Facts and figures is the IPO’s annual publication which details office activity by numbers. If you’ve made use of the information it provides we’d love your feedback.
The goal of such documents is admirable; by openly reporting our activities we can increases government transparency and accountability. Making this information openly available has an added bonus, it allows anybody to look at the number underlying registered intellectual property rights and conduct their own research using real data.
Facts and figures started life in an analogue world where “open data” was a little heard phrase. To complement this old style data published patent data is now released digitally which allows for statistical analysis.
The numbers reported in facts and figures reflect the administrative procedures involved in granting IP rights. The various steps involved when doing this can quickly produce reams of data which may be of little use outside of the administrative process. We have to judge what information is useful to release and what level of detail is appropriate (Data Protection Act allowing, of course).
The format of facts and figures has remained the same for a number of years and we are keen to find out if it remains a relevant source of information for our customers. In a drive to be open with our data could we be guilty of also confusing our audience? Or at least not presenting things as simply and usefully as we could?
So we would like to hear from you, particularly if you have previously used facts and figures. What numbers were you looking for? Did you find them? And understand them?
From casual perusals of facts and figures to in depth analysis, we are keen to know what piqued your interest.
All feedback on the current facts and figures publication is welcome.
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