Steve van Dulken's Patent blog

Do patents stifle innovation ? The result

I recently posted about a debate at the Science Museum on the question of whether or not patents stifled innovation in low energy inventions.

It happened while I was away -- I'd have very much liked to have been there -- but it turns out that after an interesting evening the pro-patent advocates won the vote by 90 to 14. The arguments are summarised in a press release by CIPA, the trade association for UK patent attorneys. The basic point was that small companies need the protection from patents to finance and manufacture their innovations.

I had been under the impression that attendance was open to all who pre-registered, but the press release refers to "business leaders".

Patenting magic tricks

I'm just back from a cruise to the Baltic, and as usual I looked for anything relating to inventions.

A magician named Peter Turner gave four "lectures" on magic during which he explained what was behind a few card tricks. They are so simple you could kick yourself for not guessing how they were done.

One trick that he did not explain was where a chain was held between two fingers. A heavy ring was passed upwards so that the chain was within the ring, and then dropped. The chain grabbed the ring. It seemed uncanny.

A little research on Google revealed the answer, and by chance my looking for patents for magic tricks also revealed an American patent application that explained the method, the Magic trick for enwrapping a solid ring in a solid chain. Here is its main drawing.

 

Two things occur to me. One is that it is a technique rather than apparatus (the secret is to flick the ring as it falls so that it rotates and therefore catches on the end of the chain -- try it !). This would make it unpatentable in most countries. The other is that the patent application, made in 2007, was thought of long before then.

Many other magic tricks can be found on the free Espacenet database although many are in Chinese (there are 78 Chinese citations for "magic ball" alone). For Western inventions, the ECLA class A63J21, for conjuring appliances, recovers over 300 inventions, including some early ones. This includes the old sawing the woman in half trick by Horace Goldin, applied for in 1921, his Illusion device.

Will King, King of Shaves

I always accept the offered free magazines outside railway stations, and find that today's Shortlist has an article on Will King, founder of King of Shaves.

I loved the story behind it -- a redundant marketer with a degree in mechanical engineering wondering if there was a way to avoid rashes when wet shaving using bath oil as he figured that lubrication would help, and his father suggesting that his surname would make a good company name.

I've checked and his Shaving composition is on the patents database as is his new product, the Azor® hand razor, with its main drawings shown below.

 

This is his Shaving system comprising a razor handle. Using his skills and a lot of courage (and initially debt on his credit card) King's company has surged ahead. He claims to have had offers of £30 million to sell up but has no intention of doing so, as "They say the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire is that a millionaire sells up 10 years too soon".

Make your Mark webchat

I was asked a few days ago if I would take part in a webchat about intellectual property. I had no idea then what a webchat was -- it's simply e-mailed in questions from the public with answers to them -- and have just returned from the offices of Make your Mark, who encourage and support those, especially the young, who want to get involved in business and entrepreneurship.

I found it a fun experience giving fairly snappy, broadbrush answers to questions about the subject. You could go on forever, of course, answering many questions.

The text of the webchat, in which inventor Celia Gates also took part, can be seen on their website.

Do patents stifle innovation ?

It is often claimed that patents stifle innovation by hampering research and development. 

Those able to get to London have a chance to attend a debate at the Science Museum on the evening of Thursday 23 July. The title is "Patents are stifling the innovation needed to ensure abundant, low-carbon energy supplies".

Drinks and a buffet reception are included and it is free. I will be away, unfortunately -- it would be interesting to see the fireworks.

Ambush marketing

An interesting area of trade mark law is "ambush marketing", where, typically, there is an official sponsor of a sports event and another company tries to get publicity out of the event.

Coventry University's Centre for the International Business of Sport has just published its A typology of ambush marketing: the methods and strategies of ambushing in sport, while last year they published Ambush marketing in sport: an assessment of implications and management strategies.

These reports are not as dry as they may sound. About 400 examples have been traced by the researchers, and some are mentioned in the reports. 

These include Bavaria Brewery getting fans to wear orange lederhosen advertising the company at the 2006 FIFA [football] World Cup, despite Budweiser being the official beer sponsor. Stadium officials forced the fans to strip off and watch the game in their underwear.

Then in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, American Express ran advertisements stating that visitors to Spain "don't need a visa". Visa, the official sponsors, did not take any action, and American Express claimed that it was legitimate advertising and not ambush marketing.