CRIL welcomes initial contact with innovators, either by telephone or letter. CRIL will then work with the innovator to develop a proposal for investment, or evaluate an existing proposal. All information provided during this process is treated as confidential, and will only be discussed by a small number of people on a 'need to know' basis. CRIL's capital comes from insurance companies, pension funds, the University of Cambridge, and some of its Colleges. Patents may give protection to novel devices, systems, processes, and products.
Designs relate to the appearance of products.
Copyright may protect software. It is only by seeking legal rights, e.g. by way of a patent, that the commercial potential of many new ideas can be fully exploited. To obtain effective patent protection it is essential that a patent application is filed at the Patent Office before publication or any non-confidential disclosure. Cambridge Research and Innovation Limited, in association with Page White and Farrer, Chartered Patent Agents, hold monthly patent clinics in Cambridge for researchers to give preliminary confidential guidance. Page White and Farrer is a London firm of quali-fied patent practitioners, including several Cambridge graduates, having a wide variety of technical backgrounds including electronics, physics, engineering, material sciences, chemistry, and biotechnology.