Argentina

Dolavon, Chubut, Argentina

Author: Raúl Horacio Comes Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0  Source: Wikimedia Commons

Jane Lambert

Tonight's football match against Argentina has reminded me of the 1988 International Bar Association conference in Buenos Aires, which I attended.  It took place only 6 years after the Falklands War and diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom had not been restored.  I had to obtain a visitor's visa through the Argentine interests section of the Brazilian consulate.  As there was no direct air service between the UK and Buenos Aires, I had to fly Lufthansa via Frankfurt.

The conference was excellent, and there was only one incident of Anglophobia.  A cattle breeders' association staged a show of its members' skills in horsemanship for the conference attendees.  As a finale, the riders galloped across the arena.  Each rider carried a flag representing the nation of at least one attendee.  The only flag that was missing was the Union flag, notwithstanding that the British delegation was one of the largest.  The gauchos rubbed in their snub even more pointedly by carrying a saltire.

After the conference, I explored the massive nation, visiting Mendoza, Trelew and Ushuaia.  On those trips I saw wonderful things, such as mighty Mount Aconcagua, the highest point outside Asia and the glaciers of Tierra del Fuego.  However, the most memorable was a day trip to Dolafon in the heart of Y Wladfa.  

As a frequent visitor to Eryri, I had heard of the voyage of the Mimosa in 1865, the Mayflower of the  Welsh colony in Argentina.  The area where the ship's passengers disembarked could not be more different from North Wales.  It is flat and arid and the first sight of that countryside must have broken their hearts.  

But they did not give up.  They learned from the indigenous people how to irrigate the land and plant crops.  Within a few decades, they were winning prizes and commendations at international agricultural shows.  Sadly, they were unable to create a uniquely Welsh-speaking community in Chubut because the Argentine government encouraged settlement by immigrants from the rest of Europe.  Welsh speakers are now a minority in the Wladfa to a greater extent than the Welsh speakers in Wales.

Nevertheless, they are still there, or as the song goes, "yma o hyd."   Before I landed in Trelew, I noticed that the Argentines pronounce the "w" in Trelew as a long "o" and not as a consonant.  Across the road from my hotel there was a red brick chapel which would not have looked out of place in Bethesda.  Next door was an organisation called Canolfan Dewi Sant.  Since my visit, Welsh-medium schools have been set up in Chubut, and there is a teachers' exchange programme between Wales and Argentina.

"Very interesting!" my compatriots will say, but isn't this blog supposed to be about Intellectual Property in Wales? Well, yes, it is, and my recollections of Argentina are a roundabout introduction to an excellent fact sheet by the Latin America IP SME helpdesk on IP in Argentina. Wales is not the only part of the UK with close links to Argentina.  The delightful film The Penguin Lessons was set in an English-style public school.  Tigre holds a regatta which reminded me of Henley on Thames.  They even play cricket in Argentina.  Despite the Falklands War, the gauchos' snub and the little matter of a World Cup football semi-final, we could do well to trade with and invest in Argentina.  It is good to know that they have laws to protect our investment in branding, design, technology and creativity.

M-SParc Joins PatLib Network

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Jane Lambert

PatLib is an international network of patent information centres linked to the European Patent Office ("EPO"). According to the EPO, there are over 300 of them spread across the countries that are party to the European Patent Convention ("EPC"), including the United Kingdom. There is a directory of patent information centres on the EPO website, starting with the Albanian General Directorate of Industrial Property in Tirana and ending with the Worcestershire Business and IP Centre at The Hive in Worcester. There are now 25 patent information centres in the United Kingdom, and the Intellectual Property Office publishes a helpful list of them.

The list was updated yesterday to add the North Wales Patent Library Centre at the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc").  Now, anybody who has ever visited M-SParc will be surprised to hear it described as a library because there are not a lot of books on display.   The EPO PatLib page explains:

"They are often referred to as "PATLIB centres", standing for PATent LIBrary. However, not all PATLIB centres are actually libraries."

It is worth adding that most of the resources are now online.  They include the EPO's esp@cenet and the IPO's patent search services.

I first wrote about the PatLib network in PatLib Libraries in the UK on 29 Jan 2015 in NIPC Inventors' Club.  In that article, I wrote:

"The Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield central libraries are linked to the British Library in a national network of Business and IP Centres. This network is sponsored by the Arts Council of England, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Intellectual Property Office."

The first Business and IP Centre was a specialist reading room of the British Library which opened in 2006 (see "Celebrating 20 Years" on the British Library website).   The first Centre outside London was in Newcastle which I discussed in NIPC Inventors' Club in BIPC Newcastle on 21 Jan 2012.  These were joined by other big city central libraries in 2013 (see Enterprise and Libraries: a New National Network of Business & IP Support 6 March 2013, NIPC Inventors' Club).

I mentioned the Business and IP Centres and how they could help businesses in Northwest Wales in Whom you gonna call? IP Professionals and what they do on 2 April 2019 in NIPC Cymru:

"A network of public libraries has teamed up with the British Library's Business and IP Service to provide free access to databases, market research, journals, directories, articles and reports for entrepreneurs and small business owners. There is a programme of free and low-cost events and workshops on a range of topics including business planning, marketing and intellectual property at each of the libraries. The nearest Business and IP Centre for North Wales is at Liverpool. There is also a Business and IP Centre in Birmingham."

M-Sparc's accession to the PatLib network was celebrated with speeches and a panel discussion by Pryderi ap Rhisiart, Nia Roberts, Sue Lawson, Pierre Oliviere, Edward Jones and  Emma Richards, followed by a buffet lunch (see Iwan Pitts, M-Sparc launches North Wales Patent Library 4 June 2026, M-Sparc website).

