A study of patent thickets

Report analysing whether entry of UK enterprises into patenting in a technology area is affected by patent thickets in the technology area

The Luxembourg Effect: Patent Boxes and the Limits of International Cooperation

This article uses patent boxes, which reduce taxes on income from patents and other IP assets, to illustrate the fact that the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice has a longer reach than has previously been recognized. This article argues that, along with having effects within the European Union, the ECJ’s decisions can also have effects on countries outside of the EU. In the direct tax context, the ECJ’s jurisprudence has hampered the ability of both EU and non-EU countries to police international tax avoidance. In 2015, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) proposed restrictions on patent boxes that were designed to limit income-shifting opportunities. As this article points out, these restrictions are weaker than they could have been due to EU legal constraints. Although the majority of countries involved in the OECD’s work on patent boxes were not EU Member States, they were all constrained by the ECJ’s permissive definition of tax avoidance. This article argues that the tax jurisprudence of the ECJ placed downward pressure on international tax avoidance standards and that this in turn shows that countries both within and without the European Union are losing the ability to prevent international tax avoidance to the degree that would have been possible in the absence of the ECJ’s tax jurisprudence. This article refers to this downward pressure as the Luxembourg effect. This effect is even more important in the context of the United Kingdom’s “Brexit” vote to leave the European Union since it highlights that a vote to be free of EU law may not have the desired effect if even non-EU countries are subject to the consequences of the ECJ’s jurisprudence

Measuring Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights

© Crown Copyright 2014. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov. uk/doc/open-government-licence/ Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concernedThe review is wide-ranging in scope and overall our findings evidence a lack of appreciation among those producing research for the high-level principles of measurement and assessment of scale. To date, the approaches adopted by industry seem more designed for internal consumption and are usually contingent on particular technologies and/or sector perspectives. Typically, there is a lack of transparency in the methodologies and data used to form the basis of claims, making much of this an unreliable basis for policy formulation. The research approaches we found are characterised by a number of features that can be summarised as a preference for reactive approaches that look to establish snapshots of an important issue at the time of investigation. Most studies are ad hoc in nature and on the whole we found a lack of sustained longitudinal approaches that would develop the appreciation of change. Typically the studies are designed to address specific hypotheses that might serve to support the position of the particular commissioning body. To help bring some structure to this area, we propose a framework for the assessment of the volume of infringement in each different area. The underlying aim is to draw out a common approach wherever possible in each area, rather than being drawn initially to the differences in each field. We advocate on-going survey tracking of the attitudes, perceptions and, where practical, behaviours of both perpetrators and claimants in IP infringement. Clearly, the nature of perpetrators, claimants and enforcement differs within each IPR but in our view the assessment for each IPR should include all of these elements. It is important to clarify that the key element of the survey structure is the adoption of a survey sampling methodology and smaller volumes of representative participation. Once selection is given the appropriate priority, a traditional offline survey will have a part to play, but as the opportunity arises, new technological methodologies, particularly for the voluntary monitoring of online behaviour, can add additional detail to the overall assessment of the scale of activity. This framework can be applied within each of the IP right sectors: copyright, trademarks,patents, and design rights. It may well be that the costs involved with this common approach could be mitigated by a syndicated approach to the survey elements. Indeed, a syndicated approach has a number of advantages in addition to cost. It could be designed to reduce any tendency either to hide inappropriate/illegal activity or alternatively exaggerate its volume to fit with the theme of the survey. It also has the scope to allow for monthly assessments of attitudes rather than being vulnerable to unmeasured seasonal impacts

Engineering enterprise through intellectual property education - pedagogic approaches

Engineering faculties, despite shrinking resources, are delivering to new enterprise agendas that must take account of the fuzzying of disciplinary boundaries. Learning and teaching, curriculum design and research strategies reflect these changes. Driven by changing expectations of how future graduates will contribute to the economy, academics in engineering and other innovative disciplines are finding it necessary to re-think undergraduate curricula to enhance students’ entrepreneurial skills, which includes their awareness and competence in respect of intellectual property rights [IPRs]. There is no well established pedagogy for educating engineers, scientists and innovators about intellectual property. This paper reviews some different approaches to facilitating non-law students’ learning about IP. Motivated by well designed ‘intended learning outcomes’ and assessment tasks, students can be encouraged to manage their learning... The skills involved in learning about intellectual property rights in this way can be applied to learning other key, but not core, subjects. At the same time, students develop the ability to acquire knowledge, rather than rely on receiving it, which is an essential competence for a ‘knowledge’ based worker

