2022 Global Innovation Index: Innovation impact vs productivity

The World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) Global Innovation Index (GII) is a helpful indicator of geographical areas that are active when it comes to innovation. It also provides an up-to-date view of the important global innovation topics and trends.

Now in its 15th year, the comprehensive analysis of innovation input and output activity helps to determine the innovation position of global economies and areas in comparison with each other.

These rankings can help to provide a barometer of innovation around the world as well as help summarise the impact that innovation is having on global growth.

The 2022 GII reports that innovation investment remains high though this investment is not necessarily creating the expected impact. Slow adoption of technology and a stilted ability to translate innovations into productive implementation is seen as a key challenge to address.

In terms of the country rankings, Switzerland remains the highest-ranking country for level of innovation investment and success, and Europe features the largest number of top-ranking countries, reconfirming its place as a world-leading innovation area.

Emerging economies are also making their presence known and performing well, especially when compared to the relative size of their economies. Newcomers to the rankings include Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. This indicates the future potential of a truly global innovation landscape.

The 2022 GII highlights two ‘innovation waves’ that WIPO believes to be influential in driving growth in the future:

A digital age innovation – supercomputing, AI and automation

A Deep Science innovation – biotechnology, nanotechnology and new materials.

These developments are likely to have a particular impact in areas such as Health, Food, Environment and Mobility.

The potential of these innovation waves though is likely to take some time to materialise, the report warns. In order for innovations to improve society and improve equality, obstacles such as technology adoption and diffusion need to be overcome first.

“Productivity is at the core of what we want our societies and economies to be tomorrow, in particular if we want to combine higher levels of equality while using natural resources more sensibly. A true revolution is driving innovation today, guided by Digital Age and Deep Science waves. We have a collective responsibility to draw the lessons of recent crises to put this revolution on the right track, and gear it to the future we want.”

GII Co-Editor and Portulans Institute Co-Founder Bruno Lanvin

You can read the full 2022 Global Innovation Index here.

What hobbies would you do more of if you joined Two IP?

When an attorney is thinking of joining Two IP they are often surprised and delighted to find out that they wouldn’t need to work the same hours to earn the same (or even more!) as they currently do employed in private practice.

When you also include the reduced (or non-existent) commuting due to our fully remote model, the time individuals have back during their working week can be considerable.

In this blog we look at the hobbies and pastimes the Two IP team take part in and their thoughts on balancing their home and work life.

Anna – Co-founder

Anna is not only co-founder of Two IP but also senior independent director of Bowls England. 

Alongside the official board duties of this role, she also plays for her club and the Warwickshire county side, which requires regular practice and match playing commitments.

Lawn Bowls is clearly a huge passion of Anna’s and by creating the working life she has, she can participate fully in both board and playing roles.

It’s not just about spending time on the green. Anna also likes to play the piano and will spend time during the week practicing and perfecting her pieces, for her fortnightly lesson.

In a traditional IP attorney role, the time for activities like this would not normally exist, so they can easily fall by the wayside as work pressures build. Anna has been able to make time to take part in the things she enjoys – they rarely, if ever, get cancelled due to work commitments. And these non-work activities have a benefit that you might find somewhat unexpected – spending time doing these things, fully switching off from work, means Anna finds it easier to focus when she gets back to her client work or having conversations with attorneys thinking about joining Two IP.

Donnacha – Non-Exec Director

Donnacha lives and breathes the flexible working model. With a home base in Westport, Ireland and a house in Cyprus, it’s always a fun game guessing which country he is in on our team calls.  

His preferred past times are of the physical variety, so cycling, windsurfing and kayaking. These active pursuits mean he can experience plenty of time in the Cypriot sunshine and be invigorated by the fresh Irish air. Working across time zones also has the added advantage of taking part in his preferred activities well before the rest of us have woken up.

Danielle – COO

Danielle has advocated for flexible and remote working long before the pandemic and has perfected the art of carving out plenty of time for activities outside of work. 

A key one for her is the ability to go to the gym early each morning. 

Commuting and regular working hours can make fitting this in difficult. Still, with a fully flexible schedule, she can attend a spinning or HIIT class most days and even have time for a relaxing coffee afterwards.

Although strictly speaking not a hobby, Danielle also has an energetic dog that requires a fair amount of walking daily. As she has chosen to live in the depths of the Herefordshire countryside, another part of her daily schedule is long dog walks around the footpaths her house is surrounded by. No quick loops around the block in between client calls here.

Continuing the outdoors theme, she has also been known to work for a week at a time from a campsite, working for a few hours before heading out and exploring the local area. 

With no requirement to be in a particular place or even working at specific times, she can take a ‘holiday’ whenever she likes knowing she can still keep on top of work, and the Two IP infrastructure means she can attend meetings and receive calls wherever she may be.

