Chichester-based new product patenting and development company Patent Plan has seen an idea it protected in 1998 evolve into a product that now plays an integral role in the structure of the Millennium Dome. Kit Grundy, MD of Patent Plan was approached in 1998 by Michael Russell, MD of Arc Lighting, a lighting design and development company on the Isle of Wight, to protect the intellectual property of Arc's illuminated flooring system. Once the illuminated flooring system's patent protection was in place, Arc Lighting was approached by Dome architects who wished to use it to form the Money Zone's Investment Bridge. After the architects had seen the potential of the flooring system in greater detail, Arc was asked if the system could also be used for the exterior of the Money Zone. The company manufactured and installed 630sq.m of slim light boxes which weighed in excess of 25 tonnes and consumed 45,000W. Arc's flooring system has now gone on to win a SMART Award.
