Going forward: often easier to say than to do

"You may be aware that the Government's response to the Hargreaves review required us to publish our assessment of the case for simplification of the design right system, and in particular whether there is a need for a UK unregistered right alongside the EU right, by the end of 2011. The information submitted through our recent 'call for evidence' and associated on-line survey has provided us with vital contribution which has enabled us to meet this commitment.

We have now compiled a position paper (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/hargreaves.htm) which, as you can see from the assessment, shows our intention to publish a formal consultation on how to move forward".

"Today Government is announcing its first assessment of the need for reform of the design intellectual property framework. In May 2011, in his report to the Prime Minister, Professor Hargreaves concluded that design had a “very important contribution to make to growth” to the tune of £33 billion to be precise (and still a growth area!) and yet he was critical of the policy makers whose role in supporting IP in this significant branch of the economy had been neglected. So, the good news for designers is there has been a flurry of activity and ACID welcomed the opportunity to paint the picture of SME reality by providing solid evidence from a diverse set of case studies. These highlighted the often grim problems that design-led companies face. This, we were told, has provided a valuable and credible foundation for future policy in this first IPO assessment. Government plans to publish a formal consultation on how to proceed in late spring 2012".

"I welcome this assessment for design reform. However, it is important that any further research makes clear the relationship between (registered) design rights and innovation in the context of product design. The majority of the UK’s 232,000 designers (in 55 different design disciplines) rely on unregistered (copyright, design and trade marks) and informal rights. In this initial assessment, it is clear that UKIPO has listened and understands the problems facing many SME’s within design. Now the challenge will be to address them sensibly, practically and proactively with more action and less words”.