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. 

An IP Clinic for M-SParc

Author Chris Andrews Licence CC BY-SA Deed Source Geograph

 

Jane Lambert

There is a network of public libraries linked to the British Library that offer a range of services to artists, designers, entrepreneurs inventors and other creatives.  Each of those libraries is known as a "Business and Intellectual Property Centre" or "BIPC".  One of the network's most popular services are Intellectual Property clinics which offer free consultations with patent or trade mark attorneys, lawyers and other professionals specializing in IP.

Probably because much of the initial funding for the network was provided by Arts Council England, there are no BIPCs in Wales.  Wales may be losing out because the BIPCs appear to contribute substantially to the economy.   According to an independent economic impact analysis of the national network between April 2013 – March 2015, BIPCs

• "generated £38 million GVA (Gross Value Added) on investment, with an estimated increase to £214 million by 2018
• created almost 1,700 new businesses and over 4,200 jobs, with an estimated increase to over 4,100 new businesses and over 22,000 new jobs within the next 3 years (almost a third in the ‘Northern Powerhouse’)
• created a payback of £4.50 for every £1 of public money (estimated to grow to £25 payback for every £1 invested by 2018)
• supported diverse communities: 47% of network users were women, 26% of users were BAME and 25% were unemployed or had been made redundant
• achieved lower cost per job created and higher GVA leverage, compared with other business support initiatives"

(see British Library's Business & IP Centre national network published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport 16 Dec 2015).

The IP clinics at the English BIPCs are staffed by local lawyers, patent and trade mark attorneys and other professionals and receive little or no public funding,  While a BIPC is unlikely to open in North Wales any time soon there is no reason why IP professionals practising in North Wales should not set up their own IP clinic.  Over the weekend I consulted Emily Roberts of M-SParc, patent attorney Sean Thomas, commercial solicitor Andrea Knox and IP tax accountant Steve Livingston and all were in favour.

As Sean and I plan to attend the Artificial Intelligence for Business workshop on 31 Jan 2024, we shall be in M-SParc between 14:00 and 15:30 to discuss our plans for the clinic with the science park's tenants and other local business owners.   Should anyone require a private consultation with Sean or me on an IP issue that is presently concerning them we shall talk to them there and then.  If someone has an issue that Steve or Andrea is best placed to handle we shall refer that enquirer to one of those professionals,   Each of us has a network of contacts around the world so if a business owner wants to export to China or an invention needs a prototype for your invention we can put him or her in touch with the right person.

If the launch on 31 Jan 2024 is successful we shall operate a triage system.   We shall ask users to fill in the following form which my clerk or I will acknowledge.    If Sean, Andrea, Steve or I can advise by phone, Zoom or email we shall give the enquirer an immediate answer.   If he or she needs a meeting at least one IP professional will be in M-SParc at least once a month.

If anyone wants to talk to me about this project he or she should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or use the following form:

Fill out my online form.

M-SParc's World IP Day Seminar: whom you can meet and what you can learn

 

Jane Lambert

I explained the importance of Word Intellectual Property Day and outlined Menai Science Park's plans to celebrate it in World Intellectual Property Day 2023 on 27 Jan 2023.  I introduced Anna Roberts of Explorage.com and mentioned some of the topics that we shall discuss in World Intellectual Property Day - M-SParc's Lunchtime Seminar on 9 April 2023.  In this article, I shall introduce the other speakers, anticipate what they will each talk about and advise readers on how they can register for, and participate in, the event.

As I said in my previous articles, the theme of this year's World Intellectual Property Day is "Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity." The word "accelerating" is significant because it connotes contribution and cooperation, The seminar will focus not on matters that only interest women but on contributions from innovative and creative women that interest everybody.

For that reason, we offer an all-female panel.  The organizer of this year's IP Day event (like all previous ones) will be Emily Roberts, the Science Park's Outreach & Community Manager. The main speakers will be Anna Roberts whom I mentioned above, Anna Burke, Managing Director of Animated Technologies and Louise Carr, a patent attorney with Cameron IP.  I will introduce the speakers and chair the discussion. We also look forward to interventions and questions from the floor.

Emily is anxious for this event to be relevant and useful to everyone who attends.  She has found that many people who could have benefited from events like this one have been deterred by the fear that the topic will be too abstract or remote. She requires us to focus on the basics of intellectual property and illustrate its importance with real-life examples.

