Intellectual Property Act 2014

Intellectual Property Act 2014
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to make provision about intellectual property.
Citation2014 c. 18
Introduced byVince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Commons)
Viscount Younger of Leckie 9 May 2013 (Lords)
Territorial extent United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent14 May 2014[1]
Commencement1 October 2014[2]
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Intellectual Property Act 2014 (c. 18) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 14 May 2014 after being introduced on 9 May 2013.[1][3] The purpose of the legislation was to update copyright law, in particular design and patent law.[4] The law arose as a result of Sir Ian Hargreaves' Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, an independent report published in May 2011.[5][4]

Implementation was in part effected on 1 October 2014. One effect of the law was to removed the words "any aspect of" from the legal definition of a design,[6] in order to reduce the scope for legal protection of minor aspects of unregistered designs.[7] For unregistered designs commissioned after 1 October 2014, via section 2 of the Act, initial ownership now belongs to the designer and not the client, unless the parties have contracted for ownership to be otherwise handled.[4]

The act implemented the Unified Patent Court, allowing for a single patent application across the European Union.[8]

Reception

The legislation was supported by the Law Society Intellectual Property Working Group.[9]

The Labour Party peer Lord Stevenson described the legislation as opening a "Pandora's Box of unintended consequences" and said it could potentially discourage risk-taking.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "Bill stages — Intellectual Property Act 2014". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  2. ^ "1 October 2014: Changes to design and patent law". Intellectual Property Office. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Intellectual Property Act 2014 - Legislation PDF" (PDF). The Stationery Office. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Owen, Mark (June 2014). "The new Intellectual Property Act 2014". Taylor Wessing. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  5. ^ Hargreaves, I., Digital Opportunity: A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, published May 2011, accessed 4 December 2023
  6. ^ UK Legislation, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 213(2) as enacted, accessed 4 December 2023
  7. ^ Steele, C., IP Act 2014 - changes to designs law, Ashfords LLP, published 18 September 2014, accessed 4 December 2023
  8. ^ "MPs approve Intellectual Property Bill". Democracy Live. BBC News. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  9. ^ "Intellectual property reforms to help British business but the devil is in the detail". PoliticsHome. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  10. ^ "Design protection reforms 'flawed'". Democracy Live. BBC News. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2026.


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