One of the questions to the panel was "Who owns an invention made by an AI system?"  That was an excellent question and one which has perplexed intellectual property offices and judges around the world.  The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled in Thaler v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2023] UKSC 49 (20 Dec 2023) that only a natural person can apply for a patent for an invention (see The Supreme Court's Judgment in DABUS 25 Dec 2023).  Most courts and patent offices around the world have reached similar decisions.

The services promised by the North Wales Patent Library are as follows:

• "information on IP including EPO resources and copies of IPO literature
• 1:1 appointment with IP advisor (appointment only)
• referrals to a patent or trade mark attorney for a 1:1 (30 min appointment only)
• referrals to other advice/service providers
• IP workshops and webinars"

This is all very promising, but in my experience of working with the Business and IP Centres in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield over the years, the most valuable contribution of those centres is that they catalyse other activities.  To start the ball rolling, I have helped Emily Roberts and her successor, Gwenllian Owen, set up and run events to celebrate World IP Day and Wales Enterprise Day and other events.  I offer Initial Advice and Signposting Clinics, and I have set up EDGC/NWIP, a support group for M-SParc and the North Wales PatLib centre on LinkedIn.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.

My Visit to Aberystwyth's First Business and Innovation Exchange

By Rhyshuw1 at English Wikipedia, CC0 BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27761679

Jane Lambert

On Wednesday, I visited the Mid Wales Business and Innovation Exchange, which I previewed on 16 April 2026.  It was a glorious day, and the view of Aberystwyth from the Machynlleth road as I drove in from Bow Street, where I had spent the previous night, was exactly like the picture above.   

I arrived at the University Arts Centre and registered on time.  The registration desk was staffed by young women in yellow T-shirts, all of whom were friendly and eager to help.  Attendees' names were typed on sticky labels.  Mine fell off my clothing immediately, regardless of the garment or accessory to which I tried to attach it.   

There were supposed to be bus tours to Aberinnovation, IBERS and the Smart Bungalow from 10:15.  I was particularly keen to visit Aberinnovation because it is Wales's second science park.  It had been constructed during the COVID-19 pandemic on time and on budget (see Jane Lambert Completion of Aberystwyth's Science Park on Time and on Budget 30 Aug 2020).  Unfortunately, there was no signage and nobody seemed to have a clue where or when to catch the bus.  I visited the exhibition space and grabbed some breakfast at the cafeteria.   When I returned to the registration desk, I was told that the buses had left.  

I was not too bothered because there was supposed to be another tour at 15:15, and I wanted to hear James Pittendreigh of BCRS.  The BCRS is a Community Development Finance Institution ("CDFI").   I had once worked with Stephen Waud of the Bradford Enterprise Fund and was aware of the support that CDFIs provide to startups and other small businesses in Yorkshire.  The theme of James's talk was "What to do if a bank declines your business loan application."  I could think of several businesses in Wales that could have benefited from such information.   Sadly, nobody seemed to know where his talk was taking place.  By the time I found out it was over.

Happily, one of the young women in a yellow T-shirt helpfully conducted me to the Hugh Owen Building, where Gary Walpole of Cardiff Metropolitan University was due to speak on the circular economy until 11:30.  Gary played us a video of the crew on a space mission who were running out of breathable air because the mechanism for controlling the level of carbon dioxide in the cabin had failed.  Staff at ground control were tasked with devising a solution with a collection of articles that were believed to be in the capsule.  Attendees at Gary's workshop were split into groups and given exercises such as explaining why the crew's predicament was analogous to humanity's.

Although Gary's talk was advertised to end at 11:30, he announced that he would stop at midday.   Had I known that he would continue speaking after 11:30, I would not have booked an appointment with Rosemary Toll of the Department of Law and Criminology at 11:45.  One of the yellow T-shirt clad women led me from Gary's workshop to Rosemary's office, which was also in the Hugh Owen Building.  Rosemary teaches the intellectual property module at Aberystwyth and is a remarkable woman.  She came to intellectual property as a performer, having trained at the Purcell School and the Royal Northern College of Music.  She continues to play professionally from time to time.  She later read law, qualified for the Bar and taught at Manchester before coming to Aberystwyth. Her research interest is music, both musical and literary copyrights, rights in performances and the technology relating to its distribution.

My meeting with Rosemary was one of the high points of my day.  I had asked for an appointment to invite her students to apply for our chambers' mini-pupillage course, to enlist her support for a Welsh Intellectual Property Society and to offer presentations similar to those I delivered at Bangor and St Andrews.  Rosemay welcomed the idea of a network of IP specialists from private practice and the universities in Wales.  She will mention our mini-pupillage scheme to her students and she will consider other ways in which we can work together.

Rosemary showed me the quickest way back to the Arts Centre, where the plenary sessions were taking place.  Someone on one of the exhibition stands directed me to the auditorium where the Vice-Chancellor was speaking.   I attended all the presentations, which gave me another opportunity to hear Gary Walpole and a chance to catch James Pittendreigh speak about CDFIs. James asked the audience whether we knew what the letters CDFI stood for.  I raised a hand, but James noticed I was the only one.   James invited questions at the end of his talk, and I asked whether James's fund lent money exclusively or invested in equity.  He replied that he was a lender and that the Foresight Group invested in equity. 

Unfortunately, the audience dwindled to single figures as the afternoon wore on.  That was a shame because the quality of the talks was excellent.  Colonel Davies's on Tom Kuhn and Mark Price's on AI were particularly good.   By the time Dr Patrick Finney, Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Humanities, delivered his vote of thanks, there were only 7 people in the auditorium, and several of them were speakers.

In his speech, Dr Finney commended the bus tours of Aberinnovation and IBERS.  I rushed to catch one, only to learn that the plenary sessions had overrun and the last bus had gone.   I contemplated walking down to the National Library of Wales and one of the yellow T-shirted young women offered to guide me.  there.  As I walk as slowly as an elderly arthritic tortoise, I abandoned that idea. 