That is why Emily has invited two entrepreneurs to talk about their businesses.  They will identify the assets that give Explorage.com and Animated Technologies an advantage over their competitors. They will tell us how they protect their investment in those assets.  In response to any issues that may arise in the presentations or in enquiries from the floor, Louise will tell us how she and other attorneys can help.  I can chip in on any issues that the other panellists do not cover.

I will remain at the Science Park for a little while after the seminar in case someone wants a one-to-one conversation on a matter that he or she would prefer not to mention in public.  For those who are attending the event online, I shall be happy to make an appointment to talk by video link or phone.

If you want to attend this event you can do so by completing the Eventbrite card.  We are all looking forward to this event, seeing old acquaintances again and maybe making new ones. If you have any questions, call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

World Intellectual Property Day 2023

Author WIPO Licence CC Attribution 3.0 IGO

 

Jane Lambert

World Intellectual Property Day is an annual, international festival of creativity and innovation that takes place on or around 26 April to celebrate the anniversary of the coming into force of the treaty that established the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO"), the UN agency for intellectual property.   Each year the celebrations focus on a different theme.  This year's theme is "Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity."

The Menai Science Park ("M-SParc") at Gaerwen on Anglesey has celebrated every World IP Day since 2019 with a lunchtime seminar.  These have been Wales's main contribution to the worldwide celebrations.  They have raised awareness of the importance of intellectual property to the businesses and general public in Northwest Wales but also the rapidly growing importance of the region to the Welsh and wider UK economies.   

Nothing underscores the region's importance more than the opening of Aria Film Studios near Llangefni which I shall discuss in a separate article shortly.  Those studios have stimulated demand for creatives and technicians of all kinds prompting imaginative responses from local and national recruitment and training providers.  

It is with those developments in mind that M-SParc has begun to plan this year's World IP Day celebrations.  As in previous years, the project will be led by Emily Roberts with the assistance of Charlie Jones.   The centrepiece will be a hybrid in-person and online seminar for which we hope to use the Haia platform.  The main speakers will be women inventors and creatives from M-SParc's tenant companies plus at least one IP professional.   As we have a little more time to plan this year we hope to encourage some of the organizations based at M-SParc and in the region to stage their own celebrations. 

Anyone wishing to discuss this article is welcome to call me at +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any other time. 

North Wales Creative meets Creative Wales

 

Author Tanya Dedyukhina Licence  CC BY 3.0  Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

On 9 Nov 2022, I attended a meeting of Creative North Wales (Gogledd Creadigol) at the Galeri arts centre in Caernarfon.  That was not my first encounter with Creative North Wales.  I wrote about them in Gogledd Creadigol on 11 May 2021 after I had given a talk to their members on Copyright Licensing and Information and Communications Technology on 21 April 2021 (see Jane Lambert Copyright Licensing and Information and Communications Technology 13 April 2021).

The evening began with an introduction to the executive and prominent members and a review of their recent activities.  One of those was a webinar entitled Powering up the Video Games Industry which took place just before my talk.  The keynote speaker at that webinar was Dr Davd Banner MBE who is founder and CEO of Wales Interactive.  David attended Wednesday's meeting and I was delighted to meet him in the flesh. He told me that he had been in the games industry since the 1990s and we remarked on the growth of the industry over the years.

David is also a non-executive board member of Creative Wales (Cymru Creadigol) and the purpose of the meeting was to introduce that organization and its leaders to stakeholders in the creative industries in Northwest Wales.  Gerwyn Evans, deputy director of Creative Wales delivered a short presentation on its work.  He began by stating that Creative Wales had a narrower remit than the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in that it did not cover such fields as architecture.  It occurred to me as he said those words that the United Kingdom equivalent to Creative Wales was the Creative Industries Council ("CIC") which is chaired by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.  Architecture is indeed within the CIC's remit as well as advertising,, arts and culture and fashion which are outside Creative Wales's.

Creative Wales does, however, cover a lot:

• film and television
• music
• games
• animation
• createch
• R & D, and
• publishing.

The deputy director mentioned each of those sectors in turn and discussed its importance to the Welsh economy and the support that it received from Creative Wales.

A surprising omission in view of the importance of such composers as Catrin Finch and Jack White, dance companies like Ballet Cymru and the National Dance Company of Wales and the National Eisteddfod is the exclusion of the performing arts.   According to Creative Wales's website:

"Fine art, dance, theatre and poetry fall outside of our remit. Don’t worry, they’re not forgotten. Other organisations, such as the Arts Council of Wales take care of these essential and thriving areas of creativity."

