general news

 UK government proposes changes to design protection and expansion of patent opinions service (2 May 2013)

On 30th April, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published the Government response to the consultation on reform of the legal framework protecting for designs.  It proposes to legislate as soon as possible to simplify the system. The proposals will be taken forward alongside other non-legislative changes, such as electronic filing, to help streamline registration processes and make them easier for businesses to use.

• read the IPAN press release here
• see IPO website page

Also on 30th April,  the IPO published Government proposals to expand the patent opinions service and make other changes to the Patents Act

• see IPO website page

3rd IPAN event celebrates World IP Day in the Palace of Westminster - Wed. 24th Apr 2013 

Successful entrepreneur Luke Johnson, award-winning designer Lee Broom and his business partner Charles Rudgard shared the platform with John Alty, chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office, at an event organised by the IP Awareness Network (IPAN) in the Houses of Parliament, to mark World Intellectual Property Day (26 April).

Pete Wishart MP, Vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for IP, again hosted the event attended by around 80 business people and parliamentarians. In his welcome address he offered his enthusiastic support for IPAN’s work in improving parliamentarians’ understanding of the sometimes complex world of IP issues.

In his talk, John Alty, the IPO chief executive unveiled new measures to encourage UK universities to include IP education on their curriculum. He also announced a new research study into how IP assets can provide security for business loans and investments. IPAN member organisations will be involved in gathering evidence for the study.

• see IPAN Press Release

IPAN chairman Peter Prowse concluded the discussion with a message from IP Minister, Viscount Younger of Leckie:

Our extraordinary creative strengths and our flair for inventiveness, born of outstanding research, mean that Britain has unique intellectual property assets, attractive to businesses and buyers around the world. We should both celebrate our abilities, and come together to build an environment in which they can translate into future economic success.

• read the full IPAN press release here

  ‘Wise head’ patent attorney wins Queen's Award for Enterprise (22 Apr 2013)

Patent Attorney Richard Gallafent has been awarded one of the UK’s most prestigious business awards: The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, which are ‘given only to companies or individuals who are outstanding in their field.’

Richard Gallafent’s award is for enterprise promotion. It was reported in the Financial Times on 22 April under the headline ‘Wise heads help raw talent.’ His work in this field includes being an advisory team panel member for ideas21, a long-standing member of the Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN).  ideas21’s founder Linda Oakley was honoured with an MBE in 2006, for ‘services to invention and innovation’.
 

Richard is a Past President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and sits on various Intellectual Property Office committees. He was a member of the IP Advisory Committee and is a co-author of Intellectual Property Law and Tax. Richard is a regular advisor at the advice sessions organised by ideas 21 at the British Library Business & IP Centre.

UK to exempt trials of innovative drugs from infringement (27 feb 2013)

Following a consultation with stakeholders, the UK Government proposes to change the law (section 60(5), Patents Act 1977) so that trialling innovative drugs to gain regulatory marketing approval for anywhere in the world will not infringe any relevant patents. The proposal would also similarly exempt health technology assessment activities such as providing data to support assessment by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Introducing these specific exceptions to patent infringement - the so-called Bolar exception - would bring UK patent law into line with that in most other major countries.

•  download the UK Government response to its consultation on the research and Bolar exception here

new trademark for Plant Variety Breeding and Seed Innovation (2 feb 2013)

Participating seed companies and plant breeders unveiled the new EU-registered 'PVR Protecting Innovation' trademark for the first time at the annual LAMMA agricultural event in Newark, UK, as part of a new information campaign.

Initiated jointly by BSPB (British Society of Plant Breeders) and AIC (Agricultural Industries Federation) on behalf of the UK plant breeding and seeds sector, the campaign will focus on the importance of Plant Variety Rights (PVR) as a unique form of intellectual property to protect, stimulate and reward progress in crop improvement.

The PVR trademark will soon start appearing across the seed industry on seed bags, stationery, invoices, websites, variety boards and marketing material. Supporting information about Plant Variety Rights, plant breeding and seed production will be provided through a dedicated campaign website and literature.

