Matt Dixon, President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, says that the fall off in UK overseas patent filing can be fixed.
The world of patenting has changed. There are plenty of stories, some of which are folklore, of the audacious inventor closeted in a shed and striking gold with a revolutionary invention. And there are likely more untold stories of the ideas that were never protected but went on to change the world and build wealth for another business.
Innovation, particularly that coming from our SMEs is foundational for the UK’s economic growth.
Matt Dixon, CIPA President
Innovative SMEs missing out
But today, innovation, its trajectory and its protection are not only the domain of the innovators, but business leaders. Protecting and leveraging new ideas is the bedrock of economic growth, and failure by the UK’s innovative businesses, particularly SMEs, to protect new ideas in as wide a jurisdiction as possible is impacting the UK’s economic growth and attractiveness to investors. This is the overall conclusion from a report released by The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), Innovation & Patents in the United Kingdom, which asserts that the failure of British Innovation to keep up with international competition poses a “significant threat to the future of UK innovation.”
But, as Matt Dixon, CIPA President explains, the problems can easily be fixed. “Innovation, particularly that coming from our SMEs is foundational for the UK’s economic growth. The UK has great innovators, but data from the UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has shown that 34% of patent families, a collection of patent applications covering the same or similar technical content, filed in the UK are not protected outside of this country. This is a trend that has been ongoing for some years and has major implications for UK growth. As an organisation that exists to help businesses protect their ideas, CIPA wants to support business and provide confidence in intellectual property, a system which can seem complicated,” says Dixon.
Filling in the gaps
Confidence for smaller innovators can be lacking when it comes to navigating the patent filing system, which is where the UK IPO is key. But Dixon points that there are areas where CIPA and its members can fill in the gaps in the UK IPO’s offerings. “The UK’s links with the European Patent Office (EPO) provide a rich source of information for innovators. The EPO is an intergovernmental organisation, so it is not part of the European Union. As well as the European countries, including the UK, that have signed up, the EPO’s other signatories include Norway, Switzerland, and now as far afield as Cambodia. The EPO’s influence goes way beyond the EU.”
The UK’s presence in the EPO means that after Germany it has the second largest representation of patent attorneys who can help the UK’s innovators as well as those from overseas. “When an overseas business wants to protect their idea, they will come to the EPO, and in the vast majority of cases they will appoint a German or UK patent attorney to deal with the patent protection,” explains Dixon.
“The reality is that there are many small businesses across the UK operating out of a single storey building on a trading estate with great ideas. It’s these businesses that are going to set out the UK’s route to economic success, and as CIPA President, along with CIPA’s members we want to facilitate this growth. And getting a patent filing right is a crucial part of this. I would say that any UK business would want to make sure that its innovations are covered in the markets of the EU, US and China to start with,” Dixon says.
The UK’s links with the EPO provide a rich source of information for innovators.
Getting the right people around the table
So how can the UK Government reverse the downward trend in the UK’s overseas patenting and how long will it take to implement change? “Firstly, SCI’s proposal for a Science and Innovation Growth Council, which puts the voice of business at the heart of policy making is a great place to start. Let’s convene a body like this and allow business to help the policy makers develop the tools to allow innovators to thrive and succeed. As we share in the report, SMEs that own patents have 36% higher revenue and pay 53% higher wages than those without.”
There are also opportunities to upgrade the UK’s patent support and follow the likes of say France where a company can get a subsidised patent search through the EPO and significantly reduce the costs involved. “The UK IPO already uses the EPO to provide some patent searches, but it is by no means universal, and currently depends on the technical field of your invention. There is an opportunity for the UK IPO to give applicants the choice of an EPO search which helps reduce the cost of future international protection” Dixon says.
A huge prize to claim
But perhaps the biggest prize innovators are missing out on by failing to get international patents is possible venture capital investment. “You can sit there with a UK patent, but in today’s world an investor will be looking for patent protection in at the very least the EU, China and the US. The research we have released indicates the losses that the UK is suffering, and some of this will lead to missing out on venture capital funding.”
Dixon is confident that desire to see a change in the UK’s economic fortunes is evident with the new UK Government. “We are not asking for billions of dollars. What we want to see are the right people around the table. We are seeing positive moves. For example, the appointment of Sir Patrick Vallance as Science Minister is a great start. It really is about involving the people who understand the interface of innovation and business and knowing what it takes to build the strong foundations for the UK to thrive and take its place as a leading economy again.”
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