On first look seems very positive and well thought out. Key
recommendations below with my highlighted ones most of interest to
free culture in underline. Of course, this doesn't beat RTFA. ;-)
David
--
List of recommendations in the Gower Review
Instruments
Balance
Recommendation 1: Amend section 60(5) of the Patents Act 1977 to
clarify the research exception to facilitate
experimentation, innovation and education.
Recommendation 2: Enable educational provisions to cover distance
learning and interactive whiteboards by
2008 by amending sections 35 and 36 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988 (CDPA).
Recommendation 3: The European Commission should retain the length of
protection on sound recordings and
performers’ rights at 50 years.
Recommendation 4: Policy makers should adopt the principle that the
term and scope of protection for IP
rights should not be altered retrospectively.
Coherence
Recommendation 5: UKPO should undertake joint working with African
patent offices from mid-2007, with the
aim of:
• helping them to take advantage of the flexibilities currently
existing in the WTO/TRIPS architecture
where appropriate; and
• encouraging them to make positive use of IP rights through
dissemination of information in patents.
Recommendation 6: Encourage the international community under the
auspices of the WTO to review the
TRIPS status of the least developed countries prior to 2016 and
consider whether further extension for
reaching TRIPS compliance would be appropriate.
Recommendation 7: Government should encourage WTO members to ratify
the amendments to TRIPS to
make importation of drugs easier and cheaper.
Flexibility
Recommendation 8: Introduce a limited private copying exception by
2008 for format shifting for works
published after the date that the law comes into effect. There should
be no accompanying levies for consumers.
Recommendation 9: Allow private copying for research to cover all
forms of content. This relates to the
copying, not the distribution, of media.
Recommendation 10a: Amend s.42 of the CDPA by 2008 to permit
libraries to copy the master copy of all
classes of work in permanent collection for archival purposes and to
allow further copies to be made from the
archived copy to mitigate against subsequent wear and tear.
Recommendation 10b: Enable libraries to format shift archival copies
by 2008 to ensure records do not become
obsolete.
Recommendation 11: Propose that Directive 2001/29/EC be amended to
allow for an exception for creative,
transformative or derivative works, within the parameters of the
Berne Three Step Test.
Recommendation 12: Create an exception to copyright for the purpose
of caricature, parody or pastiche by
2008.
Recommendation 13: Propose a provision for orphan works to the
European Commission, amending Directive
2001/29/EC.
Recommendation 14a: The Patent Office should issue clear guidance on
the parameters of a ‘reasonable
search’ for orphan works, in consultation with rights holders,
collecting societies, rights owners and archives,
when an orphan works exception comes into being.
Recommendation 14b: The Patent Office should establish a voluntary
register of copyright; either on its own,
or through partnerships with database holders, by 2008.
Recommendation 15: Make it easier for users to file notice of
complaints procedures relating to Digital Rights
Management tools by providing an accessible web interface on the
Patent Office website by 2008.
Recommendation 16: DTI should investigate the possibility of
providing consumer guidance on DRM systems
through a labelling convention without imposing unnecessary
regulatory burdens.
Recommendation 17: Maintain policy of not extending patent rights
beyond their present limits within the
areas of software, business methods and genes.
Operations
Award
Recommendation 18: The Government should encourage the EPO to pursue
work sharing with the USPTO
and JPO.
Recommendation 19: The Patent Office should pursue work sharing
arrangements with EPC member States,
and trilaterally with the USA and Japan to reduce cross-national
duplication of effort.
Recommendation 20: Continue to support and expedite the establishment
of a single Community Patent
through negotiations in Europe.
Recommendation 21: Government should support the London Agreement as
an interim step towards
COMPAT, and as an improvement in its own right.
Recommendation 22: Maintain a high quality of patents awarded by
increasing the use of ‘section 21’
observations: streamlining procedures and raising awareness.
Recommendation 23: The Patent Office should conduct a pilot of Beth
Noveck’s Community Patent Review in
2007 in the UK to determine whether this would have a positive impact
on the quality of the patent stock.
Recommendation 24: The Patent Office should develop stronger links
with universities and other research
institutions, including through short placements, to ensure that IP
examiners are aware of recent
developments in technology.
Recommendation 25a: Introduce accelerated grant process for patents
to complement the accelerated
examination and combined patent search and examination procedures.
Recommendation 25b: Introduce fast track registration for trade marks.
Use
Recommendation 26: The Patent Office should provide comprehensive
information on how to register and use
IP rights for firms registering with Companies House.
Recommendation 27: Improve SME business IP support by establishing
formal collaboration between the
Patent Office and Business Link and by conducting a pilot replicating
the French ‘IP Genesis’ scheme.
