Last week I saw an invention that made me go wow! I want one! I am referring to the amazing Quant e-SportLimousine. This fantastic supercar is capable of 230mph and runs on sea water! Over the years there have been many tales of inventors running cars on water - after all, H2O is, chemically, a good starting point - with conspiracy theories abounding about people being bought-off, or even worse, by rapacious oil companies. Looking at Quant, I think the 'cat is now out of t

I'm delighted to announce that Our Pal Asija has joined the team here at Inventricity.com Pal and I have known each other for more years than either of us care to remember. We first met on the invention show circuit and Pal became the North American correspondant for Inventors World magazine. Readers of Inventors World will fondly remember his 'Personal Pot-pourri of News and Views' known as 'Beyond the Pond'. Pal will be bringing us regular updates from the USA in his ow

It is a given that patent protection has to be requested before a respective product is introduced to the national market. However, it is less often considered how a product may appeal in other world markets, and that these may not extend automatic protection for an invention registered back home. In particular, a European registered patent has no legal effect in China. This is of particular importance as an invention may be later mass-produced in China without even being sol

I am indebted to the Institute of Trade Mark Agents (ITMA) twitter feed for alerting me to this great video. I started my day with a smile. Cracking Ideas is a competition and resource for schoolchildren supported by the Intellectual Property Office and Aardman Animations. You should visit the website www.crackingideas.com I'm all for encouraging the inventors and innovators of tomorrow but this will make the adults chuckle and think too!. #patent

Sometimes I see an invention that just makes me go: No -oooooo! Like millions of others I have endured countless hours, on both short-haul and long flights, cursing the discomfort of being stuck with restricted seating (contrary to popular belief I can’t afford first class). This recently published Airbus patent fills me with horror. I don’t blame the inventor, Bernard Guering, for his ‘proposed seating device with reduced bulk’. After all, inventors only solve problems.

It's always good to see old friends and I was pleased when Harry Cole dropped-in to my house. He was visiting on one of his infrequent trips to the mainland from his home in Jersey. A well-known entrepreneur and author, Harry is best known for his book 'Ideas and Inventions can make fortunes - how to make yours'. Well, he's been at it again, and he wanted to tell me about his new ebook 'From Idea to Millionaire!' in which he expands and updates his secrets to success. Publ

Those of us on the Inventricity Website watched with growing disappointment the debate within the UK Parliamentary Select Committee on the Voice of the Future, as the various worthies, defending the need for stimulating the current UK innovation policy, were confronted by a panel who clearly had very little perception of what innovation was and what really ails UK innovation. This was obvious from the less than searching, if not facile, questions that were put to the various

All of the following had their origins (but not necessarily commercial successes) through British inventors, researchers or engineers: Steam Power and Locomotion, Vaccination, Chronograph, Self igniting tapers (Matches), Computer (Babbage and Colossus) Watch Balance Wheel Mechanism, Self Winding Watch, Reflecting Telescope, Universal Joint, Precision Machine Tools ( Bramah, Whitworth, Maudsley etc) Overland Telegraphy, Fine Paper Making, Submarine Telegraphy, H

Kevlar, the wonder polymer used in bullet-proof vests, was developed by the chemist, Stephanie Kwolek, some 50 years ago. She described her invention as "A case of serendipity". Tasked with trying to find a lighter, synthetic replacement for reinforcing car tyres she stumbled upon a liquid crystalline solution that could be processed - through the pores of a machine called a spinneret - into fibres. "The stiffness was absolutely spectacular. That's when I said 'Aha.' I knew

Wow! This is a fantastic invention which could have a profound impact on all our lives. Oxfordshire based Cobalt Light Systems have developed a laser scanner that can detect the chemical composition of liquids in seconds. By using Raman spectroscopy and clever algorithms, the wavelength of molecules can be analysed and the contents be distinguished from the container. Now in use at over 60 European airports, the Insight 100 machine is already screening passenger hand luggag