Gowers IP Review Calls For Evidence

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

27 February 2006

The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property last Thursday issued a call for evidence as part of its commitment to consult widely.

In December 2005, UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown announced that Andrew Gowers, former Editor of the Financial Times, would be leading an independent review into intellectual property rights in the UK.

According to a Treasury statement released at the time:

"The UK’s IP regime is a critical component of our present and future success in the global knowledge economy. It must provide the optimal incentives for private industry and individuals to innovate and invest to create value, while preventing excessive inefficiencies and monopoly costs which can reduce competition and impede incremental innovation."

"The regime is particularly important as our economic competitiveness is increasingly driven by knowledge-based industries, especially in manufacturing, science-based sectors and the creative industries".

"Whilst the Government believes the present UK system strikes broadly the right balance between consumers and rights-holders, the review will examine whether improvements could be made and, as appropriate, make targeted and practical policy recommendations."

The review aims to provide an analysis of the performance of the UK IP system, including:

• The way in which Government administers the awarding of IP and their support to consumers and business;
• How well businesses are able to negotiate the complexity and expense of the copyright and patent system, including copyright and patent licensing arrangements, litigation and enforcement; and
• Whether the current technical and legal IP infringement framework reflects the digital environment, and whether provisions for ‘fair use’ by citizens are reasonable.

The call for evidence published last week consists of a letter from Andrew Gowers, with an accompanying paper that provides details of the scope of the Review and sets out a number of general and specific issues on which the Review would particularly like to gather evidence. It also invites respondents to highlight other issues for consideration.

Responses to the call for evidence have been requested by Friday 21 April 2006.

Mr Gowers stated that:

“I am committed to ensuring that the Review is an open process that takes full account of the views of its stakeholders. The Review will be evidence led and responses to the call for evidence will form a key part of our analysis.”

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