UK Patent Office Responds To Gowers IP Review

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

14 December 2006

Responding to the publication last week of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, Ron Marchant, Chief Executive and Comptroller General at the UK Patent Office praised the job done by the former Financial Times editor.

Mr Marchant stated that:

"The Patent Office joins others in welcoming the Report and I look forward to the Patent Office playing a full role in implementing the recommendations for which it is responsible. Andrew Gowers and his team have done a comprehensive and thorough job in a very open-minded way. We congratulate them."

"The Report has confirmed the crucial importance of IP to the success of the UK in the global knowledge economy and we are pleased that the report sees the system as operating broadly satisfactorily. We are very pleased that the report recognises the important role played by the Patent Office and supports our own programme "Patent Office for the 21st Century", identifying the programme as an appropriate vehicle for some of the recommendations."

In particular, he announced that the Patent Office will be revising its role in the following areas:

• Advice for UK Businesses as they seek to obtain and protect their rights both domestically and in other countries;
• Fast track rights processing;
• Seeking to make progress on European and Community Patent proposals;
• Continuing to improve patent quality;
• Working with other Patent Offices, particularly the US and Japan, to make multinational patent processing simpler;
• Creating a better match between fees and the costs of the services covered by them; and
• Raising public awareness of the wider impact of IP crime

The Patent Office chief concluded:

"Thanks to the work we began with our Patent Office for the 21st Century programme we are ready to rise to the challenge. That challenge is highlighted by the proposed change of name to the UK Intellectual Property Office as this will signal to all customers and stakeholders the true range of our activities and contribution. I am delighted that the Patent Office for the 21st Century will be "The UK Intellectual Property Office"."

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