The only inventors you see in the media are people like Sir Clive Sinclair and Trevor Bayliss who come across like mad scientists. Please note these views do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vauxhall Motors Ltd. I thought up my first invention at 19 - then I discovered someone else had got there first I've been inventive all my life I've got 14 patents to my name. Invention is what happens when you come across a problem, and look for a solution. It could be at work or at home in the garden - like a better way of mowing the lawn, say. But these days creativity is being stifled because there are so many hoops to go through. You have a brilliant idea for a left-handed widget but you still have to ask yourself: is it new? Has it already been protected? Is there a market for it? Is the investment worth it? Only 4 per cent of granted patents reach the market place.
I would love to see more money spent on teaching our school kids how to be inventive. But, despite everything, if you have a good idea and real determination, you can still do very well. My own specialist area is packaging closures - almost every product needs it. I got the idea for Squeezeopen® after looking at an old tin of boot polish when my mother complained she couldn't get the lid off. If you can do something cheaper, better, and you are 100 per cent committed, there is a chance it will be a success. I see a fantastic amount of innovation and opportunities out there People don't realise how much is going on. New materials are coming out all the time and the space programme and scientific research are producing a variety of spin offs.
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Innovation doesn't have to be high-tech: creativity and inventing is about finding the right solution to a problem, whatever it is. There's a lot of talent out there and, thankfully, some of the more progressive companies are suddenly realising they don't want to miss out - it's an exciting time. NO Paul Ambridge, president of the Institute of Patentees and Inventors Real innovation is a dying art. It's true that creativity - the business of thinking up new ideas - is far from dead, but it's getting harder and harder to get new concepts applied in design, manufacturing or business. It costs thousands of pounds to get a new idea into the marketplace, and there is very little support for anything from most companies or government A lot of people don't want to know I've always been interested in new ideas. I trained as an engineer and went to work for an automotive components company, and almost from day one I was asking why things were done this way and not that.
