Mother of Invention
Rowena Mead, a 23-year-old mother from Leeds, invented the Bug Brush, an all-bristle toothbrush that children chew on. Rowena was inspired by the help she received from her local library.
Rowena Mead did a patent search at Leeds Central Library before registering her “bug brush”.
Rowena Mead found that getting her young daughter Saskia to let her brush her teeth was a daily struggle; Saskia would hap-pily chew on a toothbrush by herself but as soon as Rowena took the brush and tried to brush Saskia’s milk teeth, the little girl simply refused to co-operate.
Unable to buy a toothbrush for young children to hold and chew themselves, Rowena came up with the exciting idea of the “bug brush,” a malleable brush completely covered in bristles which resembles a hairy caterpillar.
Hearing about the Leeds Library Business and Patents service from another inventor, Rowena came for help to establish whether any patent application she made would be successful or if there were any existing inventions which might be a barrier.
As a novice inventor, Rowena also attended a monthly Leeds Inventors group where local support agencies and inventors network and share expert tips.
Rowena is now in talks with a major oral hygiene company with a view to getting her product onto the market and making her contribution to ending those daily struggles with the toothbrush.
Rowena and her bug brush toothbrush for babies were featured on a BBC2 Money programme and she later came back as a guest speaker at the Inventors group to talk about her experiences.
Read more about Rowena’s invention on the BBC
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Public libraries across the UK offer business support for entrepreneurs. Support includes patent searches, marketing and business plan help and intellectual property clinics.