I made my way back to the exhibition space on the first floor, where I met  Professor Homagni Choudhury, the Head of Aberystwyth Business School,  Dr Julie Jones and Dr Aloysius Igboekwu.  I told them about my meeting with Rosemary Toll and discussed the possibility of setting up an IP clinic.   The university had advertised a drinks reception at 16:45, but only a handful attended it.  

My overall impression of the event was that it had been a great success and could have been greater still with better signage and timetabling.   I would also suggest a bus trip to the National Library as well as to the Gogerddan campus and the smart bungalow.  They should also feature IP and enlist the help of Emma Richards of the Intellectual Property Office as M-SParc has done.  Indeed, if they repeat the event at this time of the year, the University could tie it into the World Intellectual Property Day celebrations.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during normal business hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.

Welsh Intellectual Property Society

Sir William Grove
Welsh Scientist, Inventor, Barrister and Judge

Author Murgatroyd49 Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 Source Wikimedia

Jane Lambert

For the last 8 years, intellectual property specialists living or working in Yorkshire have met at the Leeds Double Tree Hilton every three months or so to hear a presentation by a retired or serving judge or barrister at the intellectual property bar.  These meetings have been very successful, and I have commented on visits by Sir Robin Jacob, Sir Colin Birss, His Honour Judge Hacon, Justin Turner KC and other speakers in NIPC Yorkshire.

TIPSY meetings serve two very useful purposes.  They keep us up to date with developments in the law and they help us to get to know each other which probably makes it easier for us to do business on behalf of our clients.   When I have mentioned TIPSY to colleagues outside Yorkshire, they have often remarked that they should have something like TIPSY in their regions.

One of the regions in which such remarks have been expressed is North West Wales.  The region has a science park, a research university with strong departments in design, engineering and law, the North Wales Medical School, the Pontio Centre with its FabLab and theatre and a hearing centre of the High Court that can resolve many kinds of intellectual property disputes.  The region is an important centre for Welsh language broadcasting, publishing and education.  A PatLib library will open at M-SParc.  

An important difference between North West Wales and Yorkshire is that the population of North West Wales is very much smaller than that of Yorkshire.   There are fewer intellectual property practitioners and they know each other well enough already.  For that reason, evening meetings at a posh hotel every few months would probably not work.

By contrast, late afternoon or early evening meetings livestreamed from venues in different parts of Wales to attendees in the rest of the country possibly might.   The venue hosting a presentation might provide light refreshments to attendees who wish to attend in person.  Presentations would focus on issues of particular interest to Wales.   These might include plant breeders' rights because Aberystwyth's Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences is the leading centre in grassland research in the United Kingdom.  Copyright licensing with regard to Welsh language materials is another topic of particular interest to Welsh practitioners and their clients.

Local groups of members could support pro bono clinics, inventors' clubs and makers' groups in their neighbourhoods.  They could provide work experience or mini pupillages to local law students.  They could coach founders in pitching to business angels and private equity investors.

Pryderi ap Rhisiart, M-SParc's Managing Director, has kindly agreed to host the first meeting of a Welsh Intellectual Property Society in the science park and to provide refreshments in the Caffi Tanio for networking.   If the first meeting is a success, I shall look for venues in other parts of Wales for the second and subsequent meetings.   Slides of presentations will be uploaded to Slideshare, and copies of papers will be available in PDF format through a searchable database.

Over the next few weeks, I shall be canvassing support for this project from patent and trade mark attorneys, specialist lawyers in private practice, scholars in the universities and others with an interest in IP. Anyone wishing to discuss this article should call me on 020 7404 5252 during UK office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.

IP Events at M-SParc

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Jane Lambert

Ever since 2019, the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc") has led Wales's contribution to World Intellectual Property Day.  In previous years, these have usually taken the form of a lunchtime seminar, and readers can learn about those celebrations by clicking the links in the top-right panel. 

 This year, Lois Bevan Shaw, M-SParc's Business Support & Project Development Manager, plans a different format, namely a breakfast event for M-SParc's tenants on 28 April 2026.  She also plans a panel discussion on the lines of the very successful contribution by  Kelly Davies, Iwan Pritchard of Pelly, Tristian Griffiths of Your Empowered Mindset and Neil Thomas of Brandified to the Bridging Wales and London event at The Shard on 25 Feb 2026.  This discussion will relate to the theme of this year's World Intellectual Property Day, which I discussed in World IP Day 2026 - IP and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate! on 28 Dec 2025 in NIPC News.

One of the topics to be discussed at the breakfast meeting will be the official launch of the North Wales Patent Library at M-SParc on 4 June 2026 between 12:00 and 14:00.  The announcement states that M-SParc will join a network of patent information libraries known as PatLib, which I discussed in PatLib Libraries in the UK on 25 Jan 2015 in NIPC Inventors Club.   This announcement gives me considerable personal satisfaction as I have been canvassing for M-SParc to enjoy the resources offered by the Business and IP Centres for as long as I have known the science park (see Whom you gonna call? IP Professionals and what they do 2 April 2019).

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during UK business hours or send me a message through my contact page at any time.

Mid Wales Business and Innovation Exchange

Penglais Campus, University of Aberystwyth

Author PkWicipics Licence CC BY-SA 3.0  Source Wikipedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

Mid-Wales Business & Innovation Exchange is described as "a dedicated business engagement event, bringing together regional organisations to connect, collaborate and explore the key challenges shaping business in 2026 and beyond."  It will take place in the Arts Centre on the Penglais campus of  Aberystwyth University on 22 April 2026 between 09:30 and 15:00.   Anyone wishing to attend the event should register with Eventbrite. Admission is free.

The day begins with tours of AberInnovation & IBERS @ Gogerddan Innovation Campus and the Smart Bungalow.  I don't know anything about the bungalow, but I have given a talk on IP Rights relating to Waste Management and Packaging at the Gogerddan Innovation Campus and can strongly recommend the tour of IBERS.

