Express Mortgages Express Loans Bingo Lose Weight Franchising Dating Shopping Book Shop Find Spare Parts Cut Your Bills Wine Shop Legal Store FlatShare Cruises

LEARN TO PROTECT A CLEVER INVENTION

The new British Library website

Wednesday May 21,2008

BUDDING entrepreneurs keen to know how original their innovation is — and how to protect it — can find out without having to move from their desk.

The British Library has launched a free distance-learning website: Intellectual Property — How To Protect And Develop Your Idea.

The approach is designed to give users confidence in the fundamentals of intellectual property (IP) and incorporates much of the information taught on the British Library’s courses at its Business & IP Centre.

“Anyone, no matter where they are in the UK, can access this knowledge,” explained Rob Lucas, the BL’s
e-learning manager.

“Developing your idea is considered a minefield and risks incurring high costs. Our site intends to remove those obstacles, taking users through basic facts to interactive ask-the-expert sections.”

The first course deals with topics such as patents, trade marks, registered designs and copyright, as well as commercialising an idea.

It will be followed by two more on how to search IP databases and analyse markets.

** For more details, visit www.bl.uk/bipc