

UK IP Review - Final Report - swombat
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ipreview-finalreport.pdf

======
arraypad
There's some good news on patents at least:

"In Europe, in contrast to Japan and the US, there are restrictions laid down
by the EPC on how far computer programs may be patented. Programs considered
to make a “technical contribution” – such as controlling a robot, or making
the internal operation of a computer more efficient – can be patented; general
application programs – such as word processing software – cannot."

...

"In this case, the Review believes the balance of evidence lies in continuing
to withhold patent recognition of non-technical computer programs as part of a
sustained effort to deal with the growing and dangerous problem of thickets.
The UK should seek to convince its European partners of the force of this
case.

Similar considerations apply to the patenting of business methods (for
example, particular pricing and marketing schemes) which are also allowed in
the US but not in Europe – and unlike in the computer program area, there is
no sizeable European lobby arguing for their patenting. Here, the correct
course is clear: Europe should continue to resist the patenting of business
methods."

~~~
bodski
_"Recommendation: Patent thickets and other obstructions to innovation.

In order to limit the effects of these barriers to innovation, the Government
should:

• take a leading role in promoting international efforts to cut backlogs and
manage the boom in patent applications by further extending “work sharing”
with patent offices in other countries;

• work to ensure patents are not extended into sectors, such as non-technical
computer programs and business methods, which they do not currently cover,
without clear evidence of benefit;

• investigate ways of limiting adverse consequences of patent thickets,
including by working with international partners to establish a patent fee
structure set by reference to innovation and growth goals rather than solely
by reference to patent office running costs. The structure of patent renewal
fees might be adjusted to encourage patentees to assess more carefully the
value of maintaining lower value patents, so reducing the density of patent
thickets."_

Let's hope Vince Cable and the rest of the government take these
recommendations seriously and are not looking across the atlantic through rose
tinted spectacles (as many of the Conservatives seem to be doing w.r.t. some
other areas of economic policy).

------
daveungerer
The section on patents is definitely worth a read.

Quote:

 _A higher total volume of patents leads to increasing transaction costs,
particularly in markets which are patent intensive. The cost/benefit trade-off
of the patent system may shift away from the socially optimal position – i.e.
where innovation incentive benefits outweigh transaction costs by the largest
margin._

And (sequential here refers to innovation that gradually build on past
innovation, with computer programs specifically mentioned as a case of that):

 _This means that while for non-sequential inventions, such as a new drug or
medical treatment, having a patent system generally yields higher welfare than
not having one; in a fully sequential case, higher welfare and more innovation
may be more likely to result from the absence of patenting opportunities. Over
time, as digital technology becomes pervasive across the economy, this
represents a serious concern._

At least they have a very good understanding of the problem of software
patents.

------
yannickmahe
You might want to change the title of the post. For a while there, I thought
it was about hte United Kingdom Independance Party (UKIP).

Maybe that's just me, though.

------
Silhouette
Alas, I fear that this review (like Gowers before it) will be respected only
to the extent that it suits special interest groups. As the report itself
notes on many occasions, it is important for policy in this sort of area to be
evidence-led, and this has often not been the case to date.

The report itself seems like a fairly realistic assessment of the current
situation and at least advocates some steps in the right direction for the
future, though, so let's hope it does better than other recent efforts.

