The Patent Office is responsible for the registration of designs and trade marks and was formerly known as the Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Office. The Intellectual Property Office became an operating name of the Patent Office on 2 April 2007.

The Society of Chemical Industry held its first meeting in London on 4 April 1881 at the offices of the Chemical Society, now the Royal Society of Chemistry, in Burlington House. Its members had first met the previous year under the societis earlier names - the South Lancashire Chemical Society and the the Society of Chemical Engineers�. The society's first president was Henry Roscoe and its membership included many leading chemists, chemical engineers and industrialists.

Publisher based in London, known to have been active 1870-1970.

(1855-1935) Analytical Chemist Charles Frederick Cross was born on the 11th December 1855 at Brentford, Middlesex. He was educated at King's College, London where he graduated BSc in 1878 and spent some time at Zürich university and polytechnic and Owens College, Manchester. After early work on jute fibre in Barrow in Furness and Kew, in 1885 he set up in business in Lincoln's Inn in partnership with Edward J. Bevan, his fellow student at Manchester, as analytical and consulting chemists. In 1892 Cross discovered viscose, which made the manufacture of artificial silk, afterwards called rayon, and also used for the manufacture of photographic film, possible. Initially, his interest in the fibre was not as a new textile but as a basis for the fine filaments needed for the newly developed electric lamp. Cross's patent remained a chemical master patent for its full term of years and was extended for a further term in view of its outstanding merit. It was soon worked throughout the world, and over the years 1893–1900 his process was developed through proprietary companies in London, Breslau, and Paris. With C. H. Stearn he founded the Viscose Spinning Syndicate, which developed the spinning of artificial silk. This was later acquired by Courtaulds. Cross was also a pioneer in the production of transparent viscose films (cellophane), used in huge quantities by the packaging industry. Cross was actively interested in the theoretical and practical chemistry of Cellulose. When he began his research its chemical identity was obscure: by the 1920s his work had contributed largely to elucidating the basic features of its structure. He published his researches in book form as well as in contributions to scientific journals. His book Cellulose (written in collaboration with Bevan, 1895) is unique, full of imagination and stimulating ideas. He also published four volumes of Researches on Cellulose (1901–22), the first three in collaboration with Bevan, the last with Charles Dorée. Cross was elected FRS in 1917, awarded the medal of the Society of Chemical Industry in 1916, the research medal of the Dyers' Company in 1918 and the Perkin medal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists in 1924. He married Edith Vernon in 1890; they had two sons and one daughter. He died at his home, 4C King's Gardens, Hove, Sussex, on 15 April 1935.

1856-1921, Analytical Chemist Edward John Bevan was born on the 11th December 1856 at 8 Argyle Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire. After attending private schools he became a laboratory assistant at the Runcorn Soap and Alkali Company. He was advised to continue his education and went to Owens College, Manchester, between 1877 and 1879. He then worked for three years for Alexander Cowan & Co. at Musselburgh Paper Mills. At Owens College he had met Charles Frederick Cross and the two chemists joined forces at the Jodrell Laboratory, Kew Gardens, with the aim of exploring the chemistry of cellulose. They went into partnership as analytical chemists at Lincoln's Inn in 1885. Bevan was appointed public analyst for Middlesex county council in 1892. He was president of the Society of Public Analysts in 1905–6, and vice-president of the Institute of Chemistry in 1905–8 and 1914–17. The interest of Cross and Bevan in the chemistry of cellulose led them to a key patent in May 1892, with their colleague Clayton Beadle (1868–1917). The three partners set up the Viscose Syndicate in 1893, with the aim of producing adhesives, films, coatings for natural fibres, and mouldings, and British Viscoid Ltd followed in 1896. In May 1894 Cross and Bevan patented the manufacture of cellulose acetate, which was later developed and sold as a fibre by the British Celanese Company, in competition with viscose rayon. He died, unmarried, at 18 Dorset Square, Marylebone, London, on 17 October 1921.

1854-c1900, publisher, London, England. Established by John S. M. Churchill, in 1854, specialising in medical literature. Known to have still been active as J & A Churchill in 1900

Author of chemical texts, active 1892.

c1800-1972, publisher, London Established as Lockwood & Co. by Mark Lockwood at 7 Stationers' Hall Court, Ludgate Hill, London, England. In the 1850s, Mark Lockwood died, and his son Crosby Lockwood took over and the company became Crosby Lockwood & Co, and later Crosby Lockwood & Son Ltd The firm merged with Staples Press in 1972 to become Crosby Lockwood Ltd.

