Market research and protection of IP for the Marine Autonomous Plankton Sampler

The NOC has engaged with the preferred provider patent attorney, Barker Brettel (See Letter of Support). The NOC will work with the attorney to draft the patent. This will require the developers of the MAPS technology (Dr Julie Robidart) and the NOC enterprise (Dr Paul Wilkinson) to provide instructions to Barker Brettel through phone calls as face-to-face meeting, review of the patent draft and finalisation of the filing. The NOC will produce a research brief that details a market assessment. This will focus on the applications of the MAPS system to aquaculture and environmental monitoring markets. It will provide information on: 1. End-users in these markets 2. Providers of microbiology sensing technologies to these markets 3. The size of the market; the monetary value of sensors and services provided into these markets. The NOC will tender three research proposals from expert market research companies. The NOC will evaluate these proposals for their suitability of the proposed research method (e.g. desk based, phone interview), ability to meet the research brief, and value for money. The NOC is in discussions with PWC, DJS and Frazer Nash as potential providers of this market assessment. If successful, this proposed market assessment with will be grouped with other successful applications to leverage economies of scale and secure the best value for money. Once the patent is filed, the NOC will work with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), and the Environment Agency (EA), in addition to any stakeholder or end user identified by the market analysis, to further understand their technology requirements and the potential market for MAPS application for routine environmental monitoring.