you have learned that you can speed up a process by using equipment in
an unconventional way.
The problem with know-how is that although your ownership of it can be
recognized by law, there is no way of registering it and its theft - usually by
employees or associates - can be hard to establish. You must therefore ensure
that your commercial secrets are (a) secure and (b) documented and dated in a
way that clearly identifies you as their owner.
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Forms of legal protection
The law provides several forms of protection for intellectual property, though it’s
vital to understand that YOU are wholly responsible for enforcing them. Some are
free (confidentiality, copyright and design right) and some involve official fees
(design registration, trade mark and patent).
• Confidentiality agreements
Confidentiality agreements have two uses:
1 As sole protection for an idea that’s little more than a thought - for example,
an idea for a TV series. Even if you write it down, copyright (see below) only
protects those words from being copied; it doesn’t protect the thinking that lies
behind them. But if someone signs your confidentiality agreement then uses your
idea without permission or payment, you may be able to sue for breach of
confidence.
2 To protect any idea in combination with other forms of protection. You draft your
own confidentiality agreement, then discuss your idea in relative safety with anyone
willing to sign it. It’s a good way to make progress with your idea in the early
stages, when you’re still researching its potential and don’t yet know whether more
costly protection is justified. The problem is that many companies won’t sign any
confidentiality agreement in case it affects other exchanges of information with other
people. They may compromise by demanding an exchange of confidentiality
agreements. This is reasonable, but check that their agreement doesn’t unfairly
restrict your own future activities.
For guidance, here’s a model confidentiality agreement that in our experience offers
reasonable protection but isn’t so restrictive that companies won’t sign it:
NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT
Parties to the Agreement:
[Company name and address]
[Your name and address]
Basis of the Agreement:
1 On the understanding that both parties are interested in meeting to consider
possible collaboration in developments arising from [your name]’s intellectual
property it is agreed that the information, documents and material supplied in the
course and as a result of so meeting shall be treated as confidential.
2 This confidentiality applies to both technical and commercial information which
either party may communicate to the other.
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3 Excepted from this undertaking of confidentiality is any information in the public
domain or which the receiving party can show was already in his possession prior
to its disclosure.
4 Either party to this Agreement shall on request from the other return any
documents or items connected with the disclosure and shall not retain any
unauthorized copies or likenesses.
5 After five years from the date hereof each party shall be relieved of all
obligations under this Agreement.
Signed [Your signature]
For [Your business/trading name if relevant]
Date
Signed [Company representative’s signature]
For [Company name]
Date
Even then you may not be out of the woods. Big firms especially fear that they
could already be working on a similar idea, so they may insist on evidence of a
patent or patent application to avoid any argument about dates and content. Some
won’t discuss anything but a patent, and may even insist that you sign a
document accepting that they won’t be held to confidentiality, even though in
practice they may well respect it. It’s up to you to decide whether to accept the
risk.
• Copyright
Copyright gives limited but worthwhile protection against the unauthorized copying of
drawn, written or photographic descriptions of your invention. Carry out this simple
procedure to establish a date at which the copyright material was known to exist:
1 Make drawings of your idea and/or take photos or videos of your prototype.
Write any text needed to make use of your idea - for example rules of a game.
Write your name on each document.
2 Place all documents (originals only - copies won’t do) in an envelope sealed
in a tamper-proof way. For example, cover the glued flaps at both ends with
parcel tape.
3 Mail the envelope to yourself by registered post, and keep the dated Post Office
receipt. Keep both in a safe place and don’t ever open the envelope.
Even if you plan to protect your idea in other ways, copyright it immediately (to
establish the earliest possible date of origin) and do it again every time you
significantly improve your idea.
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Copyright is recognized internationally, doesn’t need renewing and lasts until 70
years after your death. It’s free and there are no application formalities. Anyone
who without your permission deliberately copies or adapts your drawings or text, or
handles such copies, infringes your copyright and can be taken to court.
But: it doesn’t protect your idea or your product; it only protects the images and
text you use to describe it. Nor does it protect you if someone can use your idea
without having to copy it. Nonetheless, it may be sufficient protection if the income
from your invention is likely to be small.
• Design right
Design right protects the design of three-dimensional articles against deliberate
unauthorized copying for up to 15 years. It doesn’t cover surface decorations or
two-dimensional designs, which are better protected by copyright and/or design
registration.
Like copyright, it’s free. But its protection doesn’t last as long and covers you in
fewer countries. Nor is there an official register in which your design can appear,
so don’t rely on design right alone to protect a product with big sales potential.
Use the same self-registration procedure as with copyright to establish evidence of
a priority date. (In terms of the action you need to take, copyright and design
right are identical, so you needn’t do everything twice.)
• Design registration
Design registration protects only the visual appearance of an object. You apply to
the Designs Registry at the Patent Office. There are parallels with patent procedure
but the process is quicker (4-6 months), less complex and cheaper. Protection is
for a maximum of 25 years and the initial fee covers the first five years.
As with patents the main official test is for originality. Adequate protection depends
on giving your design the broadest possible definition, and on making separate
applications for its different elements. This takes skill, so consider using a patent
agent.
Action can be taken against anyone who makes, sells, uses or imports articles
which closely resemble the article registered; but if you’re in an industry (such as
fashion) where illicit copying thrives, infringers may be impossible to prosecute.
• Trade mark
If you intend to market your own product you’ll need a trade mark. That can cover
words, images, three-dimensional shapes, slogans, even colours. A trade mark can
be valid indefinitely and a well-known brand can be worth more than the company
that makes it, so registering a trade mark could be the shrewdest move you ever
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make. It won’t however protect the product as such, so you also need some other
protection.
Application is to the Trade Mark Registry (part of the Patent Office), and once
again the services of a patent agent can make a big difference.
You need a trade mark appropriate to the product and its market, so it may be
worth paying a design company to create one for you. But before applying to
register your proposed trade mark, use the Patent Office’s Search and Advisory
Service to (a) advise on its registrability and (b) check that it isn’t going to
infringe an existing trade mark.
• Patent
If your idea is a true invention, consisting wholly or partly of something new and
previously unthought of, and - far more important - has demonstrably good
commercial prospects, then you should consider applying for a patent when the time
is right.
A patent is a form of legal monopoly granted by the Crown, or its equivalent in
other countries, in return for public disclosure of your invention. A UK patent lasts
for 20 years, but only if annual renewal fees are paid. Patent systems exist in
most countries, and their intention is always the same: to encourage the disclosure
and commercial use of new ideas.
At the heart of the patent system is the concept of claims. In theory the inventor
says ‘I claim that my idea is original and belongs to me, and I’d like the world to
recognize both those facts’. The world - represented by the patent system - then
either agrees or disagrees.
In practice it ain’t so easy. Though you may appear to get a patent for the whole
of your idea, you more accurately get a patent for only the parts of your idea that
patent examiners accept may be original. Few applicants have all their claims
accepted, so one of the skills in drafting a patent application is to identify the
maximum number of worthwhile claims that can be ‘mined’ from one idea.
A patent is usually essential for an idea likely to be worth a lot of money. You
can draft your own initial application at little cost, but after 12 months it becomes
a complex, lengthy, uncertain and very expensive procedure, and you really need
the services of a patent agent to stand much chance of getting a worthwhile
patent.
Before making any moves, talk to a patent agent about (a) your chances of
obtaining a worthwhile patent and (b) the costs involved. Then consider whether
the potential return from your idea is really worth the risk. If your product isn’t
likely to repay its patenting costs many times over, it’s unlikely to be of much
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interest to a company. Your only option may be to market the product yourself,
using the relatively cheap initial 12-month application period to protect you while
you establish the product in the market. Once it’s there, at least no one else can
patent it.
(See How to apply for a patent later.)
How to apply for a patent
First, read this two or three times:
• A patent won’t on its own make your idea a success. Most patents remain
forever unwanted. That’s why market research is vital.
• A patent is supposed to protect your idea, but it can have the opposite effect.
Many companies - particularly in SE Asia - routinely search the patent system for
promising ideas, which they then re-work in ways that don’t infringe the patent.
• A patent offers little protection if you can’t afford to enforce it. No official body
will fight or finance your legal battles, or even check whether anyone is infringing
your patent.
• Your idea needs the best appropriate protection. For many ideas a patent is the
least appropriate (though certainly the most expensive) form of protection.
• If you must apply for a patent, the later you can file, the easier you sleep at
nights (see Don’t rush to patent below). File too early and you could soon be
running a frantic and doomed race to licence your idea to a company before you
become liable for very heavy patenting costs.
Patent agents
Patent agents are qualified to advise on all intellectual property matters, and can
act for you when disputes arise. Many are also experienced in negotiating and
drafting licensing agreements.
For all officially registrable protection use a patent agent from the start if you can
afford it, or from the first sign that your idea is a winner. Intellectual property is
what you’re selling to companies or building your own business round, so it needs
to be as strong as possible.
On the other hand, no patent agent can guarantee that your patent will provide
you with licensable intellectual property or result in a commercially successful
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product. That depends entirely on the merits of your idea and on your own efforts
to exploit it.
At a pinch you can draft your own application. Many
of the financial problems inventors face and can often
application before the end of the first 12 months, but
complete and detailed description of the invention and
patent agents are well aware
improve a self-drafted
only if it has (a) a
(b) good drawings.
Look in Yellow Pages® for local patent agents or write to the Chartered Institute of
Patent Agents (CIPA: see directory) for a full list. CIPA members give 45
minutes’ initial advice and guidance free of charge. If you prepare your questions
you can cover a lot of ground in that time, so it’s an offer you should certainly
take advantage of!
Don’t rush to patent
Don’t apply for a patent as soon as you’ve had your idea. In fact, delay applying
for as long as you can, because from the day you file your application you have
exactly 12 months before incurring substantial patent costs and very few products
can be developed to licensing or market launch stage in such a short time.
Use copyright and/or design right and confidentiality agreements to get at least
some free protection and proof of origin while you research your idea’s originality
and commercial potential. You can then judge whether a patent application is
justified.
Biding your time increases the risk that someone else will beat you to it, but
that’s far less risky than losing all your money in patent costs before there’s any
prospect of getting it back in royalties or trading profits.
UK application procedure
1 Write to the Patent Office for application forms (see directory).
2 Prepare (or ask your patent agent to prepare) a description of your invention
highlighting the novel features for which you want a patent. Send it to the Patent
Office. This establishes an official priority date.
3 You now have exactly one year from your priority date to decide whether to go
ahead with a full application. Ideally, you should by then have a licensing deal that
takes care of your patenting costs. In practice you’re unlikely to get that far, which
is why the timing of your application is so important.
4 Within the same 12-month period you MUST also apply for ALL foreign patents
you think you need. This will massively increase your costs, so only do it if (a)
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your idea has excellent international prospects and (b) you find a licensee or
investor willing to foot the bill.
5 If within the 12-month period you don’t request an official search, your
application lapses and won’t be published. Or you can withdraw it earlier and refile
the same application, as long as no one has seen it or your idea except in
confidence. You lose your previous priority but at least you have a second year to
find a licensee or investor.
6 If you go ahead, the Patent Office will examine your application in depth. This
normally takes up to four and a half years, but you can now ask for a ‘fast
track’ procedure that might get you a patent in as little as a year. It doesn’t cost
any extra and can help a lot if there is serious commercial interest in your idea.
