Professional advice

Professionals who belong to the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys are especially useful in helping you obtain and understand your IP rights.

The Law Society can usually supply the details of suitable solicitors in your area. It is also possible to get advice from certain barristers who are licensed for public access from the Bar Council .

Other sources of advice include:

• Business Link can provide advice on exploiting your ideas.
• Innovation Relay Centres (IRCs) are a European wide network, with a number of centres in the UK. Each can provide consulting services on IP rights.
• NESTA ,The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts provide a useful handbook on invention and innovation.

There are a number of other organisations geared specifically to helping inventors, especially lone inventors, to bring their ideas to market, and to provide advice on finding financial assistance. For example, The Institute of Patentees and Inventors (IPI) is a non-profit making organisation that specifically helps lone inventors.