Intellectual Property Office (2019)
Contents
Source Details
| Intellectual Property Office (2019) | |
| Title: | Exhaustion of Intellectual Property Rights |
| Author(s): | Intellectual Property Office, Ernst & Young LLP |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Citation: | Intellectual Property Office; Ernst & Young LLP. (17 June 2019). Exhaustion of Intellectual Property Rights. |
| Link(s): | Definitive , Open Access |
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| About the Data | |
| Data Description: | Quantitative data on trade volume; opinion survey questionaire; quantitative and qualitative data from literature review; |
| Data Type: | Primary and Secondary data |
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| Cross Country Study?: | No |
| Comparative Study?: | No |
| Literature review?: | Yes |
| Government or policy study?: | Yes |
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Abstract
"EY were commissioned by the UK Intellectual Property Office to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether it would be possible to estimate the scale of parallel trade across the economy, and to suggest potential research methodologies for the future. This was commissioned to inform the Government’s assessment and analysis of the options for the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) exhaustion regime when the UK leaves the EU. The study builds understanding of the existing data to estimate parallel trade, what could be collected, its quality, and whether the data could be used to infer quantities of parallel trade. It also establishes the views of a sample of stakeholders on different potential regimes and their assessment of the consequences of a change of the IPR exhaustion regime. In terms of scope, this feasibility study does not suggest or recommend a future exhaustion regime but establishes the current data on parallel trade and what, if any, future work could improve from this baseline."
Main Results of the Study
This report examines the industry’s attitude towards national and international intellectual property rights exhaustion by presenting different assessment methods and their suitability. The study was conducted by Ernst & Young who were commissioned by the IPO. A preliminary literature review shows that most data on parallel trade volume is available from the pharmaceutical sector, but it was overall not possible to determine the full scale of parallel trade volume. The literature review further indicates that national exhaustion regimes seem an advantage for IPR holders and foster innovation by avoiding the exploitation of research and marketing investments through parallel traders. International exhaustion regimes appear to benefit consumer choice and competitive pricing. Regarding post-Brexit regulations, stakeholders interviews suggest a negative attitude towards an international exhaustion regime and favour the EEA regional exhaustion regime. Finally, the report sets out options for further research. Drivers: price differences; government price controls; exchange rates
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
Coverage of Study
Datasets
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