Other parts of the UK also have an Arts Council but the arts in those other nations and regions are still represented on the CIC. 

As an intellectual property specialist, I am particularly interested in the digital industries and I was fortunate to meet Paul Osbaldeston, the digital lead sector development manager.   Our meeting was brief but it is good to put a face to a name should we come into contact again.

Finally, I was delighted to see a strong representation from the Menai Science Park which included its managing director, Pryderi ap Rhisiart,. its outreach and community manager  Emily Roberts who has recently visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tanya Jones who kindly invited me to the event.  The science park and North Wales Creative complement each other in that the park catalyses business opportunities while the cultural industries feed the mind and soul.   Both are essential to making this region of Wales one of the most attractive places anywhere in which to work and live.

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

The Accelerator's Showcase

Emily Roberts taking the Microphone from Olu

© 2022 Jane Lambert  All rights reserved

 

Jane Lambert

I mentioned the launch of the Menai Science Park's accelerator programme on 15 Feb 2022.  I returned to the science park on Thursday, 23 June 2022 for the accelerator's showcase before an audience that included angel and private equity investors.  The event took place in the park's atrium but was live-streamed over the internet using the hybrid events platform, Haia.

Haia was developed by a team led by Tom Burke who attended the accelerator programme. It was he who delivered the first pitch.  Tom had been one of the speakers at M-SParc's World Intellectual Property Day celebrations on 26 April 2022.  The progress that that already impressive business had achieved in less than 2 months is breathtaking.  It has recently transitioned from beta to a full-fledged contender in the fiercely competitive online conferencing market in which Zoom and Teams are already established.  By all accounts, Haia is more than holding its own.

The accelerator's first cohort consisted of eight projects several of which were represented at the showcase.  As well as Haia, the presentations included a system for monitoring calving, a language learning database that included learning mediums other than English, a device for spotting and booking self-storage space near a given location and the manufacture of bio-degradable packaging materials from seaweed and many other great ideas.  The showcase was compered expertly by the science park's operations and customer services manager, Emily Roberts who has overseen successfully all the events in which I have been involved.

At the start of the event, the park's managing director, Pryderi ap Phisiart, announced the launch of the science park's angel network.  I can't overstress the importance of that development because angels facilitate the leap from incubator to market.  Raising funds was the theme of last year's World Intellectual Property Day and Wales Enterprise Day celebrations and Emily plans to build on that theme at this year's Wales Enterprise Day. 

I spoke to several of the investors over a feast of jerk chicken (cyw iâr jerk) and rice and peas (reis a phys) from a trailer that offered "bwyd bendigedig" or Welsh Caribbean food lubricated by cocktails and soft drinks from an adjoining converted horse box.  The investors were impressed by what they had seen and several told me that they had brought their chequebooks.

Both businesses and their investors require the best possible legal, accounting and other professional services.  When M-SParc opened on 1 March 2018 tenants had to look east to Manchester, Liverpool or Chester for such advice and representation or south to Cardiff, Newport or Swansea.  Not any more. There is a cluster of experts that includes patent attorney Sean Thomas who has returned to Anglesey, specialist solicitors Andrea Knox and Jonty Gordon, IP tax accountants Steve Livingston, patent strategist and valuer Alison Orr, venture capitalist Ed French and IP insurer Ian Wishart.

I was reminded of the importance of M-SParc on Friday morning when I watched the film on the history of Nant Gwrtheyrn in its heritage centre.  The Nant was once a prosperous port that exported granite blocks known as "setts" for roadbuilding.  Workers from across the United Kingdom and beyond were attracted to the port and adjoining quarry  A photo of some of the maidens of the Nant shows them adorned in the latest styles long before the fashions reached the rest of the Llŷn peninsula. Sadly. demand for setts diminished as private car ownership expanded.  The Nant declined.  Its people moved away to find work elsewhere.  Eventually the settlement was abandoned. 

The history of Nant Gwrtheyrn is an allegory of the history of the region. The Nant was revived when it became a centre for teaching the Welsh language   M-SParc and other initiatives such as the Pontio Centre in Bangor are nurturing diversified knowledge-based industries that will provide employment not only for those already in the area but for many more from around the world.  Like the Caribbean food suppliers, these newcomers are contributing their customs and culture to Wales but in the process, they are becoming  Welsh.  Just like the English, Scots and Irish quarrymen and port workers who moved to Nant Gwrtheyrn 150 years ago.

