The popular image of an inventor is of a man tinkering in a shed with bits of metal and lots of screws. In reality, more often the solution to a problem is discovered by some-one working for a large organisation, who spots a tiny improvement for a product that already exists.

If an inventor wants to protect his or her idea then it is advisable to get patent protection using the patent system that developed from the story of a group of Suffolk tailors, over 400 years ago.