Address by Minister Ahern at the launch of Cruickshank’s IP-Free 60 Service

Wednesday 27^th February

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to address this formal launch of the new IP-FREE60 service by Cruickshank’s Intellectual Property Attorneys here today. The essence of the IP-FREE60 service is free sixty-minute consultations with Cruickshank’s specialists to provide advice to organisations on the best ways to manage, exploit and protect their intellectual property and its potential.

It is increasingly important that more of us understand the need for protection of our intellectual property and that we know how to go about securing that protection. This applies to researchers, inventors and organisations but especially to market-facing start up, small and high potential firms. They above all need to be alert to the need to address their IP protection requirements.

Over the past twenty years the pace of change and development in Ireland has been rapid. The globalised economy has increasingly put new challenges before us and also redefined old ones. We have had to learn how to respond to those challenges to ensure the continued wealth of our own economy. The essential responses need to ensure that we remain ahead of the competition.

That is never easy - but increasingly now, our responses have to involve putting the right kind of IP protection in place and knowing how best to use it effectively.

Intellectual Property is the lifeblood of the modern economy and society. Wealth creation in the 21st century developed world depends more and more on the profitable utilization of knowledge. Failure to create that knowledge, to secure access to it, to protect it or to use it will result in a loss - not only to its the creators or owners but to the overall economy and to society as a whole.

Fortunately, awareness and recognition has been growing that intangible assets, such as IP, are often as important and sometimes more so, than tangible assets. Increasingly this is now being recognised on the balance sheet.

Equally, many now rightly recognise that a good IP portfolio is important in terms of attracting investment and other aspects of company growth. However - and coming back to the reasons for our being here today, - this recognition is not yet universal. The extent to which people and businesses in Ireland recognise this varies. There are certainly more than a few who need to act on the fact that their intellectual property – their know-how, can often be their or their company’s most valuable asset.

High potential start- up companies are no exceptions in this regard. Many of these involve the development and use of rapidly changing technologies. This, together with the complexity of IP law – a point I want to come back to in a few moments - has underlined a need for such companies to avail of specialist IP advice from the outset.

Just last year, my colleague Minister Micheál Martin launched a service by Enterprise Ireland for companies to avail of advice and funding in the Intellectual Property area. I understand that in recent times, a substantial majority of those availing of the patent costs funding provided under the Enterprise Ireland Intellectual Property Assistance Scheme, are indeed high potential start up companies.

Our laws and legislative framework in Intellectual Property and in other relevant fields have given great comfort to companies considering either creating or managing their intellectual property assets in Ireland. They are designed to promote the production and development of creative industries and to deal firmly with infringing activity.

A particular message I want to emphasise here today however is that all businesses should ensure that they make an active use of these laws to protect intellectual property investments appropriately. Protecting innovation under IP law gives exclusive rights to exploit property rights while acting as a considerable deterrent to would-be imitators and infringers.

Government and business have complementary roles to play in ensuring that this takes place. The Government’s role requires sustained action across a range of policy fields.

In the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and under my remit as Minister for Innovation Policy, this includes:

• legislating for the IP environment;
• providing the best service possible through the Patents Office to potential and existing developers of Intellectual Property;
• and, as I am doing here today, actively encouraging initiatives such as that by Cruickshank in launching its new service – to increase the wider know-how and use of Intellectual Property.

There is now a sizeable body of up-to-date IP legislation on the Irish statute books. The legal system provides certain exclusive rights, which the developers and owners of intellectual property can use and exploit to make an economic return on the investment made in the product.

Together, the Irish legal system’s IP provisions provide a range of protections for a wide variety of product and work situations.

The areas covered range from patent, trademark and industrial design to copyright and to other more specialised rights.

It is the case, however, that they add up to quite a complex body of law and regulation, which is not easy to understand or to master without the aid of expert advice and guidance. The Cruickshank Initiative is a very positive and helpful initiative in that regard.

A focus on the creation and protection of intellectual property has featured in many wider national policy strategies and reviews over recent years. For example, in its recently launched Strategy “Transforming Irish Industry 2008-2010”, Enterprise Ireland recognises that innovation will be the single greatest enabler of continued success for Irish Industry.

Within that strategy framework, it aims to work with research experts to identify projects available for commercialisation. It is also responsible for patenting technology developed by researchers based at universities, licensing these patents to industry and in creating start-up companies. These efforts which are part of the €30 million Technology Transfer Strengthening Initiative managed by Enterprise Ireland, are expected to make a significant contribution to Ireland’s growing drive towards the knowledge economy.

At EU level, the European Commission is due to bring forward a comprehensive IPR Strategy in 2008 to map out a common strategy for all Member States over the coming years across all areas of intellectual property. Amongst proposals which I expect will figure in the Strategy will be initiatives to renew past efforts towards a Community patent and for a lower cost patent litigation and Court system across the Community aimed above all at protecting SME’s against challenges to their property rights.

The European Commission has also, for example, signalled an intention to launch a call for proposals under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework to implement a 3 year “Awareness and Enforcement” project to raise significantly the awareness and knowledge of Intellectual Property Rights issues among SMEs to improve the registration and enforcement of rights and to combat counterfeiting.

I should take this opportunity to point out that the European Union has played, and continues to play, a valuable role for Ireland and our 26 partner States in tackling intellectual property issues and in co-ordinating our responses to them.

Many of our IP laws and regulations are transpositions into Irish law of EU Directives and rules. The EU Commission’s work over the years in harmonising and co-ordinating national approaches in the IP field has had a powerful effect in creating and securing the benefits for all of us in the internal market. It should also be a source of pride to us in this context that the central role in this field over recent years has been taken by Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, Commissioner with responsibility for the Internal Market.

In conclusion, I welcome the service being launched today. I compliment Cruickshank’s for its initiative and I hope it assists more companies and inventors to develop, manage, and protect their Intellectual property. There is certainly important work to be done in this area

Thank you.

ENDS/IP33