The IP Federation has issued a further policy paper in response to the provision for criminal sanctions for infringement of Registered Designs proposed in Clause 13 of the Intellectual Property Bill 2013–14.

The IP Federation, along with many other organisations whose members are immersed in IP on a day to day basis, firmly believes that the introduction of criminal sanctions for registered design infringement, even deliberate copying, is wrong. Adequate sanctions are already available to the owners of infringed registered designs. We have set out in the paper many reasons why the introduction of criminal sanctions would be wrong. We therefore urge MPs to support an amendment to delete Clause 13 (and the associated Clause 14) from the IP Bill entirely.

In the event that this cannot be achieved, we say that the aims of the Government can and will still be achieved, but risks to existing businesses will be reduced, if the amendments set out in the paper are introduced to Clause 13. We urge MPs to press for these amendments, or equivalents of them.

For full details, click HERE.

To see all our policy papers, click HERE.