UK

On November 10, 2010, Official announcement had been made to the effect that Professor Ian Hargreaves shall lead an independent review into how the intellectual property system in the United Kingdom can better drive growth and innovation. UK Intellectual Property Minister Baroness Wilcox had revealed the review would be led by the current chair of Digital Economy at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and Cardiff Business School. The review had been launched by UK Prime Minister David Cameron during a speech to an audience of high tech businesses and entrepreneurs in London’s East End.

See also my earlier posting here.

Today, the Review has been published.

According to the Report's own wording, the Review’s specific recommendations would support growth of the UK’s increasingly intangibles intensive economy. Mr Hargreaves is convinced this requires:

• An efficient digital copyright licensing system, where nothing is unusable because the rights owner cannot be found;
• an approach to exceptions in copyright which encourages successful new digital technology businesses both within and beyond the creative industries;
• a patent system capable of preventing heavy demand for patents causing serious barriers to market entry in critical technologies;
• reliable and affordable advice for smaller companies, to enable them to thrive in the IP intensive parts of the UK economy;
• refreshed institutional governance of the UK’s IP system which enables it to adapt organically to change in technology and markets.

In Mr Hargreaves' words, IP law must adapt to change. Digital communications technology involves routine copying of text, mages and data, meaning that copyright law has started to act as a regulatory barrier to the creation of certain kinds of new, internet based businesses. If the Review’s recommendations are acted upon, the result will be stronger rates of innovation and increased economic growth. An economic impact assessment conducted by the Review team, and of course subject to the high degree of uncertainty inherent in such projections, estimates that this would add between 0.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent to annual GDP growth. The path laid down in the Review would also, over time, mean that IP law, including copyright law, would become clearer and be observed by most people without controversy.

In summary, the Review appears to be an attempt to restore common sense in IP politics, steering away from IP maximisation extremism as well as from IP abolitionist views.

Mr Ian Hargreaves

The review is expected to report in April 2011 and will look at:

• Barriers to new internet-based business models, including the costs of obtaining permissions from existing rights-holders;
• The cost and complexity of enforcing intellectual property rights within the UK and internationally;
• The interaction between IP and Competition frameworks;
• The cost and complexity to SMEs of accessing services to help them protect and exploit their IP.

According to a report in The Telegraph, Mr Mark Owen of media and entertainment law firm Hartbottle & Lewis said the prospect of another review was 'depressing', a waste of money and reflected a lack of strategic thinking in policy making. However, on the contrary, Mr Ilya Kazi, Chartered Patent Attorney and partner from intellectual property advisors Mathys & Squire is reported to have said in the same Telegraph article said that 'The announcement of a review of British IP laws is long overdue'.

See also Mr Joff Wild here and there in the IAM Blog.

(Photo: (C) Cardiff University)

Logo of UK-IPO

"The Intellectual Property Office today (9 March 2009) announced a review of its trademark fees and services with a public consultation.

A range of options, including a reduced fee package and new support services, aims to help businesses register marks more easily and affordably in the UK, potentially saving them over £700,000 per annum.

The review has been prompted by a decrease in demand for patent and trademark applications in the UK, (down 12% in 2008) with other trade mark offices, including the European trade mark office, also seeing reductions.

A fee reduction for applications to the European trade mark office has this week been agreed by the EU Member States, a move long supported by the UK. The proposals contained in the Intellectual Property Office consultation document will help maintain the UK as a competitive option for businesses looking to protect their intellectual property."

See also an article on FT.com. According to the newspaper, some EU countries had been concerned that the OHIM’s move, which was prompted by unexpected popularity of the community trademark and subsequent financial surpluses at the office, might undercut business at their national offices. As a result, the OHIM’s fee reduction had been held up by wrangling.

Mr Tom Watson on a Segway

Open Source has been one of the most significant cultural developments in IT and beyond over the last two decades: it has shown that individuals, working together over the Internet, can create products that rival and sometimes beat those of giant corporations; it has shown how giant corporations themselves, and Governments, can become more innovative, more agile and more cost-effective by building on the fruits of community work; and from its IT base the Open Source movement has given leadership to new thinking about intellectual property rights and the availability of information for re–use by others.

[...]

Over the past five years many government departments have shown that Open Source can be best for the taxpayer – in our web services, in the NHS and in other vital public services.