Intellectual Property Topics in Open University Distance-Taught Courses

Patents lie at the heart of engineering as a permanent and ongoing record of invention. We have taught the subject for about 5 years in both UG and PG courses, written from scratch owing to the absence of textbooks aimed specifically at engineers. Most practising engineers develop patent skills on the job rather than through conventional courses. But there is a need to present such courses as early as possible in the engineering curriculum, so that graduates have a flying start in their first employment

Collaborative Student Centred Learning: Intellectual Property for Product Designers

This paper fits into the topics of student centred learning and learning spaces and explores the question - How will the academic/industrial interface develop? At least a basic understanding of intellectual property (IP) rights is essential for practice as a professional engineer and/or designer to ensure commercial success. Yet it is recognised that there are barriers to incorporating learning and teaching of IP within the Higher Education design and engineering curriculum. These barriers include an already ‘over-packed’ curriculum and no established pedagogy. This paper reports on an example of collaborative student centred learning activity between BA/BSc Product Design (PD) and LLB Law (Intellectual Property Practice option) (LLB) final year students at Bournemouth University (BU). The final year product design students are required to design and produce a working prototype of a marketable product. The LLB students advise on the intellectual property aspects of the design. This learning activity has been ongoing for a number of years, however, last academic year changes were made to incorporate an assessed element for both sets of students and make the learning space almost entirely virtual using the BU virtual learning environment (VLE) called myBU. It is the outcome of these changes that are reported in this paper, using data gathered from the on-line discussion forums and the feedback from students. The activity has proved to be an extremely valuable learning experience for both sets of students, providing simulation of real life for both designers and IP lawyers and bridging the academic/industrial interface

Enhanced Cooperation under the Lisbon Treaty

Enhanced cooperation is often regarded as being a way out of EU decision-making deadlock and as a major possibility of proceeding with European integration in selected areas. Although the mechanism has been in place since the Treaty of Amsterdam, enhanced cooperation has only recently become a reality, in two policy fields: divorce law and the single EU patent. Using these two cases, in this paper the pros and cons of enhanced cooperation (as compared to unitary integration and alternative integration) are analyzed. The paper concludes by pointing out some possible weaknesses of the enhanced cooperation mechanism

Patenting insurance related business methods: predictability and risk

This paper raises and responds to questions concerning the patentability of business method patents. It explores the utility of patent applications in informing business method innovators of the risks associated with using the patent system. The insurance industry was chosen since its survival depends on an ability to adapt rapidly in the face of unrelenting, unpredictable change. Inventive changes in the insurance industry include new business models and e-business technologies to improve operating efficiency or to build customer focus. Using the European Patent Office's esp@cenet free patent database, a sample of patent applications for insurance industry innovations was retrieved. The paper then analyses the information contained in the patent application documents. A patent application requires public description of the invention in full enough detail to enable a person familiar with that business to produce it. If the application is successful, a granted patent gives the owner the valuable commercial advantage of a 20-year monopoly. If unsuccessful, the applicant will have disclosed the innovation to competitors

Journal of another plague year

Recent years have seen a catalogue of plagues and sundry other contagions. Hard on the scaly heels of avian flu follows global warming, swine flu, obesity, and now the economic plague. This litany of woes has affect’d me deeply, as these few entries from my diary this past year shew. Rose early to enjoy reading the latest bill of mortality of estate agents in the Parish of St Giles, which show’d again a monthly increase. The Bankers, too, have this past year been struck low, and it transpires that their understanding of the term "Bank" has left much to be desired; they have been sinking our shillings in miscellaneous crackpot schemes in the Colonies that few understand, and fewer profit from: to wit, hedge funds, subprime mortgages, Ponzi schemes, plans to build golden stairways to the moon, and God knows how many other feeble minded schemes