How to get your invention noticed

Zoe Kleinman
Working Lunch

Wallace and Gromit - Inventors extraordinaire

In 2007 the Intellectual Property Office received 17,375 UK patent requests.

There's no doubt that the Brits are a nation of part-time inventors.

But once you've had your million dollar idea, what do you do with it?

The first step is to make sure nobody has beaten you to it.

You can search existing patents on the website of the UK Intellectual Property Office and do a bit of general internet research to find out whether your idea is unique.

"To qualify for a patent, your idea has to be new and it has to be innovative - that is, not obvious," explains Graham Jones OBE, Vice President of the Institute of Patentees and Inventors.

If it fits those criteria, the next stage is to protect it.

Patent pending

To qualify for a patent, your idea has to be new and it has to be innovative - that is, not obvious Graham Jones OBE

The easy and foolproof way is to go to a patent attorney. They will make sure your patent is watertight but it's likely to cost several hundred pounds.

If that's not within your budget, you can apply for one yourself, free of charge, at the Intellectual Property Office. That makes the idea officially yours and gives you 12 months to decide what to do next.

If you do decide to pay for a UK patent it will cost you £200. There are extra charges for protection in additional countries and regions.

Back of an envelope

It's a popular misconception that you can cover yourself simply by putting your idea in a sealed envelope and posting it to yourself. The postage frank alone is said to prove that you had your brainwave when you said you did.

"Whoever said that wants strangling," Mr Jones says cheerfully. "You can't prove what's in the envelope without opening it, and even then who's to say you didn't steam it open and replace the contents."

An alternative to patenting

Rob Law and Graham Jones on Working Lunch with Declan Curry.

Rob Law invented the Trunki suitcase, child-sized suitcases on wheels that your offspring can whizz around on at airports.

Mr Law opted for Design Registration after failing to convince any patent attorneys that the Trunki was original enough.

It's cheaper than a patent and still enabled him to grant a licence to a manufacturer. As Design Registration protects the appearance rather than the invention itself, it also protected the brand when a Chinese factory started making a similar product.

Do your research

"It's a mindset that you must have a patent," he believes. His advice is to spend your time evolving your product and getting it to the marketplace as quickly as possible.

"Don't ask friends and family for feedback - they're biased," he says. 'Highlight your target market and ask them."

If you approach any companies Mr Law advises asking them to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement, which you can download from the Intellectual Property Office.

Think positive

The best advice from both Mr Jones and Mr Law is not give up.

The patent attorneys doubted the innovation of the Trunki and Mr Law was laughed out of BBC Two's Dragons' Den but he persevered - and today, 12 years later, his company Magmatic has a £1.3m turnover.

A word of warning though - the success rates are low. Remember the 17,375 requests sent to the Intellectual Property Office in 2007? Just 2,058 were actually granted.

"Only two to four percent of ideas are successful - but that never stopped anyone," says Graham Jones philosophically.