Intellectual property is essential for stimulating creativity and innovation. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is the government agency responsible for intellectual property and we maintain a clear and accessible intellectual property system in the UK which encourages innovation and helps the economy and society to benefit from knowledge and ideas. We help people get the right type of protection from their creation or invention.
Patents in particular are an important tool for stimulating innovation and growth. They grant monopoly rights of up to 20 years in return for a full disclosure of an invention.
The IPO administers the UK patent system and employs around 350 science and engineering professionals to examine patents across all areas of technology. The role of the patent examiner is to grant high quality patents for inventions which are genuinely new and inventive.
Equality and diversity
We publish regular information about what our equality objectives are and how we're meeting them.
Contents
- Equality and diversity
- Our people
- Gender pay gap at the IPO
- Our customers
- Outreach activities
- Access to copyrighted material
Equality and diversity
We are committed to promoting equality and valuing diversity in the way we deliver our services and the way we manage our employees. We strive to be inclusive through respecting one another, promoting and achieving equality of opportunity, valuing diversity, and providing an accessible, responsive service to our customers.
Further information about the work we have been doing is included in our Inclusion and diversity report for 2019-2020.
Our people
IPO is committed to making this a great place to work, where staff are offered flexibility and development, where everyone’s contribution is recognised and diversity is genuinely valued.
As an employer it is IPO policy to:
- promote a working environment free from discrimination, harassment and victimisation
- ensure that all decisions relating to employment practices are objective, free from bias, and based solely on work criteria and individual merit, with due account taken of an individual’s personal circumstances and the needs of the business
- ensure that disabled employees or job applicants are not placed at a substantial disadvantage by a working practice or policy and to make reasonable adjustments when needed
We publish regular information about what our equality objectives are and how we're meeting them.