British inventiveness: fact or myth?

Remember the good old days when British inventiveness loomed large ...

tytoc collie's friends at the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) have spurred him into action, even though this member of the blogging team is trying hard to be on holiday this week and keep away from the keyboard. The cause of his sudden activity is a press release, issued tomorrow (28 September 2010) and entitled "President of UK patent attorneys praises Japanese achievements in new technology but claims credit for UK in laying foundations" [a descriptive title, if not the most catchy one]. The press release runs thus:

“As a country, Japan is now the second biggest user of PCT, the international patent system, and Japanese company Panasonic is the biggest single user,” said Alasdair Poore, President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, welcoming on 28 September a delegation of 14 patent attorneys from the Japanese Patent Attorneys Association.

“Technological development and patent filings have grown phenomenally in Asia and Japan continues to be a leader [well, you can't argue with that]. But while we recognise and applaud Japan’s recent achievements,” he added, “we should not forget that modern patent law has its roots in the English 1624 Statute of Monopolies [some say 1623: it would be great to have a definitive ruling]. With its patent system, Britain developed its own proprietary technology and commercialised a number of new technologies, including mechanical looms and the steam engine. This was the start of the industrial revolution. And British technology didn’t stop in the 19th century [Merpel has just ejected by the back door for suggesting a "When did British Technology Stop?" competition]: a study by the Japanese Trade & Industry Ministry - MITI [or METI, as the Japanese now call it]– in the 1980s apparently concluded that 54 per cent of the world's most important inventions were British.” [tytoc collie has never seen the MITI report and wonders whether an English version of it exists.  He has however heard this figure, sometimes inflated to anything up to 75%, cited as evidence that the Japanese have simply stolen and successfully commercialised vast swathes of British innovation -- a proposition which the Kat feels cannot be supported by evidence].

The group of Japanese patent attorneys are visiting London following a visit to Tokyo by UK patent attorneys in 2008. ... The aim of the reciprocal visits is to encourage collaboration between the profession in Japan and CIPA’s members – UK-based professionals who are generally also qualified European Patent Attorneys, able to support Japanese colleagues with not only their UK but also their European and international work.[This sounds like good diplomacy and/or marketing, says the Kat]

... Said Alasdair Poore, “These reciprocal visits give us greater appreciation of each other’s rich heritage in technological development and in effective use of the international IP system.” [An elegant flourish of harmless rhetoric -- bravo!]

The Myth of MITI here
MITTY here
NITTY GRITTY here
KITTY here