BUT: it may miss rival applications in the system at the same time. This can
cause serious problems if you get to an advanced stage of development and a
strong competing application suddenly leaps out at you.
7 In the end you may or may not get the patent you want. If the examiners
reject some or all of your claims, you could end up with no patent or one of very
limited value. Yes, it is a gamble.
Foreign patents
International patenting is hugely expensive and complex and must be handled by a
patent agent. Unless you’re already wealthy, never consider meeting the cost
yourself.
Patenting in the USA
US patent law differs significantly from the rest of the world. Key differences
include:
• A US patent application is not published until grant; no information at all is
available about it before then. This creates a danger zone when you’re searching
for prior art; it may be there, but undetectable.
• An inventor can file a patent application up to one year after disclosing the
invention. In this respect US patent law is much more helpful to inventors, giving
them extra time and freedom to explore commercial possibilities before having to
clamber on to the patenting roller-coaster.
• You can abandon a US application and have a second bite at the cherry by
filing a ‘continuation’ application with the filing date of your first application. Or if
you want to add more technical detail, you can file a ‘continuation in part’
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application, containing both the original and the additional information. Neither
manoeuvre is allowed in the UK or Europe.
• A US patent may be invalid if the applicant behaves ‘improperly’ - for example
by not naming the correct inventor(s), not revealing all the relevant prior art he
or she knows of, or not describing the ‘best mode’ of operating the invention. This
gives competitors or predators considerable scope to challenge your US patent.
• In disputes about origin, the winner in most countries is whoever files first. But
in the USA it’s whoever invents first. The standard of proof is high and non-US
inventors rarely meet it. For example, you must record what you do in bound
notebooks with no missing pages and no alterations, and entries must be
corroborated and signed within a few days by someone who is not directly
connected with the idea but can understand how it works.
Non-US citizens should never embark on a US patent application without specialist
advice. In the UK this normally involves your UK patent agent liaising with a US
patent attorney. Patenting and selling in the USA carries a lot of risk because the
USA is a highly litigious society in which many lawyers operate on ‘no win, no
fee’ terms. Someone may therefore challenge your patent or product on the
flimsiest grounds if they have nothing to lose and much to gain.
Planning and funding your project
Most invention projects need some external funding and it’s always difficult to get.
The golden rule is: the lower the risk to an investor, the better your chances of
getting investment.
One way of reducing risk is to provide hard information of your prospects. It’s
therefore vital to have a business plan (see Preparing a business plan later) to
convince potential backers that:
• Your product can succeed.
• Your business aims are achievable.
• You’ll spend their money wisely.
Another way of reducing risk is to have firm orders or letters of intent from
customers, so try to win at least some orders even if you haven’t yet got a
product, or have only a few prototypes to sell. Evidence of even a small number
of sales is far more reassuring than a glowing report on technical performance but
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no sales. It tells a potential backer that the product will sell, though how well
remains to be seen.
You won’t get any help from banks. They’ll never help a high risk start-up unless
their lending is guaranteed in full.
Do you really need that much money?
Depending on the nature of your product, you might only need a small amount to
market it rather than a large amount to make it. Given enough advance orders you
might be able to launch your product at a cost you can afford or raise much more
easily.
How? You offer an inducement that makes customers happy to wait for delivery,
such as a big discount on bulk orders placed by a certain date. On that date you
trigger production of orders received plus a sensible surplus for stock, secure in the
knowledge that the money to pay for it all is in the bag. All you may then need
is a short-term bank loan or overdraft to tide you over until the cheques roll in.
Sources of funding
For a small business venture based on a new product and run by a novice the
basic sources of funding are:
1 Personal
• Family and friends
• ‘Business angels’
At the start, when all you know is that there might be a market for the product,
you can probably forget all but family and friends. But they can be a potent
source of start-up capital, as the inventors of Trivial Pursuit discovered. When
every company rejected it and they’d spent all their own money, they sold $500
and $1000 shares to friends and associates and raised enough to launch it
themselves. The rest is history. People will often happily gamble a bearable amount
in return for a small but worthwhile stake - for example one per cent per £1000
invested - if the idea appeals and is presented convincingly.
Business angels are private individuals with money to
figure range that is hard to find elsewhere. Most are
who look primarily for effective management. If you’re
won’t invest no matter how good the product and its
invest, usually in the fivesuccessful business people
found wanting here, many
prospects.
Business angels often form local syndicates, so find those in your area through a
Business Link or from the British Venture Capital Association’s directory Sources of
business angel capital (see directory).
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2 Business
• Potential partners
• Joint venture support from a company
You might find a business partner prepared to invest in your venture, but a
partnership is often a bust-up waiting to happen so first sign a joint legal
agreement that defines the division of responsibility and the sharing of spoils.
A possible way of avoiding partnership problems is to form two separate
businesses: one to manufacture, one to market. You own most of one; your
partner owns most of the other. If the partnership fails, you keep control of the
part of the business that concerns you most.
A company might invest not just money but resources and personnel. There are
clear advantages in joint ventures (see Starting your own business venture) but
don’t give away more control than the deal is worth. Professional advice will be
essential.
3
•
•
•
Public funds
Government grants
Local and regional enterprise grants
Support from universities
These sources offer assistance rather than investment, but can cut your need for
investment to a level where you’re more likely to get it.
DTI offers a range of grants to small companies or individuals. Contact your local
GO (Government Office - see directory) to find what’s currently available. Funding
is typically a generous percentage of eligible costs. Application may take some
months, but it’s a worthwhile wait.
Local authority help for enterprise varies from area to area, so shop around; it
may be worth locating your business away from home. But there’s no free lunch,
so look for hidden traps in any offer. Many for example involve 2-3 year
tenancies during which rents have been known to rise steeply.
Universities are worth trying as a source of cost-reducing help. Options range from
free or low-cost student projects in market research or product design to
Government-funded innovation schemes based on academic and business
partnership.
4 Venture capital
• Seedcorn funds
• Venture capital funds
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Available only to businesses run by experienced managers. Fund managers will
barely glance at a novice project, no matter how good the product. But if you can
get a hearing they might usefully redirect you through their network of contacts.
5 Publicity
A ‘wild card’ route to possible funding. Showing off a protected invention in the
right environment - a competition or exhibition, or on the internet - can generate
business interest, especially if you help the process along by sending out news
releases (see Marketing and selling).
Friends and foes (building a team you can trust)
Developing a business or licensing opportunity based on a new product demands a
spread of skills that few individuals possess, so as the element of risk increases
it’s important not to attempt everything on your own. Stick to what you know or do
at least passably well and let professionals do the rest.
What you need is a team. Not so much a permanent team that you have to
support, but rather a pool of trusted professionals whose help you can draw on to
meet needs as they arise.
We’re going to look at what’s available under three headings:
• Free or low-cost help.
• Full-cost but indispensable help.
• ‘Help’ to avoid.
1 Free or low-cost help
The bad news is that there’s very little practical help available specifically for
private inventors. Check the directory for the current situation in your area, but in
general you’re on your own.
The good news is that there’s plenty of help for small businesses, so all you have
to do is turn yourself into an innovative small business. It’s easier than you might
think (see Starting your own business venture). Depending on what help you need
- for example, prototyping or market research - check the directory to find out
what’s currently available. If nothing leaps out, seek signposting from:
• A local ‘advice shop’ such as a Business Link.
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• The Government Office (GO) for your region.
• Local authorities. (Shop around in your area; enterprise support schemes may
differ widely from place to place.)
Obviously we don’t know where you’ll end up for specific help, but as long as you
remain in the public sector there should be little risk and no nasty shocks on the
cost front.
What you have to bear in mind though is that some forms of help may have
strings attached. For example, you may have to share some of your profits or set
up a business within a defined area. The conditions are usually bearable for a
business intending to operate for some time, but may be too tying if you only
want to set up a short-term business to test the saleability of your product. Look
before you leap.
2 Full-cost but indispensable help
First and perhaps foremost, your patent agent. He or she is likely to be a primary
instrument in defining, protecting and exploiting your intellectual property. You have
to accept that they’re legal experts who charge accordingly, but for an idea with
proven commercial potential the cost of NOT using a patent agent could far exceed
their fees.
Most patent agents are well aware of the financial difficulties inventors face, and
will do all they reasonably can to minimize your costs as long as you co-operate
fully, both with them and with the patent system. Like solicitors, they can only act
on their clients’ instructions, so the size of your bill depends to a large degree on
how sensible and timely your instructions are. These should be based on the
advice your patent agent gives you, so listen to that advice carefully and don’t
ignore it without very strong justification.
A licensing executive or licensing agent can be indispensable in helping you to land
a licensing deal. They’re usually individuals with deep specialist experience of
particular markets who can speed up the process of finding and negotiating with
the right company. You can’t just turn them up in Yellow Pages; your patent agent
or a Business Link may be able to recommend someone, or you can contact their
professional bodies (see directory).
3 ‘Help’ to avoid
Help you can do without includes commercial invention agencies which offer to
place your invention for a hefty fee. They advertise widely - often calling
themselves ‘product developers’ - but may contact you directly via the address on
your patent application. All make large claims about what they can do, but if they
do anything at all it may be no more than send brief details of your invention
indiscriminately to companies, most of whom will treat it as junk mail. Some offer
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a genuine service but it still might not amount to anything you couldn’t do yourself
at far less cost.
Those based overseas, particularly in the USA, seem to be the worst. Tactics
include flattering you into an ‘urgent’ meeting, usually at a hotel or some other
temporary address where you’re pressured into signing an agreement and parting
with cash, typically thousands of pounds. Others start by charging you a few
hundred pounds for a market assessment, which is always positive, followed by a
request for several thousand pounds to place your idea.
The best advice is not to deal with any of them.
Second-best advice is:
Before any meeting:
• Check that their address exists and is permanent.
• Make them disclose in writing their fees and what you get for your money.
• Ask for documented proof of their success.
• Run a business credit check on them.
During a meeting:
• Be prepared for a great deal of ‘friendly’ pressure.
• Never hand over money, even a deposit.
• If handed an agreement to sign on the spot, refuse. Insist on time to think and
take it to a patent agent or solicitor for an opinion.
Watch out too for self-styled business or marketing consultants who offer help for
fees typically in the £200-500 per day bracket. Many small businesses have been
ruined by them. ‘Consultant’ has been cynically defined as someone who borrows
your watch to tell you the time, but a bad one will tell you the wrong time and
then keep your watch. Consultancy can be a last resort of redundant managers;
when established companies won’t touch them with a barge pole they may end up
‘advising’ start-up businesses in environments where by rights you ought to be
safe.
Three examples - there are many more - illustrate how much of a menace they
can be. One innovator was persuaded by a consultant to remortgage her house to
buy expensive and unusable plastic injection moulding equipment when there were
plenty of local plastic injection manufacturers perfectly capable of the work. Another
let two consultants manage his start-up company. They milked off all the
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investment funding as ‘expenses’ and for months refused to let him see his own
books. Then there was the consultant employed to run a local authority enterprise
scheme who raised substantial grant funding for sixteen start-up businesses. Fine;
except that he spent most of it on ‘feasibility studies’ carried out by a string of
marketing companies that all turned out to be him. None of the start-ups survived.
