Trevor Baylis OBE visits The Patent Office

One of the United Kingdom's (UK) most well-known inventors, Trevor Baylis OBE, the man behind the clockwork radio, visited The Patent Office in Newport to discuss the needs of the lone inventor with the Chief Executive Ron Marchant on 20 March.

Trevor Baylis recently set up a company Baylis Brands to help inventors take their inventions from ideas onto the market. Lone inventors often submit patent applications to protect their inventions without the assistance of a patent agent for financial reasons. Trevor visited the Private Applicants Unit, a section in the organisation which helps these applicants to understand patent terminology. The team explained how the unit provides fact sheets, booklets and jargon-free advice.

Mr Marchant said:

"The Patent Office was happy to show Mr Baylis the measures we have put in place to make the intellectual property system less complex for those users who are less familiar with legal terminology. We strive to meet needs wherever possible."

Trevor Baylis said that The Patent Office's Private Applicants team seemed to have a good understanding of the kind of help that the lone inventor requires.

Mr Baylis said:

"So many of us have an invention idea within us so it is good to know that there is help at hand on how to protect them. The rapport between the little inventor and the Private Applicant Unit is magic."

The Patent Office and Trevor Baylis recently worked with the BBC Watchdog team to expose the practices of invention promotion company International Technology Exchange. This resulted in the company closing down after the Office of Fair Trading asked it to change its way of working or face prosecution.

Editors' notes:

1. Trevor won the BBC Design Award for Best Product and Design for his Wind Up Radio in June 1996. He was awarded an OBE in October 1997. In 2001 he completed a 100 mile walk across the Namib Desert in another one of his inventions, the Electric Shoes.

Date of release: 24 March 2006