{"id":5682,"date":"2013-02-18T11:34:35","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T15:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=5682"},"modified":"2013-02-18T11:34:35","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T15:34:35","slug":"trevor-baylis-inventor-of-the-wind-up-radio-fights-for-patent-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/trevor-baylis-inventor-of-the-wind-up-radio-fights-for-patent-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Trevor Baylis, inventor of the wind-up radio, fights for patent rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Trevor<\/a>

Trevor Baylis with an original BayGen clockwork radio (Photo source: The Telegraph)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Telegraph<\/em> reports<\/a> that British inventor Trevor Baylis, now 75, who created the first wind-up radio, is unfortunately struggling with patent laws in the UK. The eccentric gentleman (Trevor, I mean this as a compliment) cites the lack of government protection for inventors’ rights in Britain; unlike in the US and other countries, where patent theft is considered a criminal offense, in the UK it is merely a civil one.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Bayliss, who has received many honorary degrees for his work, and an OBE from the Prince of Wales, is currently in a bit of a financial struggle.<\/p>\n

This is sad.\u00a0 Radio truly owes Trevor Baylis a great debt of gratitude; his invention spawned an era of self-powered technologies such as those we use at Ears To Our World<\/a>, that have brought life-saving information and lighting to the most rural, remote parts of the world.\u00a0 He has truly made a difference to people’s lives, especially where there’s no reliable access to electricity.<\/p>\n

I still keep an original BayGen radio at my house, just like the one Baylis is pictured with above. It’s an amazing invention, indeed–loud, clear, room-filling shortwave audio from a radio that doesn’t require batteries; only a little winding, as simple as winding your wrist watch, delivers this remarkable sound.<\/p>\n

The Telegraph<\/em><\/a> tells the evolution of the BayGen radio into the Freeplay radio, and then Bayliss’ loss of revenue as the original patent for the clockwork radio was not honored when Freeplay began using the same mechanism, with a modification, to charge an internal battery. Ironically, Freeplay spawned The Freeplay Foundation, now known as Lifeline Energy<\/a>, \u00a0a worthy organization with the goal of helping others.\u00a0 And obviously, Baylis is not financial guru:\u00a0 he did<\/em> sell his shares in Freeplay and parted ways with the organization over a decade ago.<\/p>\n

But to be fair, Baylis is an inventor, not a businessman.\u00a0 I can see his side of the argument:\u00a0 if you wish to build your life around inventing<\/em>, your creations and intellectual property need to be properly protected. It should not require another degree–or another full time job–simply to protect your ideas.\u00a0 If Baylis’ inventions had been properly guarded, he would probably still be churning out inventions at age 75 instead of fighting to keep his house and to protect other inventors from the same fate. Baylis–and The Telegraph<\/em>, in turn–are placing the focus on beefing-up the patent laws in the UK to help protect innovations. In Baylis’ case, I believe it may be a lack of international protection that has had an effect on his bottom line.<\/p>\n

How can we help Trevor Baylis?\u00a0 We’re determined to find a way.\u00a0<\/em> Stay tuned…<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, click here to read the article in <\/a>The Telegraph<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many thanks to Ed Cummings for sending the Telegraph link!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Telegraph reports that British inventor Trevor Baylis, now 75, who created the first wind-up radio, is unfortunately struggling with patent laws in the UK. The eccentric gentleman (Trevor, I mean this as a compliment) cites the lack of government protection for inventors’ rights in Britain; unlike in the US and other countries, where patent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[1710,695,1709],"class_list":["post-5682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-news","tag-baygen","tag-freeplay","tag-trevor-baylis"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1tE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11894,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/trevor-baylis-a-cbe-in-the-new-year-honours-list\/","url_meta":{"origin":5682,"position":0},"title":"Trevor Baylis: a CBE in the New Year Honours list","author":"Thomas","date":"December 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Inventor of the clockwork radio, Trevor Baylis, has been made a CBE in the New Year Honors list. Mr. Baylis very much deserves this honor as his inventions have directly and indirectly fueled many self-powered innovations we enjoy today. I'm honored to have spoken with Mr. Baylis over the years;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Trevor Baylis (Source: Wikimedia Commons)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TrevorBaylis_Jan2006-239x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5719,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/trevor-baylis-in-the-vintage-vault\/","url_meta":{"origin":5682,"position":1},"title":"Trevor Baylis in the Vintage Vault","author":"Thomas","date":"February 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week, I posted an article about wind-up (clockwork) radio inventor, Trevor Baylis. I recently discovered a 1995 episode of RNW's Media Network, which featured Baylis--and the clockwork radio--in the context of inventions that would carry us\u00a0beyond\u00a0the new millenium: (Source: Media Network Vintage Vault) Remember Trevor Baylis and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"RNW-MediaNetwork","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/RNW-MediaNetwork-300x287.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":31024,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/rest-in-peace-trevor-baylis\/","url_meta":{"origin":5682,"position":2},"title":"Rest in peace, Trevor Baylis CBE","author":"Thomas","date":"March 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, while driving home from the Winter SWL Fest, I learned that inventor Trevor Baylis passed away at the age of 80. Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors who sent me news articles and obituaries. I\u2019m honored to have spoken with Mr. Baylis over the years; he\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TrevorBaylis_Jan2006.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TrevorBaylis_Jan2006.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TrevorBaylis_Jan2006.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53586,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/08\/radio-waves-brooklyn-pirate-radio-interview-emergency-radio-evolution-sota-hams-prevent-forest-fire-and-morse-code-documentary\/","url_meta":{"origin":5682,"position":3},"title":"Radio Waves: Brooklyn Pirate Radio Interview, Emergency Radio Evolution, SOTA Hams Prevent Forest Fire, and Morse Code Documentary","author":"Thomas","date":"August 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.\u00a0Enjoy! Interview about Brooklyn pirate radio (Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive) Although Irish pirate radio is our main interest, today we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Grundig-FR200-Haiti.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Grundig-FR200-Haiti.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Grundig-FR200-Haiti.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2280,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/shower-powered-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":5682,"position":4},"title":"Shower powered radio","author":"Thomas","date":"November 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: The Telegraph) The man who helped turn the Wind-Up Radio into a global success in the 1990s has invented a radio that is powered by the motion of water flowing into a shower. The H20 water-powered radio clips onto the water pipe that runs up to a shower head.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Manufacturers"","block_context":{"text":"Manufacturers","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/manufacturers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/water-powered-shower-300x187.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25473,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/ebay-find-the-harris-rf-550\/","url_meta":{"origin":5682,"position":5},"title":"eBay find: The Harris RF-550","author":"Thomas","date":"May 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Trevor, who writes: You might wish to share this with your readers. An example of an excellent commercial rack-mounted receiver at (what I would consider) a reasonable price on eBay: the Harris RF-550. If I lived in The States, I would buy it. Sounds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harris-RF-550-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harris-RF-550-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harris-RF-550-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}