Three policy themes to be targeted in UK IPO research

The priorities were published today. The Office’s 15-strong economics, research and evidence team I seeking expressions of interest for potential suppliers to undertake the work or help deliver an achievable and realistic specification.

The programme includes 13 projects, some of which have already been commissioned and will be published in the coming year. Others are new areas which are yet to be scoped.

In an interview with Managing IP, published today, the IPO chief economist Pippa Hall (right) said one of the priorities is to work with stakeholders to share useful data: “We are looking at doing collaborative research with industry so we can get the best answers at the end of the day, to either support or challenge policies.”

Since the team was established in 2010, it has published more than 40 research reports.

A number of other IP offices also have teams of economists working on IP research, and Hall said: “We have a chief economist meeting at least once a year and more when we can, and we share our research agendas and lessons learned.”

WIPO is hosting an event next month at which economists from the UK, China, Denmark, Malaysia and Singapore will discuss the valuation of IP, which is one of the UK Office’s three areas of focus. “We won’t get a solution on that day but more brains are better than one and hopefully we can take the debate forward. We don’t necessarily want a global standard but we want to avoid reinventing the wheel every time,” said Hall.

Read the full interview with Pippa Hall (subscription or trial required)