The
Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has launched this year’s
Cracking Ideas competition and is inviting children
across the country to use their creativity to invent a special
space-themed gizmo or gadget.
12 regional finalists in different age-groups will be named
Britain's youngest innovators, from which three national
winners will be crowned Cracking Ideas champions for
2013.
The Cracking Ideas competition, now in its sixth
successful year, is headed by Aardman’s inventive duo Wallace
& Gromit and aims to engage young innovators, encourage
creativity and raise awareness of intellectual property rights. It
also seeks to promote respect for others’ intellectual property.
Intellectual Property Minister, Baroness Wilcox said:
“This competition provides a fantastic opportunity for young
British innovators to get creative, whilst helping them to
understand the importance of protecting the rights to their
creations.”
Parents and teachers are asked to encourage as many four to
16 year olds as possible to participate. By taking part,
children and educators will discover how patents, trade marks,
copyright and design have a part to play in everyday life and how
this ties in with 21 st Century space-age technology.
This year’s competition requires participants to construct a
special Moon Bug lunar contraption and then demonstrate
how to protect their creativity using patents, trade marks, design
and copyright. Material will be provided but participants can also
use their own materials to make models, take photographs, draw
plans and record their creation.
As well as the annual competition, children and educators can
find innovative games, lesson plans with links to the UK
curriculums, creative challenges and fun facts about inventing
from ambassadors Wallace & Gromit at www.crackingideas.com
The competition runs until 30 April 2013 and further details
are available at http://www.crackingideas.com/competition/
Notes to editors 1. 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.
2. Aardman, which is based in Bristol, was co-founded and run
by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. It is a world leader in
animation and it produces feature films, television series and
television commercials for the domestic and international market.
3. 4,027 four to 16 year olds took part in last
year's sports themed competition and the winners will be
announced in June 2012
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. For further information, please contact Veena
Mapara on 0207 215 5614.
8. For emergency media calls out-of-hours please contact the
duty press officer at the Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills on +44 (0) 207 215 3505.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
bispress.releases@bis.gsi.gov.uk
Veena Mapara
Phone: 020 7215 5614
veena.mapara@bis.gsi.gov.uk