Until you know your way around it can be difficult to tell good, bad and indifferent
consultants apart, though the good ones will usually be too busy with larger clients
to approach you. They’ll all say you’ve got what they can cure: an IT specialist
will prescribe an expensive computer system, a marketing specialist an expensive ad
campaign, and so on. Those who offer to get grants for you are not miracle
workers; they go through channels open to anyone, but a risk is that they may
spice up the application with false information that could severely compromise you
later.
Your best strategy is not to get into a position where you need someone whose
contribution you can’t assess or control. Take small steps you understand rather
than big ones you don’t; progress might be slower but it’ll be a lot safer.
As a general rule: if anyone with what seems like the right stuff wants to pal up
with you as associate, consultant or whatever:
• Ask yourself why; what can possibly be in it for them?
• Ask yourself what you stand to lose.
• Contact the businesses they mention and ask if they know or can recommend
that person.
• Look for signs of a serious need for money - debt, divorce, drink etc.
• Ask him or her to do something small but useful. Does it happen?
If this all sounds a mite paranoid, remember that a business venture fronted by a
raw beginner, and perhaps with a decent pot of start-up funding in the bank, is
precisely the easy target some opportunists look for and all too often find
Preparing a business plan
A business plan is vital for enterprises needing investment, grant funding or
significant borrowing; more so for innovation ventures, as the greater number of
‘unknowns’ makes it even harder to attract backing.
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But don’t make the mistake of thinking that only other people need your business
plan. It’s primarily a tool to reveal possibly awkward truths about your business to
you. You need it to:
• Prove the viability of your plans.
• Reduce early risk by enabling you or others to spot potential problems and deal
with them.
• Help you plan and monitor progress.
There are no rigid rules on how to construct a business plan. It should be clear
and brief and contain the following elements:
1 An executive summary
No more than one side of A4 outlining:
• Who you are: career, qualifications, experience.
• What you want to do.
• Why your product will sell.
• Your existing resources.
• The extra resources your business needs to succeed.
2 The business
Explain what you intend to do. If the business already exists, give its history.
Indicate where you want it to be in 3-5 years (because most investors won’t
want to be involved any longer than that).
3 The product
What it is (in plain rather than technical language), what its competition is and
why your product is better. Clearly state its advantages. Provide proof of originality
and ownership. Detail any need for further development.
4 Market information
Indicate sales potential: market size and value, prices/sales volume of competing
products etc. List your sources of information. If you have it, include proof of
orders or sales of prototypes/samples.
5 Marketing techniques
How will you promote and sell the product? To whom and at what price? Forecast
45
your sales and justify them. Your cash flow forecast (see Finance below) will
show if you can afford what you propose.
6 Manufacture and distribution
Techniques, equipment, resources, capacity, suppliers, subcontractors, labour,
premises, location, transport, storage, delivery etc. If you need to buy equipment,
how do you justify a large up-front cost when you can least afford it? How will
you control quality and service?
7 Management
What human resources will you need and how will you manage and pay for them?
Include CVs for yourself and other key personnel. Identify missing skills and explain
how these gaps will be filled.
8 Finance
• Identify and justify what you need to get started, and forecast your profit and
cash flow (also known as your operating budget). Include all costs; the list can
be amazingly long.
• What funds can you provide yourself? Can you get additional unsecured finance,
for example grants?
• Next come the ‘What ifs’: alternate versions of your cash flow forecast designed
to see how much money you might need if your business hit a rough patch: for
example, if it typically takes four months to get paid instead of two. If you don’t
do this your potential backers will, and they’ll come up with worse scenarios than
you ever dreamt of.
• Most investors look for exit routes from the start, so indicate how they can get
out of your business with a fat profit (as a just reward for their risk) after 3-5
years.
You may need an accountant’s help for all this, but don’t ask him or her to bend
the figures in your favour; hawk-eyed professional investors won’t be fooled.
9 Risk assessment and future prospects
Any business must minimize risk, so indicate how you’ll do this. For example, if
there’s a way to keep set-up costs low until the market is proven, choose it even
if the profit margin is poor. (Or show how the risk is justified, usually by proving
the greater risk of not doing it.)
10 Future prospects
What if all goes well? How will you cope with rapid growth? This is a barbed
question because businesses are at their most vulnerable when growing fast; costs
46
tend to rise and cash flow may go into reverse as money flows out faster than it
comes in.
47
Getting through doors
Is your idea really ready to present?
Presenting an idea prematurely is a common and often disastrous mistake. Before
showing it to companies you must be able to prove its advantages over competing
products. You need competent market research findings and a prototype that works,
or your meeting could be an embarrassing waste of time. At worst you might
reveal a good idea to a company and also show that you have so far still to go
that you’re no real threat if they decide to work on it themselves.
Identifying prospects
Your market research should already contain details of many target companies. If
you want more, consult trade directories in a library or ask your local Business
Link or Chamber of Commerce for help. Their local knowledge might well produce
useful new leads, with the added benefit that they’re on your doorstep.
One company, or more?
You may find that some companies may want to sell but not make your product,
while manufacturers may only bite if they get firm orders from retailers or
distributors. If you can’t find one company capable of doing the lot, you may have
to act as an entrepreneur to bridge the gap. Look first for companies that sell. If
you get firm orders it should then be relatively easy to bring a manufacturer into
the fold.
Treat market leaders with caution
Pause and think before heading for blue-chip market leaders. Here’s why:
1 Most big companies won’t deal with inventors; it’s too much trouble and the risk
of being let down is high.
2 They’re committed to existing products and market plans, and the cost of any
change is likely to exceed the gain.
3 You may only be giving them early warning of competition.
4 Their R&D personnel will easily understand your idea, so what do you do if
they reject it then later launch something remarkably similar?
5 Market leaders receive many unsolicited ideas. Unless yours is exceptional,
rejection may be a foregone conclusion.
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6 You may have to wait a long time for a response. If you’ve filed a patent
application this is time you can’t afford.
7 Many large companies only look at ideas protected by patent application. It may
be unwise to accept assessment on those terms if it means starting the patenting
clock ticking before you’re ready.
8 Some don’t look at unsolicited ideas at all, fearing legal problems if they accept
one and reject another that isn’t much different.
Some inventors do get lucky with market leaders, but in general your prospects are
likely to be better with a smaller company. If your product sells well, they’ll want
to capitalize on its success as much as you do and a joint deal with a big
company might then be realisable.
First contact
The hardest part of dealing with companies is getting them to take notice of you
at all. These suggestions may help:
• Try promoting your product through a press release. Even if it’s subbed down to
a couple of sentences, a mention in the right publication can yield a good crop of
enquiries (see Marketing and selling).
• Write, don’t ring - except to find out who to write to.
• In big companies target the marketing director. The technical director is more
likely to see problems that he doesn’t want to know about.
• Prepare a summary of your idea - less than one side of typed A4 - focusing
on benefits. Use plain English and plain facts. Don’t go into too much detail; your
aim at this stage is only to whet their appetite. Include your name and contact
details.
• Send a copy of the summary to each company on your list, with a short
covering letter along these lines:
I enclose brief details of my [name of product] which is available for license and
may be of interest to your company. A working prototype is available which I shall
be delighted to demonstrate to you subject to suitable mutual assurances regarding
confidentiality. (Also enclosed is a copy of a confidentiality agreement which I hope
you may be able to sign.)
I can attend a meeting at fairly short notice. If you need any further information,
please contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.
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Yours sincerely. . .
• After a week or so ring to find out how your idea has gone down. Take
rejection as breezily as you can, listen hard and ask polite questions. You may
learn things that help improve your approach to another company, or even to the
same company later on.
• You may even be able to reverse a rejection by countering objections as long as
you’re tactful. (‘I take your point, but what about. . .’ beats ‘You’ve got it all
wrong’.)
• If you get written replies, don’t be fooled by flattery. If they say no more than
that your idea is ‘most interesting’ or ‘ingenious’ it means they’re not interested. A
genuinely helpful letter gives it to you straight: ‘It’s wrong for us because of this
and this’. You can learn from letters like that.
If you’re offered a meeting
• Unless you have a patent application, try to get the company to sign a
confidentiality agreement. If they refuse, your choice is to trust them or look
elsewhere. If offers of meetings are not thick on the ground it’s probably worth the
risk.
• You may be allotted only 30 minutes or so, so aim to complete your ‘act’ including a prototype demonstration - in about half that time, to allow for some
discussion.
• Prepare an information file that you can dip into for answers to questions. Make
sure it’s easy to use and that you know what is and isn’t in it.
• Bear in mind that they’ll be assessing you as well as your idea: are you
someone they could sensibly do business with?
• Similarly: could you do business with them?
• After the meeting, confirm back to them in writing all significant undertakings
given to you, and keep copies of all correspondence between you. This is as
much part of your protection as a patent application. It’s not unknown for some
companies - and some inventors - to move goal-posts quite blatantly if they think
they can get away with it.
Prototype assessment
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Expect interested companies to want to keep your prototype for a period of detailed
assessment.
If you’ve filed a patent application, the clock is ticking away and your idea needs
to be considered by as many companies as possible in the 12-month grace period.
Here’s how to manage it:
• Don’t leave a prototype behind at first visit. Make release subject to a written
agreement on conditions of loan, signed by a senior manager. If the company
won’t co-operate, go elsewhere. The prototype is your property and you have a
right to keep it in your full control.
• Establish who is responsible for its safe keeping. Will they pay for immediate
repair or replacement in the event of loss or avoidable damage? (You could try
charging a deposit, but explain that you’re only doing it as a form of insurance.)
• Negotiate for the shortest reasonable loan period. (They can always arrange a
second loan.) Include in your written agreement a date when you’ll turn up and
collect it.
• A month is ample for most assessments, so don’t loan your prototype for much
longer without payment. This is important. Without that spur a company probably
won’t act with any urgency.
• How much they should pay depends on the potential value of the product and
on the restrictions imposed on you - for example, not approaching their competitors
during the loan period. You may need advice from a patent agent. If the terms
offered are derisory or if they refuse to pay anything, walk away.
• Payment in instalments is more acceptable to companies than a lump sum, so
ask for (say) £750 a month for as long as they keep your prototype beyond
30-40 days, or for as long as they hold you to a sole rights agreement.
• Payment should also contribute towards the upkeep of your idea during the loan
period. The most significant cost may be a patent application, which you’ll need
before releasing your prototype.
There are two options: the more likely is that you pay for patenting and build
some of the cost into your loan period payment. Less likely, as it requires an
almost instant commitment to your idea, is that the company pays directly. They’ll
want co-ownership, but this may be a price well worth paying.
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Negotiation and agreements
Avoiding conflict
Negotiating a licensing agreement with a company is always easier if you can
prevent conflict. Always remember that the aim of negotiation is not to create a
winner and a loser, as that’s a recipe for permanent conflict. The aim of
negotiation is to make you BOTH winners.
To ward off conflict, look out for the following danger signs and try to do
something about them.
On the company side:
• They have no previous experience of negotiating a royalty agreement (often the
case with smaller companies). If you haven’t either and you both go in
inadequately prepared, things can get messy very quickly.
