Introduction
Intellectual property refers to new products which are a result of one’s creativity. These products are capable of generating income for the person who has invented them. There are many types of intellectual property in existence for example original compositions such as plays, songs, poems, and other literary and artistic works. Other works that are considered as intellectual property include works like paintings, carved structures, trademarks and unique designs used by different industries among others. These works are usually expected to be original in terms of how the ideas are expressed. Copying of another person’s creative work attracts penalty and this is why copyright laws exist to protect one’s creative works from being taken by another person. Intellectual property can be a source of income to any given country if it is managed well. In the UK for example, the government recognizes the impact that intellectual property has on the overall growth of the national economy and has put forth measures that promote the growth of the intellectual property.
Issues related to intellectual property law and growth and why they are critical
Trademarks
Trademarks are unique signs and names which are used by entrepreneurs to trade in the market. It can also be a short statement which at times may include some graphics which help in differentiating one company’s goods and services from another’s products. It is very important for any company to register its trademark to shield the business from being duplicated by others who may want to gain from what a company or an individual has earned. Because of the competitive nature of businesses globally, it is very easy for a rival company to use any opportunity available to outdo another especially by use of their trademark if it is not registered. In case one has not registered their trademark, issues such as duplication of the trademark might occur.
Another company may also start using the trademark as its own. This is commonly referred to as passing off. In such a case, the original owner has to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the trademark is used for goods that the company trades in and that the company is known to the public because of the public’s ability to relate the trademark to the goods that the company trades in. They also have to prove that their company is well known for the particular goods they sell and the company’s stability and reputation is threatened by the use of its trademark by another company without its consent.
To prevent these issues from arising and to come up with solutions in case they arise, the UK has set up laws governing the use of trademarks. For example, when a company registers a trademark for its goods, no other person or company is allowed to use the same trademark for their goods without consent from the owners. Failure to do this, legal action should be taken by the owners of the trademarks. The government has tried to harmonize the issues of trademark through the laws that have been set. To acquire a trade mark for any business, there are also laws governing that. Some proposed trademarks may be rejected because of various reasons. For instance, if they are not morally acceptable or if they are likely to deceive the public, they may not be registered. Before any trademark is fully accepted to start operating, there is the application period that lasts for around six months. It is then publicized by putting it on website belonging to patent office. This is done every Friday and lasts for around three months in case of another person has a reason to prevent the use of the trademark. In case of opposition, the one opposing does that legally through the patent office. The processes involved in application and the general acquisition of trademarks are quite tedious and time consuming to the companies. In case of infringement of the trademark of the company, filing a lawsuit also becomes a complex and involving process.
Copyright
Copyright protects a number of creative works for example, literature related works like novels and a piece of writing from a newspaper, music, works of art like drawings and photographs and also recordings. Any work protected by copyright can not be used without the owners consent. Any work protected by copyright is not limited to only one copyright. It is possible for it to have another copyright. It can also have other protection avenues like intellectual property law. Several issues have been raised concerning copyrights. For example, the issue of copyright ownership in case of joint works, i.e., the possibility of more than one owners of a copyright and also the owner of the copyright in case one pays for a certain work to be done. According to the copyright laws, it is possible to have joint owners of a copyright in case both people participate in the production of a single work but in the case of one being paid to do some work, the copyright is owned by the person who originally creates the work. The one who pays for the work can only ask for a transfer which can only be done legally. However, in case one is employed and does the work for the company or organization, the employer has the right to own the copyright unless there was another agreement. These are just some of the issues related to copyright. They are critical because, every creative work needs to be protected and the use of copyright is one of the ways that this can be done. Understanding the rightful owner of the copyright is therefore very important in order to know when infringement of copyright is happening. In response to the problem of complexity in payments of materials for copyright, the government has promised to make simpler the processes involved in payment of these materials.
Patents
Patents are used to protect any creations of the mind that are original and useful to the society from duplication by others. The owners of new inventions are given the right to own it and prevent others from using their invention without consent. Patents are renewed annually after the fifth year and are entitled to 20 years of protection.
There has been a problem of intellectual law complicating the procedures of obtaining and protecting patents. The laws governing the acquisition of patents have at times been very complex requiring the use of a lot of human and financial resources to implement. This makes it very hard for the small enterprises to hire a person who is conversant with the intellectual law to apply for them a patent or explain the concept of patents. The owners of different innovations are left helpless because at times, they can not read the laws themselves and interpret them correctly. Moreover, those who are able to hire patent attorneys, end up going through struggles at times. This is because some of the patent attorneys misguide or misadvise their clients and they end up causing damage to innocent people who were seeking for interpretation of the law. The cost of obtaining legal advice concerning patent law hence end up being very high for many people who end up being discouraged and their innovations go to waste or are taken by other people who can afford the high costs involved. For the small and medium scale enterprises, it is hard for them to take any legal action against influential companies or people if they detect infringement because of the bureaucracy, time and resources involved. There has also been a problem in obtaining international patents and most entrepreneurs opt to leave out the option of obtaining international patents because of the bureaucracies and the financial implications involved.
