Making SParcs Fly

Colwyn Bay

Author Dot Potter Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

M-SParc (the Menai Science Park) has a mission is to promote science and technology throughout Wales and not just in Anglesey.  According to its press release, M-SParc takes Tech on Tour by Launching New Colwyn Bay Location personnel from the science park engaged with nearly 700 local residents on visits to  Bethesda and Botwnnog before lockdown.  Those visits have now resumed and M-SParc's latest port of call is Colwyn Bay where it has established a temporary base at 29 Conway Road.

Like many seaside resorts, Colwyn Bay flourished in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  Since the middle of the last century,  it has lost holidaymakers to sunnier destinations. Dwindling numbers of visitors discouraged investment in tourism and hospitality.  The pier closed in 2009 because it had been allowed to fall into disrepair though it should be remembered that some new attractions have opened such as the Welsh Mountain Zoo and the Colwyn Leisure Centre in Eirias Park.

Though such developments are welcome it makes sense for Colwyn Bay to broaden its economic base with new businesses in the high tech and creative industries.   To encourage the formation, establishment and growth of such businesses, M-SParc will offer at Conway Road all the activities that take place in Gaerwen including Ffiws Maker Space, hot desks, co-working space, business, design, technology and innovation workshops and seminars, as well as science and technology sessions for young people.  

The following events take place at 29 Conway Road on the dates and at the times indicated:

• 7 Sept 2021  17:00 - 20:00  Noson Gofod Gwneud - Makerspace Evening 
• 21 Sept 2021 19:00 - 20:00 Arwyr Lleol Sgwrs Tech - Local Heroes of Tech Talk 
• 23 Sept 2021 13:00 - 13:45 Trefi SMART Towns 
• 23 Sept 2021 18:30 - 19:30  Gweithdu FreeCAD Workshop 
• 28 Sept 2021  18:00 -19:00 Technocamps - Sesiwn ddigidol i blant / A digital session for children, and 
• 29 Sept 2021 16:00 - 17:00 Clwb Sparci - Sbarduno Science Session

I have a personal interest in the Ffiws events because I had the pleasure of addressing its members on 15 April 2020. I had intended to give the talk in Porthmadog in person but was prevented from visiting Wales by the pandemic. However, I presented the talk over Zoom and my slides can be downloaded here,

Gogledd Creadigol is the forum for the creative industries in North Wales. On 15 Sept 2021, it will host an event called Cocktails and Creativity which will take place at M-SParc and online. One of the guests is Elin Fflur about whom I knew nothing until I started to learn Welsh just over a year ago.  As I suspect that many others in the English speaking world have yet to be introduced to her, I urge them to listen to her sing Ar Lan y Môr ("By the Sea Shore") with Max Boyce.  She is good as are a whole galaxy of singers, musicians, film and programme-makers and even a chip munching talking orangutan - all of whom I have discovered through learning Welsh.  Other guests will include Stifyn Parri, Osian Gwynn, art director of the Pontio Arts Centre and guests from the TV series Rownd a Rownd.

Crucial to the success of all businesses - but particularly those in the high tech and creative industries - is the legal protection of their investment in branding, design, technology and creativity. Guests from the Intellectual Property Office, the Welsh Government, Inngot and BIC Innovation stressed its importance for startups on World Intellectual Prop[erty Day (see Menai Science Park's Contribution to World IP Day 2021 25 April 2021).  It is even more important for businesses seeking angel or private equity investment or flotation on the Alternative Investment Market as attendees will hear at our in-person and live-streamed webinar  IP & SME - Scaling Up on 11 Nov 2021.

In the meantime, readers are reminded that choosing the optimum legal protection for their brands, designs, technology and creativity, for the time being, can make all the difference between business failure and a howling success.   They will find guidance in Choosing the Right IP Protection which I posted on 24 April 2019.  If they want to discuss this matter further, they can book a free 30-minute appointment over Zoom by completing this simple form.

Gogledd Creadigol

Caernarfon from the Castle Battlements

© 2018 Jane Lambert: all rights reserved 

 

Jane Lambert

Last month I was privileged to take part in a short webinar organized by Gogledd Creadigol (Creative North Wales) on Copyright Licensing and ICT.  Gogledd Creadigol describes itself as a voice for the digital creative industries of North Wales at the centre of "the creative corridor from Dublin, through north Wales to the Northern Powerhouse region."

The strength and diversity of the creative sector are recorded in the 2018 North Wales Creative Audit.  The region's assets include the University of Bangor with its Applied Design Centre. Wrexham Glyndwr University with its Creative Arts Research Centre, the Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre with its FabLab and Bryn Terfel Theatre and the Menai Science Park which hosts Ffiws and works closely with Gogledd Creadigol.  According to Gogledd Creadigol's home page, there are over 1,100 businesses in the sector in North Wales which has helped to create 10,800 jobs paying an average of £711 each week.

