IP And Design - Reform Is On The Way

The Government announced yesterday its first assessment of the need for reform of the design intellectual property framework. In May 2011, in his report to the Prime Minister, Professor Hargreaves concluded that design had a "very important contribution to make to growth" to the tune of £33 billion, yet he was critical of the policy makers whose role in supporting IP in this significant branch of the economy had been neglected.

The Government plans to publish a formal consultation on how to proceed in late spring 2012.
Nick Kounoupias, IP specialist at DMH Stallard and ACID's Chief Legal Counsel said, "I am delighted to see that the possibility of introducing criminal sanctions for unregistered design right infringement is finally on the Government's political agenda. It has been for too long anomalous that copyright and trade mark infringement can in appropriate cases be punished with a criminal sentence whilst unregistered design right infringement cannot. The