FANCY beer-scented darts or perhaps rose- perfumed car tyres? No, perhaps not. But as perhaps expected the darts are doing huge business Down Under for both the manufacturers and even more importantly the inventor.

Getting protected is patently good advice and it's a message that was recently hitting the bull's-eye in Newport.

If you have an idea that you want to turn into a business then it pays to protect your brainchild.

That was the message from experts at the Patent Office during a workshop on Intellectual Property held for KEF entrepreneurship champions from colleges and universities around Wales.

Dr Jeremy Philpott, marketing executive for the Patent Office, said the three-hour 'Profit from Ideas' workshop held in Newport was designed to help ring alarm bells. Her said: "It can't make you an expert but it shows where the pitfalls are and to help spot a problem before it arises.

"I'd like to call the session Intellectual Property first aid. "It'll keep the patient alive long enough to attain professional health - but then they'll need to refer to specialists."

Intellectual Property rights, which include patents, registered designs, trade marks and copyright, help give legal recognition to the ownership of new ideas or brand names, and the right to stop others from exploiting them.

Dr Philpott said logos, use of colours, music, and slogans can all be registered. And under the latest legislation, even smells have the right to be protected, although, as explained, only two have ever been granted to companies, both bizarre.

The smell of roses was applied to tyres to make car boots more fragrant, and darts got a special aroma by being beer-scented.

Dr Philpott said: "They are going down a storm in Australia." If entrepreneurs are to avoid a lot of expensive and frustrating pitfalls then they have to get protected early on.

Lawrence Smith-Higgins, who was jointly running the workshop, said: "A problem was often in people giving too much away.

"One golden rule is, do not publish or go on the record to talk about your idea, because once you have it's very difficult to protect yourself." Bringing the workshop to a KEF audience was Lesley Jefferson, Entrepreneurship Champion at Coleg Glan Hafren.

She said: "It's not only useful for the ECs who are advising on new enterprise but also for lecturers who need to teach correctly on topics like copyright. "It also helps institutions that have internal copyright issues to identify their own requirements within the organisation."