The Intellectual Property Bill proposes changes aimed at helping businesses to better understand what is protected under the law and provide greater certainty for investors in new designs and technologies.
Key elements of the bill include:
- New powers to enable the UK to implement the Unitary Patent Court Agreement. The court is a central part in introducing a single patent across almost all EU countries. It is estimated that this would lead to direct benefits to business of up to £40m per year. It is also anticipated that the London Court, which will adjudicate on pharmaceutical and life sciences patent disputes, will benefit the economy an estimated £200m per annum.
- The introduction of criminal penalties for copying UK registered designs and the strengthening of design protection. This is already the case for copyright and trademark disputes and brings parity to this area of IP law.
- Proposals for a designs opinion service and an expanded patents opinions service. This would allow design or patent rights holders, or anyone else to ask the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to provide an expert opinion on whether a UK design or patent is valid or being infringed. This will help businesses assess the strength of their case before embarking on more formal and costly legal proceedings, and may help avoid litigation altogether.