Intellectual Property Office: Performance Targets

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Paul Scully)]

I am repeating the following written ministerial statement made today in the other place by my noble Friend, the Minister for AI and Intellectual Property, Viscount Camrose:

Our innovation strategy sets our ambitions for an innovation-led economy. Now, more than ever, delivering the Government’s bold plan to grow the UK economy and make it the most innovative and creative economy in the world is vital.

Intellectual property (IP) is a crucial component to unlocking this. IP rights provide incentives for our innovative businesses, our world-renowned scientists and cutting-edge creators to innovate and create, ensuring they are rewarded for their efforts, and wider society can benefit from their work.

We are well-known for our leadership in research and for our excellent scientific and academic institutions. Our innovative nature means businesses continue to start and grow in all areas of the UK. Our creative industries have a global reputation, particularly in music, cinema, literature and computer games. Our world-class IP system underpins this success, and it must continue to do so.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) plays a critical role in ensuring the right frameworks are provided to stimulate our innovative economy. The IPO are committed to delivering excellent IP services and developing world-leading IP policies and legislation so that customers can access, use and protect their IP effectively. In order to deliver these commitments, the IPO is also working to support and develop its people and set out a clearly stated organisational culture. The IPO Corporate Priorities 23/24 document sets out a clear plan to deliver during this financial year.

As an Executive Agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the IPO have set targets which are agreed by Ministers and laid before Parliament. I am pleased that today I can inform the House that for the financial year 23/24 the IPO’s strategic targets are:

Launch our Transformed One IPO rights granting service for selected patents customers by end of March 2024.

Achieve an average overall customer satisfaction of 85% or more.

Define the ideal culture to deliver our strategy by October 2023 and develop a detailed culture change plan by January 2024 setting out how we will move from our current culture to our future ideal culture.

Achieve efficiencies worth at least 3.5% of our core operating costs.

The IPO will work with DSIT and other partner organisations to deliver on their priorities, ensuring they support wider Government aims and that resources are focused in areas that will drive innovation and creativity in the UK.

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