The Converge Challenge is open to academic entrepreneurs and students from every university in Scotland and is organised by Heriot-Watt University. The Converge Challenge is designed to offer individuals the financial and business support required to turn their ideas into a start-up business. The prize includes a £25,000 cash fund and £20,000 of additional business support and mentoring services.

Olga Kozlova, enterprise creation manager at Heriot-Watt University, said: "Scotland has a proven track record of successful entrepreneurs but there are many more out there looking for a way to get their ideas off the ground.

"Converge Challenge is about providing applicants with the skills and support they need to develop the commercial potential of their inventions. It also provides a framework to harness and guide their innovative ideas into a viable business and even a potential future employer."

As a sponsor, IP Pragmatics will provide the winning Life Science company with necessary business development support, which depending on the needs of the company and their technology, may include patent landscaping, investor funding, licensing technology, and spin-out company creation.

To take part in the Converge Challenge, interested entrepreneurs should fill out the application form on the Converge Challenge website and submit it before noon on 18 May 2012.

The conference is the biggest event for the knowledge commercialisation community and takes place between 14-15 June at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton. The theme of this year's event is Impact through Innovation.

The poster competition is open to all not-for-profit PraxisUnico members and all registered attendees of the conference, and poster topics should focus on the conference theme. Attendees will have the chance to select their favourite poster and the winner will be announced at the event.

IP Pragmatics specialise in creating value through the commercialisation of IP, and our representatives will be attending the annual conference. If you would like to meet us, please email info@ip-pragmatics.com

The Patent Box will mean that eligible profits from worldwide sales of products protected by a granted UK or European patent will be taxed at only 10% compared to the standard 24% rate. The underlying aim of the Patent Box is to incentivise innovation-based businesses to maintain and build their R&D and manufacturing capabilities in the UK. The introduction of the new regime has already led to announcements from major companies such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) that they will be investing in new multimillion pound manufacturing sites in the UK because of these new incentives.

Equally importantly, the Patent Box regime offers new opportunities for patents to be considered in a different light - no longer valued just for the strength and breadth of the monopoly rights they give their owner or exclusive licensee; but instead valued for the tax advantages they give their owner or exclusive licensee, which would be independent of the strength and breadth of the patent (on the one proviso that the granted claims covered the product or service from which the profits arose). In many technology fields and industries the value of a patent is often not justified when assessed against the cost of obtaining, maintaining and defending the patent. This can be for a variety of reasons including: the narrow scope of patent claims obtainable, competition from alternative technology solutions or the fast pace of change within the particular industry. However, from April 2013 the basis for deciding whether to file a patent or not will fundamentally change.

For many businesses like GSK that already use patents as a key part of their strategy for protecting their intellectual assets, the Patent Box regime is unlikely to impinge on their IP strategies other than from a geographic perspective (i.e. maintaining ownership or control of the IP asset within a UK based affiliate). However, for many other businesses and organisations who may or may not presently exploit patents (including universities) the decision whether to apply for patent protection will now, for the first time, not only need to be informed by the commercial value from the monopoly rights a granted patent would bring but also by the value of the potential tax savings. Many companies and organisations that do not generally use patents to protect their business assets will need to review their IP strategies in light of these changes. A GB patent can take many years to get granted so the sooner organisations start reviewing their IP strategies, the sooner they can potentially start benefitting from the new tax incentives.

We employed a similar approach for each audit, providing a focused but thorough examination of the company's IP portfolio, and reporting on any potential areas of concern with the IP in the framework of their overall business plan. For us, it is vital that any IP audit is placed in the commercial context of the specific company, so that our recommendations and advice are relevant to the products which are being developed and to the overall commercial strategy.

In the first audit, we helped a veterinary consortium which is developing a new service to identify whether there were any existing patents which might affect their freedom to operate the new service. The second audit looked at the most effective national filing strategy for a company with a patent application which is about to enter the national phases. This application is key to the company as it covers the fundamental technology that underpins their entire product and application range. We also gave them information about the trademark protection and branding strategies which they could adopt. Finally, we outlined a roadmap for intellectual property protection for the third company, where the research is at an early stage. This included advice on when and how to include external collaborators, partners and potential licensees into the development pathway without compromising their IP position.

The IPO scheme supported businesses which had received funding through selected Technology Strategy Board (TSB) competitions. This excellent initiative will help to ensure that the innovative development work funded by the TSB is supported by a foundation of sound intellectual property management.

More information on IP Pragmatics' IP audit service can be found here.

LESI 2012 takes place in Auckland, New Zealand and is the largest event of its kind for professionals working in the commercialisation of IP. The focus on this year's conference is to explore how innovation can be commercialised to deal with threats to some of the world's problems, including disease, poverty, food shortages, over-population and environmental destruction.

If you would like to set up a meeting with Ronnie, email him here.

In his Autumn Statement on 29 November 2011 the Chancellor referred to a number of tax measures which had been the subject of recent consultations, including changes to make the R&D Tax Credit scheme even more attractive to both large companies and SMEs. Further changes to the scheme were detailed in draft clauses included in the 2012 Finance Bill, published on 6 December 2011.

