Westminster Legal Policy Forum: Willetts to lead IP Bill through the Commons

Government minister David Willetts is to lead the Intellectual Property Bill through the House of Commons, the UK’s IP minister has announced.

The bill, which includes measures for criminalising the copying of registered UK designs, was approved by the lower chamber of Britain’s parliament, the House of Lords, in July.

It was presented to the House of Commons in August and is now set to be formally debated for the first time in the upper chamber of parliament.

Willetts, who is minister for universities and science, is responsible for “innovation”, according to his official page.

Permanent under secretary of state for intellectual property, Lord Younger, revealed Willetts’s involvement in a speech at the Westminster Legal Policy Forum in London, on Thursday (October 24).

The forum was dedicated to the IP bill, which has been introduced to modernise British IP law. Provisions include providing the power to implement the Unified Patent Court (when it is created) and, most controversially, introducing criminal sanctions for copying designs.

The bill, in its current form, legislates against the production of designs that are “substantially” similar to existing ones.

But some IP associations, including the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, are worried the bill could have a chilling effect on designers, and had asked for the words “deliberate and sustained” to be added in before “copying”.

But Younger told the Westminster Forum that the bill is balanced and fair.

It will be a “significant step” towards building a stronger IP framework, he added, while helping to businesses to prosper and stimulate economic growth.

Earlier in his speech, Younger responded to statements by Lord Stevenson, of the Labour party, who was speaking at the conference.

Stevenson had said that the government “doesn’t help itself” by having two departments – the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Ministry for Culture, Media and Sport – “looking after” IP.

As a result, he said, “there is no one in government who stands up for IP”.

“He [Younger] is just a junior minister and has lots of other responsibilities. I want to see someone full-time, banging on people’s doors [about IP].”

If Labour is elected in 2015, Stevenson said, the party will ensure only one department covers IP.

“But even that might not be sufficient, so we would have ministers [with IP knowledge] embedded across Whitehall,” he said.

Younger, who told the audience they could be forgiven for thinking he and Stevenson “were back in the chamber”, rejected the claims.

“I’m not sure there is a need for four more Tsars in government,” he said.

Younger continued by highlighting the government’s legislative efforts in the IP arena. Aside from the IP bill, he said reforms to UK copyright law – including a private copying defence – will be debated in parliament this year.

Non-legislative developments include providing government-funded IP audits to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop their IP assets, and assisting SMEs with dispute resolution.

The Westminster Forum took place on October 24.