Cracking ideas by Scottish youngsters bring cracking results
Entrants had to come up with a sporty creation and to highlight the four types of intellectual property created - an invention or gadget; the…
Entrants had to come up with a sporty creation and to highlight the four types of intellectual property created - an invention or gadget; the design of the product; a name or logo to trade mark and a copyrighted advertising campaign.
The national winners for the two age groups 4-7 and 12-16 are:
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Jessica Williamson, now aged eight of Stewarton, invented lace-up football boots with a spring sole and a Wallace & Gromit ‘Wrong Trousers’ style contraption to assist with goal-scoring.
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Elliot Comnene, aged 13 of Bonnyrigg, designed the ‘Footie Chair Spring-O-Matic’ to help wheelchair users develop their football skills.
Baroness Wilcox, Minister for Intellectual Property, announced the three national winners and 14 regional winners for their creativity and inventions today, in a ceremony at the Liverpool Spaceport.
Baroness Wilcox said:
“There was a fantastic range of entries showing how innovative our children are but as with all competitions, we have to have winners! These young entrants have done themselves absolutely proud to be the winners of their respective regions.”
Merlin Crossingham, Creative Director at Aardman Animations said:
'’Jessica embraced all aspects of the brief with a great logo idea and team song but most of all, it’s the most fun. I would really see this invention being built in Wallace’s basement. It’s also a great example that sometimes the simplest idea is the best one!’’
'’Elliot has really embraced the sporting theme along with a clear understanding of copyright. He has presented his idea really clearly but most of all Wallace himself would have been very proud to have come up with this idea, but clearly he can’t because Elliot has got there first!’’
A third regional winner for Scotland, Georgia Mitchell, aged nine of Douglas created a ‘Karate Power Puffer’, a gadget which promises stronger muscles and faster abilities in martial arts.
Cracking Ideas is headed by Oscar® winning inventive duo Wallace & Gromit and is the largest competition of its type. The competition for 2012 is currently running until 30 April 2013. Further details are available at [http://www.crackingideas.com/competition/](http://www.crackingideas.com/competition/)**
Notes to editors**
- Baroness Wilcox is available for interview requests and photos of the Minister with the winners can be found at [www.flickr.com/photos/bisgovuk/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bisgovuk/)
- Any media interested in interviews including speaking to the winners should contact IPO Press Officer, Veena Mapara: veena.mapara@bis.gsi.gov.uk; 020 7215 5614.
- Children’s TV presenter, Gareth Jones will be at the awards ceremony on Tuesday 19 June and will be available for interviews.
- Brief details of all winning entries can be found at http://www.crackingideas.com/competition/past_winners
- Cracking Ideas is a Government-backed project and uses a combination of lesson plans, activity packs, challenges and dedicated website, to encourage innovation and creativity amongst children aged 4 - 16 all with links to the UK curriculum.
- Merlin Crossingham creative director at Aardman Animations picked the winning entries from 11 regional winners.
- The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is within the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) and is responsible for the national framework of Intellectual Property rights, comprising patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.
- Its role is to help manage an IP system that encourages innovation and creativity, balances the needs of consumers and users, promotes strong and competitive markets and is the foundation of the knowledge-based economy.
- It operates in a national and an international environment and its work is governed by national and international law, including various international treaties relating to Intellectual Property (IP) to which the United Kingdom is a party.
- For emergency media calls out-of-hours please contact the duty press officer at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on +44 (0) 20 7215 3505.
- BIS’s online newsroom contains the latest press notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom for more information.
Notes to Editors
Contact Information
Name BIS Press Office Job Title
Division Department for Business, Innovation & Skills Phone
Fax
Mobile
Email bispress.releases@bis.gsi.gov.uk
Name Veena Mapara Job Title
Division Department for Business, Innovation & Skills Phone 020 7215 5614 Fax
Mobile