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F.A.Q.s

• Who is Medipex?
  1. Medipex is the NHS Regional Innovation Centre for the Yorkshire and Humber region. It is an Advisor Organisation which is an independent company set up to manage IP from Trust and PCT employees in the region. It was established by a consortia of 6 leading Yorkshire Trusts including Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, York and Hull.

• Why use Medipex?
  1. Medipex can advise NHS employees in the Yorkshire and Humber region on how to protect their IP through to dealing with companies who may wish to license the invention. It is a professional commercial organisation operating at the interface of the NHS quality offering IP management services.

• What is Intellectual Property (IP)?
  1. Intellectual Property (IP) is a generic term describing a group of tangible and intangible outputs from intellectual activities. IP rights (IPR) are monopoly rights which enable the owner to control or prevent their use worldwide. Commonly known IPs include patents, design rights, copyright, database rights, know-how and trade marks, and may arise from:
     • Know-how and expertise
     • Discoveries, inventions and modifications
     • Publications, software and domain names
     • Clinical and research materials and notes

• What is the NHS policy on IP?
  1. The Department of Health has recently issued a national Framework and Guidance document on the management of IP in the NHS.
     In brief, it suggests that the advancement of medical and healthcare sciences and innovation is fundamental to the future of health and patient care. Therefore the success of NHS Trusts and PCTs, in part, depends on the successful exploitation of IP. The sharing of vital information and discoveries throughout the medical world is advocated. Meanwhile, valuable IPs should be well managed by the NHS and developed to improve health and patient care, to benefit the UK economy and to generate income.

• What should I do if I think I have generated IP?
  1. Contact your Trust’s IP lead or contact Medipex as soon as possible so that the appropriate assistance can be provided to protect your IP. This is in the best interest of the inventor and the Trust or PCT and brings benefits to all parties involved. Appropriate legal procedures and agreements may be required. Medipex provides an Invention Disclosure Form so that you can safely and confidentially access our advice and services. Please note that it is absolutely essential that you keep strict confidentiality regarding any inventions that may require patenting or registering designs. Please do not disclose any such information without the prior consent of the IP lead or Medipex. Once disclosed it may be difficult to protect IPs and they may cease to exist or the monopoly rights may be lost.

• Who owns the IP (generated by myself or my colleagues)?
  1. According to the UK law, the Trust or PCT as your employer owns any IP rights generated as part of or relating to your role and/or duties in the NHS. Please note that legal ownership of IP is not determined by whether it arises during working hours, or the location where it is generated.
     Any variation to legal provision should be included in your employment contract or terms and conditions.
     Since employees (whether consultants, nurses, technicians, PAMs, academics or scientists) are not generally the legal owner of the IPs, any legal agreements (whether a licence, assignment or otherwise) entered into by an employee but not by the Trust or PCT may be legally invalid. This issue may incur personal liability for breach of warranty, contract and/or misrepresentation. If you are unsure about any agreement that you have entered into, contact the Trust IP lead or Medipex for advice.

• Can an employee, as an inventor/originator of IP, benefit?
  1. Yes. It is not just the kudos of being an inventor. Each Trust will need to decide formally how rewards derived from commercial exploitation of IP are to be shared between employees and the organisation. For a Trust with strong links to a university it will be usual for the Trust to adopt a sharing structure which matches that of the university to avoid employees in these organisations having conflicting reward structures.

• What about non-profit academic, clinical & research use of IPs?
  1. There is no intention of impeding or inhibiting such activities. You are free to use the relevant IPs for not-for-profit academic, clinical and research purposes (subject to any requirements of confidentiality and Data Protection Act), including:
     • Contributions to academic and scientific journals
     • Conference presentations and posters
     • Interviews

• Who decides if an IP has commercial value, i.e. who does the assessment and evaluation?
  1. Medipex carries out the assessment and evaluation as the process requires significant input from the commercial, legal, and technical aspects. Medipex is best suited to carry out this task because it has the relevant commercial expertise as well as an established network of commercial and technical contacts. It works closely with the inventors and organisation that generate the IP.

• Who is responsible for the commercialisation of IP and negotiating commercial IP contracts?
  1. Medipex is responsible because commercialisation is a complex process which requires an extensive skill-base and experience that inventors in the NHS may not have acquired. Furthermore it is a costly and time-consuming process, and it does not fall within the core activity of the NHS which is defined as the provision of patient care Therefore NHS employees themselves do not have the authority to commercialise their inventions on behalf of the NHS.

• Is IP education training and education for staff necessary?
  1. Yes. IP training improves the understanding of the necessary issues in order to be able to generate and identify potential IP. The training is not designed to cover details of legal and commercial operations but to provide a more general background understanding.

• Does Medipex pay for scientific development such as prototyping?
  1. No, but Medipex can help researchers to identify commercial funding opportunities. It has a £250,000 Proof of Concept fund to assist in the development of pre-commercialisable IP available from the Autumn 2004.

• Who pays for IP related development costs such a patenting?
  1. NHS Trusts and PCTs will obtain advice from Medipex regarding the evaluation of the invention and will make a decision regarding the funding of IP protection as a result. Assistance from Medipex may be offered in the filing the patent in the first instance in order to ensure that a priority date is secured. This assistance is not guaranteed.

• Can a Trust or PCT ignore its IP?
  1. No. It is the responsibility of the Trust or PCT to capture its IP, and it is the duty of its staff to report and to protect IP. This should be included in the Staff Handbook. Model entries for the handbook are included in the “Framework and Guidance on the Management of Intellectual Property in the NHS”.

• The NHS is already short of money, how can one justify investing in IP development and talk about co
  1. Funding for IP development in the NHS comes mainly from DTI and from NHS R&D funds. Money for patient care is NOT used for this purpose. It should be recognised that innovation is key to the future of any organisation and modern medicine in particular relies heavily on innovation. Therefore, if the NHS does not capture its innovations, it will lose major benefits for patient and the economy.

• At which level should an NHS Trust be aware of the IP issue?
  1. All employees in all roles and at all levels.

• Does Medipex employ staff at local Trust level to monitor IP developments?
  1. No. Medipex acts as an Adviser Organisation to the Trusts and PCTs. Each Trusts and PCT should have their own IP lead to carry out the local work in their organisation.