Between 10:15 and 10:45, attendees who have not taken a tour have the choice of a finance workshop with Mr James Pittendreigh of BCRS Business Loans on What to do if a bank declines your business loan application or an AI workshop with Mr Mark Price of Pugh Computers Ltd. on Using AI Effectively in Your Organisation.  From 11:00 to 11:30, attendees can choose between a Cyber Security Workshop with Colonel John Davies of SudoCyber on  Two paradigm shifts and a cup of tea please and a Circular Economy Workshop with Dr Gary Walpole of Cardiff Metropolitan University on  Enabling sustainable innovation in SMEs.

There is a welcome from Professor Jon Timmis, Vice Chancellor, Aberystwyth University between 12:30 and 12:45, Professor Homagni Choudhury, Head of Aberystwyth Business School between 12:45 and 13:00 and representatives of the Business School on how it can help attendees' businesses between 13:00 and 13:15.  There is a break between 13:15 and 13:30.  It is followed by further talks from Dr David Bryant of IBERS on Developing Sustainable Biorefinery Solutions for Business through Academia–Industry Collaboration between 13:30 and 13:45, Mr Price on Understanding, Using and Trusting AI at Work between 13:45 and 14:00, Colonel Davies on Who is Tom Kuhn anyway?!? Why everything we know about teaching and learning is failing in subjects like Cyber and AI between 14:00 and 14:15, Dr Walpole on Enabling sustainable innovation in SMEs: A Programme Community of Practice (PCoP) approach to support regional sustainable innovation ecosystems between 14:15 and 14:30, Ms Clare Davies Head of Procurement at Nidec Drives on From Disruption to Resilience: Managing Risk in Global Supply Chains between 14:30 and 14:45 and Access to finance and the role of Community Financial Development Institutions by Pittendreigh between 14:45 and 15:00.

Dr Lyndon Murphy, Director of Finance at the Aberystwyth Business School will close the event and Patrick Finney, Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Humanities, Aberystwyth University will propose a vote of thanks.

Those who missed the tours of AberInnovation & IBERS @ Gogerddan Innovation Campus and the Smart Bungalow in the morning have a second chance to take them between 15:15 and 16:45.  Alternatively, they can visit the stands or network with contacts during that time.  There is a drinks reception from 16:45 onwards.

The Arts Centre is a few hundred metres from the National Library of Wales which I featured in The National Library of Wales's Intellectual Property Resources on 3 April 2026.  I hope to visit it while I am in Aberystwyth.

The event appears to be a joint venture of Aberystwyth University, its Business School, Aberinnovation, IBERS and Global Wales.   Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during UK business hours  or send me a message through my contact page at any time.

The National Library of Wales's Intellectual Property Resources

National Library of Wales

Author Ian Capper Licence CC BY-SA 2.0  Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

In Whom you gonna call? IP Professionals and what they do, 2 April 2019, I mentioned the British Library’s National Network of Business & IP Centres:

"A network of public libraries has teamed up with the British Library's Business and IP Centre to provide free access to databases, market research, journals, directories, articles and reports for entrepreneurs and small business owners. There is a programme of free and low-cost events and workshops on a range of topics, including business planning, marketing and intellectual property at each of the libraries. The nearest Business and IP Centre for North Wales is at Liverpool. There is also a Business and IP Centre in Birmingham."

Most of those libraries are in England, but there is one in Glasgow.

The Business and IP Centre network grew out of the European Patent Office's network of patent information centres known as PatLib.   I wrote about the centres in the UK in PatLib Libraries in the UK on 29 Jan 2015 in the NIPC Inventors' Club.  At that time, there were PatLib libraries in Aberdeen, Belfast, Glasgow and Llandudno Junction, as well as in Birmingham, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Sheffield.   According to the Intellectual Property Office's latest UK PatLib contact information guidance published on 19 Dec 2025, the English network has expanded but the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish centres have somehow dropped off. 

That does not mean that there are no intellectual property resources or services in Wales. The National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth is a copyright library holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals.  According to its website, it also offers a range of commercial services, including the following in intellectual property:

• "A free enquiries service;
• Access to free online IP databases;
• Literature on various aspects of Intellectual Property;
• Guidance on patent searching for those who are unsure where to start (subject to staff availability)

The Centre has also held clinics with specialists and if you would like us to put you in contact with an individual who specialises in the field, please contact us by completing the Online Enquiries Form."

I am also pleased to see that the National Library of Wales has celebrated World Intellectual Property Day.

Anybody wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during normal office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Bridging Wales and London

The Shard

Author Mariordo Licence CC BY-SA 3,0 Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

In Wales Week, London, I described the events that take place in the days leading up to and just after St David's Day as London's contribution to an annual worldwide festival of Wales.  This year's Wales Week, London promises to be the best ever.  One of those events was Bridging Wales and London hosted by M-SParc (the Menai Science Park) in conjunction with the Foresight Group and Menter Môn.

The event took place on the 23rd floor of the Shard between 16:00 and 18:00 on 25 Feb 2026.  According to Wikipedia, the building is 1,015 feet high.  In pre-metric times, it would have qualified as an artificial mountain.  A mountain was defined as an elevation over 1,000 feet.   A tower was constructed on Leith Hill in 1765 expressly to convert the 965-foot mound into Surrey's only mountain.   

Entering the building was like boarding an aircraft.   Visitors were asked for photo ID.  Possessions were screened by a metal detector.  Lifts were summoned by keying in the number of the destination floor on one of several screens at the lift entrance that resembled iPads.  On exiting the lift, the view was spectacular.  I jested with one of the speakers that, on a clear day, it ought to be possible to see Calais.  