R&D Tax Credits - policy intention

The government has long recognised the value of R&D Tax Credits to innovative companies. They incentivise companies in all sectors, from new innovative start-ups to large multinational companies, to undertake more R&D. Recent changes in policy are intended to ensure that R&D tax relief is effective in supporting innovation in the UK for both large companies and SMEs. The UK government has indicated its intent to ensure that the UK maintains one of the most competitive tax regimes for R&D intensive companies. The government also recognises the importance of tax simplification and the reduction of compliance burdens on business.

R&D Tax Credits - new developments

In the March 2011 Budget, the government made significant changes to the SME R&D Tax Credit (for companies with fewer than 500 employees). They raised the rate of tax relief to 200% of qualifying expenditure from 1 April 2011 and will increase it to 225% from 1 April 2012. This makes the UK SME R&D Tax Credit amongst the most competitive regimes in the world. They also recognised the importance to small companies of a simplified tax regime and have made it easier for small companies to claim the R&D Tax Credit.

The government has listened to the ideas from business groups about encouraging innovation in larger companies, and have indicated that they will introduce a new 'above the line' research and development tax credit from April 2013 that will provide greater visibility for the tax incentive and greater certainty for large company investors.

The current R&D Tax Credit reduces the profits that R&D companies have to pay corporation tax on. An 'above the line' tax credit is calculated as a percentage of the company's R&D spend. It is first offset against the company's corporation tax bill and if there is any unused credit (e.g. if the company is loss-making) the credit is payable to the company. The fact that the company gets the benefit of the credit, whatever its tax status, means that it can be accounted for as a reduction in R&D spending - 'above the tax line' in the accounts.

Quinton joined the Jagriti Yatra as a facilitator to mentor more than 400 young people on an epic train journey circumnavigating the country. Jagriti Yatra, which means 'journey of awakening', is a project designed to encourage young people to become entrepreneurs by introducing them to some of examples of India's most successful commercial and social enterprises.

The journey began in Mumbai on 24 December 2011 and included stops at Delhi in the north, Patna in the east and Madurai in the far south; finishing back in Mumbai on 8 January 2012, a journey of 7,500km in 15 days. Around 400 young people travelled by train along with business mentors from all over the world.

Quinton said: "My role was helping to facilitate the learning process and working with the young entrepreneurs. I had thought about applying for the Jagriti Yatra over the last few years as it looked like an incredible and worthwhile adventure."

"We met quite a few interesting companies along the way, like InfoSys, who are a $2billion organisation, and Sanjit "Bunker" Roy's Barefoot College which is a non-government organisation that has been providing basic services and solutions to problems in rural communities, with the objective of making them self-sufficient and sustainable. India is a place you can succeed as an entrepreneur but it has many issues such as the vast economic inequalities, overburdened infrastructure and lack of sustainable jobs. It was an interesting and eye-opening trip with plenty of hard work. Most nights we slept on our own customised packed train and had to get up at ridiculous times of the morning, but it was a great experience meeting young entrepreneurs from all over India and interacting with so many inspiring people and organisations."

More information on the Jagriti Yatra.

Bench to Boardroom is a leading event for research and operational staff in the life sciences, healthcare and technology sectors, with previous events having attracted more than 500 visitors

The programme includes keynote presentations, workshops, exhibition, and a technology showcase. The conference will be held at Newmarket Racecourse. If you are would like to arrange a meeting with Elaine at Bench to Boardroom, email her here.

Marinova has developed a proprietary method, the Maritech® process, for extracting fucoidan from a particular variety of seaweed.

Over more than 12 months, IP Pragmatics has supported Marinova to identify international business partners who would be interested in incorporating the Maritech® range of ingredients into their products. As a direct result of the company approaches organised by IP Pragmatics, discussions have been opened with more than 10 multinational companies, in the UK, Italy, France, Denmark, the US and Japan. Several of these have progressed further, with sample materials being provided for testing and formulation.

Through these efforts, Marinova recently signed a letter of intent with a large multinational company that wishes to commercialise a product containing one of the Maritech® fucoidan ingredients.

Paul Garrott, Marinova CEO & Managing Director, said: "This signed letter of intent had been instrumental in Marinova successfully securing the proof of concept grant from Commercialisation Australia. By leveraging IP Pragmatics' business development capabilities and networks we have been able to identify global commercial interest in our product range."

In mid-2011, Marinova successfully secured $249,964 from Commercialisation Australia, to validate its fucoidan's osteoarthritis efficacy claims in large clinical trials and to demonstrate a commercially viable dose that can enter the Joint Health market. Further details of this press release are available here.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Otago, Otago Innovation Ltd is charged with exclusive responsibility for the management and commercialisation of intellectual property arising from research within the university.

Through our partnership with IPRIS, IP Pragmatics continues to build on IPRIS' successful track record of offering an experienced, reliable and user-friendly patent annuity payment service to leading universities in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

As an example of the benefits of transitioning to IPRIS; working with one UK university with a portfolio of more than 500 patents, IP Pragmatics was able to save £32,000 from the university's renewals budget in the first year, allowing the university to increase its spend on protecting more innovations.