Under a Labour government, and its ambitions as set out in the Creative Industries’ Plan for Growth and its manifesto, we feel assured that it will deliver on several key priorities and policies regarding intellectual property (IP) and design protection. Together with the protection of IP within the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and Labour’s approach to these areas, we anticipate that these will align with its broader policy goals, focusing on innovation, fairness, and balancing the interests of creators and the public.

Within the context of the Design Economy’s seismic (and growing) contribution to the UK’s GVA, we hope that the wealth of this national asset resonates from the Treasury permeating all government departments. Design is all around us from iconic to everyday, improving our lives, providing solutions. Design matters!

IP and Design Protection

Support for Innovators and Creators: In line with Labour’s Creative Industries’ Plan for Growth, we call on our new government to emphasise staunch support for innovators, designers, and creators and ensure that they can protect and benefit from their work. The manifesto includes improving access to IP resources and education, simplifying the IP legal process, and reducing costs associated with securing and enforcing IP rights which is encouraging.

Strengthening IP Laws: We urge the new government to look to strengthen IP laws to provide more robust protection for UK creators against theft. This could involve tighter regulations and increased penalties for IP theft and more effective enforcement mechanisms, such as criminal sanctions for deliberate and intentional unregistered designs’ infringement. The Prime Minister’s stated objective, “To stop criminals getting away without punishment” would speak directly to this issue which is currently almost out of hand. For example why is 2D copying a criminal offence but not 3D copying?

Balancing Public and Private Interests: Seeking to balance the interests of IP holders with those of the public is important with IP laws that do not overly stifle innovation and creativity by being too restrictive. However, there must be encouragement for a proactive stance to protect IP originators. Afterall, jobs and livelihoods are at risk through blatant and intentional infringement

Design Rights: Design protection must be a priority, and we hope that Labour will focus on ensuring that designers can protect their work easily and affordably. This could involve revising current design rights legislation to make it more user-friendly and supportive of lone, micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Laura Breen, ACID’s CEO said, 

“As we already know all too well, the creative industries contribute a significant proportion to the UK economy and ACID have long dedicated their voice to the protection of this valuable contribution through IP awareness. I am pleased to see Labour cite placing a high priority on the creative industries in their manifesto and hope they will understand the importance of IP education in this regard, as well as extending their support in this area to design and manufacturing for overall investment in UK growth and nurturing our future talent to give them confidence and reassurance in the design, creative and manufacturing sectors”.

Dids Macdonald OBE FRSA. ACID’s Director of Public Affairs and Campaigning said,

“I look forward to early dialogue with Ministers and policy makers to garner support for better IP protection for our world class UK designers whose continuing innovation is the zeitgeist of tomorrow but is a relatively unsung hero in our remarkable country of innovators. I do have concerns, however, about the reasoning behind the decision to support mega copyist SHEIN as an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange. With over one hundred law suits on IP issues against them, together with numerous allegations of “forced labour in its supply chain”, this is an area upon which I would like to engage to establish the strategy behind what appears to be such a dubious message against UK design and all it stands for”.

Nick Kounoupias, ACID’s Chief Counsel, said,

“It’s time for the Labour party to walk the walk and not talk the talk. Having been entrusted with a massive vote of confidence from the British public, it’s time to give creators and, especially designers, their due and to bring forward laws to stop the blatant and indiscriminate theft of their designs”.

IP Protection within AI

Adapting IP Frameworks for AI: Our new government will need to address the challenges posed by AI in the realm of IP. This could involve adapting existing IP frameworks to account for AI-generated works and innovations. Policies should include clarifying the ownership of IP created by AI and ensuring that IP laws keep pace with technological advancements. Taking the lead from our EU and global friends on this subject must be an area of collaboration and reciprocity as this is not only a global issue but the opportunities, challenges and threats need expert, sensible and balanced input.

Promoting Ethical AI Development: Ensuring that AI development is conducted ethically and responsibly should be a key focus. Hopefully, our new government will push for regulations that mandate transparency and accountability in AI systems, including clear guidelines on IP rights related to AI outputs.

Encouraging Innovation in AI: To maintain the UK’s competitive edge in AI, Labour could introduce incentives for research and development in this field. This might include grants, tax breaks, or other support mechanisms to encourage innovation while ensuring IP protection.

International Collaboration: Given the global nature of AI development, Government should emphasise international cooperation on IP issues. Designs historically and currently do not have a level playing field and are still the unsung heroes in the creative industries, the jewel in the UK’s crown. This should involve working with international bodies to harmonise IP laws related to AI to ensure that UK policies are in line with global best practices. Currently we are behind the curve on these issues.

In summary, we urge our new government to focus on creating a fair and supportive environment for innovators and creators, adapting IP laws to the realities of AI, and ensuring that the UK remains a leader in ethical and innovative AI development. This would go a long way to actively support our IP rich creative industries. The message is clear, “Walk the Talk!”