Migration to Email

Awareness of the opportunities and threats presented by intellectual property (IP) is key to success in engineering business.  Engineering Intellectual Property Ltd helps organisations move to higher levels of IP awareness.  To this end, this blog is migrating to email via Mailchimp.  To subscribe, please contact iph (at) engipr.com.

iStream ®

“I suppose one of the sort of misconceptions around Gordon Murray Design is that we're going to be a car manufacturer, and that's not our business.  Our core business is intellectual property."

So said Gordon Murray on entering his company's iStream ® low-carbon vehicle manufacturing process for the SMMT Automotive Innovation Award in 2010.  Professor Murray's IP business model is now coming to fruition.

In November 2013 Yamaha launched its MOTIV.e city car at the Tokyo Motor Show, announcing that "Yamaha Motor Company chose Gordon Murray Design to cooperate in the design and development of the MOTIV.e which utilises Gordon Murray Design's revolutionary iStream® manufacturing technology."

Reuters now quotes ‘a person familiar with the plan’ as revealing that Yamaha is to spend "tens of billions of yen" to build a manufacturing plant in Europe with a view to start making and selling two-seater cars in Europe as early as 2019, targeting environmentally-conscious drivers.

There are many ways of using intellectual property in engineering business. You should of course seek professional advice on your own particular circumstances.

The Bottom Line

Hosted by Evan Davis, ‘The Bottom Line’ on BBC Radio 4 is billed as ‘the business conversation show with people at the top giving insight into what matters’.
 
Last week’s edition on ‘Inventors’ included Shaun Pulfrey, inventor of the Tangle Teezer™ hair brush, first showcased on the ‘Dragons' Den’ TV programme in 2007.  At that time, the ‘Dragons’ declined to invest in Shaun’s company.

Shaun has had the last laugh, explaining in last week’s programme that the turnover of his company this year has been £22 million.  But, the company notes:

In recent months, the Tangle Teezer brand seems to have become a victim of its own success. The phenomenal demand for our brushes has unfortunately led to a recent increase in the sale of counterfeit products. We have become aware that auction sites and small web-shops are a huge part of the problem and we discourage anyone from buying from such unauthorised sellers.

There are many ways of using intellectual property in engineering business. You should of course seek professional advice on your own particular circumstances.

Designed Around

Mansfield-based Johnson Magnetic Filters filed a patent application in May 2011 for a magnetic filter apparatus 'configurable to remove both magnetic and non-magnetic particulate impurities from fluid flowing through a central heating system'.  The application was granted in May 2013.

In the interim, Sheffield company Eclipse Magnetics Ltd launched their Boilermag (TM) Domestic Heating System Filter, which they claimed 'removes both magnetic and non-magnetic debris'.

In September last year, Johnson sought an opinion from the UK Intellectual Property Office that the Boilermag (TM) product infringed its granted patent.

However, last month, the Office issued its opinion that Eclipse had designed its Boilermag (TM) product - most likely without knowledge of Johnson's patent - such that it fell outside the scope of that patent and so did not infringe.

If there is no infringement, then Johnson cannot use its patent to exclude the Boilermag (TM) product from the UK market.

This is but one of many ways of using intellectual property in engineering business. You should of course seek professional advice on your own particular circumstances.