Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

UK investment in IP-protected assets reached £65bn by 2008, research finds

12 Jul 2011, 4:39 pm

Sixty five billion pounds was invested in assets protected by intellectual property rights in 2008, according to reports published by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

The level of investment in protected patent, trademark, design and copyright rights has more than doubled since 1990, the IPO said.

"This is a significant amount of growth and it’s important that this investment continues to build over the coming years," Baroness Wilcox, the UK minister for IP, said in a statement.

The IPO published two reports detailing research conducted by University of Nottingham academics. The research looked into the role that IP rights have in UK business and the level of investment made in in material that is protected by those rights.

The academics said that the Office of National Statistics had undervalued the amount of investment in IP..

"As a result of our work, we show that the total value of new artistic asset creation in the UK is even more significant than previously assumed, and is likely to be worth £3bn more in Gross Value Added (GVA) than national statistics currently suggest," The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in the UK Market Sector report (48-page / 1.58MB PDF) said.

Investment in copyrighted works and unregistered designs made up approximately three quarters of all investment in IP works in the UK, the report said.

More than 10% of the growth in the UK's labour production recorded each year between 1990 and 2008 was down to the growth of assets protected by IP rights, it said.

Investment in material protected by IP led to more growth than investment in fixed capital such as hardware, office material and general business spending, the report said.

"Businesses who decide not to protect their intellectual assets are taking a huge financial risk because they may lose any rights to their creative ideas. We would therefore always encourage companies to make an investment and make sure they gain the financial benefits they are entitled to," Baroness Wilcox said..

“It is clear from the reports published today that protecting rights can add billions of pounds to UK businesses,” Baroness Wilcox said.

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