Forresters, a firm of patent trademark attorneys, has been recognised for its work supporting businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic with a prestigious award for innovation.
The practice had been shortlisted for the Manufacturing Innovation Champion – Business of the Year Award at the 2021 Innovation Awards, held in October at Millennium Point in Birmingham.
The Innovation Awards, supported by Aston, Coventry, Wolverhampton and Birmingham City Universities, recognise and celebrate the innovation shown by businesses, organisations and individuals across industry.
Attending this year’s awards ceremony, two of Forresters’ senior associates, Dr Jagvir Purewal and Greg Smith, had the honour accepting the accolade on behalf of the firm after Forresters was declared the winner.
Dr Jagvir said upon receipt of the prize: “It is fantastic to receive this award, which is an acknowledgement of the work Forresters does with the whole innovation community, from sole inventors to researchers, academics and established businesses.
“Also shortlisted for the Manufacturing Innovation Champion of the Year Award were business coaches, accountants and a tax credit team, which are seen as the bread-and-butter organisations for SMEs. To stand up against these businesses and win the award shows how vital it is for companies to protect their intellectual property.”
Greg Smith added: “Over the last year we have listened to the business community and made changes to ensure we can still continue to help companies move their innovations forward. This has been particularly important during the last 12 months as several companies have been created, while others have diversified, in the battle against Covid-19. These inventions have a lasting legacy because of the people they have protected, and the lives they have helped save.”
One of the businesses to have benefited from the support of Forresters over the previous year is AerosolShield, a company formed to help medical professionals working on the frontline during the pandemic.
AerosolShield inventors created a disposable mini pop-up tent, which forms a protective barrier around a patient, meaning that life-saving treatment can be administered without the risk of infection.
Matthew Campbell-Hill, one of AerosolShield’s founders, commented: “Our team of clinicians and medical technology specialists came together, because we were really concerned with how many NHS frontline staff were becoming infected with Covid. We created the company within days so we could react quickly to the pandemic.
“We spoke to Medilink, which supports the growth of the healthcare technology sector, and were put in touch with Forresters. The help we received from Forresters was incredible. Their attorneys identified key intellectual property and connected us with local grant funding. Within ten weeks we had successfully applied for over £500,000 of funding.
“Securing the patents we needed was a key part of the funding because many of the investors asked about our IP position. The work Forresters did for us proved to be critical in ensuring we were able to get our invention out to places such as GP surgeries, care homes and hospitals.”
Forresters attorneys also helped train the AerosolShield team, enabling them to innovate quickly on a multitude of projects while still protecting their intellectual property.
Photo by Ousa Chea on Unsplash
