NIPC News

Jane Lambert According to the Intellectual Property Office's latest  Facts and Figures , there were 382 applications for UK patents from Wales in 2017. That was more than the 158 from Northern Ireland and 296 Northeast England but considerably less than the 2,585 applications from London and the 2,067 from the Southeast. Developments that may make a difference are the opening of the Menai Science Park (M-SParc)    in Angelsey on 1 March 2018 and the construction of the Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus .  Like the Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre in Bangor, these are initiatives of two of Wales's research universities to stimulate innovations and economic growth in their local areas. There are signs that those initiatives are working.  I attended "Pitch Perfect" at M-SParc on 1 March 2019 and wrote about the event in A Good Way to spend St David's Day   (2 March 2019).  There were some very good proposals indeed and I thin...

Jane Lambert In Resources for Inventors and other Startups in Northwest Wales   5 Feb 2019 NIPC Inventors Club I mentioned the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc") at Gaerwen in Anglesey and funding from the Development Bank of Wales . I did not, however, discuss other funding opportunities. Coinciding with the science park's first anniversary, M-SParc's Enterprise Hub will hold a pitching event known as "Pitch Perfect" in conjunction with Be the Spark  on St David's day between 17:00 and 19:30.  The organizers describe this event as "an evening of opportunities to pitch, chances to wow secret investors, the tools to vote on other pitches, and get feedback on your idea. It's not just for those who want to pitch; this will be an event you don't want to miss." According to the Eventbrite card, there will be three pitching opportunities: "FLASH PITCH - Two pots of funding up to £1,000 are available ON THE NIGHT for you...

  Royal Courts of Justice Photo Michael Reeve Source Wikipedia Creative Commons Licence Jane Lambert It is not often that one receives an accolade from a client. Usually, if a client wins, it is down to the natural justice of the case and nothing to do with the eloquence or preparation of the advocate. If the client loses, it's all the lawyer's fault. So it was lovely to receive thanks from a public access client earlier this week whose case in the small IP claims track has just been resolved to his satisfaction. The client said that it actually took him a very long time to find someone who truly understands IP the way I do, especially in relation to e-commerce and added that there is certainly a market there for me to tackle. Although the case was in the small claims track it was not an easy one.  Had the claim not settled a novel point of law would have to have been decided and there were also procedural issues that required several prelimina...