Lord Younger, the Minister for Intellectual Property, spoke at the Houses of Parliament recently at an event sponsored by the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST). He contended that the UK government must continue to enforce harsh penalties on intellectual property theft to support innovation and economic recovery.

"A key priority for the Government is the effective enforcement of IP rights," Lord Younger said. "I'm delighted that the UK Government is doing more than ever before across the whole range of issues that affect IP rights, ensuring IP crime is tackled, IP rights are enforceable, and disputes are managed and resolved more efficiently."

The minister said the Intellectual Property Office has three main goals at the present time: to raise awareness of the value of intellectual property in business, to communicate the importance of intellectual property for Britain's future and to build intellectual property markets and the accompanying information infrastructure.

"Copyright, trademarks, designs and patents are crucial for innovation, investment and growth, with the UK software industry alone worth over £25 billion," Lord Younger noted.

He cautioned the information economy could be stalled or badly hurt by intellectual property crimes, and urged the Houses of Parliament to make enforcement and global collaboration a priority.