Innovate Local: South Yorkshire

Penistone Line

Author Richard Harvey Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 UK Source Wikimedia

 

Jane Lambert

Yesterday I attended Innovate Local - South Yorkshire at Glide House in Attercliffe.  It was the fourth Innovate Local that I have attended.  The others were in Bradford, Halifax and Production Park which is somewhere near South Kirkby.  The Victoria Hotel and Dean Clough Mill were easy enough to find. Production Park was a pain but Glide House took the biscuit.  It does not appear on all maps and the few that show it fail to identify car parks and bus routes in the vicinity.

As there were 110 names on the delegate list, I doubted that I would find parking.  I therefore took the Penistone Line, which somehow survived Dr Beeching.  Between Honley and Dodworth, that line meanders through some of the loveliest landscapes in England.  As the train was not very fast and as my taxi driver had never heard of Glide House and could not find it or Terry Street on his satnav, I arrived after the event had started.  One friendly face I met outside the building belonged to Abdul-Basit Mohammed, whom I had met at several other UKRI events.  Another belonged to Jordan Meadows, who staffed the registration table and graciously accepted my apology for tardiness.

The morning session opened with talks by Kola Ladejobi (Knowledge Transfer Manager ‑ Local Partnerships Innovate UK Business Connect), Lee Viney (Regional Manager – Yorkshire & Humber and the North East Innovate UK), Abbie Miladinovic (Strategic Lead Investment Zone) and Martin Baker (Ideas & Innovation Director, Gripple Ltd). It continued with presentations from Richard Gardiner of Ferret Works, Andy Taylor, Team Leader (Yorkshire & Humber) Innovate UK Business Growth, Lisa Whalley (Client Relationship Manager, Sheffield Hallam University) and Ryan Sylvester(Lead Sector Specialist – Investment Zone Growth and Sector Development).

After a 30-minute coffee break, Paul O'Brien (CEO of Elaros), Zeezy Izenman (Founder and CEO Motion Health Ltd.), Ben White, Co-Founder of Rivelin Rail and Clare Lankester, Commercial Director of Fyous discussed their respective business innovation journeys.   Towards the end of the discussion, the moderator invited the inventors and entrepreneurs to reveal their "eureka moment".  I observed that in my experience of advising and assisting inventors, most technical advances resulted from a long process of experiments, observations and adjustments.  The man in the seat next but one to mine said that innovation was a response to a problem. I subsequently discovered that he had attended one of my initial advice and signposting clinics and that he had put my advice to good use.

The last session of the morning was on future thinking and featured Joseph Quinn of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Claire Louise Green, Business Investment Manager of Rotherham MBC, Ben Hawley, Group Leader of  Enterprising Barnsley at Barnsley MBC and Alex Dochery, Investment Team Manager at Business Doncaster (City of Doncaster MDC).  That session covered the funding and support available from the mayoral combined authority and each of the boroughs.  I learned a lot from that discussion but was disappointed that nobody acknowledged the work of the South Yorkshire Business and IP Centre in Sheffield Central Library and each of the boroughs or the Business Village on Innovation Way in Barnsley. 

Attendees were treated to a buffet lunch of sandwiches, sausage rolls, pizzas and brownies with hot and cold drinks between 12:45 and 14:00.  I explored the stands and met some of the exhibitors. I recognized a few faces from the Inventors Club that I used to chair at Sheffield Central Library and the initial advice and signposting clinics that I ran at the Business Village and other locations.   As I was entering my taxi, one of them - a lady I know only as Olusola - recognized me and asked whether I still ran the clinics.  I was glad to tell her that I did.

After lunch, we had a choice between "Financing your business through Public and Private Funding", "Good Application Guide" and "Unlocking Growth Across Sectors with AI."  I chose the last and listened to an entertaining panel discussion between Emma Louise Staines, Founder of  ComplyAI, Mark Taylor Founder of Automated Analytics, Professor Wei Xing of Sheffield University and Dr Denis Newman-Grifis.  Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had handed down its judgment in Emotional Perception AI Ltd v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2026] UKSC 3 (11 Feb 2026) on whether it is possible to patent "a particular type of what may loosely be called artificial intelligence, specifically that which consists of, resides in, or is centred around, an artificial neural network".  I had hoped for an industry comment on the case, but the topic did not come up in discussion, and I did not get a chance to raise it.  However, the panel did discuss the menace of human biases in programming AI systems at Mark Taylor's instigation which was also interesting.

