Intellectual Property Office's Cracking Ideas campaign wins top award

We are pleased to announce that the Intellectual Property Office and Bell Design have won a prestigious award at the 20th Design Business Association (DBA) design effectiveness awards.

Lawrence Smith-Higgins Head of Business Outreach and Education collected the Design in Society award for the original “Cracking Ideas” campaign and competition which encouraged and raised awareness of innovation in UK classrooms.

Commenting on the award Lawrence Smith-Higgins said,

"We are thrilled to receive this award for outstanding work on the "Cracking Ideas" campaign, to receive such high praise from leaders in the marketing and design community is praise indeed"

"The Cracking Ideas campaign was a huge success. On launch day the website recorded 11,000 page impressions, and over the following months more than 2,000 entries came in, with 8% of the UK’s primary schools downloading the competition workschemes, against the usual 2% response rate. This year we have already received close to 5,000 competition entries with five more months to go to the end of this year's competition."

Editor's notes

• The Intellectual Property Office sits within the Government’s Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) department and responsible for the national framework of Intellectual Property rights, comprising patents, trade marks, designs 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 IP to which the United Kingdom is a party.
• The Cracking Ideas competition is open to all 4 - 16 year olds in schools, clubs or individually at home. To help children get their thinking caps on, there are three fun activity packs available online it also has a ‘teacher’s area’ with educational resources, all linked to the national curriculum, to introduce children to the concept of innovation, and how it fits into their daily lives.
• The Design Business Association (DBA) exists to promote professional excellence through productive partnerships between commerce and the design industry to champion effective design which improves the quality of people's lives
• Businesses and individuals wanting intellectual property support and advice can visit the IP Healthcheck pages of our website.
• For enquiries about the Intellectual Property Office press or media activities please contact Sarah Challenger on +44 (0) 1633 814305 or Matthew Navarra on +44 (0) 1633 818313.

Date of release: 23 October 2009