I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
I am delighted to bring the Intellectual Property Bill from the other place to this House. The Government believe in business, large and small, and in removing obstacles that prevent growth. That is why we have pledged to invest a further £4 billion in the industries of the future and why legislative changes, such as those before us today, are so important.
In 2010 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister commissioned Professor Ian Hargreaves to carry out a comprehensive review of intellectual property. The Bill represents one important element of the Government’s response to his recommendations. The Hargreaves review confirmed that intellectual property is important to the UK and to a wide range of industry sectors. This year, the UK has been rated number one in Taylor Wessing’s global IP index in obtaining, exploiting and enforcing the main types of IP rights. Total annual investment in intellectual property rights represents 4.3% of our GDP.
The Bill proposes changes to help businesses better to understand what is protected under the law, to reduce the need for costly litigation and to provide greater certainty for investors in new designs and technologies. It aims to simplify and improve design and patent protection to help businesses to clarify the legal framework for intellectual property and to ensure that they are appropriately supported by the international IP system. These reforms are vital in cutting red tape to help British businesses to succeed.
UK business invested more than £15 billion in design in 2009, and the Bill seeks to protect and develop this important industry. It will make important changes to design law by strengthening and clarifying the framework that supports the design industry and aligning the UK and EU frameworks where sensible. We particularly aim to help small and medium-sized enterprises, which raised concerns about protecting their designs in the consultation process.
The design sector, which accounts for about 2% of UK export earnings, is made up almost exclusively of SMEs The Hargreaves review identified the importance of design law and asked for more evidence concerning IP and the design industry. We addressed this challenge through a consultation in 2012. Industry informed us that 350,000 people are employed in the UK’s design sector and that 87% of companies in the design sector have fewer than 10 employees and 60% have fewer than four employees.
These small businesses have made clear to the Government the difficulty that they have in protecting their designs from copying. For example, Anti-Copying In Design—ACID—responded:
“We believe that the currently available ‘punishment’ does not go far enough in fitting the crime of blatant and consistent design infringement and that those who make it their business to follow this unlawful way of doing business should be dealt a criminal record.”
I pay tribute to ACID for its activities in working with us on this negotiation.