• read more here

 new EU Unified Patent Court - another step nearer (20 feb 2013)

The international agreement for establishing a Unified Patent Court (UPC) was signed on 19th Feb in Brussels. It will ensure uniform applicability of patent law throughout the signatory countries.  The new court is expected to be up and running from 2015.  At least 13 member states including the UK, France and Germany will have to ratify the agreement before it can enter into force. 

The UPC will be a court common to the contracting member states and thus subject to the same obligations under Union law as any national court. It is an international agreement concluded outside the EU institutional framework.  

The UPC will consist of a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal and a Registry. The Court of First Instance will comprise local and regional divisions as well as a central division. The Court of Appeal will be located in Luxembourg while the seat of the central division of the Court of First Instance and the Registry will be in Paris.  London will host an important part of the new UPC's Central Division, handling litigation in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences sectors.  Munich will be the base for the part of the Central Division dealing with mechanical engineering cases. Matters concerning the interpretation of EU law will still be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

 After the signing ceremony in Brussels when 24 states signed (including Italy but excluding Spain, Poland and Bulgaria), UK  Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

"The agreement will help our inventors who can in future spend more time on research and development, producing new ideas and less time filling in forms and defending their patents in court. We estimate benefits to the UK of around £200m a year."

Along with other organisations representing British industry and the legal profession, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) queries the claimed figures. Experts in the patent system have real concerns about the long-term adverse effects the proposed new system is likely to have on the competitiveness of UK businesses.

In letters to the UK IP minister Lord Younger, CIPA, the IP Federation and other industry bodies – including the IT industry association Intellect - are calling for a proper, evidence-based economic impact assessment of the effect on the UK economy, to be carried out and made widely available before Parliament is asked to ratify the UPC Agreement.

CIPA has praised the UK government for its successful negotiations last year, resulting in a reduction in the influence of the Europe’s central court, the CJEU, and in a political agreement that an important section of the Central Court should come to London. However, there remain many uncertainties:

• What will be the cost of obtaining a European patent under the new system? And the cost of renewal?
• What will the new court fees be?
• What proportion of UK companies – large and small – are likely to use the new system, once they know the likely costs?
• What will be the effect on innovation of the threat of innovative small businesses being hit with a pan-European injunction? This is likely to happen, even to businesses that choose not to use the new system themselves; they cannot choose not to be sued under the new system.
  

read the UK Intellectual Property Office press release here

and the EU Council announcement here

and FAQs about the new EU unitary patent and Unified Patent Court here

  another Minister for IP in the UK - the Viscount Younger of Leckie (9 jan 13)

Following Lord Marland's resignation after only a few months as IP Minister (see below), the Cabinet Office has announced the Prime Minister's appointment of the Viscount Younger of Leckie as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, with responsibility for the IP portfolio.

• read the Cabinet Office press release here
• and Lord Younger's Gov.UK page here

protection of Image Rights - new form of IP protection available in Guernsey (3 Dec 12 - updated 10 jan 13)

In a world first, Guernsey has introduced a new form of IP protection for Image Rights.  Just after midnight on Monday 3rd December the Guernsey IP Office received its first application for registered personalities and associated image rights.

Deputy Kevin Stewart, Commerce and Employment Minister said:

I welcome the commencement of the Image Rights (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Ordinance 2012 which was approved by the States of Guernsey on Wednesday 28th November. The commencement of the Ordinance, together with the opening of the Intellectual Property Office for registrations will bring new economic opportunities.

Fiona Le Poidevin, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency of the Island’s finance industry, said:

What this means is that Guernsey has become the first place in the world where a person can formally register their image rights. These image rights are not necessarily just images per se but also other characteristics associated with the person.

John Ogier, Guernsey Registrar of IP explained:

The interest in the UK and internationally covers the wide fields of sports rights, the entertainment industries of music, arts and media, business leaders and the managers of the estates of deceased persons for succession planning and charitable works.

The legislation has been carefully drafted to balance the commercial interests for a strong right with the interests of protecting public expression and freedom of news reporting. There are therefore specific provisions ensuring the continued right to news reporting together with public expressions of parody, satire and use of images in research, education, public administration and law enforcement.

• read more here and here 
• hear all about it at a free seminar in London on 23rd Jan 2013

student attitudes to IP and its teaching - survey results prompt rethink about IP teaching in Further Education (23 Oct 12)

The full results of the online survey by the National Union of Students (see below) of students show that IP education in UK Universities and HEIs needs to be rethought.  