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

World IP Day: IP and Youth

Source WIPO YouTube Licence Standard YouTube Licence

Jane Lambert

On 26 April of every year, the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") celebrates the anniversary of its establishment with a worldwide festival of innovation and creativity.  Since 2019 the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc") has contributed greatly towards the celebrations that have taken place in Wales. Every year the international celebrations focus on a specified theme.  The WIPO has just announced that the theme for World Intellectual Property Day in 2022 will be IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future.

That is a theme that resonates with M-SParc because it is one of a number of initiatives to reverse a century of migration of some of Northwest Wales's best and brightest to other parts of the United Kingdom and indeed other parts of the world.  The arts and sciences have always been valued in the region as is evidenced by the contributions of quarrymen and other working people towards the foundation of what is now Bangor University in the late 19th century (see  The Times 20 Oct 1884) but the business and employment opportunities for the region's graduates have until now been limited.

Promising opportunities are opening for young people and an important part of M-SParc's mission is to bring those opportunities to the attention of local college students and schoolchildren. One of the ways in which it does that is through the Young Dynamos Programme with its resources for 5 to 12-year-olds and 13 years plus and Club Sparci.

Yesterday I brought the announcement of this year's theme for World IP Day 2022 to the attention of Pryderi ap Rhisiart, the Managing Director of M-SParc, and Emily Roberts, Operations and Customer Service Manager:

What’s the best way to do that Jane? An overview session with some exciting examples? Colin the caterpillar comes to mind! Can we cover open licensing as well please? Had a request for that from @concreted0g . @SGogledd @northwalestech @Technocamps_BU would be in for it I’m sure!

— Pryderi ap Rhisiart (@prydski) December 27, 2021

I replied that we could do all those things and referred Pryderi to an article on teaching IP to the young in the TES Magazine.   Emily also tweeted that it would be great to involve the Young Dynamos in this year's World IP Day.

These are very early days but one idea that I shall contribute is focusing on Wales's contribution to space technology.   I discussed that topic yesterday in The Space Industry in Wales.  My interest in science was sparked by the launch of Sputnik in 1957, Gagarin's first space flight in 1961 and later NASA's Apollo programme.  Over those years I read every book and article on science and particularly space on which I could lay my hands.  Just a few miles from the science park there is a remarkable company that is developing a satellite launch capability from a high altitude helium balloon.   If that technology can capture the imagination of this septuagenarian think how much more it will inspire generations of young men and women and children.

Any ideas on M-SParc's contribution to this year's World IP Day celebrations from any quarter will be very welcome but we should particularly like to hear from kids in Northwest Wales and their teachers.  You can call me during business hours on 020 7404 5252 or send me your suggestions through my contact form.

Wales Enterprise Day

 

Jane Lambert

For the last three years, the Menai Science Park (M-SParc) has contributed to World Intellectual Property Day.  Every year the celebrations focus on a different theme. This year's was Taking Your Ideas to Market. As I wrote in Menai Science Park's Contribution to World IP Day 2021, that theme "could not be more appropriate for the Menai Science Park because that is what it does all through the year."

As in previous years, Emily Roberts asked me to help her choose speakers for the event.  I discussed her request with Richard Fraser-Willaims of Business Wales.  It quickly became clear to us that the topic was far too large for a single webinar.  Richard suggested that we should concentrate on start-ups on World Intellectual Property Day. If that event was successful we could hold a second on scale-ups in Autumn.  I passed on Richard's suggestion to Emily and she agreed.

I am glad to say that our contribution to World Intellectual Property Day 2021 was a great success.  Accordingly, Emily asked me to suggest a programme for the Autumn event.   I proposed:

• Ed French of Pinpoint Capital
• Alison Orr of Inngot
• Sean Thomas of Thomas Harrison IP, and
• Andrea Knox of Knox Commercial Solicitors.

Emily accepted my proposal but asked:

"Is there a significant date in those months, for example connected to IP or scaling up in some way?"

I replied:

"There is a British intellectual property day on 1 July but not many people have heard of it.

Why don't we create our own Diwrnod Eiddo Deallusol Ynys Môn, Diwrnod Eiddo Deallusol Ynys Menai or if we can enlist the support of the Welsh government, the Senedd, the IPO, the Welsh Universities, business and other institutions, even a Diwrnod Eiddo Deallusol Cymru on whatever day we choose?"

