NIPC News

UK Supreme Court Author Kelsey Farish   Licence CC BY 4.0   Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert Last week's Winter Intellectual Property Conference  by CTC Legal Events was different from almost every  IP conference or seminar that I had previously attended.  For a start, there were very few slides.  I had prepared some for my talk on FRAND, as had  Maria-Christina Peyman of Birketts for her review of leading IP cases, but most of the topics were moderated discussions.  Secondly, the conference took place in  the magnificently equipped London campus of the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business .  Thirdly, the organizers attracted some of the biggest names in IP, such as Professor Sir Robin Jacob, a former Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal and Sam Williams, Head of Intellectual Property at Siemens.  A lot of information was squeezed into the 5th and 6th of November.  The organizers covered that grou...

WIPO Author Emanuel Berrod Licence CC BY-SA 4.0   Jane Lambert The World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO")  describes an intellectual property audit as a tool for identifying "potential IP assets", that is to say, protectable  intellectual assets . An IP audit helps to uncover unused or under-utilized assets, determine ownership of those assets and warn against possible conflicts with intellectual property owners or potential infringers.  Information on the types of IP audit, preparing for such an audit and carrying it out is available on the Intellectual Property page of the WIPO website .  More detailed information can be found in Module 10   of IP Panorama .    The WIPO categorized IP audits as follows: " General-purpose  This is broadest type of IP audit, used by new companies or those considering implementing new IP policies, standards or procedures. It is also suitable for companies implementing new marketing approa...

Jane Lambert Yesterday I spoke at a workshop on sustainable packaging and waste.  It took place at  Tŷ Menai conference centre in Parc Menai  just outside Bangor, There were many eminent speakers including Rob Elias , Director of the Biocomposites Centre of Bangor University, Selwyn Owen  of Beacon Biorefining Hugh Jones of WRAP Cymru , David Walker of Business Wales , Dewi Rowlands of Bangor University and Wyn Griffiths of the Pontio Centre FabLab which I discussed in The Pontio Centre: A Resource for Inventors, Designers and Makers in North Wales   14 Dec 2018 NIPC Inventors Club, I talked about intellectual property .  As I was called to the lectern 10 minutes before lunch was due to be served, I had to condense a 30-minute presentation into 10.  That was probably a good thing as I focused on essentials,  I explained what was meant by intellectual property, set out the IP toolkit and gave the audience two of my best tips: How t...

Crown Copyright Open Government Licence Jane Lambert For those who have never heard of the National Infrastructure Commission , I described it as an executive agency of the Treasury consisting of a chair, a deputy chair and 9 commissioners (see Jane Lambert  Partnering for Prosperity: A new deal for the Cambridge- Milton Keynes-Oxford Arc   21 Nov 2017 NIPC East), Its purpose is to offer impartial, expert advice and recommendations to the government on economic infrastructure which includes energy, transport, water (drainage sewerage and flood management) and digital communications. Its objectives are to support sustainable economic growth across all regions of the UK and improve competitiveness and the quality of life. Lord Adonis was the chair of that Commission  and his resignation earlier today  is not good news for the regions.  That is because they look to the Commission to secure the funding that they need for the improved tr...

Author Rob984 Licence Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International Source Wikipedia Jane Lambert Last week I answered the following question from Will Roebuck , one of my readers: "What do start-up entrepreneurs need to look for in a good IP lawyer?"  I replied: "Probably the most useful professional adviser will be one who can help you to use IP to meet your business objectives. That is known as " IP strategy" which the American lawyer Jackie Hutter described as the combination of business acumen with IP knowledge to provide business focused advice (see Hutter What is an IP Strategist? IP Asset Maximizer Blog)." My article elicited a number of comments including this one from Julian Potter of WP Thomson: "hi Jane, I am interested in the idea that IP strategists are a new type of adviser. It is certainly the case that in recent years one has seen a number of individuals and organisations refers to themse...

Jane Lambert I have started a Midlands Engine resource page in NIPC East Midlands that is similar to the Northern Powerhouse resource page  in IP Northwest.  The term is used in relation to a set of initiatives that were announced by Philip Hammond MP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in The Midlands Engine Strategy on 9 March 2017. There is also a Midlands Engine Partnership with a website and a number of publications. As to the relevance to IP, I wrote: "The support of enterprise and innovation should result in the creation of more inventions and other intellectual assets as well as funding for development and marketing. Licences will be required to deploy technologies that will improve connectivity and raise productivity." I have begun a short bibliography which includes my article on The Midlands Engine   of 7 Dec 2015 NIPC East Midlands. Call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 or send me a message on my contact form  for further information,

Inaugural Conference of World Business Angel Association in Beijing 2009 Author JohnnyOnTheSpot  Licensed by the author Source Wikipedia Jane Lambert In IP's not just for Big Brands and High Tech Businesses  27 Aug 2016 I wrote: "In my career at the Bar, have known far more businesses that have failed from having too much IP than too little. Some of those failures had been caused by patents that cost many thousands of pounds to obtain but could never be worked. Others by disputes that were abandoned because the rights owner (who in many cases had a strong claim) simply ran out of money." In many instances, such patents and other IP rights were sought to attract, or to fulfil a condition for, investment. While it is understandable that an angel or private equity investor should desire the most extensive legal protection possible for his or her investment a patent for an invention that may never be worked or any IP right that the business cann...

National Galleries of Scotland Author Finlay McWalter Source Wikpedia Creative Commons Licence Jane Lambert On 15 April 2016 I was invited to speak to t he Scottish meeting of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh on Preparing for the Unitary Patent and the UPC. I was one of four speakers. The others were: Catriona M Hammer  who spoke on Portfolio Strategy for Start-Ups, Spin-Outs and Other Small Businesses ; David Bloom of Safeguard IP who spoke on Intellectual Property Insurance Solutions ; and  Eleanor Wade of the Intellectual Property Office whose talk was entitled Updates form IPO. Over 50 patent attorneys and other IP professionals attended the meeting which was chaired by Andrea Brewster. I enjoyed all the presentations but I found Catriona's particularly interesting as I specialize in advising and representing start-ups and other SME. She has spent most of her career i...

European Patent Office, Munich Photo Wikipedia Jane Lambert Many new businesses are started at this time of the year.  Unless it is a tech start-up little thought is likely to be given to intellectual property ( "IP" ) by entrepreneurs and small business owners when drawing up their business plans. That is a mistake because the competitive advantages earned from designing good looking new products, innovation or establishing a reputation for good service can be entrenched by law. It is a particularly British phenomenon fostered partly by lack of awareness of IP law by many business owners and their professional advisers and partly because IP rights were until recently very expensive to enforce. Their competitors in continental Europe, Asia and North America are much more likely to incorporate IP into their business planning. Develop an  IP Strategy First One of the reasons why British business owners and their advisers are wary of IP is tha...