UKIPO aims to put IP ‘at the heart’ of govt’s innovation strategy
IP will be at the heart of the UK government’s new innovation strategy, the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has said in its response to the plan.
In a statement released on July 29, IPO chief executive Tim Moss, said: “We know that innovation is the engine of the modern economy and we’re proud of the contribution we’re making to drive that forward.”
“The UK’s new innovation strategy is the starting point for the government’s long-term vision of how we will cement our role as global leaders in innovation and deliver the target of research and development investment at 2.4% of GDP, and it has IP running through the heart of it,” said Moss.
He added that the strategy, launched by the Secretary of State for Business Kwasi Kwarteng on July 22, recognises that a strong IP system, which protects and allows for a return on investment on ideas, will create the confidence that leads to future success.
Boosting innovation
The government’s strategy will address “four pillars”, including unleashing business; supporting people and skills; serving the needs of institutions and places; and stimulating missions and technologies.
As part of its efforts to support innovation, the IPO will lead a call for views to better understand how the framework for standard-essential patents (SEPs) is functioning to support innovation and to establish whether change is needed.
In addition, the IPO will consult on the protection of inventions and creations made by artificial intelligence (AI) with minimal human input in autumn. Following its 2020 call for views, the IPO will look at options to address whether patents should be granted to inventions, and copyright should apply to creative works, created by AI.
To aid recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19, the IPO will provide financial support to innovative businesses for managing and commercialising their IP assets. This will include a new “IP Access’ fund” that will help businesses to grow and bounce back from the economic hardships of the past 18 months.
Bouncing back from COVID-19
Building on the IPO’s IP audit plus programme, this new scheme will support businesses to manage and commercialise their IP so that they can use the value within their IP assets to grow their business.
The IPO will also launch a new, free, fit for purpose support offer for businesses and organisations to make the most of their IP in overseas markets. The service will consist of easy to access, “self-serve”, online materials and clearer routes to access the UK’s network of IP experts based in key export markets around the world.
To support IP research education, the IPO will extend its existing programme to help more researchers grow their knowledge of IP management. According to the IPO, this will help them better understand and manage the IP they create and generate the maximum benefit from their research.
UK “can do better”
Commenting on the development, Antony Craggs, partner at law firm Lewis Silkin, said: “Any innovation strategy needs to be accompanied by robust IP protection. The UK does well in this regard, but it can do better. It does not offer utility model protection, its design protection is fragmented and it has no meaningful law of unfair competition.”
While he welcomed the proposal to expand the IPO’s IP education programme and launch a service to help navigate the international IP environment is welcome, Craggs argued that it fell short of the reforms needed.
“Enforcement is expensive, with a need for more active case management and costs caps, an example being the proposed cap for the Shorter Trials Scheme. This need is all the more acute with the UK’s withdrawal of the ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement,” he noted.
Graham Ablett, also a partner at Lewis Silkin, added that the UK needed to follow the lead of other countries. “Countries such as Japan, China, and the US offered financial incentives to encourage applying for IP protection. Research and development will be less effective unless backed up by a strong government strategy providing financial incentives to encourage applying for IP protection,” he concluded.
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