A few days later Emily sent a draft Eventbrite card promoting our seminar in celebration of "Wales Enterprise Day."

Our webinar on scaling up took place yesterday.   I thought it was the best seminar on IP that we have ever presented to M-SParc.  I thank all the speakers for their excellent presentations.   But our seminar was followed by a much bigger event: "Den y Dreigiau" a great angel and seed-funding pitching event operated in conjunction with Global Welsh. 

That was a magnificent opportunity to see the achievements of the businesses that have developed in M-SParc. There were some that I already admired such as Haia and Cufflink but I learned about others in agricultural technology, environmental protection, therapeutics, veterinary devices and other fields that are also great.  All the presenters spoke passionately.  All were impressive.  I wish them every success in their endeavours.

In the room from which our seminar was hosted, there is a bell to announce good news.   Emily rang that bell when Sean Thomas announced that he will hold regular IP clinics in M-SParc with a bit of help from Andrea Knox and me.  Sean has now moved back to Anglesey (which happens to be his birthplace) and will practise from the island.   It would appear from IP-Reg's database that he will be the only patent or trade mark attorney in Wales to the northwest of Chepstow.

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.

Menai Science Park's Contribution to World IP Day 2021

Author  Jonathan Calugi  © 2021 WIPO, all rights reserved Licensed courtesy WIPO

 Jane Lambert

For the last 2 years, the Menai Science Park has hosted Wales's main contribution to World Intellectual Property Day (see World IP Day 2021: "IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market" 21 Jan 2021). Emily Roberts and I have been discussing this year's contribution since Autumn and we hope it will be the best ever.

Each year, World IP Day has a different theme.  The theme for 2021 is IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market. It could not be more appropriate for the Menai Science Park because that is what it does all through the year.  Making full use of the park's expertise and that of its tenants, Emily had invited a panel of world-class experts to discuss this year's theme in an online webinar starting at 12:10 and ending at 13:50 tomorrow.

The speakers will be 

Time	Speaker	Topic
12:10- 12:15	Jane Lambert Barrister 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square	Introduction and Welcome - Cyflwyniad a Chroeso
12:15- 12:30	Andrew Davies Intellectual Property Office	IP and Funding for Growth
12:30 -12:45	David Wooldridge Welsh Government Innovation Team	Welsh Government Assistance for Startups and SME
12:45-13:00	Alison Orr Inngot	Valuing startups; intellectual assets
13:00 -13:15	Mark McGowan BIC Innovation	Arranging funding for startups
13:15- 13:30	Andrea Knox Knox Commercial Solicitors	Due Diligence and shareholders agreements`
13:30 -13:45	Steve Livingston IP Tax Solutions	Tax incentives for startups and SMR
13:45 -13:50	Jane Lambert	Thanks and Closing Remarks -

If you would like to attend this event, please register here.

If this webinar is successful we hope to hold subsequent ones on scaling up the business covering angel and private equity investment and Stock Exchange flotation later in the year possibly in cooperation with a Wales law and innovation network on the lines of the Scottish Law and Innovation Network (see Does Wales need a Law and Innovation Network? 14 April 2021),

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or any of the topics arising from it may call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact page.

Further Reading

21 Jan 2021 Jane Lambert  World IP Day 2021: "IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market"

What Every Startup and Small Business in Wales should know about IP

Wales from the International Space Station

Author Chris Hadfield NASA  Public Domain

Jane Lambert

I should first like to wish my readers in Wales and the rest of the world a Happy New Year. With continued lockdowns in Wales and many other parts of the world, there could not be a more depressing start. But the world will recover.  New businesses offering new products and services will continue to be launched creating new highly paid jobs in Wales.

The success of those products and services will depend on their branding, design, technology and creativity. It is those attributes that I call "intellectual assets" that gives one business a competitive advantage over all others.  A good idea by one competitor is likely to be adopted by others. To some extent that is a good thing and is to be encouraged because that is how science and society advance.  But not if the effect is to deprive the person who dreamt up the idea and invested in developing it from benefiting from it.  That would eventually stifle innovation and creativity.

It is obviously fair that an author designer. inventor or other intellectual asset creator who invests his or her time and money on developing a new product or service should recoup his or her investment and maybe earn a little extra on the side but consumers should not have to pay through the nose for the product or service forever.  The laws that strike a balance between the interests of the author, designer, inventor or other creator and the public are known collectively as "intellectual property". Examplers of intellectual property rights are the 20-year monopoly of the manufacturer, sale and use of a new invention known as a "patent" or the lifetime plus 70 years protection against unauthorized copying of a work of art or literature called a "copyright".

