Watertight Protection

Name: Eric Marckcrow

Business: Waterboy / Bushwater

Industry: Water treatment technology

IP smart since: 1998

When the Waterboy team developed their water treatment technology concept seven years ago, they knew that they were on to something that had great commercial potential. Waterboy first developed bioreactors for treating industrial wastewater. After forming a joint venture, Bushwater, they developed advanced membrane technology to treat domestic and industrial wastewater.

Director of Waterboy, Eric Marckrow, also knew that turning Waterboy into a commercial reality would take time, and good intellectual property protection along the way would be essential.

“Patenting is a process, and we understand the importance of this process,” Eric said. “If you’ve got something good, you put an application in—and then you develop it, develop it, develop it.”

Relying heavily on advice and assistance from his patent attorney, Eric submitted six patent applications to IP Australia over seven years, to ensure that the water treatment concept was protected throughout every step of its development. The advice of Eric’s attorney was crucial to ensuring he safely navigated his way through the patenting process.

“You have to get water quality accreditation in this business, which is a six month process,” Eric said. “We had to go back to the drawing board a number of times to rework specific parts of the system until we got them right. We’ve now got two very good applications in, but there have been three or four in the bin along the way.”

And his perseverance has paid off. Waterboy recently entered a joint venture with the Bushman Group and formed Bushwater—a company that is set to revolutionise water treatment processing throughout the world.

Eric says that solid IP protection was the driving force behind negotiating a very good deal with the Bushman Group.

“Waterboy’s intellectual property, both in Australia and overseas, was the main negotiating point of the joint venture,” Eric said.

“Bushman’s was keen to expand internationally, and they wanted to cut a deal with us because we could offer them international market access straight away—because we have patents pending overseas.”

“In the end, Bushman’s put up all the capital and their resources, and we provided the intellectual property.”

So as the joint venture looks towards taking Bushwater into the international marketplace, Eric reflects that one of the keys to success is to be able to look past the technology and focus on creating commercial viability through protecting IP rights.

Eric said, “a lot of people find it hard to let go, as they see the invention as the main part of the business, but it’s not—commercialisation is the big thing, and the key to commercialisation is a solid IP portfolio.”