IS YOUR product unique and unprecedented? Do you want to make sure you get the most value from it before others realise its potential?

If so, yours may be one of the Young Enterprise companies considering patenting ideas to extract maximum value. Even those not planning such a step should realise that their product might already be covered by a patent and that they could face problems if they are not careful.

Last year, Young Enterprise Company Cre8, from Queen Elizabeth’s High School in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, produced a product called a Jitterbug, a heart-shaped toy made from two pieces of plastic with a large ball-bearing showing through a hole underneath, like a computer mouse. When rolled on a smooth surface, it moves unpredictably.

Ajibola Omakanye, one of the toy’s inventors, said: “As we were developing it, our focus groups told us that it could be extremely successful. So we considered patenting it. If we planned to sell the rights at any point or sell the product on a larger scale, a patent was essential. The value to a trade buyer might be lower if we could not protect the patent.”

Cre8 took advice from a patent attorney and is now awaiting a design registration.

Young Enterprise company Avanti, from Queen Elizabeth’s Boys School in Barnet, North London, ran into trouble when it failed to check if its idea was already patented. It designed a product called Aquasense, a bath sensor for the visually impaired, that buzzes when the bath is full.

After Avanti had gone into production it received a call from the patent holder, who fortunately took an understanding view of the situation.

Daniel Garsin, managing director of Avanti, said: “Once we had explained that Avanti was a Young Enterprise company operating for one year on a learning programme, the patent holder was willing to give full rights of production with no initial cost or loss of any percentage of the profits as he felt that we would not be trying to take away any of his international market share.”

David Morgan, education manager at the Patent Office, says: “Young students need to learn how to protect their original, creative and innovative ideas to ensure that they reap the rewards.”

To find out more about the Young Enterprise Company Programme log on to www.young-enterprise.org.uk.