At the entrance to the room where the event was to take place, I was greeted by M-SParc's managing director, Pryderi ap Rhisiart, who conducted me to a front row seat and offered me refreshments.  Among the first to arrive was Anna McMorrin, MP for Cardiff and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Wales Office.  I opined that the programme for this year's Wales Week, London, was the best ever, but ventured that it was somewhat London-centric.  There are many Welsh exiles in the rest of England, including my MP, keen to promote links between their birthplace and current home.  It is no coincidence that our region, which was once part of the possibly Welsh and certainly Brythonic speaking Kingdom of Elmet, has a lot in common with Wales, including hills, choirs and non-conformity   

Just after 16:00, Pryderi called the meeting to order and introduced Anna McMorrin MP as the keynote speaker.  She spoke about all the good things to be found in Wales, from its glorious mountains in the North to its magnificent coastal scenery.  Having established herself in London, she remembered her colleagues' surprise when she announced her return to Wales. "But we know better", she said to her audience with a smile.  There are now plenty of incentives to open a business in Wales.

Those incentives were explored in the first panel session by Johan Dyer of Buildboss, Dan Parry Evans of Vedri Virtual Production Studio, Dr Huw Vaughan Jones and Lisa Storey Evans of Cook Street Consulting.  In the Q&A, I observed that founders and business owners need the arts as well as outstanding scenery, business support and other incentives.  The Pontio Centre in Bangor, with its theatre, cinema, exhibition space and FabLab, meets those needs.

Another panel discussion, chaired by Kelly Davies of the Cymru Football Foundation, discussed sport, another important aspect of life.  The panellists were Iwan Pritchard of Pelly, Tristian Griffiths of Your Empowered Mindset and Neil Thomas of Brandified.  In the audience was a member of the English women's football team whom Kelly introduced at the end of the last session.   I met Kelly again on the tube later that evening.  She was going to Euston to catch a train to North Wales, while I was on my way to King's Cross for my connection to Doncaster.  I told her that the theme of this year's World Intellectual Property Day was  IP and Sports, which I discussed in World IP Day 2026 - IP and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate! on 28 Dec 2025 in NIPC News.   She expressed considerable interest in the topic.

A lot was crammed into the two-hour event.   In addition to the talks and panel discussions that I have already mentioned, the Foresight Group spoke about the equity investments that it had made on behalf of the Investment Fund for Wales. David Wylie outlined Menter Môn's plans to promote Welsh food and drink.  I renewed many acquaintances that I had already made at M-SParc and made many more with UK and Welsh government civil servants, investors, entrepreneurs and business advisors.  The event was well worth the long journey on the first warm day of the year.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during normal office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.

Bwyd y Ddraig

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Jane Lambert

Over the last few days, the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc") has been featuring on LinkedIn members of the panel who will take part in the Den Y Dreigiau investment pitching event at the science park on 27 Nov 2025 between 18:00 and 21:00.  They are an impressive bunch of people, but also impressive is the chef who will provide her award winning food between 19:45 and 20:30.

That chef is none other than Gita Mistry, winner of Britain's Best Home Cook.  Gita is no stranger to M-SParc, having taken part in many of its events over the years. She has cooked at many great restaurants, including Philippe Gaertner's "Aux Armes de France" in Ammerschwihr (where she was featured on French television and the regional press), Vivek Singh's "Cinamon Club" and Atul Kochhar's "Banares" (the first Indian restaurant to win a Michelin star).  

She has received rave reviews from the food critics. Jay Rayner said she was Britain's best Indian cook while The Times described her food as "better than sex."

She has been commissioned to cook in Miami, Vienna, Gdansk, London and many other locations in this country and around the world. Folks who have worked with her and eaten her food include Stephen Fry, Michael Palin and the film producer, Steve Abbott.  She also writes and lectures on food at such venues as the British Library and is a regular attender at the Oxford Food Conference.  Gita's testimonial book, which will be on display at M-SParc, contains many famous names.  You can add yours if you are inspired to do so which I am sure she will appreciate.

Gita's contribution to the pitching event is particularly appropriate because she is an entrepreneur herself.  When still a schoolgirl, she set up an outside catering business under the brand name "Enjoy a Gita Mistry Curry in the Comfort of Your Home."   That is a brand that she still uses.   She has served as a Yorkshire Patron along with Archbishop Sentamu and the late test cricket umpire Dickie Bird. 

I first met Gita when she attended one of my Initial Advice and Signposting Clinics in Bradford, which is very similar to the one I hold in Gaerwen. She is well aware of the importance of intellectual property for brand protection, revenue generation and attracting investment.   If you are looking for investment, don't be surprised if you hear a very searching question from the kitchen on Thursday night.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article can call me during office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any other time.

Wales Enterprise Day 2025

Market Day 1910

Author Sydney Curnow Vosper  Licence Public Domain Source Wikimedia

 

Jane Lambert

As this year's Wales Enterprise Day coincided with the WIPO's Global Celebration of IP Examiners, M-SParc (the Menai Science Park) decided to celebrate both days with a lunchtime seminar on working with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office ("IPO") and the World Intellectual Property Office ("WIPO").  The seminar was chaired by Nia Roberts and organized by Gwenllian Owen.  I was one of the speakers.  The others were Joe Foote, Sean Thomas and Robin Rhys Jones.

Joe is a partner of HarriFoote IP.  He spoke to us about trade marks.   He is also a New Zealander and he explained to a predominantly Welsh audience what is meant by word, figurative and text and figurative marks by reference to the registrations held by his nation's rugby team, the "All Blacks".  He discussed the trade mark application process from taking a client's instructions, searching for prior registrations and prior rights, drafting a specification and lodging it with the Registry.  He outlined some of the possible obstacles, such as objections from examiners under s.3 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 or oppositions by third parties under s.5.  Lastly, he explained how he uses the Madrid Protocol to apply for registrations outside the UK.  The Madrid Protocol is one of the treaties administered by WIPO.

Sean spoke next about patents.  He explained their advantages over other intellectual property rights.   He discussed the conditions for the grant of a patent and outlined the application procedure from taking a client's instructions to receiving the certificate of grant.  He warned of possible objections to the application from examiners and third parties before grant and revocation proceedings afterwards.   Finally, he discussed applications for patents in other countries through the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which is another international agreement administered by the WIPO.

