IP (Unjustified Threats) Act
Business guidance related to the Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017
Documents
Details
The Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017.
The aim of the Act is to make life easier for businesses and entrepreneurs. It does this by:
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clarifying the type of communications which are permitted between parties involved in a dispute over IP infringement
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preventing the misuse of threats to intimidate or gain an unfair advantage in circumstances where no infringement of an IP right has actually occurred
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providing a clear framework within which businesses and their professional advisors can operate to resolve disputes, including attempting to negotiate a settlement before turning to litigation
Entry into force
The Government considers it best practice that the measures come into force on a common commencement date, so that disruption to business is minimised. The main changes made by this Act will come into force on 1 October 2017, the next available common commencement date.
Guidance for business
Information for business on the new law is provided here. The document sets out the changes that have been made to the legal framework, and the expected impacts on IP rights holders, and third parties, as well as businesses, including legal services.
Background
In 2012 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) asked the Law Commission to review the existing threats provisions within patent, trade mark and design law. The Law Commission published a Consultation Paper (PDF, 442, KB) in 2013 and responses showed strong support for retaining protection against unjustified threats and overall support for reform of the existing law.
The consultation exercise was followed by a Law Commission Report (PDF, 922 KB) in April 2014 which summarised the responses received and made 18 recommendations for reform. The government responded on 26 February 2015, accepting the recommendations (in a few cases with some qualifications), and tasked the Law Commission with drafting a bill. This was published along with the Law Commission final report (PDF, 916 KB) on 12 October 2015. The government then conducted a public consultation on the draft bill during late 2015, and published its response to that consultation on 28 January 2016.
The Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on 19 May 2016, and followed the special Parliamentary procedure for Bills which implement Law Commission recommendations. Debates on all stages of the Act’s passage, and related documents, can be found on the Act’s Parliament page.
Updates to this page
Last updated 27 July 2017 + show all updates
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Guidance document updated.
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First published.