• They start to regard the idea as more theirs than yours - perhaps rightly if
they’ve done a lot of expensive development work on it.
• They start feeding you gloomier sales forecasts as launch date (and the prospect
of paying you a royalty) approaches.
• The company people with whom you get on well are replaced by accountants
who just want to get rid of you as cheaply as possible.
• History is rewritten, goal-posts moved. (That’s partly why it’s a smart move to
keep copious records of all dealings with companies.)
On your side:
• You think total credit for the idea should be yours, and don’t fully appreciate
what the company has done to improve it.
• You may be - or may appear to be - too demanding or inflexible.
A licensing deal usually involves two rounds of negotiation, each leading to the
signing of an agreement:
Stage 1: Heads of agreement
Both sides do no more than establish basic common ground: the figures, terms
and conditions that they’re broadly happy with. Once signed, the heads of
agreement document is handed over to lawyers to be rewritten as a full agreement
in dense legalese.
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Heads of agreement discussions usually work best without formalities or lawyers, so
it’s perfectly acceptable to conduct your own negotiations as long as you know
broadly what kind of a deal you want. If you don’t - or if your product has clear
international potential - get a patent agent, solicitor or licensing agent to negotiate
for you.
If the company offers unacceptable terms and won’t budge from them, either walk
away altogether or get an experienced professional to take your place.
IMPORTANT: most heads of agreement are ‘subject to formal contract’, which
means either side can still pull out, so NEVER let the company go ahead with the
project before a full agreement has been signed. That’s like handing a buyer the
keys to your house before you’ve got their money.
It may help to write your own draft heads of agreement before the meeting, but
use it only to help you gauge whether you’re gaining or losing ground as talks
proceed.
Here are some typical heads of agreement issues. Ask your patent agent or
solicitor to advise you on what else might need to be included:
• Intention
A basic expression of what the agreement is about, covering: what is being
licensed
A descriptive title of your invention/product and list of all the intellectual property
on offer.
What the licensee intends
To request a licence to use the defined intellectual property to manufacture and sell
the product(s) in a particular territory.
• The licence
Level of exclusivity
Basic variants are:
• Exclusive: only the licensee can manufacture.
• Sole: only the licensee and licensor can manufacture.
• Non-exclusive: allows several licences.
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• Semi-exclusive: by territory, industry, application or time.
• Assignment: the licensee takes over the intellectual property completely.
Territory
The country or countries to be covered by the licence.
The market
May be defined/limited by type of industry or application. (You may be able to
grant several licences for different markets, increasing total market penetration and
royalty levels.)
• Payment
Basic royalty rate(s)
(See Working out royalties later.)
Some guarantee of payment
To stop the licensee just sitting on the idea indefinitely.
Advance lump-sum payment
Extremely unlikely, though you’re in a stronger position if you have unrevealed
know-how or other vital documentation to be handed over on signing.
Confidentiality
Always include a standard confidentiality clause, whether or not you already have a
separate confidentiality agreement, as it forces the licensee to safeguard anything
you disclose.
Duration
Usually the lifetime of the last patent but sometimes (and better for you) a short
term - typically one to five years - with renewal options.
• Other issues
Potential minefields, so beware!
Who owns improvements?
If the licensee improves the product over time, who owns the improvements?
What if your intellectual property is successfully challenged?
Who challenges infringers, and who pays?
If you can, leave this to the licensee and accept a lower royalty for shedding the
risk.
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Infringement of third-party intellectual property rights
NEVER give any warranties that your invention does not infringe anyone else’s IP
rights!
Manipulation of value of sales
You must limit the licensee’s scope for declaring an artificially low value of sales
by, for example, selling at a derisory price to associate companies. Specify arm’s
length transactions; this enables a court to arbitrate.
• Standard clauses
Usually numerous, to clarify detail - such as when and how royalty payments will
be made - and to cover important but less central issues such as termination and
permission to sub-licence.
Make sure every point you can think of is covered and, to test for holes, ask
‘what if?’ questions for everything. If a point is ambiguous or unsatisfactory,
renegotiate until it’s clear and acceptable.
Stage 2: Full agreement
The next stage is to convert heads of agreement into a full legal agreement - a
complex and often very long document that must be drafted by legal specialists.
You MUST use your own patent agent and/or solicitor to make sure that the final
document is consistent with the heads of agreement and doesn’t contain hidden
traps.
Don’t look on this stage as an opportunity to alter the basic deal. Unless your
legal adviser finds something badly wrong, resist any offer or temptation to
renegotiate. For better or worse, the deal is done. Any late intervention is more
likely to wreck it than improve it.
Negotiating abilities
In general, to be a good negotiator you need four key abilities:
• To keep a clear view of the outcome you want.
• To understand the other side’s position.
• To foster trust by displaying integrity.
• To know when to get up and walk away.
Important things to remember are:
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• Not all negotiations end satisfactorily. It’s always safer to pull out than accept a
bad deal.
• If the human chemistry isn’t right, negotiations are unlikely to go well. If there is
no rapport or trust, your first and most important decision may have to be whether
to stay or go.
• You MUST be prepared to be flexible.
Working out royalties
Your financial expectations MUST be realistic, so before any talks find out what is
an acceptable ball-park percentage for a product like yours, then attach a floor and
ceiling to your negotiating position. The floor is the percentage below which you do
not drop unless desperate. The ceiling is the maximum you feel you can justifiably
ask for without making the company think you’re greedy or naive.
If your and the company’s floors and ceilings turn out to be several storeys apart,
check your figures and assumptions and, if possible, theirs too. If you still think
you’re right and you can’t convince them, it may not be worth even attempting to
reach an agreement with that company.
How do you arrive at figures you can sensibly discuss?
The scale of your reward in percentage terms depends largely on three variables:
1 Your contribution to the product since approaching the company
(Anything earlier won’t normally count as ‘contribution’.)
2 How special is the product?
Usually, the more competition the product faces, the lower the profit margin and
royalty percentage.
3 Estimated sales volume
The more sold, the lower the royalty percentage. This sounds perverse but reflects
commercial reality and is still good news for you. For a product estimated to sell
in boatloads you might be offered a fraction of one per cent, but it could still
make you a multi-millionaire.
Try to locate your product on these three scales, then average them out. It’s
bound to be a hazy calculation, but it may help you to judge whether the
company’s offer is an insult or merely on the low side of realistic.
Calculating royalty rates
Most royalties are expressed as a percentage of the product’s net sales price. But
though that’s an easy calculation to make and verify, it won’t help you establish
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the value of the product for negotiating purposes and is thus no guide to the
royalty percentage you should get.
A solution is to calculate your opening royalty bid on your estimate of the product’s
likely gross profit per unit (selling price minus manufacturing cost) and probable
market size, as both are relatively easy to estimate and a much better indicator of
value.
Basically, the bigger the potential gross profit per unit, the higher should be your
royalty percentage. For example: if your product can be made for a penny and
sold for a pound, there is far more profit and thus more scope for a high royalty
than if it costs 50 pence to make but still can’t sell for more than a pound.
Next estimate the size of the probable annual market for your product. A product
that can potentially sell in huge numbers for several years has a higher value than
a product with the same gross profit per unit but only a limited life in a small
market.
Once you have a clear notion of your product’s overall value, don’t bid for too
high a share of gross profit as the company’s eventual net profit will be much
lower. Your best shot is likely to be 10-25 per cent of gross profit per unit. For
a company making a 20 per cent gross profit, 10-25 per cent of that gives an
eventual maximum royalty (it may in practice be much lower) of 2-5 per cent of
net sales price. Very few companies make net profits of over 10 per cent, so to
get a significant share of that is a considerable achievement.
A worthwhile refinement is to accept or even suggest a sliding scale of royalties
based on the total royalty income involved. For example: 7 per cent up to
£20,000-worth of royalties, reducing to 5 per cent between £20-50,000 and to 3
per cent when your total royalty income exceeds £50,000. This (a) shows that
you acknowledge the company’s falling profit per unit as sales rise and (b)
demonstrates your willingness to be flexible in everyone’s best interests.
Advance payments
The hefty advance payment that many inventors think they deserve is in fact
extremely rare, and for good reason. No matter how much you may have spent on
your invention, it’s likely to be tiny compared to the sum the company must raise
and gamble on the success of your product.
A more realistic way of getting pre-sales payment is to negotiate a guaranteed
minimum monthly or annual income. Ask for this to be a small proportion - say
25 per cent - of projected annual sales. Once sales exceed the level that sum
represents, you get royalties as well. This would normally take effect from the date
production begins, but if that’s likely to be a long way off it’s reasonable to ask
for a guaranteed income starting now, but perhaps deductible from future royalties.
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If sales remain as forecast for some years, your royalties will soon recoup even
several years of such payments.
Fixed-sum payments in lieu of royalties
A company may offer a fixed sum instead of royalties if they think that in the long
term the idea will make them a fortune. Smell a faint rat if such an offer comes
your way, as it could be a ploy to buy you out for peanuts. On the other hand it
could be the best deal you ever do. An inventor we know was offered a choice of
£1m outright or 3 per cent royalties with a guaranteed minimum of £60,000 a
year. He chose the latter, estimating a £200,000-plus annual royalty, but at the
time of writing - five years later - sales show no sign of reaching even the
minimum royalty level.
Moral: If the bribe is big enough, take it seriously.
Beware fiddled sales figures.
Finally, two warnings:
1 Never agree to royalties based solely on profit
Sales figures can easily be manipulated to show no profit at all, and with a little
ingenuity almost anything can be deducted from profit as a business cost.
2 Make sure the company sells the product fairly
To rob you, some companies may sell at an artificially low price to one of their
own divisions or to an associate company. This can be hard to detect, so insist
on arm’s length transactions in your final agreement. Then, if the company does
pull a fast one, a court can adjudicate on the basis that it should have sold at a
fair price.
Marketing and selling
Marketing
If you decide to get a business up and running to make and sell your own
product, bear these two things in mind:
1 No matter how good your product, your success may depend almost entirely on
the effectiveness of your marketing. Good marketing can sell a poor product (at
least for a while) but a good product won’t survive poor marketing.
2 Once you’re set up, you’ll probably have to devote much more time and thought
to marketing than to making and delivering product, as healthy sales require a
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sustained marketing effort. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your product’s
quality or low price will save you the trouble.
Definitions of marketing are legion, but it boils down to the art and science of (1)
finding and (2) winning as many customers as possible by (3) the cheapest and
least time-consuming means so that (4) you can sell your product and avoid
going bust.
For a new product the marketing effort divides roughly into two phases. The first is
reaching people who might buy your product and letting them know it exists. The
second is more complicated and involves making your marketing more effective by
analysing actual sales patterns: who is (and isn’t) buying, and why, and where,
and when etc.
You’ll probably have to manage at least the first phase unaided, as professional
marketing expertise is (a) too expensive for most start-ups to contemplate and
(b) of very patchy quality anyway.
Good marketing promotes the benefits of your product that will persuade customers
to pay a decent price. It justifies the price you’re charging by highlighting the
unique selling proposition (USP) or stand-out benefit of your product that its rivals
don’t have. This should be your strength. Many USP claims are hackneyed and
unconvincing, but you’ve got a genuinely new, different and better product to shout
about.
