Staff and friends of Create IP were pleasantly surprised to wake up to a familiar face on the front page of their Christchurch Press newspaper this morning.

CreateIP founder, Robert Snoep, was interviewed and videoed by the Press for achieving finalist position in the Champion Professional Service – Small Enterprise category of the 2016 Champion Canterbury Business Awards.

When asked what is the best way to protect and commercialise a new idea, Robert’s strongest recommendation is to not disclose the idea to others. “Breathe, collect information, do search work and figure out where you are at first,” he said.

A lot of inventors have great ideas, but they are not good at commercialising them into a business that makes money, he explained. “It’s important to understand the whole picture. Sometimes patents and trademarks can be inappropriate. They are tools, but there are other ways of protecting your IP.”

“There’s a lot of skill turning ideas into something that makes money. That’s why crafting the claim in the first instance is important,” he said. With a good IP strategy inventors can use patents and trademarks to gain investment, or licence someone else to make a product.

Read the full article on Stuff, and make sure to watch the video too.