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- They say blue and green should never be seen. But, as Richard Brass discovers, in the world of IP you might as well add orange, purple and a whole lot more than that to the list. You might think telecoms companies would have more important things ...
Accidental inventions – Cellophane
In 1900, Jaques E Brandenberger witnessed an anonymous Swiss diner spill red wine over a restaurant tablecloth. The cloth ruined, Brandenberger decided then and there to do something about it. But inventing a clear flexible film that could provide a ...Accidental Inventions – The Pacemaker
It's comforting to know that even the great inventors can get their wires crossed. They may get blown up, but on the other hand they may find they have stumbled on something truly useful. During the late 1950s Wilson Greatbatch, a University of Bu...Accidental Inventions – Vaseline
Robert Chesebrough was an enterprising young kerosene salesman who fell on hard times when his supply of sperm whale dried up. So in 1859, he went to seek his fortune in the oilfields of Pennsylvania. His quest turned out to be successful, but not in...Accidental Inventions – Velcro
Often erroneously believed to have been developed as part of the American Space Programme, Velcro was actually invented in 1948 by a Swiss engineer who had just been walking his dog. When George de Mestral got home, he noticed that both he and his...- Not heard of open source? It’s the new way to tap into the world’s resources. And big business and techie whizzkids alike are excited by it, says Richard Brass Many supporters are convinced that open source is the best thing to happen ...
Accidental Inventions – Stainless Steel
Harry Brearley was working to prevent corrosion in rifle barrels when he accidentally invented something that would revolutionise the world of cutlery. Not an obvious route, but Brearley was an observant chap and he knew when he had something worth k...Accidental Inventions – Teflon
Teflon was invented in 1938 by a DuPont research chemist named Roy J plunkett. One day he was experimenting with a coolant called TRE (tetrafluoroethylene) to establish its suitability for refrigeration purposes. For some reason, the pressurised c...The Great Inventors – Donald Duncan
Although DF Duncan Senior, born in 1892, was a talented inventor (he co-patented a four-wheel hydraulic car brake and came up with the Eskimo pie), his real genius was marketing. He was, for example, the brains behind the first premium incentive('sen...- Music producer Mike Batt is best known to British audiences as the composer of the theme tune to The Wombles, a 1970s children’s show about a clan of litter-obsessed furry creatures living on Wimbledon Common. More recently, he found himself en...
- When Coca-Cola first entered the Chinese market in 1928, company representatives faced the conundrum of coming up with a sequence of characters that represented the sounds 'koh ka ko lah' without meaning anything ridiculous or obscene. While they ...
- The negative response to the 2012 London Olympic Games logo had brand experts predicting that it a very short future. But maybe...just maybe, London has got it spot on, says Richard Brass When the 2012 logo was unveiled in June, there were two mai...
- What has camping, tying knots and cooking sausages over campfires got to do with copyright piracy? More than you would imagine, if you are a Boy Scout in Los Angeles, says Richard Brass For any concerned parent, finding out your son has joined the...
- A splash of technological innovation can transform even the most pedestrian activity into the latest craze, says Richard Brass Maybe this risks showing my age, but when I was a kid the coolest things in footwear were baseball boots. Black canvas ...
- Who Wants to be a Millionaire? cheat Tecwen Whittock may have infamously coughed his way into the headlines, but now it looks like he’s laughing his way to the bank. Richard Brass looks at the lucrative world of criminal branding. Nasty thin...
- IP protection has become as indispensable a part of the fashion business as the little black dress, says Richard Brass. Not so long ago, the tools for making it as a fashion designer were simple. A good pair of scissors, a Bohemian garret in one o...
- Shopping was something we did on a day out. Now people shop on the Internet or in their lunch hour. Richard Brass looks at the decline of the trusty high street store. For most of the 20th century, eager entrepreneurs wanting to learn how to make ...
- Western businesses may hunger for the wit and wisdom of the East, but that shouldn't afford them the right to register an ancient tradition as a Twenty-first Century idea, says Richard Brass. You can’t beat a few sessions of yoga for bringin...
- These days games makers are just as vulnerable to piracy as the film and music industries. Richard Brass downloads the worst cases of software theft, and asks if it isn’t just a matter of changing attitudes. They love their crime at Rockstar...
- World champion Grant Hackett’s swimsuit, Asafa Powell’s running shoes and Sergey Bubka’s pole vault all have a part to play in their users’ success. Richard Brass offers a word of thanks to the unsung heroes of IP. When Gra...
- Some companies go to great lengths to protect their trade secrets, but as Richard Brass points out, sometimes the true value of a secret can be found in just having one. When it came to trade secrets, Willy Wonka played hardball. Convinced that hi...
- Exploiting the image rights of long–gone celebrities can be a lucrative business, says Richard Brass, so is it any wonder that companies are quick to jump on the bandwagon? Music can inspire remarkable surges of creativity. Given the right t...
- Can a country, city or region really make a mark as a brand? Richard Brass looks at the places and the people who are flexing their IP Rights in a new wave of patriot games... It seemed like a good idea at the time. Huntington Beach in California&...
- Personality merchandising can be a lucrative addition to any brand strategy. But it doesn’t always pay off as it should. Richard Brass lifts the lid on the fragile world of celebrity endorsement. Josiah Wedgwood has a lot to answer for. He m...