Marketing is such
What is important
marketing strategy
Day One of your
a huge subject that we can’t do more than scratch the surface.
is that you study all your marketing options and set your chosen
in motion well before
business.
How do you give yourself a crash course in marketing?
• Many colleges and universities run occasional short, low-cost marketing courses
for small businesses, where you can learn and make useful contacts.
• Read. Look for titles aimed at small businesses. For wit as well as wisdom read
books by ad agency gurus who have survived at the sharp end of marketing: for
example David Ogilvy’s classic Ogilvy on Advertising or Jerry Della Femina’s From
Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor.
Effective low-cost product promotion
You must first look for ways to get free or very cheap promotion and publicity for
your business, to generate enquiries for your product in ways that eliminate ‘cold
calling’.
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Forget print advertising, as that eats money and only pays off if ads appear
regularly in the right publications. Forget exhibitions too; they need highly
professional handling and are rarely cost-effective at your level of operation.
The method to try first is the press release (or news/media release) that feeds
snippets of information about your company or product to relevant media in the
hope of a free mention. Press releases are cheap to produce and the format isn’t
difficult to master.
• What do you write about?
Subjects that constitute news include:
• Product launch (of course).
• Product/service improvements.
• Availability of new product literature.
• How customers use your product.
• Prizes, awards, major contracts won.
• Where do you send press releases?
To every publication read by potential customers. You may need to write more than
one version; trade journals prefer straight technical fact, while consumer publications
prefer a more ‘human’ angle. A good-quality colour photo can greatly increase
editorial interest.
Avoid freesheets: they’ll only ring and try to sell you advertising. Usually only
worthwhile if your customers live in dustbins or cat litter trays.
• Follow the rules on structure
• Head your news item with a relevant and attention-grabbing title.
• In the first paragraph include your ‘news’ and mention your product and its
benefits. Subsequent paragraphs should be in order of importance, as editors chop
text from the bottom up. Short releases are thus better than long.
• Use short sentences, plain English and an appropriate ‘voice’ (if you produce
life-or-death medical equipment don’t write as though you’re flogging used cars).
• Produce the release on your normal business letterhead but with the added and
clear heading Press Information.
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• Use double spacing with at least a one-inch left-hand margin to allow room to
‘sub’ the text.
• At the end put ‘For more information contact. . .’.
• Date the release.
• To maximize coverage...
Send releases monthly. If you think hard enough there’s usually something to write
about.
• Monitoring enquiries
When each enquiry comes in, log the title that generated it. You’ll gradually learn
which work best; useful information if and when an ad campaign is justified.
Product literature
Most enquirers will want more information. You can do a lot with a standard letter,
which is cheap and can be updated easily, but you may eventually need a
brochure, leaflet or information pack so:
• Keep the total weight of your mailing to a postage minimum. Bear this in mind
when buying print; better quality paper = extra weight.
• Think hard about the job you want your literature to do in the hands of a
potential customer; it’s your ‘silent salesman’ so you don’t want an inappropriate
sales pitch going out.
• Keep it simple and focus on benefits; avoid ‘noisy’ artwork and gushing text.
• Professional artwork, photography, copywriting etc makes a difference but at a
cost. Whoever you use, brief them fully and allow ample time for them to do the
job properly and for you to check it. (Check particularly that all your contact
details are correct.)
Websites for marketing
A marketing presence on the internet is worth having if you can design a website
that attracts the right sort of enquiry. It gives you a worldwide reach that you can’t
get any other way, but unless a fair percentage of your customers are habitual
on-liners the effect may be marginal. The ease of making changes does however
open up the possibility of using a self-created website as a test-bed for a
conventional brochure or mailshot. This sounds like heresy, but your website’s real
value may lie in helping you improve your printed marketing.
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A selling website - credit card transactions and all that - is a different ballgame.
See Selling: websites later.)
Selling
If you’re running a business on a shoe-string your sales strategy should be based
on (a) minimizing overheads and (b) not giving away too much profit to anyone
else except in return for improved performance.
If your aim is the more limited one of proving to a potential licensee that your
product really does sell, you can perhaps afford to spend a little more on what
should be a fairly brief sales effort.
In either case, the two things that matter are:
• Choose a controllable way of selling so that if it isn’t working you can stop or
change it immediately.
• Look carefully at probable cost per sale. If you don’t, the cost of your sales
effort could wipe out any profit.
If you can’t find one or two big customers willing to take whatever you produce,
these are probably among your best options:
• Websites
Creating a website to market your product (see Marketing: websites for marketing
above) is easy, but selling on-line is less straightforward. You first need a credit
card trading facility, which you can usually get only from a bank with whom you’ve
had an account in healthy condition for at least a year. You then need a secure
server facility to protect your customers’ card numbers. Both facilities involve fees
plus a percentage of each sale.
If you think you can make lots of sales that way, go for it. But unless a
significant chunk of your market is already on-line, it may not be worth treating as
an early priority. It takes time to set up, and you may need professional expertise
to create an effective site.
• Mail order
Mail order is simple enough in principle: you place an ad in the right
publication(s) and cash rolls in. The drawbacks are the high cost of advertising,
the strict regulations governing mail order ads, the need for credit card facilities not easy to get - and the headache of (a) choosing the right publications and
(b) creating ads that sell off the page. You may also have to pay to register
with a consumer protection scheme.
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How good the ad looks matters far less than how often it appears, so don’t go
for a big, full-colour splash that you can’t afford to run regularly. Modest blackand-white ads with simple artwork can be highly effective, so use them to test the
waters.
• Consumer direct mail
This may only pay off if your product has a high profit margin or if you get an
exceptional response. A three per cent response is rated as good. The cost per
sale of a one per cent response - and you might not even get that - will easily
top £25, comprising 100 stamps and envelopes, print costs and several pence per
address if you buy a mailing list. If your product won’t sell at a price that pays
for everything and still gives you a profit, don’t do it.
As with mail order, response depends heavily on (a) the crafting of the offer you
make to potential customers (b) how easy it is for customers to pay and (c)
how easy it is for them to get a refund if they’re not satisfied. NB: there are
strict legal restraints on any offer of goods requiring payment in advance.
Direct marketing professionals revise and test continuously, slightly changing the offer
to see if orders go up or down, so don’t assume your first effort is the best (or
worst!) you can do.
• Business-to-business direct mail
Only suitable for products aimed at businesses, but it’s surprising what businesses
will buy. Orders may be fewer in number but larger in value. You can buy
business mailing lists - for example from Yellow Pages - based on area, industry
or size of company, which makes mailings much more precise.
For businesses you can dispense with most of the ‘Open Now! Buying Firewood
Has Never Been Easier!’ hokum that seems de rigeur in consumer direct mail,
though you still need to push benefits hard. Your best bet for a high value product
may be to invite enquiries rather than attempt a straight sales pitch, as many
business customers will want additional information before deciding whether to buy.
The more you get to talk to customers, the more you learn what they want and
the easier it becomes to sell to them.
• Leaflets
Most leaflets end up as litter, but few of us throw them away without at least a
glance. It’s easy and cheap to do your own local leafletting, but it may be worth
setting up test distributions further afield to see if the grass really is greener on
the other side of the hill. (One small business in Yorkshire offering an innovative
photographic service tried this and got by far its best response from Scotland.)
• Small ads
Finally, don’t overlook the power of the humble small-ad. We know of one small
63
business that for years got nearly all its work from a regular one-liner in local
papers that simply said ‘Wrought iron gates from £15. Tel . . . ’. With effort you
could run a national campaign through small-ads. As always with advertising,
results build with time so you must keep up the effort for at least a few weeks or
months.
64
INVENTORS’ DIRECTORY
Useful Links
Innovation and enterprise agencies
Brave Enterprise Agency
The Coach House Small Business Centre, 2 Upper York Street, Bristol BS2 8QN
Tel: 0117 944 5330
www.brave.org.uk
admin@brave.org.uk
Glasgow Opportunities
36 North Hanover Street, Glasgow G1 2AD
Tel: 0845 602 1249
www.go.uk.com
info@go.uk.com
Mid Cornwall Enterprise Agency
St AusTell Bay Business Park, Par Moor Road, St AusTell PL25 3RF
Tel: 01726 813079
www.mcet.org.uk
enterprise@mcet.demon.co.uk
North East Innovation Centre
Neilson Road, Gateshead NE10 0EW
Tel: 0191 490 1222
www.neic.co.uk
enquiry@neic.co.uk
Ogwr Partnership Trust
Business in Focus, Enterprise Centre, Bryn Road, Tondu, Brigend CF32 9BS
Tel: 01656 724414
Sandwell Enterprise Business Advice Centre
Victoria Street, West Bromwich B70 8ET
Tel: 0121 500 5412
www.bcentlink.demon.co.uk
GTX@bcentlink.demon.co.uk
SEHEA
The Regional Business Centre
Harts Farm Way, Havant PD9 1HR
Tel: 023 9244 9449
65
www.sehea.co.uk
sehea@sehea.co.uk
Sceptre
Sheffield Hallam University City Campus, Sheffield S1 1WB
Tel: 0114 225 3450
www.protypes.org.uk
sceptre@shu.ac.uk
Innovation and business development bodies
Barnsley BIC
