Battling backlogs

David Kappos and David Lammy discuss the action the UK and US intellectual property offices are taking to reduce patent application delays

Innovation is the engine of economic growth and the only sustainable source of competitive advantage in today’s global economy. Recovery from the current global recession will also be driven largely by innovation. The global patent system plays a central role in fostering innovation and in enabling the deployment of innovative goods and services to market, thereby creating new businesses and good jobs. Yet it is clear that the patent system is presently failing inventors and businesses as well as the economy and the public.