Why Can't We Manufacture More?

Guest Author: Mike Herd, Director, Sussex Innovation Centre, focuses on what you need to do if you have got a brilliant idea for a product, from initial prototyping to exporting.

'What we need is more high tech manufacturing and exports', so says the politicians and the economists.  So running a technology business incubator, we should be well placed to find great new ideas, link in with local manufacturers, burst onto foreign markets and save the economy.  It's that easy!

If only!

So what do you need if you've got a brilliant new physical product idea?

Well protecting the idea would be good, but whilst it's free to file a UK patent, getting strong, defensible intellectual property generally needs professional input and that can cost a few thousand.  And it's all that other legal stuff around protection, NDAs; patent searches, IP insurance, trademarks, licence agreements, international PCTs - it can all cost money, before you ever actually make anything.