The last item on the agenda was another breakout session.  We were offered "Discover the Power of Innovation Through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships", "From Innovation to Impact: Commercialising Health Solutions in South Yorkshire" and "Innovate UK Business Growth and Global". I chose the second option, which was another panel discussion. The panellists were Richard Stubbs, Sarah Daniel, Rashmi Raju, Aaton Oliver Taylor and Professor Paul Dimitri. All had interesting things to say but only Sarah Daniel, who had established several rehabilitation clinics throughout Yorkshire, seemed to focus on commercializing health solutions in the county.

Attendees were invited to stay on until 17:00 for networking, and I noticed that there was a bar in Glide House.  As there is only one train an hour in each direction along the Penistone Line, I called a taxi and left for Meadowhall station. I had a good day and congratulate the organizers and speakers.   My only criticism is that a lot of organizations that help entrepreneurs, such as the Business and IP Centres and the Business Village, were absent.  I was surprised that I was the only intellectual property professional and I am not sure that there were any angel or private equity investors at the event.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact page.

Celebrating Barnsley's Intellectual Property on World IP Day

Joseph Bramah

 

Jane Lambert

World Intellectual Property Day is a celebration of creativity, enterprise and innovation.  Over the years Barnsley folk have demonstrated those qualities in abundance.  As for creativity, the composer John Arthur Casken, the playwright John Arden and the poet Ian McMillan came from Barnsley.  So, too, did the entrepreneur Rita Britton whose conversation I discussed in Meeting Rita Britton, a Living Legend on 9 April 2024.  But perhaps the Barnsley scion who has had the biggest impact on the world is the inventor, Joseph Bramah because he invented a device that enables large concentrations of humans to live healthily in close proximity to each other 

That device was the water closet which was Bramah's first and most famous invention but it was not his only one.   He developed a particularly secure kind of lock for which he received a patent in 1784. On the strength of that invention, he set up the Bramah Locks Company which continues to this day.  He also invented a hydraulic press the drawings of which are on Espacenet under the title "Obtaining and Applying Motive Power".  In his lifetime he received 18 patents for inventions that ranged from fire trucks to beer engines.   Wetherspoon has a pub called The Joseph Bramah at 15 Market Hill in Barnsley town centre.

Over the 20 years or so that I have been running a pro bono IP clinic at The Business Village I have seen many budding entrepreneurs and inventors.   Some I have referred to Sheffield Central Library for a patent search,  Others I have referred to product design consultants.   I have introduced several to local patent or trade mark attorneys.  On a few occasions I have helped businesses settle potentially ruinous disputes on advantageous terms at the earliest possible stage.

Barnsley's Library @ The Lightbox where I gave a presentation to local entrepreneurs entitled IP for Startups and Other SMEs in 2019. The Lightbox is part of the Business and IP Centre South Yorkshire which is itself linked to the British Library's nationwide network.  It is possible to access a lot of useful resources including Esp@cenet from the Lightbox and one-to-one interviews with experts are offered on that site.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact page.

Supporting Enterprise, Innovation and Creativity in South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

Author Nifanion
Licence Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Jane Lambert

You only have to look at the map to see the importance of the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire. Close to the Leeds-Bradford and Greater Manchester conurbations, not far from the North Sea and Atlantic ports with its own growing international airport, good rail and road links to London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and Newcastle, one of the world's great research universities as well as many other fine universities, schools and colleges, excellent theatres and concert halls and famous sporting venues, there is no better place to found or expand a business than Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham or Sheffield.

To support those businesses Barnsley Business Innovation Centre holds regular intellectual property clinics with patent counsel. "What's so special about them?" I hear you say. "There are regular patent clinics with patent attorneys at Leeds and Sheffield." True! And they are excellent. But the sessions at Barnsley are with counsel. It is counsel who advise attorneys and solicitors on difficult points of law, draft complex legal instruments and, where necessary, represent them before judges and hearing officers in the IPO. It is from their ranks that the judges of the Patents Court, Chancery Division and Intellectual Property Enterprise Court are drawn (see my article IP Services from Barristers 6 April 2013 revised 16 May 2017 NIPC News).

