The IPO has commissioned the Equality and Diversity Caucus (EDICa) to research how disabled, neurodivergent, chronically ill inventors and innovators experience the process of applying for and securing IP rights (e.g., patents, trade marks, and registered designs).

They would like to:

• Speak to inventors and innovators – who self-identify as disabled, neurodivergent, or living with a long-term condition – from a range of backgrounds, professions, and employment settings to better understand the accessibility of securing intellectual property rights.
• Speak to those working in roles that support and facilitate application and/or in ensuring the observance of them if secured.

They will be conducting confidential (anonymised) short interviews online. They will use the anonymised data from interviews to produce:

• a short research report; and

• research outputs by the research team (e.g., blogs, publicly available reports, conferences, or journal papers. Data used for research outputs will not identify the employing institution or participants).

The study has received full ethical approval from Heriot Watt University. Participation is voluntary and participants may withdraw from the study without providing an explanation. Participants are free to answer all or some of the interview questions, and if they wish, to see their resulting anonymised transcript.

If you would like more information, and/or to book in for an interview, please email the project lead, Prof. Kate Sang at  [email protected] or Dr Vikki Turbine (Research Assistant) at [email protected]. Or alternatively fill in this sign-up sheet, https://tinyurl.com/4967b6en.

Pauline Beck, IPO