My idea: is it a business? pptx

Research 3What is intellectual property IP 3 Working with other people and organisations 6 Keeping hold of your idea enforcement 7 Making sure your idea is original 8 Contents... Choosin

My idea: is it a business?

UK Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office

All information contained in this document was correct at the time of going to print, and is available in alternative formats

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This booklet gives basic guidance on how to legally protect your idea, and develop it into a reality It aims to give you an overview of the issues you need to be aware of in turning your idea into a successful business

If you need more detailed advice from experts, the guide directs you

to appropriate professional organisations You’ll also find a couple of examples of successful ideas which have been developed into businesses.

Introduction

Research 3

What is intellectual property (IP) 3

Working with other people and organisations 6

Keeping hold of your idea (enforcement) 7

Making sure your idea is original 8

Contents

Researching your idea is vital Be realistic about the

following six questions.

• Does your idea work?

• Is there a market?

• What will it cost to produce?

• What will people pay for it?

• Can it really make a profit?

• Can you market it, and do you have the energy

and resources to do so (or can you get them)?

What is intellectual property (IP)?

• Patents – If you’ve created a new invention, it could

be a good idea to apply for a patent This gives you

the authority to control how the invention is made,

used or sold

• Copyright – This can be an important source of

income for your business as you may be able to

charge every time someone plays your jingle on the

radio, uses your software, transfers your manual

to the internet, makes copies of your song lyrics or

reprints your magazine article You can also use

copyright to stop competitors copying your labels and

literature

• Designs – These are important assets as they can

be a valuable selling point and part of your business

branding, separating you from your competitors

• Trademarks – These can be one of the most

powerful marketing tools you have, as they help

customers recognise your company Registering

a trademark allows you to protect the goods and

services which carry it, and gives you an IP asset

to stop other people or organisations from copying

them

• Know-how – You should keep secret any information

or knowledge you have that is not obvious from the

products or processes you are going to sell This

will help you keep ahead of your competitors and

improve any IP you want to license

Research

If you’ve created a new invention, it could be a good idea to apply for a patent

This gives you the authority

to control how the invention is made, used or sold.

Getting an existing manufacturer to make your product or

provide your service can allow you to concentrate on other

things like promoting and selling it

Joint ventures allow you to bring together the resources of

two or more different business to develop a shared project

Usually, one business provides the idea and the other

provides expertise or funding ‘Setting a Vision for Growth’

(www.businesslink.gov.uk) by Business Link provides more

information Most joint venture agreements should include

a licence agreement to set out how to transfer technology

In a collaboration, you team up with a business or

university This allows you to share the costs and the

work, but it may also mean you’ll have to split the profits

For more information, read the Business Link guide ‘Joint

Ventures and Partnering’ (www.businesslink.gov.uk) on

how to work with UK universities and colleges, or speak to

your local Business Link adviser (www.busineslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action.directory?r.s=h) There are also some grants available to encourage businesses and universities to work together

Spin-out companies

A spin-out company is an independent company created

to make best use of IP rights which have been licensed These companies are often used in universities, where the original researchers need to be involved for the spin-out to be successful in the future Because the business relationship is at ‘arm’s length’, it allows the spin-out company to focus on a single idea and secure funding or government grants

(www.patent.gov.uk/about/notices/00/manip/sec04.pdf)

Choosing a business strategy

You may choose to start some sort of business to make best use of your idea, rather than license or sell it Starting your own business is likely to be expensive, but all profits and success will belong to you You may be able to attract funding, but to do this you will need a business plan The ‘Starting Up’ section of the Business Link website (www.businesslink.gov.uk, or www.bgateway.com in Scotland) provides guidance for those people who are considering setting up their own business

It is also worth remembering that even if you do not start your own business, you should still be prepared to do most of the work to show why your idea can make a good business.

Getting an existing manufacturer to make your product

or provide your service can allow you to concentrate on

other things like promoting and selling it

Selling your rights

Selling some or all of your rights will give you a one-off

payment but not a long-term income Once you have sold

your ownership, the new owner can stop you using the IP

unless you agree a licence with them that allows you to

continue using it

Licensing

Because you hold the IP rights, a licence will give you an

income without you having to put time and resources into

producing the product yourself A licence arrangement

can pay you either a fixed amount or royalty payments

whenever your idea is used Often, the licensee (the

company you license your rights to) will have better

knowledge of and access to markets, which will more

effectively make best use of the IP

You can license the rights to one company or many, and

this will affect how much money you can make But

remember, doing the work to show that your business

idea works is highly important Licences can be limited in

geographically or in time or how the rights are licensed A

clear written agreement between you and the licensee is

vital to avoid you having disputes in the future

The Licensing Executives Society Britain and Ireland (www.les-bi.org) is the society for professionals who are interested in licensing IP rights and transferring technology The Institute of International Licensing Practitioners (www.iilp.net) can help you with licensing in the UK and abroad, and run a service to find you an appropriate licensing consultant

