Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove and Portslade spoke about the importance of protecting Intellectual Property Rights in a speech during the Bill’s third reading last week (March 12).
The Prime Minister, appointed Mike as his adviser on Intellectual Property last year, with a particular focus on enforcement.
As an MP, Mike has pushed hard to raise awareness of Intellectual Property Rights amongst his colleagues in Parliament where his Rock the House initiative, is now Parliament’s largest competition and a popular vehicle to achieve this aim.
In his parliamentary speech, Mike said: “Above all else, what this Bill needs is for the Prime Minister to state categorically that IP Rights are the same as Property Rights and something to be cherished and protected. In many ways, Europe is looking to us in the UK for IP direction and this repeated message is important so rights are not drip fed away.”
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Commenting, Mike said: “The value of Intellectual Property to our country really cannot be overestimated, which is why protecting these rights is so important. The Intellectual Property Bill is certainly a positive step in the right direction. However, given that the creative industries add over £70 billion to our economy, I felt compelled to call on the Prime Minister to emphasise his support for Intellectual Property Rights and how that they need to be bolstered, not eroded.”