Law Lecturer wins £30k funding for Intellectual Property clinic

Joe Sekhon and the Minister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Wilcox

A Senior Law lecturer from the Portsmouth Business School has won £30k to set up an Intellectual Property (IP) clinic for entrepreneurial students to access free IP advice from School of Law students.

Joe Sekhon’s project was one of only 13 out of 50 to receive funding from the Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) ‘Fast Forward Competition’, which has provided £750k for projects that improve the management of IP and knowledge exchange. The IPO is the official government body responsible for granting IP.

The clinic entitled ‘The Intellectual Property Advice and Support Service’ (iPass) will allow students and graduates starting their own companies to access advice on how best to protect and commercialise their invention, idea or intellectual property.

Law students can volunteer themselves to become ‘iPass champions’ and if they are successful after interview they will receive intensive training at an ‘iPass Boot camp’. The clinic will initially operate with 10 – 12 students.

Mr Sekhon said: “I am thrilled to have won funding from the UK Intellectual Property Office. This funding will provide the University of Portsmouth’s growing student entrepreneur community with the very best in advice and guidance on how to utilise the UK’s intellectual property laws to potentially transform their start-ups into the high-growth, job creating ventures of tomorrow.”

Mr Sekhon also predicts that the UK may well be entering a golden age for students and graduates wishing to start their own businesses.

He said: “With the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer personally endorsing start-up initiatives such as Tech City UK, Google Campus and Entrepreneur First, there has never been a better time for students and graduates to get their business ideas off the ground. iPass will help ensure that the University of Portsmouth’s start-ups are perfectly placed to leverage their intellectual property for commercial advantage.”

Announcing the successful projects, the Minister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Wilcox said: “I am delighted to reward Joe Sekhon and the University of Portsmouth with a share of the 2012 Fast Forward Competition funding.

“Ensuring students and graduates receive the very best help and support to transform their business ideas into successful start-ups is vital for the UK’s continued economic prosperity, and iPass does just that. I look forward to seeing the real difference iPass makes to the success of student start-ups in Portsmouth and beyond.”

Joe Sekhon was also part of a collaborative bid between the Universities of Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth, which won £75k funding for the creation of an innovative strategic partnership that will significantly develop the impact of IP for SMEs in the region.