Intellectual Property Office (Performance Targets)

Lord Willetts Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2012 Written Statements

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, (Baroness Wilcox) has today made the following statement:

I would like to advise the House of certain changes to the targets set for the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for 2012-13. The revised targets are as follows:

1. Publish the Government’s decisions on changes to copyright legislation proposed by the Hargreaves review, following consultation.

2. Make progress during 2012-13 on key European policy dossiers so as to reflect UK priorities.

3. Pursue UK business interests in IP in key emerging markets throughout 2012-13 by promoting the development of strong national IP regimes and delivering a refreshed portfolio of products and services for UK businesses overseas.

4. Efficiently deliver high-quality patents, so that 90% of patent search reports are issued within four months.

5. Efficiently deliver high-quality trade marks so that:

a. Between April 2012 and December 2012 applications for trade marks, for which we have not raised any issue and no opposition has been filed, are registered within four months in 85% of cases, within five months of 90% of cases, and within six months in 95%; and

Between January 2013 and March 2013 applications for trade marks, for which we have not raised any issue and no opposition has been filed, are registered within seven months in 70% of cases.

b. The correct decision is made in at least 99% of applications.

6. Our business outreach activities will reach at least 25,000 businesses, 85% of whom (based on a sample) will say that what they learned has helped improve their (or their clients’) business performance.

7. Surveyed IPO customers will give an average score of eight out of 10 for the service they receive.

8. Achieve a return on capital employed of 4%.

9. Deliver an efficiency gain of 3.5%.

10. Improve the IPO’s engagement index so that our score is at least equal to that of the Civil Service 2012 benchmark.

These targets reflect the purpose of the Intellectual Property Office, which is to promote innovation by providing a clear, accessible and widely understood IP framework, to enable creators, users and consumers to benefit from knowledge and ideas.