The survey was carried out earlier this year with the support of IPAN and the Intellectual Property Office.  It found that most students believe that the way they are taught about IP does not equip them for their future careers.  Universities and colleges focus too much on the negative aspects of plagiarism and not enough on the benefits of IP rights, such as patents, trade marks and registered designs.

In welcoming the finding of the report, David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science said:

It is vital that we have an IP literate workforce to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing workplace. I believe the key to success is to garner support from professional bodies responsible for accrediting courses, as well as university and industry and to use that support to bring about changes to the curriculum.

• read more here
  
• download the full report here

new Minister for IP appointed (Sep 12)

Lord Marland takes over from Baroness Wilcox, who was IP minister at BIS from May 2010 until the recent ministerial reshuffle. The UK government is unique in Europe in having a minister whose principal responsibility is intellectual property.

Four of the five ministers who have held the position – created in June 2007 under the then Labour government – have been in the Lords, the exception being David Lammy, MP for Tottenham and a qualified barrister.

The new minister is about to find himself trying to steer through the turbulent waters of a European agreement on a proposed unitary patent,

says Chris Mercer, president of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

Although David Cameron agreed a way forward with other European leaders at a summit in late June, there are a lot more hearts and minds to be won over before the deal gets approved by the European Parliament.

"With the assistance and support of the IPO itself and the trade mark and patent attorney professions, we look forward to many exciting initiatives to raise the profile of IP and drive the economy forward."

student attitudes to IP and its teaching - IPAN collaborates in National Union of Students Research (April 12 updated Sep 12)

What do students really think about IP and how it is taught - new research by National Union of Students Services may tell us.

IPAN's Education Group collaborated with the National Union of Students (NUS) and the Intellectual Property Office in research about student understanding of intellectual property and how information on it should be delivered in their studies.  The research involved an on-line survey launched in April targeting about current students in UK Higher Education Institutions.  A prize was awarded to Tamara Ralph of Birkbeck University of London for the first complete reply. Over 2000 replies were received in all and the results will be reported in October.

• Find out more about the NUS research here

celebrating World IP Day in the Palace of Westminster - Thursday 26th Apr 2012 

World Intellectual Property Day is observed on April 26 each year with a variety of events and activities worldwide. It aims to increase people’s awareness and understanding of intellectual property (IP) globally.

With sponsorship from ten of its member bodies IPAN iheld a special event and reception for Parliamentarians at the Palace of Westminster.  The invitation event for which Pete Wishart MP was the host had the theme: "Intellectual Property - growth from vision".   The programme featured Baroness Wilcox, Minister for IP as well as speakers from the CBI, WIPO, the IPO Digital Copyright Exchange and IPAN.

See our special World IP Day page for more information about the programme and speakers

• read IPAN press release here (27 Apr 12)
• read report in IPKat blog (27 Apr 12)

BBC Radio's Five Live Investigates reports on bogus patent and trade mark fee demands (19th Feb 12)

Five Live Investigates reported in its programme on Sunday 19th Feb at 9pm about scammers who send out "misleading and official-looking missives to trade mark and patent owners, luring them into paying handsome sums of money for the privilege of renewing their rights or for listings in commercially valueless registers and directories."  Both the patent and trade mark representative bodies CIPA and ITMA respectively have submitted comments for inclusion in the report.

• see the CIPA site and ITMA site for more information

UK Parliament to debate the contribution of IP to economic growth - 7 Feb 12: 9.30am

Pete Wishart M.P. has secured a further Private Members' parliamentary debate on IP issues in Westminster Hall on 7 Feb 2012 starting at 9.30am - this time focusing on the contribution of IP to economic growth.  In July 2011 he had succeeded in getting IP issues arising from the Hargreaves Report (see below) debated in Parliament.