Copyright collective licencesMany copyright owners find it difficult to manage their rights on their own, and so have formed collective management organisations to represent them and manage their rights for them There are many collecting societies available who will manage and license the copyright on your behalf (see www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/faq/copyright/copyowners.htm)

There are a range of business strategies for artists and other copyright owners to increase profit as much as possible You could aim your product or service at the mass market or only make a limited edition The copyright owners’ organisations may be able to provide more advice (www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/faq/copyright/copyowners.htm)

Public-lending rights (PLR)The PLR scheme gives payments from government funds

to authors, to allow public libraries in the United Kingdom

to lend their books for free (www.plr.uk.com)

Managing your IP rights

Just like physical property, it is up to you how you manage your IP rights Selling or licensing your rights may appeal to you, but no-one wants to buy a business that won’t make money Your research on the market, costs and competitors will be vital to show someone why they should buy or license your idea.

Selling some or all of your rights will give you a one-off payment but not a long-term income

Building a team is important, and you’ll almost definitely

need to find people to help you along the way, because

they bring skills you don’t have It’s important to work out

what help you need, how much it will cost and what you

can pay A good team around you will often make the

difference between a business succeeding and failing

Being a small inventor can be a lonely business, and

making a business from your ideas can be frustrating

and sometimes painfully slow Because of this, it can be

useful to contact other inventors to share ideas, advice and

opinions There are a number of online forums that allow

users to swap ideas and information, such as IPR Talk

(www.iprtalk.co.uk), Make Sparks Fly (www.internetprnews

com/colloquix//index) or the ideas network

(www.ideas.co.uk)

You can get more advice on all areas of inventing at the

Institute of Patentees and Inventors (www.invent.org.uk)

In Scotland, ICASS (www.icass.co.uk) provides specialist

advice and support for Scotland’s inventors

Invention promoters are firms who offer help to inventors

Some people use their services to assess, develop

and market ideas Invention promoters can be very

expensive If you are interested in working with one, we

recommend that you do some research before entering

into a contract This may help you to avoid costly mistakes

For information on dealing with these companies, please

read our guidance ‘Step-by-Step Guide to using Invention

Promoters’ (www.patent.gov.uk/patent/howtoapply/

ipromoters) or contact the Institute of International

licensing Practitioners (www.iilp.net)

Technology brokers

There are lots of services available on the internet that

help bring inventors and business people together The

following website addresses are links to some

not-for-profit brokering services We do not support any of the

individuals or companies using these services

Building a team is important, and you’ll almost definitely need to find people to help you along the way, because they bring skills you don’t have.

Why enforce IP rights?

The main aim of protecting IP rights is to allow the owner

to benefit from their inventions As a result, enforcing IP

rights is vital to:

• make sure IP rights continue to be legally valid;

• prevent other organisations from damaging the IP,

including affecting your goodwill or reputation; and

• help you get compensation for any damage (for

example, loss of profit)

Who will enforce my rights?

It is up to you to identify whether someone has copied

your IP and decide what measures you should then take

In most cases, you can begin civil proceedings, but if

someone has illegally copied your product or service, you

may be able to begin criminal proceedings

For more information on how to enforce your IP rights, see

our booklet on enforcement

Before taking action in court, you may want to ask our

Search and Advisory Service for a validity search or their

opinion (see www.patent.gov.uk/patent/sas)

Insurance

You can get insurance to cover legal costs if you need to

take someone to court for damaging your IP However,

make sure your policy gives you enough cover Also, the

earlier you take out a policy, the cheaper it is likely to be

Insurance underwriters may not be prepared to cover the

risk if you delay taking out insurance until your product has

already been affected

If you feel that insurance would be a good idea, discuss it

with a professional adviser, such as a patent attorney or

solicitor Remember that if you’re approaching insurers,

you may need to get them to sign a confidentiality

agreement to make sure they don’t publicise your

invention

Getting hold of and keeping IP rights is meaningless if those rights cannot be enforced in the marketplace So, you need to consider what you would do at the start if someone copies your idea.

Keeping hold of your idea (enforcement)

It is up to you to identify whether someone has copied your

IP and decide what measures you should then take

The commercial potential of your idea is likely to be limited

if it isn’t original You should carry out searches to assess whether there are any patents or other forms of IP that cover your idea There may already be rights covering the invention itself, which means that all or part of your idea is not original There may also be patents or other publications that were in place before your idea, in which case you will not be able to get patent protection

Protect your intellectual property

Once you have found out that your idea is original, you need to consider how you will protect it IP law is complicated, and so getting legal or other professional advice might often be the best way to work out how to protect your IP rights and benefit from them

The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (www.cipa.org

uk) or the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (www.itma.org

uk) may be the best people to approach about registering your IP rights CIPA runs clinics (www.cipa.org.uk/pag es/adviceclinics) which give free basic advice to inventors

at the early stages of developing an idea For copyright, lawyers or trade associations (or both) may be helpful There are also other, more general sources of advice and help that might be worth exploring

• Business Link www.businesslink.gov.uk

• Small Business Service www.sbs.gov.uk

• Innovation Relay Centres www.irc.cordis.lu

• Patent Libraries

www.bl.uk/collections/patents/patentsnetork.html

Making sure your idea is original

If you are to make best use of your IP assets, you must first take a few steps to set up your invention Remember, you need to have non-disclosure agreements in place until you have sorted out applications for protecting your IP.

