New Minister of Innovation visits Newport

Lord Triesman has praised the enthusiasm and professionalism of UK Intellectual Property staff after his first visit to the Newport Office.

The Minister dropped in to welcome the UK Intellectual Property Office team to the newly formed Department for Innovation Universities and Skills (DIUS), and meet some of the staff.

Lord Triesman is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Intellectual Property & Quality and Lords Minister for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

He said "I found the Office to be well focussed and professional in its work, staff are clearly highly motivated."

Ian Fletcher, CEO of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) summed up the successful visit by saying:

"I am pleased Lord Triesman came to see first hand the important role we play in enabling innovation in the widest sense."

During his visit the Minister reinforced the government's message about the important part Intellectual Property plays in the UK’s economy.

Editors' notes:

• The DIUS web site can be found at http://www.dius.gov.uk/
• The creation of DIUS was as a result of recent changes announced by Gordon Brown.
• DIUS will be leading the Government's work in delivering its long term vision to make Britain one of the best places in the world for science, research and innovation.
• The Minister was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (PUSS) in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Date of release: 11 July 2007