Role-play for the story of an imaginary invention

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Flora Ford
5 years ago
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Teacher - Please give some pupils in the class roles in the imaginary invention story.

It is recommended that the cards are given to the characters before they look at the story on screen so that they have time to consider their character s responses to key

The characters of Maggie, Frank and Grace are more central to the plot and more complex so bear this in mind when distributing roles.

It's annoying when it tips over but it's so much faster than walking. How do you feel when Maggie approaches you with her design?

Do you think it's good that Nav is stopped from making his boards?

1 Teacher - Please give some pupils in the class roles in the imaginary invention story. The pupils in role will act out the characters' responses to the series of 24 discussion questions at the end. This can be done in front of the class as a class discussion. It is recommended that the cards are given to the characters before they look at the story on screen so that they have time to consider their character s responses to key questions. Alternatively, the questions on the cards can be used to hot-seat the role-play characters individually in front of the class. NOTE! The characters of Maggie, Frank and Grace are more central to the plot and more complex so bear this in mind when distributing roles. Mustafa You are really pleased with your Triboard invention. You love riding round town on it getting admiring and envious looks from people without one. It's annoying when it tips over but it's so much faster than walking. How do you feel when Maggie approaches you with her design? How do you feel about the deal with Maggie to get 30% of her profits? What do you think of Nav for copying Maggie's design and not paying to use both of your ideas? Do you think it's good that Nav is stopped from making his boards? Mustafa Ollie You are a bit of a dare-devil and love playing around trying out new moves and tricks on your bike and your quadboard. You're also pretty good on a motorbike. You got pretty good at doing tricks on the original quadboards but the ones with the grippy wheels allow you do lots more new tricks. Why do you like quadboards? What's good about the quadboards with more grip? How does it feel to have a trick named after you and have lots of young kids trying to copy you? Ollie 1 of 6

Maggie You're quite the inventor and entrepreneur! You have made a successful business from your invention and have legally used other people's patented inventions along the way.

It seemed like a good deal at the start of your business but as your business grew, you were giving him a lot of the profits that you worked for.

2 Maggie You're quite the inventor and entrepreneur! You have made a successful business from your invention and have legally used other people's patented inventions along the way. You feel you were very generous in agreeing to give Mustafa 30% of your profits. It seemed like a good deal at the start of your business but as your business grew, you were giving him a lot of the profits that you worked for. When Nav made cheap copies of your boards, you got complaints in your shops and you realised the reputation of your quadboads was getting damaged so you starting putting a trademark logo on your boards. You adapted your board design when there was demand for wheels with grip and this meant your company continued to be successful. How did you come up with the idea for the quadboard? What do you think of the deal you struck with Mustafa? How do you feel about Nav using cheaper materials to copy your design? You Maggie paid Carly to design a logo for your boards. How do you think this will help your business? Why did you take on the new wheels with better grip? How do people like Ollie help your business? What do you think of Grace's boards? You allowed Grace to use your product as the basis of her designs for a moderate fee. Do you think she will have the same kind of customers as you? How will you continue to ensure your company is successful in future? 2 of 6

Nav You wanted a quadboard but couldn't afford it and decided you could make one much cheaper.

She got lawyers to take you to court to stop making the copies and you had to hand over all the money you'd made from selling the copies.

You think you would have stopped making them if she had asked and that lawyers were not necessary. Why did you start making copies of quadboards?

Why do you think they took you to court? Do you think it was fair that you had to hand over all your profits? Carly You're a designer.

They pay you a fee and then they own the design to do whatever they want with it.

3 Nav You wanted a quadboard but couldn't afford it and decided you could make one much cheaper. You used cheaper materials and ended up selling boards for less than Maggie. However the boards broke quite easily and Maggie got complaints. She got lawyers to take you to court to stop making the copies and you had to hand over all the money you'd made from selling the copies. You think this was unfair as now you have a criminal record. You think you would have stopped making them if she had asked and that lawyers were not necessary. Why did you start making copies of quadboards? How did you undercut Maggie's price to sell boards cheaper? How do you think Maggie and Mustafa found out about your boards? Why do you think they took you to court? Do you think it was fair that you had to hand over all your profits? Carly You're a designer. You create logos and artwork for lots of companies on a one-off basis. They pay you a fee and then they own the design to do whatever they want with it. You feel that it is still your work but because you have been paid, they get to own it. How did your logo help Maggie's company? Do you think it is fair that you got paid one fee and Maggie can now use that logo as many times as she likes, in whatever way she likes, without paying you any more money? If someone copies your logo design or uses a similar design on another product, Maggie can stop them from using it because it has been trademarked. Why do you think trademarks exist? Carly Nav 3 of 6

Frank You are a cautious inventor but not a businessman. You watched young people doing tricks and could see the need to have quadboard wheels with more grip for some moves.

Once the manufacturer had agreed they could make the wheels, you took your design to Maggie to negotiate how much she would pay to use them.

