The London Enterprise Office

27th May 2009

Intellectual property, protecting value and ownership were in sharp focus during an evening directed to Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. Held under the historic Guildhall in the heart of the City of London on 20th May it marked the 250th Anniversary of the birth in 1759 of William Thornton, a significant figure in the history of knowledge transfer and the protection of intellectual property.  Educated in Britain he was an architect and inventor who went to the USA where he submitted the successful design for the US Capitol Building (after the design competition had closed). He went on to become the first Superintendent of the US Patent Office (now the Patent and Trademark Office).

Partner Profiling
 
Launching the ˜Profiling London event" (pictured standing left) Dr Jenny Somerville, Director of the London Enterprise Office welcomed the invited audience numbering 30 drawn from the business and the university community.  Jan Stringer Regional Adviser on over 50 KTPs gave the first keynote presentation. She outlined the timescales for partnerships (now also being drawn up in shortened forms) and the costs and allowances that business partners should anticipate. She was followed by Dr Kistan Hawkins (pictured seated second right) from Options Consultancy Services who drew upon her experience of two successful partnerships and business benefits. Dr Karim Ouazzane (seated right) from London Metropolitan University, Chair of the Business Development Group in the Faculty of Computing had steered five KTPs and he described his continued promotion of wide engagement with the business community.

Matchmaking

Valuable insights were shared in selecting partners and maximising value.
Partnerships with very small SMEs needed especially sensitive care. In discussion the food industry was one where a high proportion of businesses were very small, might have less than ten employees, lacked experience of working in partnerships and might lack the human resource and support infrastructure of larger organisations. Dr Ouazzane explained the hard choices that might have to be made in placing the right associate in a small business to maximise the effectiveness of the partnership.

Birthday Suitors

It fell to Professor Christopher Branford-White Director of Londonmet's Health Research and Policy Institute to articulate the practical problems in structuring partnerships to safeguard intellectual property. The legal framework was complicated, costly and time consuming and ultimately might not guarantee protection. William Thornton, no stranger to litigation, oversaw the US Patent Office from 1802 until his death in 1828 a period spanning three decades. Here on his anniversary was a ˜birthday suit" he would instantly have recognised and felt at home in.