Section 21: Reporting Duty
92.This section requires the Secretary of State to present to Parliament by the end of September each year a report that sets out how, in his opinion, the activities of the IPO (that is, the statutory body “the Patent Office”) have supported innovation and growth in the United Kingdom. This section follows recommendations of the 2011 Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth(13). The purpose of the report is to sharpen the focus of the IPO on innovation and growth, and increase transparency.
93.The report will present an assessment of the effect of the IPO’s activities on growth and innovation arising from the creation and exploitation of intellectual property, and also the use of IP by third parties. It will also indicate where other policy priorities – such as public health, international development or freedom of speech – have been taken into consideration.
94.The assessment will cover the financial year which ended most recently before publication. It is not intended that the report will contain the IPO’s future work programme, as this is already set out in the IPO’s Corporate Plans, which are published annually.
95.The section does not describe the detailed content of the report, as the policy activities of the IPO change from year to year. If the section were to list the specific items to be considered, there is a risk that the report will in future years be decreasingly relevant and any change would require primary legislation.
96.The broad outline of the report will be as follows:
Information on legislative changes and pre-legislative work such as consultations;
Information on the IPO’s activities in international negotiations and cross-border co-operation;
Policy development work undertaken to address the challenges facing the intellectual property system;
The main outputs of the IPO’s economic research programme and how they relate to innovation and growth;
An assessment of the IPO’s activities that support businesses and raise awareness of the importance of protecting intellectual property.
The report will also contain data supporting the assessment made in the report.
