Researchers at the Caparo Innovation Centre, University of Wolverhampton, are interested in developing guidelines that help independent inventors achieve commercial success with their inventions.

They are particularly interested in your views on licensing. Licensing involves an inventor providing a business with permission to use the intellectual property connected with their invention in return for a royalty on sales.

They  have developed an online survey, which is open to all UK based independent inventors. You do not need to have successfully licensed the rights to your invention in order to take part.

Details of the survey:

1. The survey will take between 10 - 15 minutes to complete.

2. The survey will ask questions about you, your current, or most recent, invention and your perception of licensing.

3. No risks or discomforts are anticipated from taking part in this study. If you feel uncomfortable with a question, you can withdraw from the study altogether. If you decide to quit at any time before you have finished the questionnaire, your answers will NOT be recorded

4.     Your responses will be kept completely confidential. We will NOT know your IP address when you respond to the Internet survey. You do have the option of adding your name and contact details at the end of the survey, but only if you wish to take part in further research

5.     Your participation is voluntary; you are free to withdraw your participation from this study at any time. If you do not want to continue, you can simply leave the website.

6.     The results of the study will be used for scholarly purposes only. The results from the study will be presented in educational settings and at professional conferences, and the results might be published in a professional journal in the field of new product introduction.

7.     A summary of the results will be available to respondents that request a copy.

8.     By beginning the survey, you acknowledge that you have read this information and agree to participate in this research, with the knowledge that you are free to withdraw your participation at any time without penalty.

To access the online survey, please click here.