Half million pound fund to help West Midlands businesses with their IP

Added: (Fri Jun 08 2007)

Pressbox (Press Release) - A funding programme worth about half a million pounds is to be offered to help West Midlands businesses with their Intellectual Property,

A group of West-Midlands based business people and intellectual property (IP) professionals have set up an organisation and secured funding of �450,000 to help small and medium enterprises make the most of their inventions, designs and brands. Fillip (The West Midlands Intellectual Property Forum) has backing from Advantage West Midlands and is fronted by Coventry University Enterprises Limited.

Fillip will announce details of the scheme on 21st June 2007 at the TechnoCentre in Coventry, where business people who attend will learn how to apply for funding to protect and exploit the value of their intellectual property, such as patents, designs and trade marks.

Speakers at the event will include David Foster (Head of Intellectual Property at Cadburys Schweppes), Mandy Haberman (inventor of the Anywayup Cup),
Christopher Morcom QC (a leading trade mark Barrister), Simon Roberts (Head of Patents, British Telecom) and Bruce Renny (ROK Group, a leading West Midlands innovator in mobile phone technology).

Fillip has been set up to help businesses appreciate the importance of intellectual property and to provide training on how to commercialise it. The programme is open to all SMEs in the West Midlands. The Seminar will provide information and tools to apply for a grant from Fillip, which can cover 90 per cent of IP audit costs and 80 per cent of commercialisation costs, for selected companies. Following the seminar, companies will be invited to apply for funding to exploit their IP.

Karl Barnfather, a patent attorney and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, said, �It�s clear that in order to remain competitive on the international stage, UK businesses need to develop world class offerings. World class products don�t just happen. They are the result of dedicated and effective research and development. The Fillip programme will be a valuable and practical way of helping businesses make the most of their most valuable assets � their ideas and know-how.�

Companies interested in attending the event on 21st June, or in applying for funding for an IP audit, should contact Corinne Edwards (email corinne.edwards@coventry.ac.uk, tel: 07974984350).

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For further information, contact:


Peter Prowse Tel: 01372 271234, mobile: 07973 213039, or

Ted Blake Tel: 020 7405 9450

Karl Barnfather Tel: 0121 245 3900

Issued by:

The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys
95 Chancery Lane
London
WC2A 1DT

tel: 020 7405 9450

www.cipa.org.uk