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Intellectual Property Office, 2,500,000 Patent Milestone

Register for Event

What IP Do You Own

Wednesday 7 November, 09.00 - 13.00
Beacon International Centre, Staffordshire Technology Park, Stafford, ST18 0GB,

On 11th September 2013 the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published patent number GB2500000.


The road to this landmark figure has been long, starting in the fifteenth century when the Crown granted monopolies to manufacturers and traders. Henry VI granted the earliest known English patent for invention to John of Utynam in 1449 which gave him a twenty year monopoly for a method of making stained glass. However, patents were not numbered until 1852 when the patent system was overhauled. The first numbered English patent, 1/1617, was granted in 1852 to Rathburn & Burgess for “Engraving and printing Maps, Plans &c”.

Interesting patents since then include in 1901 the patent to produce “Meccano”; in 1924 a patent covering “telegraphy” and in 1966 a patent to cover a “built in flashlight exposure device for a camera” and in 1998 a patent to cover the process of “nuclear transfer” which allowed the first mammal to be cloned – Dolly the sheep!

And Patent Number GB2500000?

Submitted by Liverpool John Moores University for “Microwave monitoring using an electrically conductive textile!”

If you think you have an idea which could be patented or covered by any other kind of Intellectual Property Rights, you may be interested in joining the BIC at its next workshop entitled “What IP to you Own?” on 7 November 2013 in Stafford.

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Intellectual Property Makes Science Fiction Real

Sci Fi Details

Courtesy of the Intellectual Property Office www.ipo.gov.uk here’s an interesting story.

On a December night, fifty years ago, a strange and previously unknown creature was introduced to the people of planet Earth. It was a distillation of everything bad: it was super-intelligent; it was armed to the teeth - or the plunger, to use the vernacular humanoid descriptor of the day; it was capable of interstellar travel, telekinesis and time travel; it consisted of an unholy fusion of bad metal and black bile. It was, of course, a Dalek.

During their fifty year history, the Daleks have been upgraded. Their development mirrors other successful brands. Like VW Beetles or Minis, they have grown tubbier, brighter and possibly even a little smug looking. The Daleks deserve to be proud. They have bent their metallic shoulder slopes to the task of creating a long running, world beating, creative product. Their arch enemy, Dr Who, is known throughout the world. In 1996 the BBC registered the name Dr Who as UK trade mark 2053985. Last year Dr Who was BBC Worldwide’s top brand. Today the value of the Dr Who brand is growing and will one day outstrip the dimensions of this planet.

The programme has come up with very innovative products - the TARDIS and the Sonic Screwdriver. Both are patented and their value as assets can not be underestimated.

What IP do You Own? Find out more at the BIC’s workshop in Stoke on Trent on 11 April 2013