Innovation Way, Wilthorpe, Barnsley S75 1JL
Tel: 01226 249590
www.bbic.co.uk
reception@bbic.co.uk
Birmingham BIC
Aston Science Park, Love Lane, Birmingham B7 4BJ
Tel: 0121 359 0981
101515.2571@compuserve.com
Birmingham Technology (Venture Capital) Ltd
Aston Science Park, Love Lane, Birmingham B7 4BJ
Tel: 0121 250 3502
Blackburn Technology Management Centre
Challenge Way, Greenbank Technology Park, Blackburn BB1 5QB
Tel: 01254 261262
Julie.woods@blackburn.gov.uk
St Johns Innovation Centre Ltd
Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS
Tel: 01223 420252
www.stjohns.co.uk
wjherriot@stjohns.co.uk
Innovation Wales BIC (SWEBIC)
Mr Hampson, Sengennydd Road, Cardiff CF1 5UW
Tel: 02920 667041
nroi@dial.pipex.com
Business Innovation Centre Eryri (Snowdonia)
Intec, Ffordd y Parc, Parc Menai, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 4FG
Tel: 01248 671101
66
www.bic-eryri.com
info@bic-eryri.com
Dundee By Design Initiative
Visual Research Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts,
152 Nethergate, Dundee DD1 4DY
Tel: 01382 348062
www.dundeebydesign.co.uk
Glasgow Business Shop
7 West George Street, Glasgow G2 1BA
Tel: 0800 787878
Targeting Technology (Glasgow)
Unit 6.08 Kelvin Campus, West of Scotland Science Park
Glasgow G20 0SP
Tel: 0141 946 0500
www.targetingtechnology.co.uk
info@targetingtechnology.co.uk
London BIC
1 Electric Avenue, Innova Park, Mollison Avenue
Enfield, Middlesex EN3 7XU
Tel: 0208 350 1350
www.londonbic.com
Provonus
Loughborough Information Centre, Epinal Way,
Loughborough LE11 3EH
Tel: 01509 228890
admin@pronovus.org.uk
Innovation Centre Noribic
North West Institute of Higher Education, Northland Building,
Strand Road, Derry BT48 7AL
Tel: 02871 264242
Greater Manchester BIC
Windmill Lane, Denton, Manchester M34 3QS
Tel: 0161 337 8648
www.gmbic.co.uk
jcavanagh@manccitecbl.org.uk
Staffordshire & Black Country BIC
Staffordshire Technology Park, Beaconside, Stafford ST18 0AR
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Tel: 0845 845 8020
www.thebic.co.uk
enquiries@thebic.co.uk
North East Of England Business & Innovation Centre
Sunderland Enterprise Park, Wearfield, Sunderland SR5 2TA
Tel: 0191 516 6200
www.ne-bic.com
Business links, business connect and government offices
Business Link Website
www.businesslink.org
National Helpline: 0845 600 9006 (connects to local operator)
Business Link Bedfordshire & Luton
The Business Competitiveness Centre, Kimpton Road, Luton LI2 0LB
Tel: 01582 522452
www.chamber.business.com
info@chamber.business.com
Business Link For The Black Country
Dudley Court South, Waterfront East, Brierley Hill, West Midlands DY5 1XN
Tel: 0845 1131234
www.blackcountrybusinesslink.com
info@blackcountrybusinesslink.com
Business Link Birmingham
Chamber House, 75 Harborne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3DH
Tel: 0121 6070 8090 Fax: 0121 6079 8999
www.birmingham-chamber.net
info@birmingham.buisinesslink.co.uk
Business Link Cambridgeshire
Centenary House, St Mary's Street, Huntingdon PE29 3PE
Tel: 0845 609 7979
www.cambs.businesslink.co.uk
enquiries@cambs.businesslink.co.uk
Business Link Cheshire & Warrington
International Business Centre, Delta Crescent, Westbrook, Warrington WA5 7WQ
Tel: 0845 345 4025
www.blinkcw.co.uk
info@blinkcw.co.uk
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Business Link County Durham
IMEX Business Centre, Abbey Road, Durham DH1 5JZ
Tel: 0191 374 4000 Fax: 0191 374 4010
www.blcd.co.uk
customerservices@blcd.co.uk
Business Link Coventry & Warwickshire
Oak Tree Court, Binley Business Park, Harry Weston Road, Coventry CV3 2Un
Tel: 02476 654280
www.cw-chamber.co.uk
info@cw-chamber.co.uk
Business Link Cumbria
Capital Building, Hilltop Heights, London Road, Carlisle CA1 2NS
Tel: 0870 757 1177
www.businesslinkcumbria.co.uk
info@businesslinkcumbria.co.uk
Business Link Derbyshire
Commerce Centre, Canal Wharf, Chesterfield S41 7NA
Tel: 0845 6011 038
www.businesslinkderbyshire.co.uk
info@businesslinkderbyshire.co.uk
Business Link Devon & Cornwall
Prosper house, Budshead Road, Crownhill, Plymouth PK6 5XR
Tel: 0845 600 9966
www.blinkdandc.com
devcwll.businesslink@prosper-group.co.uk
Business Link East Lancs Ltd
Red Rose Court, Clayton Business Park, Clayton-le-Moors, Accrington BB5 5JR
Tel: 0800 696696
www.businesslinkeastlancs.co.uk
helpme@blel.co.uk
Business Link For Essex
Alexandra House, 36a Church Street, Great Baddow, Chelmsford CM2 7HT
Tel: 08457 171615
www.essex.businesslink.co.uk
info@essex.businesslink.co.uk
Business Link Gloucestershire
Chargrove House, Main Road, Shurdington, Cheltenham GL51 4GA
Tel: 01242 863863
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www.glos.businesslink.co.uk
info@glos.businesslink.co.uk
Business Connect Gwent
Plas Glyndwr, Kingsway, Cardiff CR10 3AH
Tel: 08457 969798
Business Link Greater Merseyside
Egerton House, 2 Tower Road, Birkenhead CH41 1FN
www.gme.org.uk
information@gme.co.uk
Business Link Herefordshire & Worcestershire
Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise House, Castle Street, Worcester WR1 3EN
Tel: 01905 723200
www.hwchamber.co.uk
enquiries@hwchamber.co.uk
Business Link Hertfordshire
45 Grosvenor Road, St Albans AL1 3AW
Tel: 01727 813813
www.mybusinesslink.co.uk
info@mybusinesslink.co.uk
Business Link Humberside
The Maltings, Silvester Square, Silvester Street, Hull HU1 3HL
Tel: 01482 226640
www.blhumber.co.uk
info@blhumber.co.uk
Business Link Kent Ltd
26 Kings Hill Avenue, West Malling, Kent ME19 4AE
Tel: 08457 226655
www.businesslinkkent.com
info@businesslinkkent.com
Business Link Leicestershire
10 York Road, Leicester LE1 5TS
Tel: 0116 255 9944 Fax: 0116 255 3470
www.leicestershire.businesslink.co.uk
enquiries@leicestershire.businesslink.co.uk
Business Link Lincolnshire & Rutland
Welton House, Limekiln Way, Lincoln LN2 4WH
Tel: 0845 757 4000
70
www.matrixbusinesslink.co.uk
enquiry@matrixbusinesslink.co.uk
Business Link For London
6 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6AV
Tel: 0845 600 0787
www.businesslink4london.com
hotline@bl4london.com
Business Link Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire& Buckinghamshire SBS
Business Link Solutions Ltd, Eastern Bypass, Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 3FF
Tel: 0845 606 4466
www.businesslinksolutions.co.uk
info@businesslinksolutions.co.uk
Business Link North Manchester
Link House, 35 Walmsley Road, Bury BL9 5AE
Tel: 0845 608 3388
www.blnm.co.uk
info@blnm.co.uk
Business Link Norfolk
PO Box 36, Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 7WZ
Tel: 08457 218218
www.businesslinknorfolk.co.uk
success@businesslinknorfolk.co.uk
Business Link North and Western Lancashire
Leyland House, Lancashire Enterprise Business Park
Centurion Way, Leyland, Preston, PR26 6TY
Tel:01772 450500
www.nwlbusinesslink.co.uk
info@nwl.businesslink.co.uk
Business Link Nottinghamshire
5 Phoenix Place, Phoenix Park, Nottingham NG8 6BA
Tel: 08457 573680
www.blnotts.com
info@blnotts.com
Business Link Northamptonshire
Northampton Chamber, Royal Pavilion, Summerhouse Road, Moulton Park,
Northampton NN3 6BJ
71
Tel: 01604 643777
www.norhtants-businesslink.co.uk
info@norhtnats-chamber.co.uk
Business Link North Yorkshire
Arabesque House, Monks Cross Drive, Huntington, York YO32 9WU
Tel: 01904 686000
www.here4business.co.uk
info.centre@northyorkshire.businesslink.co.uk
Business Link Northumberland
Wansbeck Business Centre, Wansbeck Business Park, Rotary Parkway, Ashington,
Northumberland NE63 8QZ
Tel: 01670 813322
www.n-bs.co.uk
info@n-bs.co.uk
Business Link Staffordshire
Commerce House, Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST1 5BE
Tel: 07002 202122
www.businesslinkstaffordshire.co.uk
info@staffs-businesslink.co.uk
Business Link Suffolk
Felaw Maltings, 42 Felaw Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 8PN
Tel: 01473 417000
www.bls.org.uk
info@bls.org.uk
Business Link South Yorkshire
Reresby House, Bow Bridge Close, Templeborough, Rotherham S60 1BY
Tel: 01709 386300
www.blsy.com
enquiries@blsy.com
Business Link Shropshire
Trevithick House, Stafford Park , Telford, Shropshire TF3 3BA
Tel: 08457 543210
www.businesslinkshropshire.co.ul
enquiries@bl.shropshire.co.uk
Business Link Somerset
Creech Castle, Taunton, Somerset TA1 2DX
Tel: 08457 211112
www.somerset.businesslink.co.uk
72
enquiry@blsl.co.uk
Business Link Surrey
5th Floor, Hollywood House, Church Street East, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HJ
Tel: 0845 7494949
www.businesslinksurrey.co.uk
success@businesslinksurrey.co.uk
Business Link Sussex
Greenacre Court, Station Road, Burgess Hill RH15 9DS
Tel: 0845 6788867
www.sussexenterprise.co.uk
info@sussexenterprise.co.uk
Business Link Tees Valley Ltd
Tees Valley Business Centre, 2 Queens Street, Middlesborough TS2 1AA
Tel: 01642 806666
www.teesbusinesslink.co.uk
info@teesbusinesslink.co.uk
Business Link Wessex (for Hampshire, Dorset & Isle of Wight)
Wates House, Wallington Hill, Fareham PO16 7BJ
Tel: 08457 354555
www.businesslinkwessex.co.uk
info@businesslinkwessex.co.uk
Business Link West Yorkshire
Unit 4, Meadow Court, Millshaw Business Park, Leeds LS11 8LZ
Tel: 0113 383 7733
www.blwy.co.uk
info@blwy.co.uk
Intellectual property
GO-West Midlands
77 Paradise Circus, Queensway, Birmingham B1 2DT
Tel: 0121 212 5050
www.go-wm.gov.uk
enquiries.gowm@go-regions.gov.uk
GO-Eastern Region
Building A, Westbrook Centre, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1YG
73
Tel: 01233 346700
www.go-east.gov.uk
enquiries.go-east@go-regions.gsi.gov.uk
GO-South East
Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford GU1 1YG
Tel: 01483 882255
www.go-se.gov.uk
reception.gose@go-regions.gov.uk
GO-Yorkshire & Humberside
PO Box 213, City House, New Station Street, Leeds LS1 4US
Tel: 0113 280 0600
www.goyh.gov.uk
enquiries.goyh@go-regions.gsi.gov.uk
GO-Northwest
Cunard Building, Pier Head, Water Street, Liverpool L3 1QB
Tel: 0151 224 6300
www.go-nw.gv.uk
GO-London
Riverwalk House, 157-161 Millbank, London SW1P 4RR
Tel: 0207 217 3328
www.go-london.gov.uk
GO-North West
Sunley Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1 4BA
Tel: 0161 952 4000
www.go-nw.gov.uk
GO-North East
Wellbar house, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1YN
Tel: 0191 202 3300
www.go-ne.gov.uk
general.enquiries.gone@go-regions.gsi.gov.uk
GO-East Midlands
The Belgrave Centre, Stanley Place, Talbot Street, Nottingham NG1 5GG
Tel: 0115 971 9971
www.go-em.gov.uk
enquiries.goem@go-regions.gsi.gov.uk
GO-South West
2 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6ED
74
Tel: 0117 900 1700
www.gosw.gov.uk
contactus@go-regions.gsi.gov.uk
In Scotland, get connected directly to your local Business Shop by calling 0845
609 6611 or contact:
The Scottish Executive
Education & Industry Department, Meridian Court, Cadogan Street, Glasgow G2 6AT
Tel: 0141 248 2855
www.scotland.gov.uk
ceu@scotland.gov.uk
In Wales, contact Business Connect for Wales on 08457 969798 or alternatively:
The National Assembly for Wales
Industry & Training Department, Carthays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NQ
Tel: 02920 825111
