Gowers Review of Intellectual Property

At the Enterprise Conference on 2 December 2005, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that, as part of the Pre-Budget Report 2005 package, he was asking Andrew Gowers to lead an Independent Review to examine the UK's intellectual property framework.

The Open Rights Group has been formally invited to participate. We are currently drafting our submission and wish to include your thoughts and opinions. We have reproduced the Call for Evidence below and invite you to contribute - just hit 'respond' next to the paragraph you wish to comment on.

Many of the questions asked by Andrew Gowers in this review are very focused, but you should feel free to comment on the issues and the wider implications rather than feel obliged to provide specific answers. If you want to talk about issues not raised by this call for evidence, please do - just leave your comments on the Introduction.

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  • Copyright – licensing of public performances

    (a) Have you encountered problems with the system of licensing and paying royalties to collecting societies for public performance of music and/or sound recordings?
    (b) Could the system be clarified or simplified, and if so how do you see this working?

Some responses:

  • The current system for licensing copyright music for reproduction or performance is a nightmare and causes us real issues. We ...
Leave a response and read more»
  • Patents — utility models

    Background: Some countries, notably Germany, have a “utility model” system offering protection for simple inventions, usually subject to less examination and shorter terms than standard patents.
    (a) Do you have a view on some sort of second tier patent system?
    (b) Has your organisation encountered problems in protecting its IP internationally where such systems exist?
  • Pharmaceutical Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs)

    Background: SPCs are a “sui generis” IP right available in EU Member States for pharmaceutical products (as well as plant protection products). The standard patent term is 20 years. SPCs aim to compensate rights holders for the time required to obtain regulatory approval for their products. Where regulatory approval is issued more than five years after a patent is granted, SPCs may be granted to extend the term of protection on the active ingredient in the patented product. SPCs last for a term corresponding to the period elapsed between the five-year point and the point at which the product reaches market, up to a maximum term of 5 years.
    (a) Does your organisation use SPCs?
    (b) How fair and effective are they in delivering an incentive for investment?
    (c) How could they be improved?
    (d) Should the term of SPCs be more flexible – perhaps relating straightforwardly to the period between patent award and regulatory approval?
  • Trade Marks — international issues

    (a) To what extent does your organisation register its trade marks at the European rather than national level?
    (b) Could the UK trade mark system be improved to work better alongside the European system?
  • Designs — registered designs and unregistered design rights

    (a) To what extent does your organisation rely on registered designs? And on unregistered design rights?
    (b) To what extent does your organisation register its design at the European rather than national level?
    (c) To what extent does your organisation rely on the European unregistered design right rather than the national UK unregistered design right?
    (d) Could the UK registered design be improved to work better alongside the European system?
    (e) Could the UK unregistered design right be simplified to work better alongside the European unregistered design right?
    (f) Do you see a useful role for the UK unregistered design right alongside the European design right?
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