Cautious welcome to appointment of new minister for IP

Published: 13 October 2008
By: Peter Prowse

CIPA has given a cautious welcome to the appointment of David Lammy MP as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Intellectual Property. He takes over from Baroness Morgan of Drefelin, who has moved to the position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Children, Schools and Families.

In addition to the UK Intellectual Property Office, David Lammy’s new ministerial responsibilities at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills include encouraging innovation in higher education and responsibility for the Student Loans Company.

CIPA President Dave Bradley said that members of the Institute were looking forward to working with David Lammy to carry on the UK’s programme of change in IP policy and practice and hoped that he would quickly get to grips with the IP issues facing British businesses. “Although he comes to this role as a well qualified lawyer, with experience in both the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, David Lammy is the third minister to take on this role since it was created in June 2007. He’s going to have to deal with a lot of issues very quickly. We look forward to working with him long enough to implement some of the changes that have been planned. "

For further information, contact:

Nicholas Pope  Tel: 020 7405 9450 or

Peter Prowse  Tel: 01372 271234, mobile: 07973 213039