Earlier this week I was discussing possible topics for webinars for the Enterprise Hub with Emily Roberts of M-SParc (the Menai Science Park near Gaerwen on Anglesey).  I proposed two topics:

• One was on IP and funding similar to one that the Intellectual Property Office had run on 8 Dec 2020 entitled 'How to use your IP to unlock financial opportunities' to be presented on World Intellectual Property Day on 26 April 2021; and
• The other was the changes to intellectual property law following the expiry on 31 Dec 2020 of the transition period provided by the agreement for the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Emily replied that both topics seemed engaging to her but she asked: " Is there any you’d think more appropriate for a smaller or start-up business?"

I replied with the synopsis of a 40-minute talk that I had given many times before and which I shall give again on 9 Feb to the Bradford Network:

• "What are your business's assets? Is it its good name, the experience of staff, quality of service, design or technology?
• Are you making full use of those assets? Licensing revenue, collateral for borrowing and means of attracting investment
• How can you secure those revenues? Trade marks for brands, patents for tech and design registration for the appearance of goods plus the free IP rights like copyright
• How do you set about getting those rights? How long does it take and how much does it cost?
• How do you face down challenges to your rights? Litigation and insurance
• How do you budget?
• What licensing and other revenues can you expect."

Obviously, a talk to entrepreneurs and other business owners in  Northwest Wales will have to be different from the one I would give to a similar audience in Yorkshire because the economies and cultures of the two regions are quite different even though some issues and solutions are universal.

Emily liked the proposal and drafted an Eventbrite card for the talk which she will publish when she has chosen a date and time for the event.  I for my part will draw up slides and a PDF handout designed specifically for businesses in Wales with such information as local advice and information services and useful websites that can be downloaded from Slideshare.

Anybody who wants to discuss this article or IP, in general, may call me during office hours on 020 7404 5252/  Like many other people I am working from home for the duration but our new phone system can forward your call to me wherever I happen to be at no extra cost.  Alternatively, you can send me a message through my contact form.  Incidentally, if you do call I would welcome a chance to practise my Welsh conversation.   I am halfway through an internet training course in Welsh, there are not too many Welsh speakers nearby and I can't visit Wales until it is safe and lawful to do so.

Online Pitch Perfect

Photographer Harvey Milligan Licence CC BY-SA 4.0

 

Jane Lambert

The buccaneering spirit of the ingenious and resourceful young men and women who presented their businesses at Pitch Perfect last night was symbolized by a magnificent sailing boat moored in the Menai Strait.  This was a friendly competition for funding along the lines of the terrestrial Pitch Perfect that I described in A Good Way to spend St David's Day 2 March 2019 and Pitch Perfect Number 2 7 June 2020. Each of the competitors presented his or her pitch in a short video showing the contestant on the deck of the vessel.

As in previous Pitch Perfect events, the contestants were questioned by three judges from the business support sector.  Members of the audience were also invited to ask supplementary questions.  There seemed to be a lot more contributions from the audience than on previous occasions.  That was probably because it was a lot easier to use the Zoom chat channel than slido   The event was chaired very efficiently by Emily Roberts who held each and every one of the contestants to his or her allotted time with grace and humour and still allowed for time for a tea break and one-to-one networking. 

Sadly, I missed a lot of the content, particularly at the beginning of the show.  That was because my internet connection went down several times.  Even when the connection was restored, the sound quality was far from perfect.  The English channel was barely audible and the sound quality of the Welsh channel was only slightly better.  Also, although I have started to learn Welsh there is a limit to how much of a conversation in a new language can be followed after just a few weeks of study.

Consequently, I can't tell you much about the individual entries or winners except that the winner of the cash prize was a very enterprising young woman and the winner of the non-cash prize which included Chamber membership and some professional services was a gentleman called Stephen.  I can name only one judge, Geraint, who (I think) works for the Development Bank of Wales.  There was a wide range of business ideas ranging from therapies to telecoms.  My own favourite was a scheme to market sheep's milk - possibly because I live in the Pennines (formerly part of the Old North) which like the current North of Wales is sheep rearing country.  Someone in the chat channel wrote "I like your logo" in Welsh in the chat channel.  Indeed, several of the contestants received similar comments.