Recommendation 28: Investigate how best to provide practical IP
advice to UK firms operating in foreign
markets, in coordination with industry bodies, the Patent Office and
UK Trade and Investment.
Recommendation 29: The Patent Office should develop ‘Business-to-
Business’ model IP licences through
industry consultation, and assessment of the Lambert model licences.
Recommendation 30a: The Patent Office should publish and maintain an
open standards web database, linked
to the EPO’s [EMAIL PROTECTED] web database, containing all patents issued
under licence of right.
Recommendation 30b: The Patent Office should publish and maintain an
open standards web database, linked
to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing all expired patents.
Recommendation 31: DTI should consider whether guidance for firms on
reporting of intangible assets could
be improved, including the provision of model IP reports.
Recommendation 32: Form a working group with Patent Office, RDA and
Business Link representation, to
identify and promote best practice to maximise the use of effective
schemes nationwide.
Recommendation 33: The Review invites the OFT to consider conducting
a market survey into the UK
collecting societies to ensure the needs of all stakeholders are
being met.
Recommendation 34: Increase cooperation between the UK Patent Office,
the Office of Fair Trading and the
Competition Commission to ensure that competition and IP policy
together foster competitive and innovative
markets for the benefit of consumers.
Enforcement
Recommendation 35: The Patent Office should continue to raise public
awareness, focussing in particular on
the wider impacts of IP crime, and the exceptions to rights.
Recommendation 36: Match penalties for online and physical copyright
infringement by amending section 107
of the CDPA by 2008.
Recommendation 37: Monitor success of current measures to combat
unfair competition in cases relating to
IP, and if changes are found to be ineffective, Government should
consult on appropriate changes.
Recommendation 38: DCA should review the issues raised in its
forthcoming consultation paper on damages
and seek further evidence to ensure that an effective and dissuasive
system of damages exists for civil IP cases
and that it is operating effectively. It should bring forward any
proposals for change by the end of 2007.
Recommendation 39: Observe the industry agreement of protocols for
sharing data between ISPs and rights
holders to remove and disbar users engaged in ‘piracy’. If this has
not proved operationally successful by the
end of 2007, Government should consider whether to legislate.
Recommendation 40: DTI should consult on measures to tighten
regulation of occasional sales and markets by
2007.
Recommendation 41: The Home Office should recognise IP crime as an
area for Police action as a component
of organised crime within the updated National Community Safety Plan.
Recommendation 42: Give Trading Standards the power to enforce
copyright infringement by enacting section
107A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 by 2007.
Recommendation 43: Strengthen Practice Directions, to provide greater
encouragement for parties to
mediate, in particular this should raise the profile of mediation
with judges.
Recommendation 44: The Patent Office should consult with the Judicial
Studies Board to determine the extent
to which the complexity of IP law may give rise to a training need
for judges and magistrates and their legal
advisers.
Recommendation 45: Support the establishment of a single EU court to
adjudicate cross-border IP disputes by
promoting the European Patent Litigation Agreement.
Governance
Recommendation 46: Establish a new Strategic Advisory Board for IP
policy (SABIP), covering the full range
of IP rights, reporting to the minister responsible, by 2007. The
Board should be drawn from a wide range of
external experts as well as key senior policy officials from relevant
government departments, and should be
based in London. £150,000 should be allocated to fund the secretariat
by the Patent Office.
Recommendation 47: The Patent Office should provide an annual IP
strategic analysis fund of £500,000
managed by the policy advisory board in consultation with the IP
Policy Directorate.
Recommendation 48: Patent Office should introduce a clear split of
responsibility between delivery and policy
directorates.
Recommendation 49: Encourage IP policy officials to obtain policy
experience outside the IP Policy Branch, and
support short industry placement schemes for policy staff.
Recommendation 50: Realign UK Patent Office administrative fees to
cover costs more closely on Patent Office
administrative operations (e.g. granting patents).
Recommendation 51: Increase the transparency of Patent Office
financial reporting.
Recommendation 52: Ensure that under current arrangements in the
Patent Office, there is a clear internal
separation of responsibility between the granting of rights and
disputes over their ownership or validity. This
should be achieved by clearly separating the line management structures.
Recommendation 53: Change the name of the UK Patent Office to the UK
Intellectual Property Office (UK-
IPO) to reflect the breadth of functions the office has, and to
dispel confusion.
Recommendation 54: DCA should review the issues raised in relation to
IP cases and the fast track, and seek
views in the context of its forthcoming consultation paper, which
will consider the case track limits, and how
the claims process can be made more timely, proportionate and cost-
effective. It should bring forward any
proposals for change by the end of 2007.
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