Intellectual Property Bill [Lords]

Richard Fuller Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Willetts]

I will, of course, consider all these issues as the Bill is debated in Committee. I think we have got the balance broadly correct on that issue, but I am happy to consider it further in Committee.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. As many IP infringements occur in goods manufactured outside the United Kingdom, how will criminal prosecutions take place within the United Kingdom to protect rights?

[Mr Willetts]

We will be able to apply the provision to any companies active within the UK. If the goods are manufactured abroad, there will nevertheless be some distribution or other entity within the UK.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Willetts]

My hon. Friend has made that point to me and I have considered it. He is right that the Wellcome Trust has also raised it. Our view at the moment is that we should stick with the proposals in the Bill, because they have the merit of copying exactly what is already done in Scotland. Of course—I am looking across the House at representatives from Scotland—we are always keen to learn from Scottish examples. Indeed, it is known in the trade as the Scottish exemption. We think that having two rather different provisions for research across the UK might be unhelpful, and that the extra words might cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Scottish provision. We have no reason to doubt the Scottish provision, which currently gets the balance right and ensures protection. I am happy to debate the point further in Committee, but I must tell my hon. Friend that we are not at the moment inclined to go as far as the Wellcome Trust has asked.

Let me give another example, which comes from Universities UK, of the problems that the provisions will undoubtedly tackle. A professor turned down an appointment to the European Research Council as an expert referee because the contract could be read to mean that any material had to be subject to absolute confidentiality. His commitment to that was perceived to be difficult due to existing provisions in the Freedom of Information Act, and ultimately the contract was not signed. As a result, the professor did not take up the work, and the European Research Council lost valuable expertise.

The introduction of a specific exemption for research will therefore provide clarity both to higher education institutions and non-public sector research partners—our excellent research community—and enhance the UK’s leading position in international research.

[Richard Fuller]

Before the Minister concludes, will he apprise the House of the changes that he said will help to boost small and medium-sized enterprises to grow? When he comes to the Dispatch Box to report on the success of the measures in five years’ time, what metrics will he use to help us to evaluate whether the changes proposed in the Bill have succeeded?

[Mr Willetts]

That is a very good question. Above all, we will look to the further growth of innovative SMEs in our design sector. We have a fantastic network of designers, especially in small businesses, but many of their innovations are currently taken all too easily, sometimes by bigger companies that have almost a corporate strategy of copying and lifting what our smartest entrepreneurs and designers are doing. I want our design sector and especially such SMEs to thrive, and I hope that the sector will grow strongly over the years. That will be a very good test of the central provision in the Bill, which is to extend more protection to our world-class design community.

The changes that are introduced by the Bill will mean that UK businesses that want to protect their products and technologies through patents and design rights will be better off. The Bill will support our hugely successful design sector and make the law clearer and easier to navigate for innovative small businesses. I trust, therefore, that the House will be content to give the Bill a Second Reading. I commend it to the House.