Patents progress

A “digital copyright exchange” or online shop where copyrights could be bought and sold would help businesses cope with the complex laws of intellectual property, according to the Hargreaves review.

The review, Digital Opportunity, led by Cardiff University’s Professor Ian Hargreaves, calls for the creation of a unified European patent system, and for patent fees to be reformed so there is no longer an incentive to create “thickets” or multiple layers of patents.

It was set up six months ago following Google’s announcement that it could not have started its business in the UK because of the copyright laws.
However, Hargreaves rejects the possibility of introducing a US-style “fair use” policy, which would be illegal under EU law.

Mark Owen, head of  IP at Harbottle & Lewis, said: “When David Cameron set the review up he made much of the benefits he saw from introducing a fair use right, and cynics detected in this an attempt to appear pro-innovation without the government having to do much, in particular not spend money as through tax breaks.

“As plenty of commentators said at the time, EU law would not allow this. Hargreaves has echoed that and dismissed the possibility of a fair use law. Instead he has listened and listed a large number of less radical changes government must consider.”

Owen said the review was “careful and balanced”.

“Perhaps the most important idea is that the UK should introduce the same exceptions to copyright as the rest of the EU. Bringing our law more into line internationally is worth considering. From the perspective of important trading partners such as the US and the EU, much about UK copyright law seems odd and out of step, and this costs us.”

Simon Mounteney, partner at Marks & Clerk, said implementation of many of the recommendations might “prove extremely challenging”.