Gogledd Creadigol works with Bangor and Wrexham Glyndwr Universities, the North Wales Economic Ambition Board and North Wales Business Council, the BBC and S4C, CREAD, RONDO and many other arts and business institutions.   In addition to my contribution, it has held several very successful event including Powering Up the Games Sector which I attended and thoroughly enjoyed.  Details of those events appear in the News section.

My contact at Gogledd Creadigol is Sofie Roberts of the Menai Science Park who can be contacted through its website and Linkedin.  Anyone wishing to discuss this article or the creative industries generally may call me on 020 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact page.

An Inventors' Club for Northwest Wales?

Jane Lambert

"Ffiws" means, and is pronounced as, "Fuse" in English.  It is the name of a maker space with 3D printers, laser cutters and other digitally controlled equipment.  It is a partnership between Menter Môn, Gwynedd Council and several other agencies in North Wales.  Earlier this year I was invited to give a talk at its premises in Porthmadog.  Sadly, the visit had to be cancelled because of the pandemic but I still delivered the talk over Zoom and my slides can be downloaded from Slideshare if anyone is interested.

I think Ffiws is a great resource and the reason I mention it again now is that it has a base at the Menai Science Park (M-SParc).  According to the Ffiws page on the M-SParc website, its facilities are available to the park's tenants and members of the Enterprise hub.  Its equipment will also be taken on tour with M-SParc for demonstrations to, and possible use by, residents of the places M-SParc visits.  There is similar equipment at the Bangor FabLab in the Pontio Centre though that building is temporarily closed for public health reasons.

On 8 Sept 2020, the business and professional networks that have developed around M-SParc will be celebrated in the Ecosystem 2.0 Webinar. Each member of those networks has been allocated 3 minutes to talk about their work or interests.  I shall use mine to propose an inventors' club for North Wales to make use of Ffiws and FabLab and draw on the expertise of the Ecosystem.

The Business and IP Centre explained the need for an inventors' club in an article strap lined "Great ideas can change the world":

"whilst lots of us often spot the potential for a new product or piece of technology, the harsh realities of research and development, prototyping, manufacturing and distribution often mean that few of those ideas actually make it to market."

Those words apply at least as much to inventors, designers, makers and entrepreneurs in Northwest Wales as they do to London.   This is the British Library's solution:

"The Inventors’ Club has been established by the Business & IP Centre to give budding inventors the opportunity to network with others in the same boat, hear from speakers who have successfully commercialised their inventions, stay motivated and share insider hints, tips, expertise and experience. You’ll get feedback on your inventions in a safe, non-judgmental environment and also find out about how the Library’s extensive collection of business and commercial data can help you on your journey from someone with a great idea, to having a product on the market."

I set up and chaired inventors' clubs in Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield and supported the ones in Blackburn and Manchester.   I can say from experience that they work.  In each of those cities, the clubs helped entrepreneurs and inventors to set up new businesses or license the manufacture and sale of their products to other companies. 

The Wessex Region of Technologists and Inventors in Southampton has published a useful article on Starting an Inventors Club on its website.  A Northwest Wales inventors' club is not something that can be run from outside.   Local people must want it enough to set it up and manage it.  If anybody in Northwest Wales is willing to take the initiative I shall place my expertise, experience and connections at his or her disposal.  Anybody wishing to discuss this proposal may call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Delivering on my Promises in Wales

Jane Lambert

In IP Services During the Emergency 23 March 2020 NIPC Inventors Club, I wrote:

"I was due to speak to the inventors, makers and designers of Porthmadog at Ffiws Maker Space on 1 April 2020. I had an IP clinic at Barnsley Business Village on 14 April 2020. I was planning a high-level seminar on Green Innovation at the Menai Science Park on 27 April 2020 as Wales's contribution to World IP Day."

My visits to Porthmadog and Gaerwen had to be cancelled because of the public health emergency but that does not mean that the talks should not take place: 

I have already uploaded to Linkedin Slideshare the slides of the presentation, Intellectual Property Law for Makers, that I had intended to give to the makers of Northwest Wales at the Ffiws Maker Space at 125 High Street, Porthmadog,  At the time I was to rise to my feet in Porthmadog, I propose to deliver my talk over the Internet.  I hope that as many members of the intended audience at Porthmadog as possible will be able to listen but makers anywhere else in the world will be welcome.  I hope to publish details of the talk and an Eventbrite link later today.