Until recently, Robin Rhys Jones had worked for the IPO as a patent examiner.  He mentioned the educational qualifications to become a patent attorney and various highlights from his career as an examiner.   He explained how an examiner would analyse an application to understand the invention and described the reporting and searching processes if he believed the invention to be patentable.  He delivered a large portion of his contribution in Welsh.  After his talk, I asked him whether he had any tips for patent applicants or their agents.  He replied that they should avoid filing specifications with a multiplicity of overlapping and unnecessary claims.

I told the audience that as a barrister, I do not prosecute patent, trade mark or registered design applications.  I advise patent and trade mark attorneys on difficult points of law, draft complex legal instruments and appear as an advocate in proceedings before hearing officers appointed by the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks who is known as "the Comptroller" in patent and unregistered design cases and "the Registrar" in trade mark and registered design cases.  

I said that hearing officers hear disputes between examiners and applicants for patents or trade marks known as "ex parte" proceedings and also disputes between businesses and individuals, known as "inter partes" disputes.  Some inter partes disputes arise before grant, such as "entitlement disputes" in patents or oppositions in trade marks.  Others take place after grant, such as applications for the revocation and declarations of non-infringement for patents, applications for declarations of invalidity and revocation of trade marks, cancellation of design registrations and settlement of the terms of unregistered designs.  I pointed out that costs in proceedings before hearing officers are on a fixed scale and much cheaper than litigation in the civil courts. 

I also mentioned two other important dispute resolution services that are provided by the IPO.  Examiners offer non-binding opinions on whether a patent is valid ot whether it has been infringed for just £200, which is a fraction of the costs of opinions from patent counsel or senior solicitors or patent attorneys on such matters. Examiners usually have the advantage of representations and evidence from both sides, which a lawyer may not.  The other useful dispute resolution service offered by the IPO is online or in-person mediation at its offices in Newport or elsewhere by agreement.  The service is provided by CEDR trained patent attorneys at a fraction of the cost of many competing services.

I pointed out that the WIPO provides an even wider range of IP dispute resolution services.  In addition to mediation, it offers arbitration, expedited arbitration and expert determination on modest fixed fees.   It is also the leading domain name dispute resolution service provider for most generic and many country code domain name disputes, including those in the ".cymru" and ".wales" domains (see Jane Lambert Welsh Top Level Domain Names, 12 April 2019).  I should add that I am on WIPO's panel of neutrals, which includes arbitrators and mediators as well as domain name dispute resolution panellists.

The discussion on dispute resolution prompted Nia to remark that entrepreneurs often shy away from seeking or enforcing legal protection for their brands, designs, technology or creativity because they believe that the cost of IP advice is prohibitive.  She pointed to the information on the IPO website.  Emma Richards, who had been in the online audience, suggested the IPO's training courses.  Other useful websites include the WIPO, the European Patent Office, Google Patent, the British Library's and many other sites, including this one.   I suggested that the links should be consolidated on an M-SParc or other portal. 

M-SParc is an important resource in its own right, and its next event that I will attend is Den Y Dreigiau pitching event in conjunction with Global Welsh on 27 Nov 2025 at 18:00.  The catering will be provided by the leading chef, Gita Mitry, winner of BBC TV's Eating with the Enemy. guest chex Aux Armes de France and many other great eateries, food blogger and commentator.  Yesterday I learned about the meat from a new breed of sheep that has been introduced to the United Kingdom on Anglesey. I also met the manager of the restaurant who will host the event.  This promises to be a very popular event.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact page.

Introducing Joe Foote

Joe Foote, Partner of HarriFoote IP

 

Jane Lambert

On 31 July 2025, I announced that the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc") would celebrate the World Intellectual Property Organization's global celebration of intellectual property examiners and Wales Enterprise Day with an in-person and online lunchtime seminar entitled How to Apply for a UK Patent, Trade Mark or Registered Design.  I set out some details in Wales Enterprise Day 2025 - Working with the IPO on 16 Aug 2025.

In that article, I wrote:

"We have invited and are waiting to hear from two distinguished intellectual property practitioners to fill the next two slots. One will be a patent attorney who is already well known to M-SParc, while the other will be a trade mark attorney. They will explain their roles and how they can assist businesses in Wales and beyond. They are expected to speak from 12:30 and 12:50 respectively. The patent attorney will mention applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the trade mark attorney trade mark applications under the Madrid Protocol, and design registration applications under the Hague Agreement."

I can now announce that the speaker on trade marks will be Mr Joe Foote, a partner of HarriFoote IP.

HarriFoote IP is a partnership between Joe and Michael Harrison which specializes in trade mark prosecution and ancillary services.   Michael is a distinguished patent and trade mark attorney.  He was one of the founders of Harrison Goddard Foote and President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys between 2005 and 2006.  It was during his presidency that the Institute changed its name from the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents to the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

Michael is the Harrison in Thomas Harrison IP Ltd.   The director of that practice is Sean Thomas, who is already well known to M-SParc's management and tenants as well as entrepreneurs, inventors, business advisors and investors throughout North West Wales.  He lives near Holyhead and has spent much of his life on Anglesey.

When I first came across M-SParc, there were very few IP advisors in the vicinity.  Now there are many.  Sean is on the spot and his colleagues Michael and Joe are at the end of a phone line.   I am also available if anyone wants specialist advice on strategy, enforcement. licensing or other issue or representation in the Intellectual Property Office. Patents Court or other tribunal.  Company and commercial solicitor Andrea Knox can draw up shareholder agreements and other legal instruments.   Specialist tax advisor, Steve Livingston of IP Tax Solutions, can assist with R&D credits, patent box and all sorts of other tax issues.  Gwenllian Owen, M-SParc's Commercialization and Innovation Officer, can introduce you to locally available resources such as the FabLab at the Pontio Centre and Richard Fraser-Williams of Busines Cymru to services and resources in the rest of Wales.

