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| PAST CHATS |
Mar 24 1999
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Big Breakfast - Trevor Baylis |
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Trevor Baylis invented an online identity for himself on Wednesday morning when he joined us in live chat after the Big Breakfast.
Trevor Baylis : Hello everyone!
c4 chat ed : Hello trev!
babydoll : Hi Trevor
monkeyboy : Trevor, what's been the one thing you've always wanted to invent, and has it been invented yet?
Trevor Baylis chuckles.
Trevor Baylis : Yes, hrm. Well I guess when you look along these things, when you think back at what you could have done... I guess my favourite is of course Frank Whittle's jet engine! He was only 21 when he created his jet engine, and believe me, it took us something like 13 years before we took his invention up. In the meantime our enemies - Germany and Italy during the second world war - had their aircraft flying with their own jet engines. These engines were almost direct cribs of Frank's engine. WW2 could have been WW One-and-a-half, had we listened to Frank.
monkeyboy : Is Britain any good at inventing?
Trevor Baylis : Yes! There was a debate in Parliament in 1996 (May 1) and they said that 57% of the world's greatest inventions come from our shores - a quote from the Japanese! And also 156 billion pounds per year is lost through British inventions going overseas. Staggering, isn't it!
babydoll : Do you have any news on any of the inventions featured in the show, have any of them been marketed yet?
Trevor Baylis : I believe one or two of the products that we've had, are being marketed and quite successfully. Some of the items we had on the show had already been marketed. In fact, my colleague Greg and I are going to do an analysis to find out just how effective the show has been in getting products to the marketplace. As soon as we have that, we'll communicate it to you. :o)
monkeyboy : If you do have an idea, how can you protect it before you start talking about it to people? Do you have to patent straight away, and does that cost money?
Trevor Baylis : You don't have to patent straight away - this is what you do: first of all get on to the Patent Office, and ask for their literature. Carefully read! You'll learn so much. The next thing I'd be inclined to do is to do a patent search, in other words, find out if someone has done it before or not. That will cost a sum of money, probably around 170 pounds or so, but check with the Patent Office. If your product has a market, and it's *essential* that you determine the size of that market, then next, make sure that this device can be actually made. That it is realistically affordable. If everything then is OK, I would strongly advise you to use a patent attorney and file for a patent. No-body pays you for a good idea, but they *will* pay you for a piece of paper that says you own that idea, and that is what a patent is (that is just the beginning..!)
moonbeam : What about a wind-up telly?
Trevor Baylis : Yes, I've already done one! It works in a similar way to the radio. I simply wind a heavy weight up a tree, using a pulley, and as the weight slowly descends, it drives a generator which drives the teevee. How long does the teevee last? How tall is the tree?
Trevor Baylis grins.
tom : Do you think at one stage there will be nothing left to invent?
Trevor Baylis : No! Is the answer. As long as there is a problem to solve, and there is a need, there will be an invention.
moonbeam : What great inventions have you seen come out recently that maybe we haven't yet heard of?
Trevor Baylis : Hm. Well, things are coming through all the time. We've shown one or two great inventions on this show! Do you remember the non-drip teapot? The electric spirit level? And what about that really lovely little product that we saw a couple of weeks ago, which we'll call Pram Wellies. If you remember, this was a simple sleeve that would go round the outside of the tyres on your pram, which could be taken off rather like a shower cap, so that this would stop you bringing mud into the house on your pram, thus avoiding that arduous task of cleaning wheels. A great product. A significant one! How many prams are there, etc!
andy : When you tried to get the clockwork radio you had to ggo abroud for help, do you think things have improved for BRitish inventors trying to get there invention known
Trevor Baylis : No, things have not improved. The Government makes all sorts of noises, but for some strange reason will not support the notion of an Academy for inventors.
PLeax : Someone told me I have to apply for a patent in every country rather than just the U.K for my invention, is this true?
Trevor Baylis : When you first start, you would make an application here in the UK. That would give you 12 months protection in the UK and parts of the Commonwealth at a relatively low cost. If you have a significant invention, it should be filed in as many places as one can afford. Back to the word Academy! It could cost you 100,000 pounds to protect yourself throughout the world, and you haven't even made the product yet! If someone then steals your idea, it might cost you 100,000 per day to challenge the predators. We must have an Academy! Then we could help you.
zlatorog : Have you always been and inventor?, and if so has it payed for your bills all your life?
Trevor Baylis : No! I swam for Great Britain, at the age of 15... I failed my 11+... and I was a b-streamer in a secondary modern school. I then went into a laboratory and studied engineering for four years, instructural and mechanical disciplines. Then I became an Army P.E. instructor ('to the wall bars.... Go!'). I came out of the Army and joined a swimming pool company and because I was showing off in one of those pools at an exhibition, I became a professional swimmer, and stunt man, and I make enough money doing an underwater escape act in a Berlin Circus to be able to start my own swimming pool company. Which I still have today! I also made 200 products for the disabled, and a clockwork radio. Trevor Baylis grins.
monkeyboy : Do you have your own tinkering shed at home?
Trevor Baylis : I have what I now term a studio. Sounds so much nicer than a shed *grin*. Somebody said of my house that if ever you wanted a spanner, chances are you're sitting on it.
babydoll : So... what do you think of the internet as an invention?
Trevor Baylis : Oh it's terrific! But. One shouldn't spend too much time on a computer keyboard, otherwise health goes out of the door and ulcers come into the stomach.
ripvanwinkle : Are you working on anything at the moment, or can't you tell us :-)
Trevor Baylis : Hah! It's for me to know, and for you to guess *grin*. That's what makes an inventor.
c4 chat ed : That's it everyone. Thanks for coming in. There'll be another BB live chat soon. Goodbye!
Trevor Baylis winks.
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