Chartered & European Patent Attorneys, Trade Mark Attorneys. Wynne-Jones, Laine & James "they can do it, so you can too - why not come and see us about protecting your IP"

"they can do it, so you can too - why not come and see us about protecting your IP"

We are pleased to report that the two founders of Sportfit Limited, John Lockwood and Robert Clarke, have been awarded the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Gold Medal for best Inventors 2010, at the 38th International Exhibition of Invention in Geneva. This prize is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of invention and innovation and it is the first time British inventors have received the prize, beating some 1000 entries from 45 countries.

The honour was given for the invention of the Sports Injury Rehab Assistant (SIRA ® )which was developed over the last 2 years, and which is now the subject of an International patent application, prepared by Wynne-Jones Lain é and James LLP. We also obtained a Trade Mark registration for the SIRA name. SIRA was also awarded a Gold Medal with Judges Accreditation for the classification of Medical Equipment.

John Lockwood has been an Inventor and Entrepreneur for over 20 years and thus knows the importance of protecting his ideas before they are made public. Robert Clarke has been a fitness trainer both in the UK and USA for over 30 years and has trained over 300,000 people both in amateur and professional sports and fitness. Robert now owns the Robert Clarke Fitness Centre in Gorseinon, Swansea. Robert developed a technique for stretching his clients, and then asked John who is a client at the fitness centre, if he could help invent a machine to do Robert ’ s stretch. Hence SIRA was born.

During the 5 days of the show SIRA was used over 200 times and on some occasions an eager queue formed, waiting to use the machine. Enquiries were taken from distributors around the globe and several firm orders were placed.

Prior to the exhibition John and Robert were successful in obtaining funding for the extensive research and development required to bring the invention to its present production-ready stage. Presently SIRA is on trail at the Ospreys RFC and at Wigan Athletic Premiership Football Club. SIRA can also be used in hospitals.

Further details of SIRA can be found at: http://www.sportfit.co.uk

Featured on BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8653845.stm

Robert Clarke (left) and John Lockwood with their award winning invention

Golden! the medal awarded to Sportfit Limited