My other commitment in North Wales is a seminar at the Menai Science Park (M-SParc) at Gaerwen on 27 April 2020 to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day (see Anglesey to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day with Talks on Protecting and Exploiting Green Innovation at M-SParc 5 March 2020). That will now take place online but at the slightly earlier time of 12:30 to 13:30.

It will focus on the opportunities offered by WIPO Green for businesses in Wales and the rest of the UK and on the Green Channel, the arrangements in place at the Intellectual Property Office and a number of other patent offices to fast track patent applications for environmentally friendly inventions.  Rob Elias of Beacon Biorefining will be the keynote speaker in relation to the business opportunities and how one of the UK's leading consultancies on plant research can help businesses in Wales to take advantage of them,  We have invited local experts to discuss the corporate legal and tax issues that might arise.  We had invited a speaker from the IPO to discuss the Green Channel but if none is available for our webinar we shall invite an experienced patent attorney instead.

The World IP Day webinar will be organized by M-SParc who have already staged an excellent conference on responding to the COVID-19 menace which I attended on Monday.  There were presentations from Lee Waters AM Deputy Minister for Transport and Economy in Wales and local speakers including the inventor of an antiviral snood which could not have been developed at a more propitious time.

Should any entrepreneur, inventor or maker in North Wales (or indeed anywhere else in the world) want some specific advice on protecting, commercializing or marketing a new product or service, we now have a team of experts who can help.  I have been practising IP law for many years and I can offer initial advice and support on most legal issues.  If you want to apply for a patent or registered design I can pass you on to Sean Thomas, an Anglesey man, who is an experienced patent attorney. If you are interested in branding I can refer you to Jonty Gordon of Amgen Law who can help you with trade mark matters.  On corporate issues, Andrea Knox of Knox Commercial Solicitors is your local expert. As for tax, Steve Livingston, another Anglesey man, is a chartered accountant specializing in IP taxation.  Last but by no means least is Huw Watkins of BIC Innovation who can help you get your product to market.   Anyone who wants to consult any member of that team should fill in the Initial Advice and Signposting Form and we shall take it from there.

If anyone is curious about the gravestone in the picture, it is in memory not of a human but of a dog.  A faithful hound called Gelert was left to guard the infant son of Llewellyn the Great, apparently without any human supervision.  While his father was away fighting the English a rapacious wolf entered the enclosure where the boy was sleeping.  Gelert fought off the wolf but upset the furniture in the process. When Llewellyn returned from battling with my compatriots he found the room in a tip. Concluding that the dog had savaged his son he slew the beast.  The canine's dying cry woke up the prince and revealed its heroism. Overcome with remorse Llewellyn renamed the town where the dog is buried Beddgelert.  The reason why I have taken that photo is that Beddgelert lies on the road between Gaerwen and Porthmadog. The Welsh and UK national treasure, Cerys Matthews, has written a lovely book about the story.

Anyone wanting to discuss this article or IP generally should message me through my contact form while this emergency lasts.   Should you want a chat by phone or VoIP I shall be glad to call you back.

IP for Inventors, Makers and Designers

"How to Protect Your Ideas and Make Money from Them" 
FFIWS 125 High Street, Porthmadog, 1 April 2020, 17:30 - 19:00

Jane Lambert 

I mentioned the FFIWS maker space at Porthmadog in FFIWS - Another Resource for Inventors, Designers and Makers in North Wales today in my Inventors Club blog,  FFIWS is funded by Arloesi Gwynedd Wledig and the ARFOR Programme by Cyngor Gwynedd.  Arloesi Gwynedd Wledig is one of the projects of Menter Môn.

Rhys Gwilym, one of the officials of Menter Môn is arranging some workshops and other events at FFIWS and has invited me to speak about intellectual property for users of FFIWS's facilities.  I have given similar talks at various FabLabs around the country and other maker spaces in Sheffield and Carlisle.

Although I shall have to spend a few minutes explaining what intellectual property is and how it works I shall make my talk as practical as possible.  I shall concentrate on confidentiality agreements and non-disclosure agreements, rights that come into being automatically such as copyrights, design rights and unregistered Community designs, rights that can be registered inexpensively such as trade marks and designs, licensing and cost-effective methods of enforcement.   I shall explain how and where to get specialist advice quickly and cost-effectively including the community of advisors, investors and entrepreneurs that is gathering around M-SParc on Anglesey.

The talk will take place at FFIWS, 125 High Street, Porthmadog on 1 April 2020 at 17:30.  I shall mention this event to some of the other experts who have spoken at M-SParc and invite them to come to make the event a really special evening.