For more information on carrying out these searches, read the section on originality in the Inventors’

Handbook by NESTA (www.nesta.org.uk/howtoapply/inventorshandbook/) You can search trademarks

(www.patent.gov.uk/tm/dbase)and designs (www.patent.gov.uk/design/dbase) on our website The British Library runs a free service for searching for patents, and has a wide range of resources online (www.bl.uk/services/document/patent.html)

For a full search, you’ll generally need to pay for expert help Patent and trademark attorneys specialise in this area (see the section on legal help for their contact details) and our Search and Advisory Service provides commercial searches for patents (www.patent.gov.uk/patent/sas) and trademarks (www.patent.gov.uk/tm/sas) Once you have found out that your idea is original, you need to

consider how you will protect it

Also, see the sections on funding and government support.

Getting the right design can be vital to your business’s

success Building a prototype (a first version of the

product) or developing a design can improve your chance

of becoming a successful business (see www.mas.dti.gov

uk)

A working prototype can help you check that the idea

actually works in practice, can expose any problems you

didn’t see beforehand and can help you to decide on how

the product will look It can also be useful in discussions

with potential partners or investors

If you want to produce a working prototype of your

invention, you’ll probably need to work with a manufacturer

or a specialised prototyping centre A university or

incubation centre could also help (see the section on

support networks)

Local libraries have trade directories, which give lists of

manufacturers and service providers Remember, you

may need to keep your idea confidential and so need to

get a confidentiality agreement You may want to get legal

advice before you make an agreement

Making sure your product is safe

By law, many products have to be tested independently to

make sure they are safe Using a testing centre approved

by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (www

ukas.com) will make sure that the testing is carried out

competently and that the results will be accepted abroad

Develop your idea

Find a local contacts directory on the Business Link website (www.businesslink.gov.uk)

or the local enterprise agency in the National Federation

of Enterprise Agencies (www.nfea.com), or try your local Chamber of Commerce (www.chamberonline.co.uk) You may also be able to get help from one of the  business innovation centres in the UK (www.ebn.be) Innovation relay centres match businesses which have similar technology needs or interests (www.irc.cordis.lu) The following regional administrations may also be able

to help

• Regional Development Agencies www.dti.gov.uk/rda/info

• Scottish Enterprise www.scottish-enterprise.com

For more information on your legal responsibilities and guidance on safety issues, see the ‘Managing Health, Safety and Environment’ area of the Business Link website

Building a prototype (a first version of the product) or developing a design can improve your chance of becoming a successful business.

Ask yourself the following questions.

• Does it meet or create a need in the market?

• Can you identify potential customers?

• Will the product or service outlive passing trends in

the market or make the most of the trend before it dies

away?

• Is the product or service unique, different or better to

those offered by competitors?

• What competition will it face – locally, nationally and

worldwide?

• Is the product safe and does it keep to relevant

regulations? You should get legal advice before you go

ahead

To answer many of these questions, you may want to carry

out some market research as this could well increase your

chance of success – the Business Link website provides a

guide (www.businesslink.gov.uk)

You could hire a market research agency – you can search

for one on the Research Buyer’s Guide website

(www.rbg.org.uk)

The Chartered Institute of Marketing has a guide to market

research on their website (www.cim.co.uk/cim/ser/html/

cover) and The British Market Research Association has

research techniques on its website

(www.bmra.org.uk/researchers-toolkit/index)

Pricing your service or product

You must set out a pricing strategy for a new product or

service the moment you decide to take an idea forward, as

it will help you find out how much you can afford to invest

in the project

You can find a full guide to pricing your product or service

on the sales and marketing section of the Business Link

website (www.businesslink.gov.uk) Make sure you

really know what your costs are for making the product or

running the business

Selling

A thorough sales strategy is vital if your product or service

is to be successful It should focus on:

• ways of selling that can be stopped

or changed if necessary; and

• how much it costs for each sale

Today there are many outlets through which you can sell your goods or services – for example, websites, mail order, direct mail and small ads, each of which have different strengths The Business Link website (www.businesslink.gov.uk) has a detailed guide

Assessing potential markets

Before making large investments in your new product or service, it’s a good idea to assess how it will fit into the marketplace and – most importantly – whether you will be able to build a profitable business around it.

Before making large investments in your new product

or service, it’s a good idea to assess how it will fit into the marketplace and – most importantly – whether you will be able to build a profitable business around it.