Inspired by her own child suffering
from Stickler’s syndrome, graphic designer Mandy
Haberman designed a feeder for babies with sucking
difficulties.
The Haberman feeder was patented in the UK in 1984
and Mandy Haberman initially set up her own company
to commercialize the product worldwide before granting
manufacturing and distribution licenses.
The product’s success was significant, though the
nature of the product limited its distribution to
a very narrow market. A few years later, Mandy Haberman,
inspired this time by a friend’s child spilling blackcurrent
juice over a cream coloured carpet, decided to set
out to design a leak-proof cup that seals between
sips and created the Anywayup® cup. In 1992, the first
of many patents was filed (patent no. GB-B-2266045).
The patent protected her idea that uses a slit valve
to control the flow of liquid through the spout of
trainer cup. Additional patents both for the UK and
overseas were later filed and granted.
Prototypes of the innovative product were offered
for licensing to 18 companies concerned with the manufacture
of products for infants. Although the response was
enthusiastic, for various reasons, no license was
issued. Therefore, in 1996, Mandy Haberman decided
to join forces with a Cardiff-based marketing company
that specialized in marketing innovative products
and the Anywayup® cup started to sell in unprecedented
numbers (a rate of 60,000 a week). Shortly after,
a US company signed an exclusive USA licensing agreement
to manufacture and sell the product under the Tumble
Mates brand. Over 10 million cups are now sold each
year worldwide.
As is often the case, the Anywayup® cup risked of
being a victim of its own success. Just 18 months
after the product was launched, Mandy Haberman discovered
that one of the UK companies she had initially approached
for licensing was making a very similar product to
the Anywayup® cup. Mandy Haberman decided to sue the
other company and won the legal battle. An injunction
preventing further infringement of the patent was
ordered and the appeal was abandoned shortly thereafter
as an out of court settlement was reached.
Over the years, Mandy Haberman and the Anywayup® cup
have won numerous invention awards including the British
Female Inventor of the Year award in 2000 a Gold Medal
at the Salon International des Inventions in Geneva
as well as the UK’s top design industry awards. Today
Mandy Haberman is a successful entrepreneur and has
taken an active role in policy-making acting as adviser
to the UK government and the Patent Office on intellectual
property matters.
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