How would you spend that time if you could save 2 to 3 hours each day and still earn the same? Let us know at hello@two-ip.com, and we can have a chat about if this is realistic for you.

What is IP Insurance and why might you need it? 

Intellectual property (IP) is an asset your business owns. Like any asset, there are situations where insurance to defray potentially costly claims can be a sensible precaution to take.

IP legal expenses insurance (LEI) isn’t appropriate for all businesses, but it is worth being aware of the situations where it might be a sensible investment. This blog shares our summary of IP LEI, the situations where it might be useful and the benefits of having it in place.

 

What is IP legal expenses insurance?

As with any other type of business insurance, IP legal expenses insurance (LEI) helps to mitigate significant costs – in the case of IP LEI, the costs of enforcing your IP rights and/or the costs of defending your business against an IP infringement action. If someone else infringes your IP rights, IP LEI can cover the costs of suing them for infringement, and if you are on the receiving end of IP litigation alleging infringement of someone else’s IP rights, IP LEI can cover the costs of defending the litigation.

Whatever the situation, IP litigation can be very costly and time-consuming to deal with so having insurance in place means you have a policy that will provide the finances for you to resolve it.

 

What types of IP insurance are available?

There is generally a scale of options and which option is right for you will depend on the level of risk and the price you are willing to pay for a policy.

Some common policy types are:

  • Opinion only: This enables you to obtain a professional opinion on your chances of success if you were to enforce or defend an IP infringement action
  • Enforcement or defence: This covers the costs of taking IP litigation action to enforce your rights as the IP owner or to defend against an allegation of IP infringement from others.
  • Damages: If you did lose an IP infringement action then this would cover you for any damages awarded.
  • Validity: This covers the legal costs of defending challenges to the validity of your IP rights; this is most generally applicable to patents.
  • Other options can also be added such as lost revenue or, increasingly important, cyber losses related to IP

However, for IP LEI it must usually be taken out “before the event” (BTE), i.e. before an (alleged) infringement has occurred. BTE LEI will only cover risk before an infringement claim is made or before the possibility of an infringement action ought to be known about. A decision to take out IP BTE insurance should therefore be considered as early as possible – this will also help to keep the insurance premium down.

UK cover will be the cheapest to obtain, followed by cover for Europe, Worldwide cover excluding the USA, and Worldwide cover including the USA; US IP litigation is the most expensive to action or defend, hence higher premiums will need to be paid. The premiums you pay will reflect the geographical cover you need. Taking out domestic cover early and expanding the cover as your markets grow is likely to be the most cost effective option.

Why might you consider getting IP Insurance?

The justification for IP insurance will depend on your specific situation and the value that Intellectual Property holds for your business. Of course, the level of risk of there being an issue will also play a role in determining if it is a wise investment.

If you operate in a highly technical or specialised area you may feel that you would benefit from the protection IP LEI provides. Similarly, if your market is highly competitive and IP plays a significant role in terms of competitive advantage, again it might be a good idea to have this enhanced protection.

As well as providing actual protection and financial support if the worst was to happen, it can also act as a deterrent. Weak claims that may not result in any legal action but could take time and effort to defend are more likely to go away if you have the insurance behind you to take robust advice and action from the outset. Similarly, alleged infringers are more likely to mediate or negotiate with you if they know you have the financial backing to see a case through and fully defend it.

 

What are the costs of IP insurance?

The insurer will calculate a premium based on a range of risk factors, including in which court you would intend to enforce any IP rights in the UK. The IP Enterprise Court (IPEC) costs less to take and defend IP litigation actions than going to the high court, and LEI just covering IPEC enforcement can have a premium that is lower as a result.

If the cover does require to be higher or cover a broad geographical area, then premiums are likely to be higher, but as with all insurance, it is worth being realistic on the level of cover you will require dependant on the circumstances.

 

Is litigation my only option for resolving an IP dispute?

Although LEI provides a comprehensive safeguard, there are other, cheaper options that you can also consider as a way to resolve an IP dispute.

Obtaining an option from the UK IP Office is one way. Although not a legal decision is it an informed and professional opinion from a senior examiner which can help steer the case one way or another, and help you decide whether it is better to negotiate a settlement or proceed with IP litigation.

Mediation is another route and one which the courts would have expected to have been attempted prior to starting legal proceedings. This often results in reasonable outcomes for all parties though will likely involve a compromise from both sides.

 

How do I find out if IP insurance is appropriate for me?

The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and The Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA) also provide a list of companies that offer IP insurance products.

Further information about IP legal expenses insurance can be found at the UK Intellectual Property Office: Intellectual property insurance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you have invested in protecting your IP, then you will likely already have a patent or trade mark attorney who you work with, so they would be your first point of contact. Our expert patent and trade mark attorneys are also happy to help, you can get in touch at hello@two-ip.com