IP for the digital age

 The long-awaited Gowers Review on Intellectual Property (the review) was published on 6 December 2006 and brought welcome attention to the UK’s knowledge-based and creative industries. One of the main goals of the review was to evaluate the current UK intellectual property (IP) system and determine whether laws drafted in the 19th century were fit for the digital economy. The review concluded that the current system was capable of managing IP rights in the digital age, but this was a qualified endorsement. Although the review found the system to be “broadly performing satisfactorily”, it proposed 58 recommendations which identified areas of necessary reform.

Many of the recommendations can be welcomed without reservation, especially in the areas of education, enforcement of rights, a more strategic role for the Patent Office, cheaper and more efficient IP litigation procedures, and the promotion of mediation as a dispute resolution mechanism.
However, there are other proposals which, if implemented, or implemented wrongly, could