Report on Gowers review of intellectual property

On 2 December 2005 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an independent review of the Intellectual Property (IP) Framework to be lead by Andrew Gowers.

His task was to consider:

• the way in which Government administers the awarding of IP and its support to consumers and business
• how well business is able to negotiate the complexity and expense of the IP system, including licensing and enforcement issues
• whether the current IP infringement framework reflects the digital environment, and provides reasonable access to IP protected material by citizens.

The report of that review was published on 6 December 2006 and makes targeted and practical policy recommendations. Copies of the report and supporting documents are now available on the Treasury website

Our response to the call for evidence was:

• Call for evidence (211Kb)
• Relative Grounds for Refusal - The way forward (241Kb)
• Patent fees (33Kb)
• Designs fees (28Kb)
• Trade Marks fees (26Kb)
• Cumulative Renewal fees (42Kb)
• Grant and Renewal costs - Patents (24Kb)
• 20 years cost difference to UK (21Kb)
• Cost difference profile compared to UK (23Kb)
• Data collections for charts (20Kb)
• Notes for 20 year Trade Mark demand chart (28Kb)
• 20 year Trade Mark demand chart (36Kb)