Introduction People have ideas all the time.

In business, new ideas can lead to new products and services. They can lead to a better way of doing something. Ideas can come from existing businesses through research and development. For example, Apple, an established technology company, developed the iPod. Ideas generate value to the economy by encouraging people to buy or invest in new developments. Many ideas come from entrepreneurs who go on to start up new businesses. They also inspire competitors to invent new products in order to regain mar et share. Intellectual property rights !IP"# can be used to protect the technology, brand name, design and creativity behind the concept. It gives the creator sole ownership of the concept, in a similar way to owning physical property li e a house or car. $wners can control the use of their intellectual property to gain financial reward. The %& Intellectual Property $ffice !%& IP$# helps owners and entrepreneurs to protect their concepts or creativity by registering their intellectual property rights.

'ocial factors An important social factor affecting intellectual property has been the growth in the number of small businesses. More of these new businesses are being set up by women, an increase of () on the previous year. The IP$ has responded to these trends by providing several services to meet the needs of individuals or small businesses. In *++, there were -++,+++ new small businesses set up. Identifying intellectual property The IP$ .entral /n0uiry %nit !./%# deals with general en0uiries, such as how to identify intellectual property, how to protect it or license intellectual property for use by others. The ./% is a central point of contact for businesses and individuals. It provides

advice on how and where to access specific information relating to IP. The ./% offers advice by telephone, email and in person.

The IP$ also offers online services to help people understand IP issues. This means that they can then ma e informed decisions about how to use and protect their own IP. IP$1s free online IP 2ealthchec service allows businesses to identify their IP through a simple step3by3step 0uestionnaire. IP 2ealthchec also covers issues such as licensing IP. It then creates an online report offering a set of recommendations. The report comes with instructions for the customer on how to action these recommendations. There are also lin s to further information and resources. $ther services offered by the IP$ include online searching of the patents, trade mar s and designs databases. These searches allow customers to chec whether their invention, trade mar or design already exists or identify existing technology which may help develop their own invention. This technology could only be used if it was not protected by a patent. This means that customers can ensure that they are not infringing someone else1s intellectual property. In addition, they can also file patent and trade mar s applications online. 4uilding awareness To build awareness of the importance of IP, the IP$ underta es wor with the education sector. This wor has two main aims5 - to educate the next generation of innovators explaining that innovation and creativity have value and can be lin ed to financial reward if they are protected by IP rights * to build respect for intellectual property among young people. The IP$6s 7allace and 8romit 6.rac ing Ideas6 campaign introduces the idea of innovation to schoolchildren and encourages them to come up with ideas of their own. It shows the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and creative thin ers the value of ideas.

Intellectual property and the external environment

An Intellectual Property $ffice case study Page 95 :egal and economic factors :egal factors

:egislation concerning copyright, patents, trade mar s and designs sets the framewor for the IP$6s wor . This legislation shapes what help and advice the IP$ needs to offer to innovators. 'ince *++9 the IP$ has also been involved in combating IP crime. This crime ta es many forms, including counterfeiting goods, pirating ;<;s and unauthorised sharing of music downloads. The IP$ is raising awareness of IP crime and its impact on businesses, individuals and the economy. The IP$6s new supply chain tool it helps in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy. It includes a step3by3step approach on what action a business should ta e if it finds counterfeit goods within its supply chain. It offers guidance on how to strengthen and protect IP assets. /conomic factors

The IP$ is also responding to the changing economic environment. It is encouraging business to eep investing in innovation despite the recent recession. It is also encouraging entrepreneurial start3up. 2istory suggests that those businesses which invest in innovation during difficult economic times are more li ely to survive than those who hold bac . This is also true for new technology start3up companies. For example, ;uPont invented both nylon and neoprene during the recession of the -(=+s. It too advantage of the low cost of both materials and scientific expertise to invest in innovation. The company was not alone. 2ewlett Pac ard and Polaroid were launched as entrepreneurial start3ups around the same

time. Innovation is arguably even more important today. Instead of spending money on machinery and e0uipment, businesses were using innovation to increase productivity. Two3thirds of productivity growth in the %& economy between *+++ and *++> was driven by innovation rather than capital investment. This, in turn, will create wealth as businesses use their intellectual property to produce products and services that generate income. For example, when a software company writes new computer code, this becomes part of the company1s intellectual property. The code is pac aged as software and is usually sold to customers under licence. This licence tells purchasers the terms under which they can use the software, for example, not copying or sharing. To help businesses eep their costs down, the IP$ has made registering patents both easier and cheaper. It has done the same with trade mar s. This allows small businesses in particular to protect and therefore benefit from their IP. Political and technological factors Political factors IP$ is a partner organisation of the department for 4usiness, Innovation and ' ills? !4I'# which is therefore one of its ey sta eholders. 4I' aims to build a competitive and dynamic %& economy. It loo s to do this by creating conditions for business to thrive and by encouraging innovation, enterprise and science in the %&. For example, it aims to provide young people with s ills and opportunities to achieve their goals by developing world3class universities. 4I' is supporting innovation? by providing tools to help businesses benchmar their own innovation performance and assess where and how they can improve benchmar ing. 'upporting environmental benefits The IP$ supports these initiatives by giving practical advice and support to entrepreneurs. 4usinesses are more li ely to carry out research and development nowing that their ideas will be protected. For example, a company wishing to submit a patent application for an innovation that has an environmental benefit can now apply through the IP$1s 8reen .hannel. This service gives 0uic er processing of this type of application and supports the %& government1s drive to improve environmental impacts.

Technological factors The growth of the internet has also highlighted the need to protect IP. It brings threats as well as some opportunities. %sing the web for mar eting ma es it easier for competitors to copy designs or even new products. The internet also ma es it easier to distribute digital material without permission. 2owever, innovators can use the internet to create new products and services, discover new ideas and access new mar ets more easily. The IP$ has responded to this challenge. Its services help businesses to protect and exploit their inventions and creativity. This is vital in an increasingly connected and networ ed world. IP 2ealthchec provides a series of guides. These help businesses, for example, to exploit their innovation through licensing or to use confidentiality agreements to protect their IP. The IP$ is also exploiting technology itself, using its own website to ma e its services more accessible. 4usinesses receive free targeted advice from IP$1s services so that they can understand the value of their intellectual property. .onclusion

In order for any business to grow, it is important that it understands the environment in which it operates. ':/PT analysis is a useful tool for any business wishing to understand its external environment. This allows it to devise plans and strategies to tac le the challenges it faces. The IP$ recognises the changes in its own external environment. This places new demands on the organisation. It needs to have the services to help businesses protect their intellectual property in today1s commercial environment.

As more people see to start their own business, the IP$ has ta en a proactive stance in helping them protect their IP. It is committed to providing free services that allow businesses to understand how they can protect and exploit their intellectual property.