A good logo or brand name can become the most valuable asset of a business and the best way of preserving that asset is to register it as a trade mark.  Although it is probably quicker, safer and more convenient to instruct a trade mark attorney to act for you, it is quite possible for a reasonably intelligent and educated business owner to register a mark without professional intervention.  If you want to instruct a trade mark attorney the best place to start is the website of the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys ("CITMA"). A good attorney will make a search, advise you on registrability, draft and file an application that is likely to be accepted and shepherd you pay any objections from the examiner or third parties for just a few hundred pounds.  That fee will usually include searches and the Intellectual Property Office's fees.

The saving if you attempt to apply by yourself is only a few hundred pounds,  If you receive an objection from the examiner or a third party you would lose that cost-saving in a few rounds of correspondence and considerably more still if there were to be a hearing.  The key to a successful application is a thorough search and I gave a presentation on searches last November (see IP Database Searches and Understanding Specifications  30 Nov 2020 NIPC Wales).  You will find a lot of information on the IPO, CTTMA and my NIPC Branding and you can always contact me for a pro bono chat if you get stuck.

I can be contacted on 020 7404 5252 during normal business hours or through my contact form at all other times.

My Talk to the Enterprise Hub -"What is a Trade Secret?"

Standard YouTube Licence

Jane Lambert

 I had a good day at M-SParc yesterday. I discussed trade secrets and non-disclosure agreements with the Enterprise Hub between 12:00 and 13:00. For the rest of the afternoon, I held pro bono one-to-one consultations with some of the individuals who had attended my talk as well as other business owners and entrepreneurs.

For the purpose of my talk, I defined "trade secrets" as  "secret business or commercial information the unlicensed use or disclosure of which could benefit a recipient of the information or harm the person who is entitled to prevent such use or disclosure."  A trade secret can be an invention before the filing of a patent application, the source code of a computer program, a customer list or a business plan.

Until the 9 June 2018, the unauthorized use or disclosure of trade secrets was prevented by the law of confidence which had been developed by the courts over many years.  In Coco v AN Clark (Engineers) Ltd [1968] F.S.R. 415, [1969] RPC 41 Mr Justice Megarry summarized that law as follows:

"I would regard the recipient as carrying a heavy burden if he seeks to repel a contention that he was bound by an obligation of confidence.’ 

‘First, the information must be of a confidential nature. As Lord Greene said in the Saltman case . . ‘something which is public property and public knowledge’ cannot per se provide any foundation for proceedings for breach of confidence. However confidential the circumstances of communication, there can be no breach of confidence in revealing to others something which is already common knowledge. But this must not be taken too far. Something that has been constructed solely from materials in the public domain may possess the necessary quality of confidentiality: for something new and confidential may have been brought into being by the application of the skill and ingenuity of the human brain . . Novelty depends on the thing itself, and not upon the quality of its constituent parts . . whether it is described as originality or novelty or ingenuity or otherwise, I think there must be some product of the human brain which suffices to confer a confidential nature upon the information. 

The second requirement is that the information must have been communicated in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence. However secret and confidential the information, there can be no binding obligation of confidence if that information is blurted out in public or is communicated in other circumstances which negative any duty of holding it confidential. From the authorities cited to me, I have not been able to derive any very precise idea of what test is to be applied in determining whether the circumstances import an obligation of confidence. In the Argyll case, Ungoed-Thomas, J. concluded his discussion of the circumstances in which the publication of marital communications should be restrained as being confidential by saying ‘If this was a well-developed jurisdiction doubtless there would be guides and tests to aid in exercising it’. In the absence of such guides or tests he then in effect concluded that part of the communications there in question would on any reasonable test emerge as confidential. It may be that that hard-worked creature, the reasonable man, may be pressed into service once more; for I do not see why he should not labour in equity as well as at law. It seems to me that if the circumstances are such that any reasonable man standing in the shoes of the recipient of the information would have realised that upon reasonable grounds the information was being given to him in confidence, then this should suffice to impose upon him the equitable obligation of confidence. In particular, where information of commercial or industrial value is given on a business-like basis and with some avowed common object in mind, such as a joint venture or the manufacture of articles by one party for the other, I would regard the recipient as carrying a heavy burden if he seeks to repel a contention that he was bound by an obligation of confidence: see the Saltman case . . On that footing, for reasons that will appear, I do not think I need explore this head further. I merely add that I doubt whether equity would intervene unless the circumstances are of sufficient gravity; equity ought not to be invoked merely to protect trivial tittle-tattle, however confidential. 

