---

Support for UK Inventors

I congratulate the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) on securing this debate and on the manner in which he put his remarks. I hope that he will also allow me a moment to congratulate a native of Frome, Jenson Button, on becoming Formula 1 world champion. If we praise Mr. Button's success, we must also recognise that it was made possible by the inventiveness of his British-based team, so, I welcome the hon. Gentleman's choice of subject for this debate. Invention is an important subject in a country whose competitiveness in world markets, no less than on the race track, depends increasingly on its ability to make technological breakthroughs and put them to good use. Sometimes those breakthroughs are the product of big-money investment by big business, sometimes they are the result of practical applications being found for discoveries made in our universities and sometimes they happen just because the proverbial lone inventor has a bright idea—the hon. Gentleman has elucidated that—while doing the washing up, for example. For many inventors there is often a missing link somewhere in the chain. Whether we are talking about funding at an early stage, protecting their intellectual property, developing a prototype, finding the right partner or bringing the product to fruition and to market, we need to create an environment in which innovation can thrive. The Government recognise that, which is why we and our partners have a raft of ways to help inventors bridge those gaps. The hon. Gentleman is right. We have traditionally been very good at invention in this country, but we have been far less good at commercialisation. Many of the new industries and technologies that we now rely on, particularly those to do with the internet, were born out of the previous recession in California. We need to get better, and all our policies are aimed at ensuring that. Any inventor's first port of call for advice should be the excellent Business Link website. It offers a wealth of advice, including tips on commercialisation and legal issues, and contains links to other sources of local and regional support for inventors. However helpful the advice on offer is, finances will undoubtedly, of course, be one of any inventor's chief concerns. This is an area where I hope that our record of investment is beginning to bear fruit. Since 1997, public spending on the UK science base in particular has more than doubled. Although much of that money has been spent in universities and research institutes, it has undoubtedly helped to bolster sectors of the economy that will drive future growth. They include life sciences, low-carbon technology, digital media and advanced manufacturing. Focusing investment in invention and innovation on areas where we have existing strength and potential future competitive advantages makes sense at any time, but it is more important than ever as we begin to emerge from recession into recovery. Help is available in the form of grants for research and development. They provide funding which can be used to fund proof of concept, research, prototyping, patenting and product development costs. The grant for research and development is a Solutions for Business product, which can help to introduce technological innovation in businesses. The grant provides finance to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses in England to research and develop technologically innovative products and processes. It is a national scheme that is run and funded by the regional development agencies and the budget for the grants available to inventors in the south-west is £1.5 million this year. In previous years, that money has supported a number of individuals and small companies in the south-west in taking their product to market, such as the grants that went to Fluvial Innovations, a multi-award-winning company that provides functional and economical solutions against the risk of flooding, and Xintronix, a high-tech semiconductor company that was supported by UK Trade and Innovation and the South West of England Regional Development Agency. These companies are two of a number of companies that had just one employee at the time of application. I recognise that some call for full funding through the grant for research and development, but that is not right in principle. We cannot fully grant inventors the whole cost of their inventions, as all serious inventors need to share the risk of their inventions. Beyond that, there are state aid rules that preclude 100 per cent. support for any inventions. Collaborative research and development is another Solutions for Business product that provides grants to help cut the cost burden associated with bringing research to market. The grants are delivered as part of the activities of the Technology Strategy Board. We have also introduced innovation vouchers to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to buy support from knowledge-based institutions so that they can explore potential opportunities for collaboration in developing new products. Innovation vouchers are being piloted nationally, and the pilot will start in the south-west region in April 2010. The hon. Gentleman will want to ensure that the inventors whom he has met recently are able to access those innovation vouchers. A number of other agencies around the UK fund innovation. Time prevents me from mentioning them all, but they include the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, the Design Council and the 10 EU-funded business innovation centres. In addition to grants, many inventors will need some form of equity finance if their inventions are to be realised commercially. The British Business Angels Association and the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association provide help with all aspects of business angel and venture capital support. This is a tough time for venture capital, but the support is there. Business Link also has a comprehensive guide to equity finance that explains the Government grants available to help finance parts of projects. Funding can be a key issue, and as the hon. Gentleman said, other aspects of inventing can be complicated, too. Most inventors are looking for quality intellectual property advice, and the Intellectual Property Office and its partners have developed a suite of products to guide them through the process. There are online databases, such as the one run by the British Library and the European Patent Office to which the hon. Gentleman referred. Inventors can search them for patent documents for free, and I hope that many of the applications are granted as a result of the advice that is available. There is also an intellectual property tool online, known as the IP Healthcheck, which is free to use and helps inventors answer questions about intellectual property. It is broken down into the four elements of patents, trade marks, designs and copyright, each of which should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. Advice and help on searching patents, designs and trade marks is also available through the network of 13 patent information libraries, two of which are in the hon. Gentleman's area, at Bristol and Plymouth. The IPO also runs a programme of free intellectual property awareness seminars across the UK, aimed at businesses that want to find out more about the benefits of using intellectual property. The IPO also produces a guide to the advantages and disadvantages of seeking patent protection, and it also offers help with the use of trade marks. For the past 10 years, the IPO has supported the ideas21 network for inventors, which enables successful inventors, business and intellectual property professionals to help would-be inventors through the complex process of turning an idea into a commercial success. Among many other initiatives, the IPO is currently working with partners to develop a standard for invention promoters. Most invention promotion or marketing companies are perfectly reputable, but I know, as was said earlier, that too many inventors have fallen foul of unscrupulous operators in that area. I hope that the new standard will help inventors to market their ideas with more confidence. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the effects of fees for patents on inventors. Although patents do entail an outlay, the fees chargeable for an initial patent remain well below cost price. Indeed, the real cash price of a patent is lower now than it was 150 years ago—notwithstanding the involvement of lawyers in this area. The Government encourage and support invention, but we do not pick winners. Instead, we want to create the right environment for invention and innovation to thrive. When inventors are ready to take their invention to market, we help them identify the best way to find a potential licensee. We also offer guidance about the non-disclosure agreement process by which they can secure a confidentiality agreement before revealing their idea. We also encourage collaboration with business or universities. I particularly mention universities. There are so many spin-outs coming out of our universities for inventors to be plugged into what is happening in that hub in their local area. Business Link does what it can to ensure that right from the beginning, all the advice is available. It will be regional and it will be different in different contexts. We know that it is not perfect, and we want to make it better. I hope that in my short contribution I have set out all that is available. Regional development agencies are important in this context. The overall spend on innovation is £260 million across the region. It must be for RDAs to determine local priorities, but I know that that is understood in the south-west. It is an area where creative businesses have been at the hub of activity, not just locally, but nationally. I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing the matter to the House, and I hope I have set out how we are attempting to provide support. We can get better and we must do so. We must be in a position to commercialise invention and bring to full fruition the innovation nation that the Government have always said we must be. Question put and agreed to.