Gowers Review Leads To Small Firms IP Audits

Innovation Minister, Malcolm Wicks, has today launched a pilot scheme offering intellectual property audits to small businesses across the UK. 

The pilot, part of the government’s response to the Gowers Review, will be run by the Patent Office and Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).

According to Wicks:

The IP audit pilots will help up to 40 small firms in the manufacturing, service, high tech, creative and other sectors identify what intellectual property exists and offer advice to protect, use and maximise its value. It is just one of a number of new initiatives designed to help businesses raise their IP game in the face of growing global competition.

We’ve always been great innovators in the UK and protecting these innovations is vital.  Shame we’ve failed to capitalise on so many of them in the past, something we’ll need to do more of as we become competitively outgunned in more and more areas by the new economic powerhouses of India and China.

Tags: gowers, IP, international trade

Alex is the founder and editor of SmallBizPod, the UK's first podcast dedicated to small business, start-ups and entrepreneurship. Alex writes about topical small business issues, entrepreneurs and anything else that catches his eye here on the small business blog. http://www.smallbizpod.co.uk