• the debate can be viewed by following the link: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=9989

Europe wide unitary patent system almost agreed - well not quite!!! (6 dec 11 - updated jan 12)

The EU Competitiveness Council which met in Brussels early December 2011 came close to agreeing the substantive elements (including translation arrangements) of the two new regulations and international convention necessary to establish a new single unitary EU wide patent and a corresponding new unitary patent court (UPC).   The proposals have been agreed in principle with the EU Parliament but still need its formal approval expected in early 2012.  However there were some important remaining issue still to be resolved such as the location for the central division of the UPC - see item below - and how the UPC would operate and whether sections on infringement will be included in the regulations establishing the unitary patent system.  As a result the Polish Presidency decided it was in fact unable to conclude matters and it is now likely that this will happen during the Danish Presidency.

• read the provisional official press release (page 19 on refers)
  

European Patents Court location  - a tale of two cities: London or Munich (30 nov 11)

London and Munich are competiting to be the base for the proposed new European Patents Court. The UK government is shortly due to agree a new European system on patent law.  A new treaty will set up a Unitary Patents Court to consider patent cases across Europe. Germany has proposed that the Central Division of the court should be located in Munich (where the European Patent Office is already located). High-value additional work and revenue will inevitably flow to law firms and ancillary businesses based in the city chosen for the court’s Central Division.

The EU’s Polish current Presidency wants to get the main outlines of this treaty agreed in early December and the incoming Danish Presidency has already announced its intention to see the Treaty itself signed in June 2012.

The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and other IP professional groups are lobbying the UK government hard in favour of London as location for the new court.  CIPA claims that there is a lot at stake here - for the UK economy, the UK’s role in Europe and for British businesses:

London is the best place to have the new European Patent Court. To have the Court in Germany would be bad for the EU and terrible for the interests of UK businesses.

According to the Hargreaves report earlier this year, the proposed European Unitary Patent would help SMEs and promote growth (an extra £2.1B p.a. in 2020 for the UK). But if the new court went to Germany, it would instead increase costs for UK companies. They could find themselves having to defend their patents in a German court.

At the moment, the UK has a reputation as a good place to register and defend patents. London’s courts are second to none and, unlike most of the rest of Europe, they have specialist patent judges. All of this will be jeopardised unless the government changes its mind and starts to work at getting the new court brought to London.

The German system of judging patent matters (infringement first and invalidity second), in separate trials, means that patentees may be able to enforce invalid patents, halting legitimate new businesses. This would encourage 'patent trolls' in Europe.

Read more in the Guardian article here

European Court rules against patents on embryonic stem cells (18 oct 11)

Today the European Court of Justice ruled that inventions involving stem cells derived from human embryos could not be patented.  The ruling could result in researchers in the EU being disadvantaged over their colleagues in the USA where the law has recently been changed to remove a former ban on patenting embryonic stem cells.   In maintaining the earlier opinion of the Advocate General in the case brought by Greenpeace against a German patent held by Professor Oliver Brüstle, a leading investigator of the use of stem cells to treat conditions involving neural defects such as Parkinson’s disease, the Court stated that:

A process which involves removal of a stem cell from a human embryo at the blastocyst stage, entailing the destruction of that embryo, cannot be patented.

and further that:

The concept of ‘human embryo’ must be understood in a wide sense

The ruling is likely to have wide impact since companies are unlikely to be willing to invest in costly development and clinical evaluation if they are not able to obtain patent protection for the underlying inventions.

• read the text of the Court press release here

US finally overhauls its patent law (16 sep 11)

After many years of deliberation in the US Congress of numerous draft bills and several false starts, President Obama finally signed the "America Invents Act" into law today, introducing the biggest set of changes to U.S. patent law since 1952.  This followed the approval by the US Senate on Sep 8 by a 89-9 vote of the patent reform bill HR1249 passed in June by the House of Representatives.

The US will now move from the "first to invent" to the "first to file" system for granting patents, create two new ways to challenge granted patents and give the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) the power to set its own patent fees, although any excess will be subject to allocation through a Congressional Committee.

read more here in today's White House Press release and the earlier Wall Street Journal account

Copyright for performers and sound recordings extended by 20 years in the EU (12 sep 11)

The European Parliament today adopted a Directive to extend the term of protection for performers and sound recordings to 70 years. The aim of the directive is to bring performers’ protection more into line with that already given to authors, that is for 70 years after their death.  In a statement, Commissioner Michel Barnier said:

"Today's decision to increase the term of protection for musicians' copyright from 50 to 70 years will make a real difference for performers".