One of the ways you can access support is by filling in the form at the end of this article.   You can have up to 30 minutes of my time free of charge.   If I can't give you the answer in that time, I can direct you to someone who can. 

Fill out my online form.

Wales Enterprise Day 2025 - Working with the IPO

Contains public sector information licensed under the OG Licence v3.0.
United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office, Newport

 

Jane Lambert

The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office provides two important business functions:   

• Administrative:  it registers titles to new inventions, brand indicators and the appearance of products; and 
• Judicial:  it resolves disputes between those claiming such assets.

Using the IPO's services advantageously can make all the difference between steady business growth and corporate failure.

It is because those services are important that the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc")'s contribution to WIPO's global celebration of intellectual property examiners and Wales Enterprise Day will be a seminar on working with the Intellectual Property Office.  It will take place at the science park's premises in Gaerwen and online on 11 Nov 2025.   I announced the event in How to Apply for a UK Patent, Trade Mark or Registered Design on 31 July 2025.   We now have an agenda and confirmed speakers.  

The event will begin at 12:00  with an introduction by Nia Roberts, who will chair the event.  Nia has a lifetime of experience in science, technology and intellectual property, both as a patent attorney and examiner, which she is now sharing as a consultant and non-executive director.  She spent part of her career at the European Patent Office in Munich.

Nia will be followed at 12:10 by a speaker who will introduce the concepts of intellectual property and intellectual assets and explain the difference.  He or she will talk about registrable and non-registrable rights and how each set of rights may be acquired.   The speaker will outline the Intellectual Property Office's services and discuss the Office's relationship with the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Patent Office and other national and regional intellectual property offices.

We have invited and are waiting to hear from two distinguished intellectual property practitioners to fill the next two slots.   One will be a patent attorney who is already well known to M-SParc, while the other will be a trade mark attorney.   They will explain their roles and how they can assist businesses in Wales and beyond.   They are expected to speak from 12:30 and 12:50 respectively.  The patent attorney will mention applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the trade mark attorney trade mark applications under the Madrid Protocol, and design registration applications under the Hague Agreement.

The main speakers of the day will be Robin Jones, a recently retired patent examiner, who will speak from 13:10 to 13:30 and a specialist in examination procedure who will speak from 13:30 to 13:50.   They will indicate what they look for in a successful patent or trade mark application and identify any common errors and advise they can be avoided.   Examiners do not often have the chance to speak to the public in this way, so what they have to say will be extremely useful.

If an application goes wrong, an examiner's decision can be challenged in a hearing before an official appointed by the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks known as a "hearing officer."  Hearing officers also adjudicate in disputes with third parties, such as whether a patent or trade mark should be revoked, oppositions to the registration of trade marks, applications for the invalidity of trade marks and the settlement of terms of licences of right of unregistered design rights.  I will discuss such hearings and further appeals either to the Appointed Person in trade mark or registered design cases or to the High Court between 13:50 and 14:00.

The seminar will close with a reminder of the funding and support that is available for startups and other small and medium enterprises in the UK generally and in Northwest Wales in particular, from Gwenllian Owen, Commercialization and Innovation Officer at M-SPark and partner of Team Mesen,

Anyone who wishes to discuss this article may call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during UK office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.

How to Apply for a UK Patent, Trade Mark or Registered Design

 

Jane Lambert

On 24 July 2025, the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") announced a global celebration of intellectual property examiners on 11 November 2025 and invited everybody to join in.   As that global celebration coincides with Wales Enterprise Day, the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc") will combine the two celebrations with an in-person and online lunchtime seminar on how to apply for a UK patent, trade mark, registered design or plant breeder's right.

The seminar will begin with an introduction to intellectual property and an outline of rights that come into being automatically, such as copyrights and unregistered design rights and rights that have to be registered, such as patents, trade marks and registered designs.   

Applications for patents have to be examined for compliance with the Patents Act 1977 and secondary legislation under that Act.  The officials who carry out such examinations are called "patent examiners".   We plan to introduce the audience to a serving or recently retired patent examiner who will explain his or her role and what he or she looks for in a patent application.

Applications to register trade marks also have to be examined for compliance with the Trade Marks Act 1994 and secondary legislation.   The officials who carry out such examinations are known as "trade mark examiners", not surprisingly.  We shall also introduce a serving or recently retired trade mark examiner who will explain his or her role and what he or she looks for in a trade mark application.  

The procedure for registering designs is different because there is no substantive examination of design applications.  There is therefore no such official as a "design examiner."  However, we will explain the registration process and the steps that need to be taken to avoid expensive proceedings in the Intellectual Property Office's tribunals or the courts should someone challenge the registration.

Applications for plant breeders' rights are very different because they are handled not by the UK Intellectual Property Office but by the Plant Variety Rights Office in Cambridge.  Plant breeders' rights used to be a minority interest among intellectual property practitioners, but climate change and the need to develop new drought or flood-resistant species, as well as the development of viticulture, have increased its importance.   Aberystwyth University Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences is a leading research centre in this area.  We shall invite a representative of the Plant Variety Rights Office to outline the procedure for obtaining plant breeders' rights in this country.

Although it is possible for a business owner or manager to apply successfully for a registered design, trade mark or even a patent, there is a lot that can go wrong with such applications.  It is therefore advisable to instruct a patent attorney to prepare and prosecute a patent application, or a trade mark attorney to prepare and prosecute a trade mark application.   Both patent and trade mark attorneys apply to register designs.  We shall present both a patent attorney and a trade mark attorney to talk about their work and how they resolve examiners' queries and objections.

