Wind power on patent list

Four Scottish inventions are to be included on a list of 55 iconic patented products compiled by the UK government to mark 400 years since the first patent was filed.

A patent filed by James Blyth in 1891, which showed that wind power could be used to produce energy, was the oldest Scottish invention on the list, followed by John Logie Baird’s patent of the technology to transmit a moving pic- ture in 1924 - the precursor to the television . Also highlighted by the government’s ‘GREAT for Imagination, campaign, which aims to showcase some of the most remarkable innovations to be developed and patented in Britain over the last four centuries, was radar and betablockers. Universities and Science Minister, Sam Gyimah, said: “The UK has long been a country that nurtures imagination, as illustrated by the vast array of innovations.”