A thirteen year old California schoolboy has invented a low cost braille printer using components sourced from his toybox. Shubham Banerjee learned that current braille printers were not only cumbersome – weighing in at a hefty 9kg – but also cost some £1,300. Armed with this knowledge he adopted the classic inventor’s mindset – “There’s got to be a better way to do that!” As part of a school science project he set about designing a low cost solution and utilised his 'Lego

In all fields of human endeavour and interest there are patents to reflect inventive thinking – Christmas is no exception! There are thousands to choose from – Christmas trees attract a lot of interest with inventions that include: holders; watering devices; revolvers; suspenders; etc. With ‘Health & Safety’ in mind, there are also lots of fire safety devices with extinguishers either being concealed in baubles or by nozzles strategically placed under/within the tree. One of

The Institute of Patentees & Inventors (of which I am a Director) is the UK's oldest inventor organisation - our centenary is only a few years away - and is set to achieve a long held goal. For many years, members have bemoaned the fact that IPI is a bit London-centric. Most of our meetings, and indeed our annual 'bash', are held in the capital. This is all set to change with the opening of a new office in Salford (Nr. Manchester). This new branch of the IPI will ceremonial

Boffins from the University of Southampton (my home city - yay!) have won yet another prestigious award for their invention 'StarStream' - a portable cleaning system that, by using ultrasound and micro-bubble 'smart scrubbers', negates the use of harmful detergents and is effective with just cold water. This latest prestigious award, the S-Lab 'Best New Product of 2014', makes for a hat-trick, having previously won the Brian Mercer Award for Innovation in 2011, and the 2012

OK, I'm kidding. No, it's not really hair dryers - though I quite like the idea of a salon at 30,000feet - but the latest daft patent from Airbus. Regular readers will remember that a couple of months ago Airbus wanted us to sit on an oversize bike-saddle to enjoy our flight. In this latest patent they seem to have ditched that idea and we're now back to armchairs. This latest wizard-wheeze is for us all to fly, as the patent puts it, in a state of 'sensorial isolation'. A

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.