In 1846, a patent was awarded to a new type of corn-mill - it triggered a series of court cases which ran for more than 20 years.  This talk tells the story of the invention and how the court cases provide examples of what makes an invention patentable in the UK today.

The talk is by Nick Gudde, who graduated in Chemistry & Physics at  the University of Bristol 1974-77 then worked for  30 years as a chemical engineer,  followed by 10 years as a volunteer guide in science/technology museums and as a heritage water-miller. He also does a talk on “The Story of Petrol – past, present, and future?”, which we may schedule in 2026.

Zoom registration link will be added here well before the talk