What you get from a barrister is independence because they don't prosecute patent, trade mark or design applications and years of experience of the things that can go wrong since they are only consulted when a case is out of the ordinary and that is why they are relatively expensive. A 30-minute conference in London would cost many hundreds of pounds. What Barnsley BIC offers every month is a similar 30-minute slot in Barnsley with specialist counsel for nothing.

On the second Tuesday of every month, I am to be found at Barnsley between 16:00 and 18:00 and I shall see anybody who books in advance. The sort of questions I get are

• "I hope to set up a business in Barnsley in the next few weeks but I am not sure of the best way of protecting my brand, product or service?"
• "How can I find out whether this invention is patentable and if so how do I apply for a patent?"
• "I have just received this nasty letter from Sioux, Grabbit & Run. What should I do about it?" or
• "A company in China has offered to manufacture my product but how do I protect my business there?."

If you have any question on IP I shall be at the BIC on Tuesday 12 Sept, 10 Oct, 14 Nov or 12 Dec 2017 between 16:00 and 18:00. If you want to save yourself several hundred pounds in legal fees, you need only fill in this form or call Steve Marshall on 020 7404 5252 to reserve your slot.

As the last question "A company in China has offered to manufacture my product but how do I protect my business there?" arises frequently, we have been lucky enough to persuade Mr Tom Duke, our IP attaché in China to talk to our local entrepreneurs, inventors, creatives and their investors. Tom will give you a great start to protecting and licensing your brands, designs, technology and creative works in China so that you can invest in, export to, import from or otherwise make loads and loads of money in that increasingly important market. He will be at Barnsley BIC on 19 Sept 2017 at 14:30. 

Now if that time happens to clash with a round of golf, dental appointment or anything else that you can do another day or get a colleague to cover, ponder this. You can do all those things some other time but if you want Tom's contacts and information you will have to go to China for it and that's a lot further than Wilthorpe. So call Steve on 020 7404 5252 to book your place. You will find further information in Meet our IP Attaché 21 July 2017. You could save or earn yourself a whole heap of renminbi if you turn up.

If you want to discuss this article or IP in China, England or anywhere else, call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Yorkshire's Links with China

I have just returned from the Chinese New Year Show at Sheffield City Hall and was bowled over. It was an excellent show with acrobats, dancers, dragons, face changers, jugglers, pandas and even acrobats on roller skates.  The night before I attended the Liverpool Chinese Business Network's VIP Dinner in Liverpool which also had a show (see Jane Lambert "Welcome to the Year of the Dragon" IP North West 23 Jan 2012). That was very good but the Sheffield spectacular was even better. Everyone knows that there have been Chinese communities in Liverpool and Manchester for generations. What is less well known is that there is also a Chinese community in Yorkshire. Its links with China are at least as strong as the North West's.

One of the most important connections between China and Yorkshire is the Confucius Institute of Sheffield University. This is an international collaboration between the University of Sheffield, the Office of Chinese Language Council International (commonly known as Hanban), Beijing Language and Culture University and Nanjing University. Its mission includes a number of objectives the first of which is to be "a focal point for China-related activities in Sheffield and the broader region of the Midlands and Northern England."

Another connection will be the "Visions of China" theme park which is to be built in Rotherham. This £100 million project will include ornamental lakes and gardens; retail outlets; a Shaolin temple and cultural centre, a theatre, restaurants, spa, pavilions and an hotel. The project will be undertaken by the Chinese government.

In "Happy New Year - this could be the year the recovery starts"  I argued that China and other rapidly growing emerging economises would lift us from recession starting this year.   The "Visions of China" investment is one sign that that is happening.  Other signs include China Telecom's MVNO and Huawei's continuing  investment in the UK.

As the State Intellectual Property Office of China is now the second largest recipient of patent applications according to the WIPO, demand for Chinese technology is likely to increase from the UK. Should you require advice or assistance in drafting licences and technology transfer agreements, do not hesitate to call me on 0113 320 3232.