British Library Author Jack1956  Public Domain  Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert I am delighted to report that the British Library has set up an "Inventors Club". and I wish its organizers and members every success,  The Club meets on the last Monday of every month. The next meeting will take place between 18:00 and 19:30 on 29 April 2024. According to the Eventbrite registration card, there will be talks by innovators who have already brought their products to market or have licensed their intellectual property,   The or ..read more

  Jane Lambert In Disputes over Ownership of Inventions 6 Aug 2015 NIPC South East I wrote: "According to the Intellectual Property Office at least 30 disputes are referred to its tribunals every year over who should own or be entitled to apply for a British or foreign patent or be named as an inventor (see the table on page 50 of the IPO's Facts and figures for 2013 and 2014 calendar years)." As I said in the next sentence, disputes over ownership of patents or patent applications are known as "entitlement disputes."  Of the 41 inter partes hearings, and reason ..read more

Author Grenavitar Licence Public Domain Source Wikimedia Commons Paternoster Square, City of London   Jane Lambert A business plan plots out the course that a business is to take from its present position to a point in the future.  During that time it is expected to develop new products and/or services that will attract customers.  The design of goods, the technology that the goods or services incorporate or by which they are made or marketed and/or the reputation that the business develops are business assets.  As they are creations of the mi ..read more

Chemistry Research Laboratories at Oxford University Author M stone Licence CC BY-SA  3.0  Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert Traditionally universities have been funded by grants from central government, fees and gifts from alumni and philanthropic members of the public.  These are the so-called first and second funding schemes.  More recently universities have been encouraged to exploit their accumulations of knowledge and expertise through licensing, consultancy and training.  That is often referred to as "the third stream" o ..read more

Patents Court and Intellectual Property Enterprise Court  Author Judicial Office Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert 1. What do I do if my Patent is infringed? The first thing to do is to take some specialist legal advice.  Do not take matters into your own hands unless and until you have done so. Intellectual property law differs from other types of law in that sending a letter before claim that would be perfectly acceptable in most circumstances can sometimes be actionable.  That is because s.70A (1) of the Patents Act 1977 ..read more

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

Jane Lambert IP really can make or break a business.  Get it right and you can control entry to your markets or generate substantial amounts of licensing revenue. Get it wrong and you can be ensnared suddenly in complex litigation with draconian remedies and ruinous legal fees. You can try to ignore it but every business in the world has goodwill, some trade secrets, a website with text and photos all of which are likely to be copyright works.  Problems can be avoided and opportunities seized by spotting them in advance.  By and large, that is what big companies do.  Thei ..read more

White Cliffs of Dover Author Immanuel Giel Licence CC BY-SA 3.0  Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert In UK Innovation Strategy I discussed ways in which the British government proposed to stimulate innovation so that the UK could join China, the USA, Japan and South Korea as a science and technology superpower by 2039,  Buried away in the text on free ports  on page 78 was this reference to the UK border: "The innovation activity in Freeports will build on the government’s 2025 UK Border Strategy, published in December 2020, which set ..read more

Standard YouTube Licence Jane Lambert In his foreword to Global Britain in a competitive age which I discussed in NIPC Brexit on 19 March 2021, the Prime Minister wrote: "Our aim is to have secured our status as a Science and Tech Superpower by 2030." The Secretary of State for Business referred to that target in his foreword to UK Innovation Strategy Leading the future by creating it.  In my article, I wrote: "As an intellectual property lawyer, I should love to see the UK become a science and technology superpower with vibrant creative industries attracting ..read more

Author ReubenGBrewer Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert One of the few good things to have resulted from this pandemic is the live streaming of events that would previously have been limited to the venue where they took place. One of those events is the United States Patent and Trademark Office's webinar Invention-Con 2021: Capitalizing on your intellectual property which will take place between 18-20 Aug 2021.  It is billed as an event for inventors, makers and entrepreneurs. There is nothing ..read more