Why did you patent your material before going to a manufacturer? Why did you take your design to Maggie? Frank Grace Your leg was damaged in a car accident and walking is slow and painful.

You took the steering mechanism off an old bike and adapted it, attaching a small motor to power the board.

4 Frank You are a cautious inventor but not a businessman. You watched young people doing tricks and could see the need to have quadboard wheels with more grip for some moves. You found a material that was hard-wearing and gripped better and you tested it and patented it before showing the recipe for your material to a manufacturer. Once the manufacturer had agreed they could make the wheels, you took your design to Maggie to negotiate how much she would pay to use them. You do not want to start a rival company to hers as you do not feel you have the business skills to do this. What gave you the idea for your invention? Why did you patent your material before going to a manufacturer? Why did you take your design to Maggie? Frank Grace Your leg was damaged in a car accident and walking is slow and painful. Before the accident you had occasionally used a quadboard. You decided that if you could adapt this, it could help you get around. You took the steering mechanism off an old bike and adapted it, attaching a small motor to power the board. You didn't realise your steering adaptations were similar to Thomas's and that you were infringing his patent. You were pleased he allowed you to make boards for yourself. When lots of people said they wanted to buy one of your designs, you asked Thomas if he wanted to sell you his patent, as he didn't want to develop his idea. You worked with Maggie to negotiate with other patent holders and got your design on a production line. How did you feel when you found out you were copying Grace Thomas's design and infringing his patent? Why do you think he allowed you to make a board for yourself? Why do you think Thomas didn't turn his idea into a commercial business? Why did you go to Maggie? Do you think it's better to buy a patent or get a license to use a patent? What kind of person do you think will buy your boards? 4 of 6

Thomas You saw children going to school on quadboards and wondered if it might work as a personal form of transport for adults.

You found a number of possible mechanisms, mixed aspects from each and perfected a new mechanism.

Negotiating with all these patent owners was likely to be time-consuming and expensive so you decided against it. You didn't think a quadboard with steering would sell for very much money.

5 Thomas You saw children going to school on quadboards and wondered if it might work as a personal form of transport for adults. If it could be steered, people wouldn't need to break and turn at corners. You spent many months researching different steering mechanisms, finding out which had been used before and how. You found a number of possible mechanisms, mixed aspects from each and perfected a new mechanism. When you put in your patent application you had to list Thomas 24 other patents you had used or were similar to yours. Negotiating with all these patent owners was likely to be time-consuming and expensive so you decided against it. You didn't think a quadboard with steering would sell for very much money. When Grace came up with her motorised quadboard you could see that it would help her with her disability so you allowed her to make a couple of boards. When she said she wanted to make her boards for sale, you sold her your patent and let her negotiate with all the other patent holders. Why did it take you so long to research and come up with your invention? Why did you not pursue your invention? How did you feel when Grace came up with a similar invention but had taken it further to give the board power? Were you surprised that Grace had not seen your patent? Why did you let Grace use your patent for no cost? Why did you sell your patent instead of license it for use but keep the rights to use it? 5 of 6

6 Questions for the characters to discuss in front of the class: 1. How do you think Mustafa felt when Maggie approached him with her design? 2. How did Maggie come up with her idea for the quadboard? 3. Was it fair that Maggie agreed to give 30% of her profits to Mustafa? 4. Why do you think Nav copied Maggie's design? 5. How did Nav manage to make his boards much cheaper than Maggie's? 6. Do you think it's good that Nav was stopped from making his boards? 7. How do you think Nav felt about going to court, getting a criminal record and having his profits confiscated? 8. Why do you think Maggie decided to put a trademarked logo on her boards? 9. Do you think it s fair that Carly is paid a one-off fee for her design and Maggie can use it as many times as she likes but no one can use Maggie's invention without asking her? 10. If Maggie sold her patent for a one-off fee would someone else be allowed to use it as many times as they like to make quadboards and other inventions using her patent? 11. If someone copied Maggie's logo, what would Maggie do? 12. Why did Frank patent his wheels with extra grip before going to a manufacturer? 13. Why did Frank take his design to Maggie? 14. In what way is Ollie recognised for his creativity? 15. Why do you think that new ways of doing things (whether tricks, sport, business, science or maths) cannot be patented? 16. In what way do people like Ollie encourage invention? 17. Why did Thomas spend so long developing his steering quadboard? 18. Why did Thomas decide his invention was not worth turning into a commercial product for sale? 19. How do you think Thomas felt when he saw Grace using a similar invention? 20. How do you think Grace felt when she found out about Thomas's patent? 21. Do you think Thomas should have sued Grace for infringing his patent? 22. How many licensing agreements will Grace need to negotiate? 23. Do you think it's better to buy a patent or get a license to use a patent? 24. Do you think Maggie and Grace will make a successful partnership? 6 of 6

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