Windsor student believed to be UK’s youngest female patent holder

Xanthippe Barnes is believed to be the UK’s youngest female patent holder, at just eight years of age.

Xanthippe Barnes is most likely the UK’s youngest female patent holder, at just eight years of age, when the patent application for her automatic snow clearing apparatus, RoboSno™, was recently granted. (The UK patent office does not record date of birth for inventors.) A pupil at St George’s School Windsor Castle, Xanthippe designed her robot as part of an online DT lesson that took place during the covid lock-down, and then worked to develop it into an idea for a real product. The novel – or patentable – part of the invention is that it melts the collected snow in order to get rid of it.

William Goldsmith, Headmaster at Xanthippe’s school, St George’s School Windsor Castle, is a passionate advocate of encouraging students to ask the right questions, define problems and propose solutions, and was particularly pleased to learn about her invention.

The patent itself was drawn up by Philip Barnes, Xanthippe’s father and owner of Barnes IP – a Windsor and London-based intellectual property firm. The company focuses mainly on patenting in software and electronics, with expertise in AI, robotics, cybersecurity and space technologies, so the RoboSno™ robot fitted in with this perfectly.

If your child is interested in a career in IP, you can find out more at Barnes IP’s ‘World IP Day’ event in Windsor on 26th April. For more information and to register, please visit www.barnesip.co.uk/careers