Independent advice and support organisations
Business in the Community
137 Shepherdess Walk, London N1 7RQ
Tel: 0870 600 2482
www.bitc.org.uk
information@bitc.org.uk
Business in the Community
4th Floor, Empire House, Mount Square, Cardiff CF10 5FN
Tel: 02920 483348
wales@bitc.org.uk
Scottish Business in the Community
PO Box 408, Bankhead Avenue, Edinburgh EH11 4HE
Tel: 0131 442 2020
www.sbcscot.com
info@sbcscot.com
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
Tel: 01628 427500 Fax: 01628 427499
www.cim.co.uk
marketing@cim.co.uk
75
The Design Council
34 Bow Street, London WC2E 7DL
Tel: 0207 420 5200
www.design-council.org.uk
info@designcouncil.org.uk
Institute of Patentees & Inventors
Suite 505a Triumph House, 189 Regent Street, London W1B 4JY
Tel: 0207 434 1818 Fax: 0207 434 1727
www.invent.org.uk
enquiries@invent.org.uk
London Chamber of Commerce & Industry
33 Queen Street, London EC4R 1AP
Tel: 0207 248 4444
www.londonchamber.co.uk
lc@londonchamber.co.uk
Oxford Innovation Ltd
The Oxford Trust, Oxford Centre for Innovation, Mill Street, Oxford OX2 0JX
Tel: 01865 728953
www.oxgtrust.org.uk
admin@oxrust.org.uk
Regional Technology Centre North
1 Hilton Park, Wessington Way, Sunderland SR5 3HO
Tel: 0191 516 4400
Other professional help
Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys
Canterbury House, 2-6 Sydenham Road, Croydon CR0 9XE
Tel: 0208 686 2052
www.itma.org.uk
Lawyers for Your Business
Tel: 0207 405 9075
www.lawsoc.org.uk
The Patent Office
Central Enquiry Unit, The Patent Office, Cardiff Road, Newport NP10 8QQ
Tel: 08459 500505
www.patent.gov.uk
76
Patents and trademark information
Members of the Patent Office's Patent Information Network (PIN):
Business & Technical Department, Central Library, Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen
AB25 1GW
Tel: 01224 652502 Fax: 01224 636811
bustech@globalweb.co.uk
Patents Section, Central Library, Belfast Public Libraries, Royal Avenue, Belfast BT1
1EA
Tel: 02890 509150 Fax: 02890 332819
stephenmcfarlane@hotmail.com
Patent Department, Central Library, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3HQ
Tel: 0121 303 4538 Fax: 0121 303 1354
Patents.library@birmingham.gov.uk
Commercial Library, Central Library, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TL
Tel: 0117 903 7202 Fax: 0117 903 7436
business@bclcg.prestel.co.uk
Lanchester Library, Coventry University, Gosford Street, Coventry CV1 5DD
Tel: 02476 887536 Fax: 02476 887525
b.cosart@coventry.ac.uk
Business Users' Service, Mitchell Library, North Street, Glasgow G3 7DN
Tel: 0141 287 2905 Fax: 0141 287 2912
businessinformation@cls.glasgow.co.uk
Patents Information Unit, Leeds Public Libraries, 32 York Road, Leeds LS9 8TD
Tel: 0113 214 3347 Fax: 0113 214 3349
piu@leeds.gov.uk
Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EW
Tel: 0151 233 5835 Fax: 0151 233 5886
Refbt.central@liverpool.gov.uk
Science Reference & Information Services, British Library, 96 Euston Road, London
NW1 2DB
Tel: 0207 412 7919/20 Fax: 0207 412 7480
Patents-information@bl.uk
Patents Technical Library, Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester M2 5PD
Tel: 0161 234 1987 Fax: 0161 237 5974
77
sfman@libraries.manchester.gov.uk
Patent Advice Centre, Central Library, Princess Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99
1DX
Tel: 0191 277 4125 Fax: 0191 271 4124
patentsadvice@newcastle.gov.uk
Reference Library, Central Library, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AL
Tel: 01752 305906 Fax: 01752 305905
keyinfo@plymouth.gov.uk
Central Library, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth PO1 2DX
Tel: 02392 819311 Fax: 02392 839855
Referebce.library@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Business & Technology Library, Central Library, Surrey Street, Sheffield S1 1XZ
Tel: 0114 273 4743 Fax: 0114 273 5009
Sheffield.cbt@dial.pipex.com
Patent, trademark and IPR-related websites
www.bl.uk
The British Library website, includes on-line access to Patents information services.
www.micropat.com
American website with a Patent archive, links to Micropatent Europe.
Email: info@micropatent.com or uk@micropatent.com
www.patent.gov.uk
UK Patent Office website.
www.delphion.com
Includes a section on Patents. Free registration is required.
www.ibiblio.org
US site containing the Index to the Manual of Classification of Patents. The Index
is no longer updated, but presented for historical purposes.
www.uspto.gov
US Patent and Trademark Office site.
Patent and trademark agents
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents (CIPA)
78
Staple Inn Buildings, High Holborn, London WC1V 7PZ
Tel: 0207 405 9459 Fax: 0207 430 0471
www.cipa.org.uk
mail@cipa.org.uk
Free Patent Clinics Run by CIPA:
Patents & Technology Section, Birmingham Central Library, Birmingham B3 3HQ.
Every Wednesday evening. Appointment necessary. Contact Ted Hunt on 0121 303
4537
The Patent Information Unit, 32 York Road, Leeds LS9 8TD
A Monday evening once a month. Appointment necessary. Contact Mrs Stef
Stephenson on 0113 214 3347
Science & Technology Library, Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3
8EW.
Alternate Tuesday evenings. Appointment necessary. Contact Ruth Godner on 0151
233 5842.
The Chartered Institute of Patent Agents (CIPA) London (address as above)
Every Tuesday evening. Appointment necessary. Contact Margaret Mitchell on 0207
405 9450 or email clinics@cipa.org.uk
Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester M2 5PD
Every third Tuesday of the month 2pm to 6pm. Appointment necessary. Call 0161
234 1987 or email technic@libraries.manchester.gov.uk
Business & Technology Library, Central Library, Surrey Street, Sheffield S1 1XZ
One day every two months 9.30am to 5.30pm. Appointment necessary. Contact
Sue Sayles on 0114 273 4743.
British library information services
British Library Science Technology and Business (STB)
Tel: 0207 412 7881
STB-Marketing@bl.uk
Business Information Service (BIS)
Tel: 0207 412 7454
The British Library/Lloyds TSB Business Line
Tel: 0207 412 7454
STM Search
79
Tel: 0207 412 7477
stm-search@bl.uk
Patents Information Services
patents-information@bl.uk
British Patents: Tel: 0207 412 7919
Foreign Patents: Tel: 0207 412 7902
Other market/product information
Companies House
www.companieshouse.gov.uk
Tel: 0870 3333636
Companies House (England)
PO Box 29019, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3XD
Companies House (Wales)
Crown Way, Cardiff CF4 3UZ
Trade Partners Information Centre
Kingsgate House, 66-74 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6SW
Tel: 0207 215 5444
www.tradepartners.gov.uk
Market Research Society
15 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AH
Tel: 0207 490 4911
Standards and settings
British Standards Institution
Tel: 0208 996 9000
www.bsi.org.uk
cservices@bsi-global.com
SGS United Kingdom Ltd
(Societe Generale de Surveillance, the world's biggest independent testing and
certification organisation).
www.sgs.com
sgsuk@sgs.com
Technology Project Services (International) Ltd
80
1 Warwick Row, London SW1E 5ER
Tel: 0207 963 1234 Fax: 0207 963 1299
Funding
3i plc
91 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8XP
Tel: 0207 928 3131 Fax: 0207 975 3558
www.3igroup.com
Venture capital funding. UK offices:
Aberdeen Tel: 01224 638666
Birmingham Tel: 0121 633 3131
Bristol Tel: 0870 243 3131
Cambridge Tel: 01223 420031
Glasgow Tel: 0141 248 4456
Leeds Tel: 0113 243 0511
Liverpool Tel: 0151 236 2944
London Tel: 0207 928 3131
Manchester Tel: 0161 839 3131
Reading Tel: 0118 958 4344
Alternative Investment Market (AIM)
Tel: 0207 797 4404
www.londonstockexchange.com/aim
aim@londonstockexchange.com
BTG International Ltd (formerly British Technology Group)
10 Fleet Place, Limeburner Lane, London EC4M 7SB
Tel: 0207 575 0000
www.btgplc.com
info@btgplc.com
British Venture Capital Association
81
Tower 3, 3 Clements Inn, London WC2A 2AZ
Tel: 0207 025 2950
www.bvca.co.uk
bvca@bvca.co.uk
EU Fifth Framework Programme
www.cordis.lu/fifth/home.html
EU funding programme.
Eureka
Tel: 0207 215 1618 Fax: 0207 215 1700
www.eureka.be
EU/DTI initiative
LINC (Local Investment Networking Company)
Tel: 0141 221 3321
www.lincscot.co.uk
info@lincscot.co.uk
Link Collaborative Research
Tel: 0207 215 0058 (answerphone) Fax: 0207 215 0054
www.dti.gov.uk/ost/link
link.ost@gtnet.gov.uk
DTI scheme
Ofex
Tel: 0207 423 0899
www.ofex.co.uk
Unregulated 'off exchange' share trading facility
Smart
www.businesslink.org/smart
DTI's smart Award scheme
Small Business Service
www.sbs.gov.uk
Small Firm's Loan Guarantee Scheme
DTI Loan Guarantee Section, St Mary's House, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
Tel: 0114 259 7308 Fax: 0114 259 7316
Banks
Nat West Innovation & Growth Unit
Level 20, Drapers Gardens, 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2DL
82
Tel: 0207 454 2847
Has specialist Technology Business Managers in key branches throughout the UK.
Universities
Association for University Research and Industry Links (AURIL)
Tel: 0207 575 1693 Fax: 0207 575 1694
www.auril.org.uk
secretariat@auril.org.uk
AURIL represents industrial liaison professionals in UK and Ireland universities.
College Business Partnerships
Tel: 01367 245203
www.tcd.co.uk
j.monniot@tcd.co.uk
Helps companies introduce technologies new to them though Teaching Company
schemes.
R & D organisations
Association of Independent Research Institute (AIRI)
www.airi.org
hq@airi.org
Represents independent UK technology research organisations. Members include:
Aircraft Research Association Ltd
www.ara.co.uk
ara@ara.co.uk
Advanced Manufacturing Technology Research Institute Ltd (AMTRI)
www.amtri.co.uk
info@amtri.co.uk
BHR Group
www.bhrgroup.co.uk
fluid@bhrgroup.com
Fluid mixing and engineering
Bibra International
www.bibra.co.uk
83
help@tnobibra.co.uk
Health and safety effects of food and chemicals
BLC
www.blcleathertech.com
Leather production
Brewing Research International
www.brewingresearch.co.uk
bri@brewingresearch.co.uk
British Ceramic Research Ltd (Ceram Research)
www.ceramres.co.uk
enquiries@ceram.com
British Glass Manufacturers Confederation
www.britglass.co.uk
British Maritime Technology Ltd
www.bmt.org
British Textile Technology Group
www.bttg.co.uk
info@bttg.co.uk
Building Services Research & Information Association (BSRIA)
Old Bracknell Lane, West Bracknell RG12 7AH
Tel: 01344 426511
www.bsria.co.uk
bsria@bsria.co.uk
Building Research Establishment
Garston, Watford WD2 7JR
Tel: 01923 664000
www.bre.co.uk
enquiries@bre.co.uk
Cambridge Consultants
www.cambridgeconsultants.com
info@cambridgeconsultants.com
Innovation and cost reduction in new products, systems and manufacturing processes
Cambridge Refrigeration Technology
www.crtech.co.uk
84
Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association
www.campden.co.uk
Construction Industry Research & Information Association (CIRIA)
www.ciria.org.uk
enquiries@ciria.org.uk
Central Research Laboratories Ltd (SRL)
www.crl.co.uk
Telecoms, a-v, electronics, multimedia, sensors and instrumentation, imaging,
medical technologies etc.
