THE man who invented the clockwork radio is backing a new organisation
designed to save British inventors from predatory corporations and their own
lack of business know-how.
The British Academy of Invention, as Trevor Baylis has dubbed it, will aim to
help inventors with all aspects of the commercialisation of their ideas,
including patenting, business planning, prototyping, product design and
marketing. One of the aims is to staunch the flow of British innovations to
offshore companies: Baylis could not find a local backer for his radio and feels
that better advice would have helped him commercialise the device in
Britain.
Backing Baylis鈥檚 plan is the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which last
week voted to offer the academy free office space at its London headquarters.
鈥淭revor is aiming to protect inventors working in a shed at the bottom of the
garden,鈥� says John Ling, head of the manufacturing branch of the institution.
鈥淎t the moment, the only avenue for those inventors is the Patent Office and
from there they鈥檙e open to the sharks who want to make a fast buck out of them.鈥�
The new academy will have a properly elected board that will not be open to
those with vested interests, Ling adds.
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He cites the example of the late Christopher Cockerell, the inventor of the
hovercraft, who sold his patent rights cheaply to the government and recently
died in near poverty. 鈥淗e died a very poor man and that鈥檚 absolutely
disgraceful,鈥� says Ling.
While Baylis is trying to raise about 拢100 000 to kickstart the
academy, it is hoped it will become self-financing through inventors granting
the academy a part of their profits. 鈥淲e鈥檒l help you on the understanding that
we can share in your success,鈥� Baylis says. He would also like schools to
include invention in the curriculum: 鈥淚f you can teach art, you can teach
颈苍惫别苍迟颈辞苍.鈥