Author and chemist. Known to have been active in 1893

1724-1970, publisher, London, England. Founded by Thomas Longman in 1724, Longmans is the oldest publishing house in the United Kingdom. The firm had many imprints including (but not limited to) T. Longman (1724), Longman and Rees (1800), Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green (1825), Longman Green & Co. (1880). Longman remained a family business until 1970, when it merged with Penguin Books.

British chemist who conducted research on a wide range of subjects. He contributed to the understanding of the relationship between substances' molecular weights and their specific gravities, and his work on phosphorus compounds led to a better understanding of phosphorus and the prevention of the illnesses it caused to workers in the match industry. Thorpe's work on the atomic weights of metals led to the award of a Royal Medal in 1889. He also took part in four eclipse expeditions, and a magnetic survey of the British Isles.

The company's origins date back to 1733, when James Whatman set up a papermill in Maidstone, Kent. William Balston was apprenticed to Whatman in the 1780s, and later founded Springfield Mill in 1806. William and Richard Balston took over the running of the mill in 1861. In 1974 the company merged with Angel Reeve International to form Whatman Angel Reeve, this was later restructured and renamed Whatman PLC

Chemist, fellow of the Royal Society and chair of chemistry at University College, Nottingham from 1897 to 1936.

William Henry Perkin was born on 17 June 1860 in Sudbury, the elder son of Sir William Henry Perkin (1838–1907). Perkin was the first professor of chemistry at the Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh and became professor of organic chemistry at Owens College in 1890, where he created an internationally renowned school.

Author and consultant chemist. Known to have been active in 1900.

Author and chemist, known to have been active in 1900.

Author and chemist. Known to have been active in 1900.

1807-current (2016), publisher, New York, USA. Founded in 1807 by Charles Wiley. Taken over by his son John in 1826, the company name was later updated to John Wiley and Sons in 1876. Later renamed as Wiley.

1834-c1939, publisher, London, England Founded in 1834 by Edward Chapman and William Hall. Merged with Methuen in the 1930s and eventually became part of CRC Press, where the name is still used as an imprint.

Author. Known to have been active in 1901.

London based publisher founded in 1890, focusing on books and journals for students and academics. The company was sold to Hodder Education Group in 2001.

Author. Known to have been active in 1903.

1898-1948, publisher, Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1898 by Blackie & Son Ltd, incorporated in 1917 as Gresham Publishing Co Ltd.

German author. Active c1903.

Chemical and general merchant based in Todmorden.

Author and industrial chemist. Known to have been active in 1918.

Paint manufacturer based in Ambler, Pennsylvania, USA. Known to have been active in 1924.

1785-1998, electroplating equipment manufacturer, Birmingham, England. Established in Birmingham in 1785, manufacturing equipment for electroplating and polishing. The company also had offices in London and Sheffield. They were taken over by MacDermid Incorporated in 1998.

1886-1985, publishers, Bath, England Publishing company established in Bath in 1886 as Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons. Reincorporated as Pitman Ltd in 1975, becoming a public limited company in 1982. Purchased by Pearson Plc in 1985.

Author. Known to have been active in 1929.

1759-current, museum, London, England

Active 1939. Development council, London.

Active c1939, cement manufacturer, Birmingham, England

Active 1923-1950, manufacturer of concrete products, Grays, Essex.

Manchester based publishing company, publisher of The Textile Weekly. Known to have been active in 1954.

1894-current(2016, polymer material manufacturer Established in around 1894 as British Cyanides Co. It is the oldest polymer material manufacturer in the UK, and amongst the oldest in the world. In 1924, the company patented the world’s first ‘water-white’ thermoset resin, and in 1926, they produced the world’s first white commercial moulding powder. 1929, the company purchased the Streetly Manufacturing Co (SMC) to serve as its own moulding plant. In 1936, the company name was changed to British Industrial Plastics (BIP). BIP was taken over by Turner and Newall in 1961. They now trade as BIP (Oldbury) Limited.

London based publisher, produced the Chemical Trade Journal & Chemical Engineer. Known to have been active in 1962-1963.

Publishing company based in London. Produced The Dyer, Textile Printer, Bleacher and Finisher periodical. Known to have been active in c1903-1962.

active 1879-1950, printer; lithographer, Manchester

Author. Known to have been active in c1929.

The Ministry of Supply was established in 1939 with responsibility for the Royal Ordnance Factories and for the supply of munitions, clothing etc to the War Office and Air Ministry. In 1946 it took over the responsibilities of the Ministry of Aircraft Production after it was abolished. In October 1959 the civil aviation functions of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation were transferred to the Ministry of Supply, which was simultaneously disbanded and reconstituted as the Ministry of Aviation; at the same time supply functions, with the exception of those relating to aircraft, guided missiles, radar and electronic equipment, were returned to the Air Ministry and War Office.