Sometimes an examiner's objections cannot be overcome, and the matter has to be resolved by an official appointed by the Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office known as a "hearing officer."  This is where I come in because barristers often represent parties to disputes with examiners.   Proceedings before hearing officers are less formal than court procedures, but the same rules of evidence and similar rules of procedure apply.   I have written about such hearings in If the examiner says 'no' - ex parte hearings in the Trade Marks Registry on 10 August 2015 in NIPC London.   I shall talk about proceedings before hearing officers and appeals to the courts or the Appointed Person at the seminar.

Although the emphasis will be on applications for patents, trade marks and designs in the United Kingdom, we will also discuss applications for European patents (including unitary patents), European Union trade marks and Community designs and plant breeders' rights and applications for patents, trade marks and designs outside Europe under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Madrid Protocol and the Hague Agreement.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article further may call me on 020 7404 5252 during UK office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.

M-SParc's Finance and Innovation Conference where all the Speakers happened to be Women

View of Eryri National Park from Ynys Môn

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert: all rights reserved 

 

Jane Lambert

Towards the end of the Menai Science Park's Finance and Innovation Conference on 18 June 2025, a member of the audience remarked that all the speakers were women.  Emily Roberts, who was holding the floor at the time, thanked the intervener for noticing.  He replied that he was a mathematician and that the chance of all 22 speakers being women was an astronomical number.  I was surprised and had hoped to buttonhole him to ascertain his calculation, but a barbecue and mocktails were about to begin, and we were separated by the throng.  I had also noticed that all the speakers were women at the time of booking, but never gave it a second thought. That was because they were all professionals (many of whom I had known for several years and in some cases worked with) for whom I have the greatest respect.

The science park's mission is to ignite ambition and innovation for a sustainable Wales, and the  Finance and Innovation Conference offered practical guidance on how to achieve such ambition and innovation.  The day started with a keynote speech from communications expert and business angel Barbara Want.  She delivered valuable advice on presentation. She showed us how to take possession of a meeting and warned us against loading slides with text and statistics that are quickly forgotten.  Having listened to an interview while driving to the conference of a former advisor to President Trump who had opined that the President's mixed messages were a sign of his genius, I asked Barbara how that could be.  Mr Trump's utterances indicated confusion and indecisiveness to me.  To my surprise, she said that it was a tactic that had been developed by the framers of Project 2025 to disconcert the opposition. It was clearly effective because Mr Trump had won two presidential elections against the odds.

Barbara's second contribution was the most interesting of the day.  She chaired a panel discussion between solicitor Andrea Knox, graphic designer Catrin Owen, human resources consultant Leah Watkins and Explorage founder Anna Roberts, all of whom had founded businesses or professional practices in Northwest Wales with strong connections to M-SParc.  One of Barbara's first questions to the founders was whether it was right to call them female founders.  That question reminded me of a seminar that I had attended at my alma mater's innovation campus on 15 April 2025, entitled Engaging and Supporting Female Founders, which I mentioned in St Andrews Innovation in NIPC News on 16 Apr 2016.  One of the principal speakers was Simone Korsgaard Jensen, a remarkable recent graduate from St Andrews and UCLA (which happens also to be my graduate school) who joined us by video link from Silicon Valley. Simone had established a company called Stealth, which LinkedIn describes as "building an AI cancer doctor that personalises treatment." She had already raised considerable investment for that company through making a prodigious number of pitches.

It does not surprise me that many successful entrepreneurs are women.  Just before the Business and IP Centre network was formed, I helped to found and chaired inventors clubs at Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield central libraries.  Most of the members of all those clubs were gentlemen of a certain age, but at each club, there was a young woman with a bright idea for a product that made it to market.  One young mother who was frustrated by her daughter's biting every part of a toothbrush except the bristle invented a toothbrush that was all bristle.  Another who was fed up with walking from a car park to a venue in heels devised disposable footwear that could fit in an evening bag. I do not think it is a coincidence that the most successful member of each of those clubs was female.  It may be that women's social roles encourage the development of transferable time and cost management and other organizational skills.  It would be a good research project for a sociologist.

A major asset of the United Kingdom is the NHS's collection of anonymized patient data. The possession of such data accelerates research in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical devices industries.  The launch of the North Wales Medical School at Bangor is likely to spawn all kinds of new businesses in life sciences and attract considerable investment into that sector.  For that reason, the panel discussion entitled "Health+" was particularly interesting.  Gwenllian Owen interviewed  Colette Buckley of the Life Sciences Hub Wales, Marie Latham-Jones of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Nia Jewell of Y Pethau Bychain about innovation in health and social care.  In England, there are regional healthcare innovation hubs like Medipex Ltd. in Yorkshire.  As the NHS is a devolved government responsibility, I enquired about the institutional equivalent in Wales.  I learned that there was no direct equivalent, but an IP policy for the Welsh NHS was developing.

The theme of women's enterprise continued with talks by Lucy Bulley and Olaitan Olawande. There was guidance on the available business support from Business Wales, Innovate UK and Big Ideas Wales.  Nia Roberts, an innovation consultant, patent attorney and former examiner with the European Patent Office, who chaired the day's meetings, and Emma Richards of the UK Intellectual Property Office gave comprehensive but succinct advice on intellectual property.  Nicola Sturrs spoke about business and university collaboration through the innovation voucher scheme.   I delivered a seminar on intellectual property law to the teams working on research, innovation, commercialization and partnership support for Bangor University on 23 Feb 2023.  I was very impressed and commend that university (see The Day I Went to Bangor, 24 Feb 2023, NIPC News).  The last panel discussion was between Emily Roberts, Debbie Jones and Sian Lloyd Robertson on M-SParc's contribution to developing skills.

I had attended the conference to learn, renew existing friendships and acquaintances and to make new connections.  However, even though I had no role at the event, I do offer a pro bono initial advice and signposting service to businesses in Northwest Wales throughout the year (see An IP Clinic for M-SParc, 25 Jan 2024).  Several individuals asked my advice on IP matters and I was glad to help.  

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.