Patent experts offer advice at Birmingham event
Legal experts at a Birmingham patent and trade mark firm are advising engineering companies that it’s not just their products that need protecting with patents, but also the way they are designed and manufactured
At the Advanced Engineering Expo, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC on October 31st and November 1st, delegates will hear from patent attorney, Dr Nick Palmer, senior associate at Birmingham firm Forresters, who will explain how engineering companies and manufacturers are often unaware that protecting production techniques are just as important as getting a patent for products.
“Engineering companies and manufacturers are often aware that they can obtain patents for new products, but many assume they cannot protect their production methods,” said Dr Palmer. “The result is that many companies fail to protect bespoke production and logistics processes, and software, due to a misplaced perception that they can’t obtain patents.
“During my talk, called ‘Patent Myths Debunked’, I will look at the truth behind patent and design protection in the UK, and the risks involved when a company fails to protect its own innovations and ignores its competitors’ rights.”
Advanced Engineering celebrates its 10th year at Birmingham’s NEC, and continues to build on its position as the UK’s largest annual gathering of OEMs and engineering supply chain professionals. The show will feature more than 600 exhibiting suppliers and partners as well as presentations from industry experts, government professionals and OEMs. Forresters will also be exhibiting at the event where the firm’s expert patent and trade mark attorneys will be on hand to provide more information on how companies can benefit from having intellectual property in place.
Dr Palmer added: “Forresters was founded in the Midlands in 1884 and so has a strong history of working with manufacturing and engineering companies, as the region is a solid base for these industries. We are able to give sensible and practical advice in a language that everyone can understand by cutting out the jargon. There is still a lot of sophisticated and specialised
engineering in the Midlands, and as IP attorneys we have a lot of clients in the region that are innovators – their ideas and production techniques need to be protected.”
