Successful British inventor and entrepreneur

My first invention, the Haberman Feeder, was invented for a special need. The Haberman Feeder was born out of a genuine necessity, as I needed a feeding solution for my baby. There was no bottle or teat (sometimes referred to as a 'nipple') available in the marketplace to help my daughter Emily who was born with feeding difficulties. This product is widely acclaimed by medical professionals and specialist advisory groups.

The Haberman Feeder became an essential medical tool that is widely used for a variety of feeding difficulties. For over 30 years, it has been recommended by medical professionals and is widely used in hospitals throughout the world.

Inspiration for my next invention came when I observed a toddler spilling blackcurrant juice all over my friend's carpet. I set about inventing a valve-controlled cup that would automatically shut when removed from the child’s mouth. It was the first totally non-drip toddler trainer cup (also known as a 'sippy cup'), to seal between sips.

Audacious ways to introduce the new product to the marketplace, including our ploy of sending the chief buyer of a supermarket chain an Anywayup® cup filled with juice through the post. It got my product onto the shelves! Sales soared.

The Anywayup® cup revolutionised the feeding products market and remains the best and most reliable non-spill cup in the world.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but the Anywayup® cup's popularity led to wrongful appropriation and close imitation by others. Copycat cups and valves start appearing. Several high profile David and Goliath court cases and legal battles followed.

My intellectual property was successfully defended and out of court settlements reached.

My Anywayup® cup is awarded a Gold Medal at the Salon International des Inventions in Geneva and wins a Horner's Award for innovative use of plastics, sponsored by the British Plastics Federation.

The Anywayup® cup is honoured twice over at the UK's top design industry awards. It wins Best Consumer Product and the overall 3M Award for Innovation categories at the Design Effectiveness Awards 2000. It is named winner of the Tommy Award for Most Parent Friendly Innovative Product.

I am named Female Inventor of the Year.

I am appointed to the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents (CIPA) Disciplinary Board.

Intellectual Property Strategic Information Technology Advisory Committee (IPSITAC) (2001/2).

I am awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Design and made an Honorary Fellow of Bournemouth University.

I am invited to join the Simfonec Advisory Committee Science Enterprise Centre led by Cass Business School at City University with The Royal Veterinary College, Kings College, Queen Mary, University of London and the Advisory Council for the European Commission's 'Information Society Technologies Programme' (PRISM), the Intellectual Property Strategic Information Technology Advisory Committee (IPSITAC) and the Intellectual Property Advisory Committee IPAC.

I team up with a group of strategic business partners and form Haberman Products, a business focused on innovative infant feeding products, to develop and bring my latest invention, the Suckle Feeder, to market. With my team’s help, I secured growth funding from a global financial services business and was the beneficiary of a grant to help take my new product from inception to fruition. To aid expansion into eastern Europe, Haberman secured a partnership with Canpol Babies, a leading manufacturer of baby products in Poland. Manufacture from the plant in Poland begins.

I am appointed Non-executive member of British Library’s Business and IP Centre Project Board (2007-10) and join the judging panel for the annual student Design Innovation Plastics Award.

I am invited to join the Editorial Board of Patent World, Informa Law.

The first Suckle Feeder rolls off the production line.

My feeding innovations continue to win major parenting and innovation accolades and the Suckle Feeder has been awarded a coveted Prima Baby Gold Award, Right Start Best Baby Essentials, Made for Mums, Mother & Baby and Junior Magazine Design awards. I am appointed Director of Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN) and Education Sub Group.

I am invited by the European Patent Office to be a jury member for the European Inventor Award (2014-16).

I am appointed Non-Executive Director of the UK Intellectual Property Office Steering Board and become a Founder Member and Freeman of the Guild of Entrepreneurs.

Major UK retailers line up to sell my innovations. 42 million products are now sold every year featuring Haberman technology.

I am appointed by HM Govt Dept of Business Energy & Industrial Strategy for a further two years to the Intellectual Property Office Steering Board and I am quoted and featured in World IP Day (2021) marketing materials.

I am invited to join a task force ‘IPBlast’ under the IPAN banner to advise on Young Enterprise IP Education. Group members include Matt Lawman (EIP patent attorney), Prof Andy Penaluna who works with QAA on Enterprise Education, Kath Penaluna an IP education academic and Prof Ruth Soetendorp.

Haberman commissioned to develop a new range of premium cup products for the Pigeon brand. Exciting new Haberman innovations in development.

My IP awareness activity included delivering the Keynote speech for the Design Innovation Plastics (DIP) Awards ceremony. I was also panel speaker for the IP and Small Businesses - Seminar at UCL Faculty of Laws (London). This was a joint event between the Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN), the Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL), and IP Pro Bono and explored the ways in which the IP system serves the interests of individuals and small businesses.

Pigeon unveil Haberman's new all-in-one Training Master Drinking Cup series at the 22nd Children Baby Maternity Expo (CBME 2023) in Shanghai. I address Enterprise and Leadership students at London's Southbank University.

Changing the face of weaning - again - with a less-mess patented weaning spoon PLUS .... an exciting innovation that is set to shake-up the children's sports' bottle market completely!