Intellectual property (IP) should form an intrinsic part of the UK’s business and economic growth strategies, according to specialist IP law firm Mathys & Squire. The comment follows the publication of figures earlier this year by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which showed that IP generated £7bn in international royalties for the UK throughout 2008.

The firm has also called for the UK government to provide greater support for inventors, scientists and entrepreneurs in a bid to accelerate the recovery of the country’s economy after the recession. ‘IP exports – from the royalties paid to licence the use of some of our best known trademarks to patented manufactured goods developed here in the UK – are a real national strength,’ said Gary Johnston, partner at Mathys & Squire. ‘The government, as well as each and every entrepreneur and business, needs to sit up and take note.’

The ONS figures have been highlighted by Mathys & Squire as part of the firm’s centenary drive to raise the profile of research on the economic benefits of IP. The data also revealed that patents and trademarks accounted for 59% of all UK exports in 2008, while traditional oil and gas industries accounted for just 12%. Mathys & Squire said that the UK was at ‘a moment in history’ when active investment in innovation would provide the UK with a competitive advantage.

Johnston said that the figures released by the ONS demonstrate a need for the UK economy to realign itself around IP. ‘As the world struggles to get back on its feet following the global recession,’ he said, ‘the UK must make the most of its advantages. It is time for us to finally let go of our fixation on manufacturing and finally view ourselves as the nation of innovators that we are.

‘We may have got out of previous recessions by making things,’ he added, ‘but our ideas are now one of our greatest assets.’

Mathys & Squire associate patent attorney Jeremy Smith added that financial support was not the only area in which the government could help boost the UK’s ideas economy. ‘We do have an issue with legislation keeping track of technological changes,’ he said. ‘Most technological products have software at their heart. While the issue of software patents tends to incite controversy, I think that the government could do more to develop the relevant laws in a practical, pragmatic way. This will give smaller firms enough freedom to compete with major corporations.’

According to Smith, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO), ‘seems reluctant to interpret the law in a flexible way in order to take advantage of technological innovations. If it encouraged examiners to think from a more commercial viewpoint, that in turn would encourage innovators to seek the protection they are entitled to, and license their innovations for use overseas’.