Design Engineering Blogs

Opinions and viewpoints from across the industrial spectrum, raising key issues of relevance to the engineering design community.

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08/05/2013

Is a patent a must have for protecting your product idea?

The numbers are telling; patent applications filed in the United States have risen every year since 1978 - and rising quickly. Submissions have doubled since 1998 to over a staggering half a million applications. In this blog, I'll discuss this and other valuable insights into what inventors and designers need to know about the world of patents.

The phenomenal growth in patent applications can be attributed to many factors - a healthy R&D sector, fierce commercial competition and ... Read More

The gender agenda 02/05/2013 This month's issue of Eureka carries an interview with Philippa Oldham, head of transport and ... Read More 3 comments	The pitfalls of Kickstarter 10/04/2013 Whilst the concept of crowdfunding is still new to a lot of people, and many product developers are ... Read More
What's in a name? 04/04/2013 The decision to award the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering to internet pioneers Sir Tim ... Read More	The volume curve 28/03/2013 If you are looking for production plastic parts, then injection moulding is a very cost effective ... Read More
Eyes on the prize 01/03/2013 The winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Prize for Engineering is due to be announced this Spring. The ... Read More	Andy Green's Bloodhound ... 18/02/2013 Happy New Year – I hope your New Year has started off as well as ours. One of the great ... Read More
Reaching for the sky 14/02/2013 An adjustment in my sense of scale is one of my abiding sensations whenever I have the good fortune ... Read More	Moulding vs Casting 30/01/2013 Injection moulding is often dismissed as being too expensive, requiring long lead times and being ... Read More 1 comment
Battery charging problems 23/01/2013 The recent incidents with Boeing's new Dreamliner have resulted in the aircraft being grounded ... Read More	Andy Green's December diary 18/01/2013 Just back from Los Angeles, where I went to launch a film in Hollywood. OK, so the film was only 3 ... Read More