BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable will today outline measures to speed up the services offered by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the agency in charge of copyright, designs, patents and trademarks.
In a speech at Lancaster University’s Big Innovation Centre, Cable will unveil a “super-fast” processing service to deliver patents in just 90 days. He will also outline a faster trademarks’ examination service that will deliver a report in five days instead of ten.
Tram firm Bilfinger has €1bn warchest
German civil engineering firm Bilfinger, part of the consortium building Edinburgh’s long-delayed tram system, has a
€1 billion (£814 million) warchest for acquisitions to boost its overseas presence, chief executive Roland Koch told a Sunday newspaper.
Koch told Welt am Sonntag: “We have a few ideas, the pipeline is well filled and we have the money we need. We want to become more international and expand, for instance, in Asia and America.
Number of female directors increases
The number of female directors has increased by 240,000 over the past five years, but there has been little change in the types of profession where they hold senior positions, according to research published today.
Experian said there had been a 24 per cent increase in female directors since 2007, with hairdressing, primary education and social work listed as the industries with the biggest percentage of all-female boards.
Millionaires want to escape from UK
A GROWING number of Britain’s millionaires are considering moving abroad to avoid “the weather, crime and the cost of living”, according to a report issued today by Lloyds TSB International.
Some 22 per cent of millionaires are considering a move abroad, up from 19 per cent last year and “a pronounced rise” from the 17 per cent reported 18 months ago.