Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to improve the protection of intellectual property in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

The Government is committed to protecting all Intellectual Property rights and has taken a number of steps recently to help rights holders protect and enforce their intellectual property. These include funding a dedicated police IP Crime Unit within the City of London police; making the intentional copying of registered designs a criminal offence; and introducing reforms to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, including the introduction of a ‘small claims track' to help businesses gain access to justice at proportional cost to what is at stake.