ipleader
12 November 2013Copyright

New report highlights UK as leader for IP

The UK has been named as a world leader for intellectual property rights, but businesses worldwide are concerned at outdated global laws, according to a report.

The Global Intellectual Property Index (GIPI), released today, November 12, by Taylor Wessing LLP, compares IP regimes in various jurisdictions based on their accessibility, ease of enforcing rights and legal framework.

Now in its fourth edition, the report covers all aspects of IP including copyright, patents and trademarks as well as data protection and design rights. The report's authors solicited expert opinion on worldwide laws.

The GIPI was developed by Taylor Wessing in association with the Z/Yen Group, a London-based think tank.

The top of the table was largely dominated by Europe, with the UK regaining top spot ahead of Germany and the Netherlands.

A total of 36 jurisdictions were compared, up from 24 in the previous edition, with each territory rated separately for each IP system.

EU member states were more closely ranked than previously, suggesting harmonisation is taking effect with the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC) on the horizon, while Germany was ranked first for its speedy patent procedure.

However, it is as yet unclear how the UK’s position within the EU will affect any negotiations for the patent or UPC.

Should the current government win the 2015 election, the UK will have an “in or out” referendum on EU membership and Paul England, a senior associate in the firm’s patent team, said it was unclear what effect that may have.

Describing it as the “million-dollar question” England said: "EU membership is currently a requirement for both the patent and the UPC. I suspect an 'out' result in the proposed referendum would actually lead to negotiations on exit, which would see us stay in both."

The US, which recently introduced a first-file-system as part of its patent law, fell from fourth to 10th overall including from fifth to 17th under design law and fourth to 11th for patents.

Elsewhere in the report, China, despite recently outlining significant changes to its trademark law, dropped to second last in the table ahead of India.

Roland Mallinson, partner in the firm’s trademark, copyright and media group, said China had often been a hot bed for bad faith trademark registrations but that the new revisions came into force too late.

However, Mallinson added that expert opinion had suggested that there may still be ways to get around the new laws.

The research also revealed that 60 percent of business leaders worldwide considered IP laws had not kept up with advances in technology.

"It's clear that governments need to take action to bring laws up to date with 21st century technology. We are quickly reaching a stage where mere modifications to the law will not be enough,” Mallinson said.

“Half of the 36 jurisdictions we've reviewed have significant copyright law changes planned but many still operate with outdated laws and procedures which differ so much that they stifle innovation.”

The report also found that the majority of respondents are investing more time but not more money on IP.

More than 60 percent of those surveyed said they were spending more time on IP than in the previous three years, but only 46 percent said they were spending more money on it.

GIPI uses more than 14,000 jurisdiction assessments from senior industry figures, including lawyers and academics.

The report can be viewed here.

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14 June 2016   Law firm Taylor Wessing has released its fifth report into the assessment of how intellectual property regimes of global jurisdictions compare to one another.