 |
| Sheffield Central Library
Photo Wikipedia
|
In Enterprise and Libraries: a New National Network of Business & IP Support 6 Match 2013 Inventors Club I wrote about the launch in Portcullis House of a new network of PatLib libraries in the North and Midlands in association with the British Library. I reported in Business and IP Centre National Network 14 Oct 2013 that Leeds and Sheffield Central Libraries were part of that network and mentioned some of the activities of those libraries.
On Thursday I attended the official launch of the Sheffield Business and IP Centre. As this network is freceives funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government we had expected an appearance from The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP but we learned the evening before that he was unable to make it. There were nevertheless speeches from quite a lot of other dignitaries including Laraine Manley, Executive Director of Sheffield City Council, Councillor Mazhar Iqbal, Roly Keating of the British Library and Brian Ashley of the Arts Council of England.
There was also a talk by Guy Jeremiah of Ohyo on his invention which turns out to be a collapsible water bottle coupled with a website and app for finding water fountains and other sources of water. The default page shows a few fountains within walking distance of Endell Street in Central London but none at all for central Sheffield when I keyed in the postal code for Sheffield Central Library and the wevsite could not find Holmfirth at all on the map when I keyed in the postal code for my home address even though there is quite a famous one in our town which has features more than one in episodes of Last of the Summer Wine.
After the speeches there was an opportunity for networking over drinks and canapés. I met Kalim Yaseen, a patent examiner who had given an excellent presentation to the Sheffield Inventors Club on 6 Feb 2012 (see Straight from the Horse's Mouth:"Filing a UK patent application - process and procedures" 31 Jan 2012) and Roger Tipple who had spoken about Getting your Product to Market on 7 Oct 2013. I met Joyce Gray who runs the Sheffield centre and many of her colleagues. Joyce was struggling under a massive bouquet of flowers from the British Library which she richly deserved. I met three good friends from Leeds Central Library, Ged Donnan, Stef Stephenson and Andrea as well as a number of other old acquaintances from the Intellectual Property Office. I also made the acquaintance of Isabel Oswell, Head of Business & Research Audiences at The British Library and Dave Gimson, regional project manager of the British Library.
Surprisingly and somewhat disappointingly there were very few local inventors or entrepreneurs apart from Mr Jeremiah. Joyce Gray told me that she had invited some of the members of the Sheffield Inventors Club but if any turned up I did not recognize them. The one entrepreneur whom I did recognize was Mel Wong who has danced on national TV and has probably performed more grands battements than anyone else on the planet and is now setting up her own dance business. In his speech Roly Keating emphasized the importance of the creative sector for Sheffield and British Industry as a whole. I am sure that Mel will contribute to that sector considerably.
The Business and IP Centre is a great initiative and one that I welcomed and always supported but unless it collaborates with other networks it will never meet its potential. I was dismayed to learn that many of our guests from London were unaware of other groups such as Ideas Northwest or the Wessex Round Table of Inventors though Isabel heard of Richard Gallafent and Linda Oakley of Ideas 21. Nobody was aware that Ideas 21 once held meetings in Manchester. Nobody knew of the Liverpool Inventors Club or my IP clinics at Barnsley and Middlesex University. If public money is to be used to best advantage there has to be a lot more co-ordination and communication.
If anyone wants to talk about the Business and IP Centre launch or IP generally they should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or use my contact form.
