Liam Birkett is something of a messiah when it comes to spreading the word on intellectual property. There is an evangelical zeal about the way he tells stories to highlight the importance of patents, trademarks, design registration and copyright.

"In the past, intellectual property has been considered a very boring topic," says the man who heads up the marketing department of FR Kelly & Co, patent and trademark attorneys in Dublin. "The profession, as a whole, in the past has taken it as that, but I have seen it as something that is dynamic and exciting."

He says it also makes good business sense to be well-versed in the details of intellectual property. As an example, he highlights the fact that the Thomas Cook Group has initiated legal proceedings against the European Commission, claiming that the Commission's use, and inducement to third parties to use, the euro sign amounts to infringement, since it is substantially similar to the previous registration held by the group. The case has gone before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, where damages of £25.5 million (€32.38 million) are being sought.

"I have popularised intellectual property," says Mr Birkett. "I am raising the profile and I am making people aware that even the European Commission can make mistakes. Should the Commission have researched to see if an identical or similarly confusing marque was there? Maybe it did, but I'm just bringing it to people's attention."

When it comes to new ideas, concepts and inventions, the Republic is on a par with other countries, he says. The big problem is many people are not exploiting their ideas.

"Ireland is alive with inventors, but they don't come out of the woodwork because they think it is too expensive, or they have to be an Irish Einstein, or they have to be able to speak legal mumbo jumbo," he says.

Mr Birkett sees it as his role to clear away these misconceptions and dispel the notion that inventors have to be scientists, engineers or industrialists. A huge number of the best-known inventions were developed by people from different walks of life, he says. For example, the ballpoint pen was developed by a Hungarian hypnotist, the Frisbee by a building inspector, and the Monopoly board game by a heating engineer, while a land-claim official developed the photocopier.

"It is people in ordinary, everyday jobs coming up against ordinary, everyday problems and, by overcoming them, producing something that is going to be of interest, value and purchase to people in those same ordinary, everyday jobs," he says.

Many inventions are improvements on existing items, or the combination of two known elements from other areas in a novel way, says Mr Birkett. The capability to come up with an invention is within the grasp of most people, but many do not recognise the value of what they do or are ignorant of the steps that can protect and exploit their work, he adds.

Mr Birkett advises a person with an idea not to disclose it to anyone and to discuss the details with an experienced European patent attorney, who can assess whether the concept could be subject to patent protection.

"There are three requirements for a patent," he says. "It's got to be new and not exist anywhere in the world; it must not have been exposed to the public; and, finally, it must feature an inventive step, something that is non-obvious."

Applying for a patent, which allows you to put "patent pending" on an invention, may dissuade others from copying you for fear of infringing your patent. And you do not have to be wealthy to file a patent, says Mr Birkett. "You can probably file a patent for about £1,000," he says. "You can enjoy an umbrella of protection virtually worldwide for 12 months. Now you can go out into the marketplace and, with impunity, show your idea to anybody and see if somebody will invest in it, buy it, advertise it, promote it or help you fine tune it."

Branding the product is an important consideration, Mr Birkett says. Most, if not all, inventions are recognised by their trademark rather than their technology, he adds.

"Coca Cola never registered its formulation because, after 20 years, everybody would have known how to make it. It put all of its money into promoting the name, the slogan 'It's the real thing' and the shape of the bottle, which is registered as a trademark. So the patent is very important, but branding is more important because you can renew the trademark every 10 years ad infinitum," he says.

But it is not only products that can be protected by trademark - smells, shapes and sounds can be protected, according to Mr Birkett. "For instance, the sound of a Harley Davidson motorcycle has been registered as a trademark."

Mr Birkett said he had not detected any major difference in the spawning of new inventions over the past few years of the economic boom.

But there is no doubt that this is a growth area. To get an indication of how big the issue of patents, trademarks has become, one only has to look at the number of companies involved in this area. As well as FR Kelly, which employs 80 people, there are a further nine companies working in this area in the Republic.

Mr Birkett says his aim today is to enlighten people on intellectual property. He is a much-sought-after speaker at seminars and conferences, and regularly visits colleges and chambers of commerce to speak on the topic.

Apart from his interest in rugby - he is a past-president of the rugby club at his former school, St Mary's College in Rathmines - he describes his favourite pastime as working.

"I love this subject. I never stop working. But I don't consider it work. The day it turns into work will be the day I'll be looking for something new to do," he says.

When he does get away from world of intellectual property and patents, he prefers to spend whatever free time he has with his wife, Sheila, at their home in Terenure. They have three grown-up sons - Paul, who is managing director of Pepsi Ireland; Mel, who is an advertising manager with Haymarket Publishing in London; and Darragh, who is involved in hotel and catering in Dublin.

Mr Birkett says he is in a unique position to advise on intellectual property. He has more than 25 years of practical experience in all facets of graphic design, sales and marketing, both in the domestic and international markets.

Before moving to FR Kelly, he was partner in design and marketing company Bernardini, Birkett & Gardner, which was responsible for such identities as the K Club, Waterford Foods and Bundys. He is a past-president of the Society of Designers in Ireland.

In setting up the marketing department in FR Kelly, he exploited this know-how in intellectual property. Being both an inventor and marketing man himself, he says he has run the same gauntlet of patent and trademark registration as those he meets in the course of his daily business.

This allows him to empathise with the disparate groups he advises, he says.

"I'm actually able to talk about the process of going through patenting and the hard knocks. I've been there and done that," he says.