§ Mr. Norrisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has reached a decision on whether any changes are needed to the legal rights of employee inventors; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PattieThe 1983 Green Paper "Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation" (Cmnd. 9117) concluded that the rights of individual employee inventors should be strengthened along the lines of German law by giving them rights to take title in their inventions which are not being exploited by their employer. Following this recommendation, the Government commissioned an independent study into the German system and whether that system, in whole or in part; would be of economic benefit in the different legal and industrial environment of the United Kingdom. The White Paper "Intellectual Property and Innovation" (Cmnd. 9712) referred to the study and announced that its results were being examined.
Having considered the results of the study, and taking into account representations received from industry, patent professionals and other interested parties, the Government have concluded that no changes in the law should be made. There is little evidence that a system on German lines would bring any tangible economic benefits; yet the administrative burdens which would be imposed on industry and Government by the introduction of such a system in the United Kingdom would be substantial.
The Government believe that a more promising approach to the problem of unexploited in-house inventions is to give employers better incentives to identify marketable innovation. One example is the collaborative "spin-out" method, whereby private venture capital is provided for projects in which the parent company and employees each have part interests. Further studies of this and other aids to innovation are therefore to be made.