NIPC Law

In my post on Lord Marland ( "Lord Marland becomes Minister for Intellectual Property"  15 Sept 2012I) I referred to The UK’s International Strategy for Intellectual Property , As there was considerably more interest in that policy document than there was in the Minister in my feedback I have decided to take a closer look at that document. In  Digital Opportunity A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth   Professor Ian Hargreaves recommended that "The UK should resolutely pursue its international interests in IP, particularly with respect to emerging economies such as China and India, based upon positions grounded in economic evidence. It should attach the highest immediate priority to achieving a unified EU patent court and EU patent system, which promises significant economic benefits to UK business. The UK should work to make the Patent Cooperation Treaty a more effective vehicle for international processing of patent applications." He amplified his thinkin...

One of the least reported changes in the recent ministerial reshuffle has been the replacement of Baroness Wilcox  as Minister for Intellectual Property by the Rt. Hon. Lord Marland .  As he is not exactly a household name I looked him up Lord Marland on Wikipedia and found that he had enjoyed a successful career in business. One of his businesses was Hunter  Boot Ltd  which he saved by transferring production from Britain to China (see "Hunter Boots owner Lord Marland looks for new prey" The Telegraph 14 Feb 2009). He had been less successful in politics  contesting Somerton and Frome for the Tories in the 2001 general election and coming second. Lady Wilcox had been rather a good minister in my view. For instance, she had backed patent reform opening the first WIPO patents symposium in London on 6 March 2012. That is one of the objectives of the IPO's international strategy (see "The UK’s International Strategy for Intellectual Property" 11 Aug 2012...