The Intellectual Property Act 2014 (c. 18) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 14 May 2014 after being introduced on 9 May 2013. The purpose of the legislation was to update copyright law, in particular design and patent law. The law arose as a result of Sir Ian Hargreaves' Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, an independent report published in May 2011.Hargreaves, I., Digital Opportunity: A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, published May 2011, accessed 4 December 2023
Implementation was in part effected on 1 October 2014. One effect of the law was to removed the words "any aspect of" from the legal definition of a design,UK Legislation, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 213(2) as enacted, accessed 4 December 2023 in order to reduce the scope for legal protection of minor aspects of unregistered designs.Steele, C., IP Act 2014 - changes to designs law, Ashfords LLP, published 18 September 2014, accessed 4 December 2023 For unregistered designs commissioned after 1 October 2014, via section 2 of the Act, initial ownership now belongs to the designer and not the client, unless the parties have contracted for ownership to be otherwise handled.
The act implemented the Unified Patent Court, allowing for a single patent application across the European Union.
Reception The legislation was supported by the Law Society Intellectual Property Working Group.
The Labour Party peer Lord Stevenson described the legislation as opening a "Pandora's Box of unintended consequences" and said it could potentially discourage risk-taking.
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