• read more from the European Commission here with links to the Directive and FAQs

IP law set to change in the UK (3 aug 11)

IP laws in the UK are set to undergo significant change, especially to copyright so that it is adapted to the needs and realities of the digital age.  The UK Government today announced its response to the independent review of IP and Growth it commissioned by Prof. Ian Hargreaves.  In a presentation at the British Library, Government Ministers announced that they accepted all ten of the recommendations in the Hargreaves report and will be consulting soon on their implementation.  Also, in a letter to stakeholders, the Business Innovation and Skills Minister, Vince Cable, stated:

The Government's goal is to have measures in place by the end of this Parliament that will realise the Review's vision and deliver real value to the UK economy, and to the creators and users of IP.

A White Paper setting out the Government's plans is promised for Spring 2012. In addition to changes to copyright licensing and exceptions for research and limited private copying, attention is being focused on assessing the impact of so-called "patent thickets" as barriers to enter technology sectors, especially for SMEs.

At the same time as responding to the Hargreaves review, the UK Government has also published its international IP strategy and its new strategy for dealing with IP crime.

• read more on the IPO website
  
• download the full Government response and action plan (pdf file: 402Kb)
• download international strategy for IP (pdf: 580 Kb)
• download IP Crime strategy (pdf: 413 Kb)

Dragons' Den and intellectual property!

It’s that time of year again - Yes, a new series of BBC's Dragons' Den  is about to hit our screens once more.  Dragons' Den is all about everyday inventors, designers, creators or entrepreneurs pitching their innovative business ideas to a panel of successful investors, AKA the Dragons. The hour-long show is on BBC Two and BBC HD every Sunday at 21:00 from 31 July.

The UK Intellectual Property Office in conjunction with the BBC has set up a special page on its website linking to the programme and for the coming weeks, its experts will blog about the IP that's spotted in each episode of the BBC's Dragons' Den.  You will also find there information about the UK IPO, what it does and the range of tools, services, events and guides it provides to help you and your business with its intellectual property.

• more about Dragons' Den on the BBC website
• more about IP and the Dragons' Den from the IPO website

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Question Time for IP Minister Baroness Wilcox at IPAN's July 2011 meeting

26th April 2012 - a date for your diary!

new IP asset management guide for universities available (19 may 11)

independent report into IP and growth in the UK by Prof. Hargreaves published (18 may 11)

Changes to Intellectual Property systems could add up to £7.9 billion to the UK’s economy, the first report looking at how it can drive growth said today.  The publication of Digital Opportunity follows a six-month independent review of IP and Growth, led by Professor Ian Hargreaves. He was asked to consider how the national and international IP system can best work to promote innovation and growth.

• read more in the press release
• download the report from the IPO website here

To coincide with World IP Day on April 26th ACID has launched a simple, cost effective digital method of tracking delivery of IP led and confidential information. It is a natural electronic addition to the already successful ACID Design Data Bank which holds over 350,000 copies of unregistered designs. All too often, design ideas and new product designs are stolen at the vulnerable stage of sending them to third parties.

 ACID ambassador and designer Sebastian Conran, commenting on the ACID IP Tracker said:

"An unintended consequence of digital technology is the dissemination & theft of identities, ideas and designs... Proving ownership of IP is the foundation of protecting it; and the ACID IP Tracker provides unequivocal dated evidence for files in digital transit - simply, efficiently and effectively."

Dids Macdonald, ACID’s CEO said:

“Most micro enterprises and SME’s cannot afford to go all the way to Court over infringement, so the most important element of IP protection is a deterrent and preventative strategy, particularly when sending sensitive information to a third party. Importantly, providing receipted evidence of sending reverses the burden of proof and makes it easier to take action.”

• read more on the ACID website

• check out the new database on-line here

SABIP bows out with two further reports (19 jul 10)

• attitudes and behaviours of consumers to copyright in a digital age
• report of a UK policy panel debate and recommendations following the Google Books settlement with copyright owners

the EU patent - one step nearer? - new language proposals (1 jul 2010)

• EC press release here
• FAQs here
• proposal for a Regulation on translations of a new EU patent to be considered by the Council of Ministers