UK plans stricter penalties for stealing designs

The UK is proposing the introduction of stringent new penalties - including jail terms of up to 10 years - for theft of intellectual property rights and sale of counterfeits.

The new measures were outlined in the Queen's speech at the state opening of parliament as part of a new intellectual property bill and are intended to bring penalties for knowingly copying UK- and EU-registered designs of manufactured goods - such as mobile phones, cars and designer clothing - into line with the pirating of DVDs and films.

The announcement comes in the wake of the publication last month of a report detailing the outcome of the UK Intellectual Property Office's consultation on the legal framework for designs of manufactured goods and services, such as: architecture  and engineering; computing and telecommunications; printing and publishing; fashion and craft; and advanced manufacturing.

That consultation was in turn prompted by the publication of the Hargreaves report in 2011, which suggested that changes to IPR could add up to £7.9bn to the UK's economy, with the potential to add 0.6 per cent to annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

One of the key findings of the report was that IP in the design industry has been neglected in recent years, and as a result is difficult for business to understand and to use effectively.

The government now proposes measures to simplify design law, introduce criminal sanctions for the deliberate copying of registered designs and a quicker appeals process on IPO decisions, and procedural changes to make the IP framework more streamlined.

The report notes for example that a fake iPhone "steals the Apple design as much as it does the trade mark and any copyright existing in applications stored on it."

"Extending criminal sanctions to designs will reflect the 'suite' of theft that has occurred and forms a necessary weapon in the armoury of enforcement authorities," it adds.

The IPO notes that UK businesses invested around £15.5bn on design in 2009 - equivalent to 1.1 per cent of GDP.