Another intellectual property law that has been oppressive to the small and medium scale enterprises which has to do with patents is that of accidental infringement. In this case, one is considered guilty of infringement in case of accidentally using another person’s patent without their consent, whether it was intentional or accidental. Instances when one accidentally uses another’s work when developing some new products are very common because it is hard for one to come up with new ideas without using the materials that already exist. Although the final product may appear original, one can so easily be charged with infringement. This therefore hinders many people from developing new products because of fear that in the process of doing so, one may end up facing the charges of infringement which may ruin one’s reputation and drastically affect the business. Such strict laws should be reviewed to protect the interests of everyone without oppressing others. This is because such laws may be used by people who would want to extort money from others by looking at isolated incidents of accidental infringement.
Designs
When a design is registered, it becomes something that is capable of protecting the general outlook of the product in a legal way. This means that one can be sued for using another’s design without their permission to do so. The design of a given product entails the overall outlook for example, the colors used, shape of the product and other details that are unique to the product. The different things that contribute to the overall appearance of the finished product are protected by the registered design. It can also protect the important text in the product, the mode of operation of the product and the original thought that led to the emergence of the product. It is important for any product to have design registration because this will help to prevent other companies from developing products that are alike with your product. For any design to be considered viable for registration, it must be original. A design is considered to be original if it has not been exposed to the public prior to application for its registration. It must also differ from other designs in the market. A design may fail to be registered if it is morally unacceptable or contains certain material that is not allowed to be used by other people like some emblems and flags.
Other critical issues
Promotion of growth in the UK through intellectual property is very important. One of the main reasons that the government should try to do this by all means is because this is one of the long term measures that can be taken by a country, like the UK, which lacks a lot of natural resources in relation to its population. Although there are other government sectors, like the health sector, which are significantly noticeable in their operations, the operations are limited only within the country and can not help in making the country internationally competitive. The country however has other strengths which can be used to promote her growth. For example, the UK universities are internationally recognized to offer quality education and high quality research and are among the leading in the world.
The use of English language as a means of communication, in carrying out business and in the government offices gives it an advantage over other countries which use other languages which are not well known by people who would want to carry out business in the UK. It is therefore very vital to find a long term solution that will lead to the country’s overall growth, both locally and internationally. One such measure that has been adopted is the strengthening of intellectual property sector in the country through various interventions.
The last ten years have seen the UK economy decline in many areas compared with other world economies. Other countries were able to implement measures to promote growth and also to significantly reduce tax on its members among other interventions but the UK was unable to induce any reasonable change to promote the overall growth of the country. But since last year (2010), the government has committed itself to putting forth practical solutions to the problem of lack of growth that it has experienced over the last ten years. Although it is not a very easy task, the government will be able to rectify this mess by prioritizing the national needs. The government has come up with a strategy for growth on the area of intellectual property by using recommendations presented to it by the review panel which was headed by Ian Hargreaves. The means it intends to do to achieve the desired goal have also been stipulated. All sectors are recognized as an important contributor towards growth and therefore the government seeks to strengthen both the private and the public sectors.
Among the many critical issues related to the intellectual property which have affected growth are taxes which have been excessively high posing a challenge to the intellectual property owners about the returns they will get from any ventures into business. These high taxes have therefore hindered many enterprises from running effectively and some people have even feared setting up any enterprise because of fear of running the business at a loss. As an intervention in the area of taxes, the government reduced the taxes payable significantly and has also tried to make the taxation system a bit simpler compared to the past. With these measures to help alleviate the impact of high taxes on the people, the government believes that more people will be willing to invest in businesses and other creative innovations without fear of high government taxes.
Intellectual Property Office, points out that the government has also put in place necessary measures to ensure that UK becomes an attractive destination for both local and international investors1. To encourage local investors, the owners of the new enterprises are freed from local regulations governing small and medium scale enterprises for a period of three years. Other measures include doing away with costly regulations that lead to the businesses incurring costs of up to 350 million dollars annually. The government has also decided to promote investments by providing more land that can be used for setting up innovative companies and other businesses. Those in the intellectual property related enterprises are particularly going to benefit from removal of bureaucracy involved in the setting up and running of such businesses. This will help in increased development of intellectual property both locally and internationally.
Efforts to promote education sector have also been put in place since education is very key if any economic growth is to take place in a given country. Education is also very important in matters of intellectual property because many ideas are generated after one has gone through an education system that is capable of permanently transforming an individual. When one gets quality education, they are able to think critically and creatively and hence come up with intellectual property that will be of benefit both to the individual and to the government. This is why the government has come up with measures to improve the education sector. They include expansion of technical institutions to help more youth access education and gain relevant skills necessary for employment.
