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According to a client survey conducted over the second half of 2010 by Sheffield based IP specialists Withers & Rogers, UK businesses are planning to increase their spend on research and development activity in the year ahead, despite concerns about the impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review and the continuing challenging trading environment.

77% of companies said their R&D spend had increased or stayed the same despite the uncertain economic conditions and the majority (53%) are expecting to spend more on R&D in the year ahead. A third of businesses (34%) are also expecting to increase the volume of intellectual property activity next year. Only 13% of companies said they expect to spend less on R&D in 2011.

The poll suggests businesses are feeling quietly confident about the year ahead, despite concerns about the impact of public sector spending cuts and continuing global economic uncertainty. This is evident in their intention to increase spend on R&D in 2011 and to extend their IP protection.

UK businesses also know how critical innovation is to maintaining and growing market share – by bringing new value-added products and services to market they stand to gain by differentiating their offer and increasing volumes.

Businesses are also becoming more knowledge-conscious and the survey reveals that more than one in three (39%) UK companies are actively pursuing opportunities to transfer knowledge in order to explore new market opportunities; however, there appears to be plenty of scope for others as 58% say they aren’t looking to do so.

Knowledge transfer activity picked up sharply over the past year across a variety of markets, but most notably in the advanced engineering sector, where there have been examples of innovations developed for aerospace being applied in the automotive industry and visa versa.

This focus on knowledge transfer and using IP assets to the full has almost certainly contributed to the resilience of UK companies over the past couple of years.

For more information, visit the Withers & Rogers website here.

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