Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to invite representatives from creative industries to the London AI Summit.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK believes that the dangers of frontier AI risks are increasingly urgent. This includes risks such as biosecurity and cybersecurity, including from the potential misuse of models by non-state actors. This will be the focus of the AI Safety Summit and the invitee list will reflect this theme. The Government is working on wider AI-related risks including those associated with the creative industries through the Creative Industries Sector Vision and via work with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to get the balance right in supporting Government’s ambitions on AI innovation without critically undermining value for rights holders.
The government set out its ambitions for the Summit in greater detail at the start of September, and we look forward to sharing more details in due course.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she plans to issue a waiver to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights in the context of the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with the Republic of India.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In negotiations with India, as with all our trading partners, the UK’s approach to intellectual property (IP) is to strike a balance between rewarding research, innovation and creativity, which can benefit all countries, whilst ensuring that medicines remain affordable and reflecting wider public interests, such as access to and use of IP on reasonable terms.
The UK considers the TRIPS Agreement as an essential tool to achieve this balance, including our support for flexibilities enshrined in the Agreement.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the cost to UK companies of intellectual property and patent (a) theft and (b) fraud from December 2019 to December 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government takes the issue of IP crime and infringement seriously and is working with industry and law enforcement agencies on initiatives to tackle this issue. The UK Intellectual Property Office supports the Police IP Crime Unit, and last year they successfully completed operations at retail outlets and online, seizing dangerous counterfeit goods.
The Intellectual Property Office is working closely with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to estimate the cost of counterfeiting to the UK economy. This OECD report estimated that fake goods imported to the UK were worth GBP 13.6 billion in 2016. This report is currently being updated and is due to be published in 2024.
Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that online platforms [operating in the UK] provide (a) cost- and (b) time-efficient takedown processes for [(a) designers and (b) other content creators] whose copyrighted (a) designs and (b) other products have been infringed on their platforms.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK approaches the challenge of tackling online IP infringement in an integrated manner through enforcement and public education. There is in place a number of criminal, civil, administrative and voluntary initiatives which provide rights holders and law enforcement with a package of measures to use to tackle online infringement. These vary from relatively non-intrusive such as notice and takedown, to domain removal, website blocking via court orders, police intervention, and more intrusive initiatives such as notifications being sent to repeat infringers.
The IPO has published guidance on how rights holders can protect their intellectual property on e-commerce stores, such as Amazon and eBay.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent states from accessing the UK science and technology base’s (a) intellectual property and (b) research through unauthorised and illegal means.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government wants to enable collaborative research, while ensuring our science and technology base is protected. Government has strengthened support to the research sector considerably in recent years, including launching the National Protective Security Authority's Trusted Research campaign. The Department also provides the Research Collaboration Advice Team, which gives advice to research institutions to help them manage national security risks in international collaboration. Government has a comprehensive package of legislative measures in place - including the National Security and Investment Act and Export Controls - to manage risk in this area. We keep all our measures under review and will strengthen these where necessary.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department had discussions with its counterparts in the EU on the impact of standard essential patents on the economies of the (a) UK and (b) EU in the period between 1 January 2022 and 30 June 2023; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government believes that Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) will be of growing importance to the UK economy.
In August 2022, the Government published a Summary of Responses relating to its call for views on SEPs and innovation, and more recently in July 2023 the Intellectual Property Office published findings following a questionnaire aimed at SMEs relating to their experiences around licensing of SEPs. During the Government’s ongoing policy development, it has engaged with relevant industry and international partners, including the EU, and will continue to do so on areas of mutual interest.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent estimate she has made of when the Intellectual Property Office will publish its code of conduct on copyright and artificial intelligence.
Answered by George Freeman
The working group on copyright and AI has asked the Intellectual Property Office for more time to prepare a draft code of practice. A progress update will be published on GOV.UK shortly.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of creative industries on the impact of AI on that sector.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government recognises the opportunities presented by AI to enable growth in a range of sectors, including our creative industries. As set out in the recent AI white paper, our goal is to ensure that the UK becomes an AI superpower. However, it is important that while we harness the benefits of AI, we also manage the risks. This includes particular risks to creative sectors and copyright holders.
The Department has held a number of meetings with the sector on this issue, including with members of the Creative Industries Council earlier this week, and with music, press and publishing stakeholders over recent weeks. The Secretary of State also met with the Minister for AI and Intellectual Property this week, together with the Intellectual Property Office.
The Secretary of State intends to convene roundtable discussions in September with media stakeholders to discuss the particular impact of AI on journalism.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) patents for 4G and 5G technologies and (b) other Standard Essential Patents on the (i) development of the UK’s digital economy and (ii) ability of smaller British companies to compete and to use standardised connectivity technologies on fair terms.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government recognises the significant role that the development and protection of intellectual property plays in the digital economy, especially in telecommunications. In particular, as highlighted in the findings of the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce Report in 2021, Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) have the “potential to serve as considerable barriers to diversification”. SEPs can impact the ability of smaller companies to compete on a level playing field, given challenges associated with identifying and licensing patented technologies.
The Government set out its approach to these issues in both the 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy and the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy. These highlighted the importance of patent development to shaping 6G and future telecoms technologies so that the next generation of mobile networks meet the connectivity needs of the UK and maximise economic opportunities in the sector.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is working closely with the Intellectual Property Office who are currently undertaking a review of SEPs in the context of the UK’s Intellectual Property Framework. This has included specific work gathering evidence from small and medium sized enterprises. Responses to the findings of these Calls for Views were published in August 2022 and July 2023.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help safeguard the intellectual property rights of performers in the music, comedy and wider arts sector, in the context of advances in artificial intelligence technology.
Answered by Paul Scully
Performers such as those in the music, comedy and wider arts sectors have their performances protected under Part II of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended. Sections 182 and 182A of the Act give performers the right to control who is able to record and make reproductions of their performances. These provisions apply regardless of the technology used to make such reproductions, including AI technology.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is working to develop a code of practice on copyright, related rights and AI. The IPO has met with representatives of performers as part of this process, as well as representatives of AI firms, AI users, and the wider creative industries. Alongside this, the IPO will be developing guidance on how copyright and related rights apply to material used and generated by AI models. The Government seeks to strike a balanced and pragmatic approach which allows AI innovators and the creative industries to grow in partnership.