The government has also offered incentives to those who are interested in coming up with innovations. These innovations are what make up intellectual property. The government recently set up a committee that was supposed to review the intellectual framework and the report was submitted in April 2011. This report seeks to unearth factors that hinder growth in intellectual property and tries to give recommendations that would help curb any challenges that have faced the intellectual property. By doing so, the government shows its concern for the intellectual property and its involvement in making this area grow together with other sectors of the government.
Another critical issue related to intellectual property is that of proper use of public funds. According to Intellectual Property Office, there can be a significant growth in this area if there is proper spending of funds and also priority on how public funds are spent2. One of the important areas where the funds are going to be spent on is the area of education whereby universities will be required to work hand in hand with other enterprises in order to come up with new ideas which are helpful to the government in income generation and to promote general growth. To avoid cases of misappropriation of public funds, the government has also put forth measures that will curb this vice. Every department within the government is expected to inform the public monthly about what they have achieved within the course of each month. This will help in promoting transparency and accountability in the government offices. When this is achieved, the intellectual property also benefits because the government allocates money to be used in its growth individually and also the overall growth of the nation.
Infrastructure has also been considered for improvement by the government. The government has been working on how the cost of setting up any infrastructure can be reduced significantly to avoid the high costs incurred when setting up useful infrastructures. The government is working with other sectors that are involved with infrastructure to try and overcome the problems that are encountered when building infrastructure and see how they can be avoided.
Innovative companies have to comply with complex rules and regulations for them to carry out their business well. These rules and regulations are very burdensome to the companies because they are very time and resource consuming. These regulations are notably complex in the UK system and therefore many innovative companies given a choice; they choose to invest elsewhere, where the conditions are favorable to the running of the businesses. The laws protecting employees are very hard for most of the companies to comply with without feeling oppressed. For example, the companies should be given the freedom of sacking unproductive workers without incurring high costs in the courts. This is because, if any worker becomes a liability but they are protected from dismissal by the welfare laws, the company ends up suffering. The employers should therefore be entitled to this right to protect the growth of their business from redundant employees.
Also, due to the nature of some jobs which may just require employees for a certain period of time, contracts should be recognized and employers should have the right to run his business according to the terms of the contract so long as both the employer and the employee adhere to these terms. Other things that complicate the setting up and running an innovative company are the rules regarding the safety of their employees. These safety regulations are important but are not applicable in all contexts. For example, for the white collar jobs employees, these rules do not make much sense because each employee can be in charge if their safety because they are not exposed to any dangerous condition that would require such serious interventions as the safety laws require. The white collar jobs companies should therefore be exempted from these laws. Generally, most of these regulations make it very hard for a company to hire any employees because of the cost of their maintenance in the company and that of getting rid of them. These ends up reducing the number of people hired which is also a loss to the government in terms of productivity, growth and taxes.
Another critical issue is that of the law which protects the holders of the offices which deal with intellectual property instead of promoting innovation. This law was initially formulated to encourage innovation and creation of new things. This in turn would lead to overall growth of the country. Although this worked for the companies that existed long ago, it is not applicable to the current companies which deal with intellectual property. Most of the modern intellectual property does not need this kind of protection in order for it to work out. This law, to some extent becomes a barrier to the progress. A lot of the intellectual property, for example some computer software are used by many innovators even without having to seek for the original owner of the patent to get a license. When this law is in operation therefore, its demand at times becomes hard to adhere to. Due to these high demands, the innovators are put off from investing in this area. The people most affected are those in the music industry who suffer in the hands of incumbents. They end up trading their rights with a promise from the incumbents that their music will sell through influential channels controlled by these people. This challenge is also common to those dealing with software. The desire to innovate is overshadowed by the problems that arise when it comes to distribution of the finished product.
Conclusion
The government’s idea of setting up a review to come up with ideas on how intellectual property can further be developed shows the important role played by this sector in any given economy. It is further encouraging seeing that the government has adopted some recommendations given to it by Hargreaves and will start their implementation. This shows that there is a bright future for the intellectual property in the UK. The connect ion between intellectual property, entrepreneurship, economic growth and innovation is very great and therefore the urgent need to address issues that affect the intellectual property industry. Issues such as those affecting copyright are to be addressed to bring down the high costs incurred to obtain them. This is especially in terms of using modern ways to give copyright licenses which have been very costly in the past. The review’s recommendations to the government are important in ensuring progress and growth in the intellectual property system. If areas such as copyright, trademarks and patent among others covered by intellectual property are addressed, then there is bound to be a significant increment in the number innovations, small and medium scale enterprises and other areas which contribute to economic growth.
Reference List
Intellectual Property Office, Independent Review of IP and Growth, 2011. Web.
Footnotes
- Intellectual Property Office, Independent Review of IP and Growth, 2011. Web.