Initial Advice and Signposting in London

Author Chensiyuan Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 Source Wikimedia Commons

Jane Lambert

For the last 20 years, I have provided initial advice and signposting pro bono to entrepreneurs, innovators and creatives throughout the North of England and North Wales.  Until the pandemic, I held those sessions on a fixed date and at a fixed time and venue.  The social distancing restrictions obliged me to transfer the sessions online which enabled me to see enquirers whenever they and I had a slot in our diaries.  A 30-minute phone or video call was enough to resolve most issues.   For those who required a one-on-one meeting the ending of the Covid 19 restrictions enabled me to see them at the Barnsley Business Village or the Menai Science Park on Ynys Môn. 

Although they are close to major road and rail links, for most inhabitants of the United Kingdom London is much easier to reach than the Business Village or M-SParc.  For that reason, I am extending my initial advice and signposting service to the whole of the United Kingdom and indeed beyond should anybody be interested.

The extended service will function exactly as I stated in Relaunch of the Barnsley IP Clinic in NIPC Yorkshire on 24 Feb 2024:

"The new clinics will differ slightly from the previous ones in two respects, First, I have recruited patent and trade mark attorneys and other IP specialists to our clinic. If, for example, you want to apply for a patent for your invention you need to talk to a patent attorney rather than a lawyer like me. If you need a prototype I will introduce you to a product design consultant. I have spent my career advising specialist solicitors and patent and trade mark attorneys on difficult points of law, drafting complex legal instruments for use in business as well as litigation and representing parties in court, IPO tribunals and negotiations. I should be best placed to advise on strategy, licensing and dispute resolution. Secondly, we shall make more use of Zoom and other technologies so that we can address your issues promptly. rather than wait until the second Tuesday,"

Anybody who wants to use the service should fill in the form below or call me on 020 7404 5252 for an initial chat.   In that chat, we can then make an appointment for a 30-minute phone or Zoom call either with me or with some other professional if it appears that such other professional would be better placed to assist than me.  If I need to examine a document or exhibit in the presence of an enquirer I will offer him or her a 30-minute meeting in London, Barnsley or M-SParc, whichever is most convenient for him or her,,   Whether it takes place with me over the phone or Zoom or in person or with some other professional the 30 minute discussion will be free.

If it is obvious that the matter cannot be resolved in 30 minutes enquirers will be advised accordingly.  That would happen if an enquirer wants to apply for a patent, register a trade mark, defend litigation or negotiate a licence or joint venture agreement.  Even then we would discuss options and possibly make recommendations for further advice or assistance on a paying basis.

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.

British Library Inventors Club

British Library

Author Jack1956  Public Domain  Source Wikimedia Commons

Jane Lambert

I am delighted to report that the British Library has set up an "Inventors Club".  I wish its organizers and members every success,  It is long overdue.  Other big cities have had inventors' clubs for years as I mentioned in my article Inventors Clubs on the topic in NIPC Invention on 25 May 2013.  I suggested such a club to two of the folk who ran the Business and IP Centre at the British Library at about that time.

The Club meets on the last Monday of every month.  The next meeting will take place between 18:00 and 19:30 on 29 April 2024.   The Eventbrite registration card states:

"At the event, we will be talking to innovators who have already brought their products to market or have disclosed their intellectual property. Join us to learn about their journeys, what problems they had to overcome and useful tips about bringing a new product to market."

The card also states that the club's organizers are  Bob Lindsey, a chartered engineer who set up and ran the Kingston club and Mark Shehan who was the British Library's "inventor in residence",

I strongly commend the club to inventors in or near London who are not employed in a research or development role in a business or university.   As I said in my article the quotation wrongly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson that if a man can build a better mousetrap than his neighbour the world will beat a path to his door is simply not true.   Such inventors are vulnerable to invention promotion schemes that promise much but deliver little despite warnings from British and overseas authorities. Also, unless they have a coherent intellectual property strategy they risk spending large sums of money on patents that they don't need and may never be worked.

I wrote:

"A good inventors' club will help avoid those costly mistakes by providing a forum for such individuals to share their experience, hear talks by experts and make connections with potential investors and professional advisers."

 In the past, some clubs have gone even further by arranging training courses and even some funding.

Independent inventors will find a lot of practical information in NIPC Invention "Inventors Club" blog which I have been running for many years.   They can also join the Inventors' Club group on Linkedin. If anyone wishes to discuss any issue in this article I can be contacted on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or through my contact form.