This report explores the problem of "cluttering" of trade mark registers. The report consists of two parts:The first presents a conceptual discussion of “cluttering” of trade mark registers.The second part provides an exploratory empirical analysis of trade mark applications at the UK...

This research is the initial investigation into the relationship between holders of registered IPRs and growth performance of firms, measured in terms of growth in assets, employment, or sales. The results are not intended to be considered in isolation but were used to inform ‘The use of...

This report investigates potential links between trade marking and performance. The researchers document an overview of corporate trade marking activity in Britain, analyse the role of trade marks in the innovation process for firms and their impact on households, and explore possible links...

This report analyses whether entry of UK enterprises into patenting in a technology area is affected by patent thickets in the technology area.The aim is to contribute to our understanding of the role of patent thickets as a barrier to entry into new technologies for UK enterprises, in...

The use of intellectual property right bundles by firms in the UK This report presents the exploratory analysis of the use of different types of IPRs as part of an intellectual property rights bundle by firms registered in the UK

The aim is to contribute to our understanding of the role of patent thickets as a barrier to entry into new technologies for UK enterprises, in particular small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).The report consists of several parts:A review of the literature on patent thickets, including the...

One of the most puzzling findings in the empirical analysis of firms’ patenting behaviour is the low proportion of patenting firms in the population of registered companies. Also, there is evidence suggesting that firms may not patent all patentable inventions and that this behaviour differs...

This note reports on collaboration between Imperial College, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), and industry sources to improve measurement of UK investment in artistic originals. We focus on creation of long-lived artistic original assets protected...

This report estimates:(a) The level of UK market sector investment in knowledge assets protected by Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and(b) The impact of investment in those assets via their contribution to labour productivity growth in the UK market sector. Estimates for investment and the...

New estimates of UK business intangible investment protected by intellectual property rights, show continuing growth, and recovery in business intellectual property investment to the point where, by 2011, it was already above its pre-recession peak.The historical growth pattern looks to have...