The Queen’s Speech on the 8th of May 2013 made it clear that the government of the day intends to introduce bills which will “make it easier for businesses to protect their intellectual property”. This will include the introduction of bills which will create criminal sanctions for those who have infringed copyright by stealing registered designs for commercial gain.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has stated in their April 2013 report that these criminal sanctions will prove to be a significant deterrent against the deliberate copying of intellectual property. The IPO cites the sanctions imposed upon the counterfeiting and piracy of audiovisual (Films and DVDs) in the Copyright, Design, and Patents Act 1988 as precedent for the effectiveness of criminal sanctions in IP law.
Ostensibly this seems like a very positive step for the protection of intellectual property taken by the government. However one has to wonder if these sanctions will prove in practice to be more of a hinderance to innovation rather than a means to protect intellectual property.