Cutlery & Allied Trades Research Association
Henry Street, Sheffield S3 7EQ
Tel: 0114 276 9736
www.catra.org
info@catra.org
EA Technology
www.eatechnology.com
sales@eatechnology.com
Applications and distribution of electricity
ERA Technology
www.era.co.uk
info@era.co.uk
Electronics, electrical materials and structural engineering
Fabric Care Research Association
Knaresborough Road, Harrogate HG2 7LZ
Tel: 01423 885977
www.fcra.org.uk
hands@fcra.org.uk
Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA)
Maxwell Road, Stevenage SG1 2EW
Tel: 01438 777700
www.fira.co.uk
H R Wallingford
www.hrwallingford.co.uk
info@hrwallingford.co.uk
Water resources: irrigation, drainage, harbours etc
Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC)
85
Queens Road, Teddington TW11 0LY
Tel: 0208 943 7000
www.lgc.co.uk
Chemical and bioanalytical testing, research and consultancy
Leatherhead Food Research Association
Randalls Road, Leatherhead KT22 7RY
Tel: 01372 376761
www.lfra.co.uk
Materials Engineering Research Laboratory
Tamworth Road, Hertford SG13 7DG
Tel: 01992 500120
www.merl-ltd.co.uk
Mineral Industry Research Organisation (MIRO)
1 City Square, Leeds LS1 2ES
Tel: 0113 3002040
www.miro.co.uk
mail@miro.co.uk
Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA)
www.mira.co.uk
enquiries@mira.co.uk
National Computing Centre Ltd
www.ncc.co.uk
info@ncc.co.uk
National Physical Laboratory
www.npl.co.uk
The UK's national standards laboratory for physical measurements
Paint Research Association
www.pra.org.uk
information@pra.org.uk
PERA Group
www.peragroup.com
marketing@pera.com
New materials and manufacturing methods
PIRA International
www.pira.co.uk
Packaging, paper, print and publishing
86
Rapra Technology Ltd
www.rapra.net
info@rapra.net
Rubber and plastics
Satra Technology Centre
www.satra.co.uk
info@satra.co.ulk
Fotwear
Sira Ltd
www.sira.co.uk
info@sira.co.uk
Measurement, instrumentation, control and optical systems
Smith Institute
PO Box 183, Guildford GU2 5GG
Tel: 01483 579108
www.smithinst.ac.uk
office@smithinst.ac.uk
Applications of mathematics and computing
Smith System Engineering Ltd
www.smithsys.co.uk
Information, communications and sensing systems
Sports Turf Research Institute
St Ives Estate, Bingley BD16 1AU
Tel: 01274 565131
www.stri.co.uk
Steel Construction Institute
www.steel-sci.org
reception@steel-sci.com
Thatcham, (formerly The Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre)
Colthrop Lane, Thatcham RG19 4NR
Tel: 01635 868855
www.thatcham.org
enquiries@thatcham.org
Trada Technology Ltd
www.trada.co.uk
Timber and wood-based products
87
Transport Research Laboratory
Old Wokingham Road, Crowthorne RG45 6AU
Tel: 01344 770007
www.trl.co.uk
enquiries@trl.co.uk
TWI (formerly The Welding Institute)
www.twi.co.uk
twi@twi.co.uk
Joining technologies
WRC Plc
www.wrcplc.co.uk
solutions@wrcplc.co.uk
Environment: water supply, waste disposal, recycling, environmental quality,
contaminated land etc
Science parks
The UK Science Park Association
Aston Science Park, Love Lane, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B7 4BJ
Tel: 0121 359 0981
www.ukspa.org.co.uk
admin@ukspa.prestel.co.uk
UKSPA members include:
Aberdeen Science & Technology Park
Tel: 01224 252143
www.astp.co.uk
tony.aldhouse@scotent.co.uk
Aston Science Park Birmingham
Tel: 0121 250 3502
derekh@astonsciencepark.co.uk
Bangor Innovation Centre
North Wales
Tel: 01248 672600
JamesG@gwynedd.gov.uk
Birmingham Research Park
Tel: 0121 471 4988
www.bham.ac.uk
88
BRPL@bham.ac.uk
Brunel Science Park
Middlesex
Tel: 01895 272192
www.brunel.ac.uk
science-park@brunel.ac.uk
Cambridge Science Park
Tel: 01223 841841
www.cambridge-science-park.com
djl@bidwells.co.uk
Cardiff Business Technology Centre & Cardiff Medicentre
Tel: 02920 647000
Chilworth Research Centre
Southampton
Tel: 023 80767420
d.fox@csp-ltd.com
Coventry University Technology Park
Tel: 024 76236000
s.simkiss@coventry.ac.uk
Cranfield Technology Park
Tel: 01234 754004
www.cranfieldtechnologypark.co.uk
l.d.pearson@cranfield.ac.uk
Durham University Science Park
Tel: 0191 374 2580
www.dur.ac.uk/~drl10www/mj/sciencepark.html
P.E.BRANSDEN@durham.ac.uk
Edinburgh Technopole - The Bush Research Park
Tel: 0131 445 7787
Sharon.Bamford@ed.ac.uk
Elvingston Science Centre
East Lothian
Tel: 01875 408000
www.elvingston.co.uk
enquiries@elvingston.co.uk
89
Harwell International Business Centre
Oxfordshire
Tel: 01235 431650
www.harwell.org
Heriot-Watt University Research Park
Edinburgh
Tel: 0131 449 7070
Manchester Science Park
Tel: 0161 226 1000
www.smpl.co.uk
jane.davies@mspl.co.uk
The National Technological Park Plassey Ltd
Limerick
Tel: 00 353 61 336555
www.shannon-dve.ie
kellyo@shannon-dev.ie
Newlands Science Park
Hull
Tel: 01482 465139
N.R.Halford@admin.hull.ac.uk
Nottingham Science and Technology Park
Tel: 0115 915 8011
sarah.waring@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
The Oxford Science Park
Tel: 01865 784000
www.oxfordsp.com
rcq03@dial.pipex.com
Porton Down Science Park
Salisbury
Tel: 01980 613380
Jhowells@dera.gov.uk
Preston Technology Management Centre
Tel: 01772 880729
www.lancashireatwork.com
David.Moore@enterprise.plc.uk
St John's Innovation Park
90
Cambridge
Tel: 01223 420252
www.stjohns.co.uk
wjherriot@stjohns.co.uk
Scottish Enterprise Technology Park
Tel: 01698 745454
Terry.Bardell@scotent.co.uk
Sheffield Science & Technology Parks
Tel: 0114 2211800
www.sci-tech.org.uk
enquiries@sci-tech.org.uk
South Bank Technopark
London
Tel: 0207 928 2900
www.sbu.ac.uk
techno@sbu.ac.uk
Staffordshire Technology Park
Tel: 01785 277706
paul.adams@staffordshire.gov.uk
Stirling University Innovation Park
Tel: 01786 448333
www.innovation.stir.ac.uk
info@suip.co.uk
The Surrey Research Park
Tel: 01483 579693
www.surrey.ac.uk/research_park.html
m.parry@surrey.ac.uk
Swansea University Innovation Centre
Tel: 01792 295562
www.uwsinnovationcentre.co.uk
EDWARDS.N.A@swansea.ac.uk
University of Reading Science & Technology Centre
Tel: 01189 318978
www.reading.ac.uk
a.ansell@reading.ac.uk
University of Warwick Science Park
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Tel: 024 76323000
www.uwsp.co.uk
uwsp@uwsp.co.uk
West of Scotland Science Park
Glasgow
Tel: 0141 946 7161
MDILLON@targtech.scotnet.co.uk
Westlakes Science & Technology Park
Cumbria
Tel: 01946 590818
westlakes@dial.pipex.com
Winfrith Technology Centre
Dorchester
Tel: 01305 203355
david.kirby@ukaea.org.uk
Wolverhampton Science Park
Tel: 01902 824023
www.wolverhamptonsp.co.uk
in6752@wlv.ac.uk
York Science Park
Tel: 01904 435100
www.york.ac.uk/univ/scipark
inov2@york.ac.uk
The Universities of Bristol & Bath at Qwest
Tel: 0117 903 1100
peter.maxwell@bris.ac.uk
Europe
Innovation Relay Centre
Tel: 01252 395755 Fax: 01252 392119
www.seirc.org.uk
djphillips@ddda.gov.uk
Encourages innovation throughout the EU and helps companies participate in EU
innovation programmes.
Commissions of the European Communities
www.cec.org.uk
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Commission of the European Communities
Windsor House, 9/15 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7EG
Tel: 02890 240708
Commission of the European Communities
2 Caspian Point, Caspian Way, Cardiff CF10 4QQ
Tel: 02920 895020
Commission of the European Communities
18 Dawson Street, Dublin 2
Tel: 00 353 166 25113
Commission of the European Communities
9 Alva Street, Edinburgh EH2 4PH
Tel: 0131 225 2058
Elizabeth.Holt@cec.eu.int
Commission of the European Communities
Jean Monnet House, 8 Storey's Gate, London SW1P 3AT
Tel: 0207 973 1992
jim.dougal@cec.eu.int
Periodicals
Inventor's World
72A Bedford Place, Southampton SO15 2DS
Tel: 01703 570102
www.easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~robodyne/inventors-world
inventors@tcp.co.uk
Practical Farm Ideas
PO Box 1, Whitland, Carmarthern SA34 0HZ
Tel: 01994 240879
www.farmideas.co.uk
mike@farmideas.co.uk
Suggested websites
www.aeat.co.uk
The UK Atomic Energy Authority's commercial site.
www.cordis.lu
Website of the EU Community Research and Development Information Service.
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www.dti.gov.uk
Website of the Department of Trade and Industry
www.enterprize-zone.org.uk
Government initiative to regenerate business.
www.excite.com and other browsers
www.inventnet.com
www.iso.ch
Swiss site of the International Standards Organisation.
www.merseyworld.com
General information on organisations and businesses.
www.neic.co.uk
Website of North East Innovation Centre providing technological advice
www.techlink.org.uk
East of England Techlink offers a database of experts in the region to help
businesses with technical problems.
www.uktech.net
Funded by DTI to include the services of The Technology Exchange Ltd on the
net.
www.xodesign.co.uk/tsnet/default
The Trading Standards Net
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