Brookes Batchellor’s specialist electronics team recently exhibited at NEW-UK – that’s the “National Electronics Week” exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. This was the first exhibition we’ve attended for many years, and it was great fun to meet a really wide range of British electronic companies there, ranging from small start-up companies and consulting firms to industry-leading manufacturers. Similarly, the attendees were a diverse crowd of industry experts, students, business minds and simple enthusiasts keen to see what was going to be the next big thing – the fact that the Gadget Show (based on Channel 5’s popular Consumer Electronics Programme) was on at the NEC at the same time brought even more people together.
We were very happy to give a little IP advice to visitors and exhibitors at the Show. As is often the case, while some people were very knowledgable about the patent and trade mark system, we were also surprised by the number of people, like one of our neighbouring exhibitors, who were unaware that an invention must be secret in order to be protected by a patent. Any invention must be “novel”, which means it must not have been disclosed to the public at any time before the application for a patent is received. It is distressing to see good inventions exploited poorly by their owners because they had already published the details on their website, or have begun selling them.
Once again, we recommend applying for a patent as soon as possible, so that you may freely disclose your invention without the fear of losing your chance for effective protection and commercial exploitation.
A large number of queries also centred around trade marks, and what businesses can do to protect their trading names. While not as expert in this area as our trade mark attorney colleagues Jane Martin and Clare Turnbull, we were happy to advise. Trademarks are used to help traders differentiate their services and goods from those of their competitors on the market, and to help consumers identify different brands. Brands carry an enormous amount of meaning on the market, portraying the quality and value of the goods and services on offer. Protecting your brand name through trade marking is an essential step to stop people feeding off the goodwill you have built up with your name.
Another purpose of our visit was to help promote Brookes Batchellor, and let people know about the different ways we are able to engage with clients. Even though we spent a lot of time speaking to people who had never considered IP protection before speaking to us, we also met a number of people who already had a relationship with a Patent Attorney firm, but were are interested to hear how Brookes Batchellor could work with them in a different way. We aim to be a flexible firm, and even if you already use a patent attorney firm, perhaps Brookes Batchellor’s flexible approach could help you, and offer something different.
If you have any questions about Intellectual Property, or if you’d like to know how we can offer something different to other Patent Attorneys, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’d be happy to speak to you.
Rosemary Eve
Partner
Brookes Batchellor LLP, Tunbridge Wells
01892 510600