Intellectual Property in SMEs and Academia

Commercialisation of Intellectual Property in SMEs and Academia.

Background

Innovation has been identified by the government as a key way for the UK to gain and maintain competitive advantage in an increasingly global marketplace, and our ability to invent, design and produce innovative goods and services that meet customer needs is vitally important to the future prosperity of the UK.

For the UK to increase its long-term prosperity, it needs to become a front runner in the supply of knowledge-based goods and services. To become a front runner, it is critical to create a platform for a robust innovation and Intellectual Property (IP) commercialisation process that will release the existing latent IP within the UK. ProspectIP, an innovation initiative of De Montfort University, was formed in 2007 to assist businesses and HE institutions in the East Midlands to commercialise their IP.

ProspectIP is currently partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and consortium partners (De Montfort University, Northampton University, University of Lincoln, University of Derby and NHS Innovations East Midlands).

What do we ofer:

Support in identifying, assessing, protecting and commercialising product and process innovations.
Access to innovation commercialisation expertise for all sectors and all sizes of businesses.
Training and development programmes to support innovation commercialisation.

Currently all of the above services are free to businesses in the East Midlands region and to our consortium partners.

Track Record:

Since 2007 we have reviewed over 130 innovation opportunities across all sectors and sizes of businesses.
We have been instrumental in the formation of two businesses ? a healthcare undergarment business and a car accessory business.
We have secured licensing deals for two of our clients.
We are currently seeking licensing deals for a number of other opportunities.
We have delivered a number of seminars to increase IP awareness.

Bagrack ? car boot holder

A Leicester businessman worked with ProspectIP to commercialise the Bagrak, a device that fits in the boot of a car. Bagrak secures shopping bags and other items to keep them safe and upright

Flexopen ? ampoule opener

An East Midlandsbased inventor with experience in both the pharmaceutical and research sectors approached ProspectIP for support to commercialise his patented ampoule opener.