THE BBC could face legal challenges from inventors who have unknowingly forfeited their patent rights by responding to publicity from Tomorrow鈥檚 World, the Patent Office warned last week. The BBC is 鈥渃ulpable鈥�, says the Patent Office, because it continued to solicit for inventions after being warned of the risks.
In an effort to find stories for the weekly science TV programme, the BBC set up a telephone hotline with a recorded message asking people to send in details of their inventions for possible inclusion. Originally, the hotline made no mention of patents and gave no reassurance that submissions would be handled in confidence. It is this omission that sparked the row.
One of the most common errors made by inventors is to disclose details of their ideas before they have applied for a patent. Any patent filed after disclosure is worthless. 鈥淚f you have an invention or design that you wish to exploit,鈥� warns the Patent Office in its written advice, 鈥測ou should neither discuss it nor show it to ANYONE who is not under a legal obligation 鈥� to keep it confidential.鈥�
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It was 鈥渋rresponsible鈥� of the BBC to solicit for ideas without passing on this advice, says a source at the Patent Office. But Edward Briffa, editor of Tomorrow鈥檚 World, disagrees. 鈥淔or thirty years, we have been committed to inventors, and we treat all ideas in confidence,鈥� he says.
The Patent Office, however, stresses that a commitment to confidence must be established at the time of disclosure. 鈥淚n the eyes of patent law, once a description of an invention hits someone else鈥檚 desk, without an agreement that it is in strict confidence, that is commercial disclosure,鈥� says Ted Blake, the Patent Office鈥檚 publicity officer. If an inventor loses a patent because someone at Tomorrow鈥檚 World has read details of their invention, he says, 鈥渢he BBC could get a nasty cold shower in court鈥�.
David Wardell, editor of Inventors鈥� World, spotted the omission on the hotline and faxed a warning to the BBC on 6 September. A week later the message was unchanged. 鈥淲hen I phoned Tomorrow鈥檚 World they said they had lost my fax,鈥� says Wardell. Next, Blake phoned the programme, but his warning also went unheeded. On 14 September, the Patent Office spelt out its view more bluntly. By the next afternoon, the BBC had added a note on its hotline recommending that inventors seek advice from a patent agent before disclosing an idea.
The Patent Office, is still not happy. The message is at the end of a long announcement, so some callers may hang up before they hear it.