Thirdly, there must be an unauthorised use of the information to the detriment of the person communicating it. Some of the statements of principle in the cases omit any mention of detriment; others include it. At first sight, it seems that detriment ought to be present if equity is to be induced to intervene; but I can conceive of cases where a plaintiff might have substantial motives for seeking the aid of equity and yet suffer nothing which could fairly be called detriment to him, as when the confidential information shows him in a favourable light but gravely injures some relation or friend of his whom he wishes to protect. The point does not arise for decision in this case, for detriment to the plaintiff plainly exists. I need therefore say no more than that although for the purposes of this case I have stated the proposition in the stricter form, I wish to keep open the possibility of the true proposition being that in the wider firm."

Since 9 June 2018 European Union trade secrecy law has been harmonized by Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure (Text with EEA relevance) OJ L 157, 15.6.2016, p. 1–18 which I discussed in The Trade Secrets Directive on 7 July 2016 NIPC Law.  It would appear from The Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018 which implemented the Directive into the laws of the United Kingdom that the Directive did not repeal the old judge-made law but provided trade secret owners with new rights and remedies (see Jane Lambert Transposing the Trade Secrets Directive into English Law: The Trade Secrets (Enforcement etc) Regulations 6 June 2019 NIPC Law).

For the rest of my talk, I discussed confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements which is one of the "circumstances importing an obligation of confidence" that Mr Justice Megarry is likely to have had in mind in Coco v Clark.  Those agreements are easy enough to draft but much less easy to enforce in infringement proceedings.  Defendants tend to argue that the agreement was not intended to cover the information in question, that it was not really confidential or that the claimant is not entitled to rely on it for some other reason.  In There's more to the Law of Confidence than NDAs 14 Oct 2019 NIPC Inventors Club, I wrote:

"If you want to rely on the law of confidence, print a form in duplicate on no carbon required paper with boxes for:

• The name and full postal address, job title, email, telephone and other contact details of the confidante and those of his or her employer if they are different.

• Identify the information to be delivered and the way in which it is to be passed (that is to say, private conversation, whether it is is a document and if so what it contains).

• An acknowledgement that the information has been disclosed in confidence.

• A finite period in which the confidante can contentod that the information is not confidential at all and a rapid and cost-effective way of resolving such contentions such as expert determination or expedited arbitration.

• The use to which the information may be put.

• A deadline for the return of confidential documents and may have been made.

• Submission to the jurisdiction of the English courts.

Every single confidential conversation and the delivery of every single document should be recorded and logged separately. If any of the conditions is breached, the confider should call the confidante at once. If it is still not put right the confider should consider legal action including possibly an interim injunction."

Trade secrets have a number of advantages over patents.  The right to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure arises automatically.  It costs nothing.  There is no need for registration. Theoretically, it can last for ever and some trade secrets like the recipes for Chartreuse or Coca Cola have been kept secret for centuries in the case of the liqueur and well over 100 years in the case of the fizzy drink. On the other hand, if a competitor discovers the secret through his own R & D or even by reverse engineering there is nothing to stop him from using it.  A patent, on the other hand, could stop such a competitor in his tracks if he makes or does something that is caught by one or more of the claims.

My next visit to the Enterprise Hub is scheduled for the end of April to join in the celebrations for World Intellectual Property Day. The theme this year is "Invest for a Green Future" which could not be more appropriate for the Menai Science Park. That has been the science park's theme from the day it opened on St David's Day 2018. 

While taking a break from my one-to-one's, Pryderi ap Rhisiart, M-SParc's managing director presented me with an ambassador's badge.  One of the reasons why M-SParc is so important is that it is helping to reverse a trend of relative economic decline and depopulation which has drained Northwest Wales of its best and brightest.  The businesses that are establishing themselves at M-SParc and other locations in the Menai area are attracting them back as well as highly skilled individuals from the rest of the world. I sense a real buzz whenever I step into the science park's atrium. For that reason, I shall wear my M-SParc badge with pride.

Much of the credit for the success of yesterday's meeting is due to Emily Roberts who runs the Enterprise Hub. She advertises the meetings and sets up the PowerPoint and refreshments.  I am very grateful to her for her work.

If anyone wants to discuss this article call me on 020 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact form.