2 minute read
Abel + Imray: 150 years protecting ideas
This year is our 150th anniversary at Abel + Imray of helping businesses to protect their brands and ideas. Intellectual property is increasingly recognised as an asset worth developing and investing in, and throughout our history we have been fortunate enough to work with a range of businesses in Wales, the rest of the UK and beyond.
To celebrate this milestone, we have showcased 50 inventions and brands that we feel have made a positive impact to our world, and demonstrate the diversity of intellectual property and what can and has been protected. Below are some examples that we hope will be of interest to other members of the MediWales community and we invite you to take a more in-depth look at abelimray150.com
Originally developed with glass in the 1880s, the contact lens has evolved to make use of thin plastics and more recently silicon hydrogels to enable the user to wear them for longer periods. Around the same time digestible pills were being developed, and William Upjohn, a great physician, inventor and as it transpires marketing whiz, helped to bring this innovation into mainstream use. Upjohn achieved a patent for the process he invented, and ultimately his company, through a previous merger, became part of Pfizer.
It will be no surprise that we have included the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, or indeed Jonas Salik’s polio vaccine, which was history’s biggest global public health effort prior to the current coronavirus pandemic, in the list. However, perhaps lesser known is the use of an in vitro test developed by Murex Diagnostics that Abel + Imray helped to protect. The test helps to detect the presence of hepatitis B and is a critical tool in the World Health Organisation mission to reduce liver disease and reduce deaths by 2030. Our showcase of innovations also includes devices that have made our lives simpler, more convenient and in some cases safer. Take the hairdryer: while early models had some issues with being bulky and overheating, they were an advancement on using the reverse flow of the vacuum cleaner. And the microwave, which now adorns many a household and workplace kitchen. Its inventor Percy Spencer went on to have 300 patents granted during his career. We also take a look at the PC and World Wide Web, and how they have shaped our working and personal lives by enabling us to access information and communicating in a way unseen by generations 40 years ago, and the impact the likes of Sinclair and Amstrad had on driving up PC ownership in the UK. We excel in the biotech, medical devices and healthcare sectors, and many developing and leading names in these sectors trust Abel + Imray to help them protect their intellectual property by offering practical and tailored advice, coupled with technical and commercial experience and expertise.
A complimentary consultation session is offered to new enquirers, so if you have an idea you’d like to discuss or you’ve been inspired by our 150th website (abelimray150.com), please get in touch with our Cardiff team.
