Patent

Patent FAQ session with Appleyard Lees, Patent Attorneys

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Intellectual Property Planning 0

You may be contemplating seeking a patent for your invention but you’re not quite sure where to start?

Here we share a real back-to-basics 101 session on patents with the friendly folk at Appleyard Lees – European Patent & Trademark Attorneys who answer frequently asked questions in relation to patents and patent strategies.

Ean Davies and Simon Bradbury from their Manchester office walk us through:

  • what rights does a UK patent offer?
  • what can typically be patented?
  • when to patent an invention?
  • strategies for patenting an invention
  • common errors in approach to patenting an invention
  • typical costs and approach

Enjoy.

Note that this interview was recorded in early 2014 and has only just been published as there were some ‘technical issues’ with the recording

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Patent Box: shows UK is open for international business

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Patent Box 0

My Kinda Town

The new Patent Box tax incentive is phased in this month allowing qualifying companies to claim a beneficial rate of corporation tax of just 10% (by 2017) on worldwide profits derived from qualifying patents.

Responses from UK business so far has been disappointingly muted so its good to see that this new relief is attracting the attention of overseas companies who may now take the UK seriously as a location to set up new ventures – particularly hi-tech businesses.

See this extract from David D. Sprague of Baker & MacKenzie LLP in Palo Alto CA:

“What makes the U.K. patent box particularly interesting for U.S. multinationals is that the United Kingdom has always been a logical base of foreign operations for U.S. groups.  For example, the U.S. high-tech community has found the United Kingdom to be an attractive jurisdiction in which to locate regional management headquarters, and some English industrial parks look like they have been transported from Silicon Valley. Advertising-supported internet-based businesses are particularly attracted to the United Kingdom, as London remains the region’s preeminent center of the advertising business.

So if the United Kingdom can get its patent box right, there is a real possibility that some U.S.-based internet and similarly situated businesses could see reasons to consolidate more activities in the United Kingdom, even making their U.K. group entities the central economic entrepreneur for their offshore structures.”

If we manage to pull this off and attract exciting new businesses and jobs – this would be a great result for the UK.

In the meantime, if you are a start-up, growing business or more mature SME – please don’t overlook the Patent Box, especially as it’s right on your doorstep!

 

image credit: Trey Ratcliff via Compfight

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10 need to know facts about the UK Patent Box

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Patent Box Tax N2K 0

Patents are only for the old machine

You may already be successfully claiming R&D tax credits for your fast growth company. If so, you might be wondering what’s next in terms of tax incentives to assist your business once you have gone beyond the research and development phase and into the phase of commercial exploitation?

Up until now, there hasn’t been much….

However, we now have the latest UK tax incentive for intellectual property rich companies – the Patent Box, which kicks in from 1 April 2013.

The UK Patent Box is a £1bn+ tax incentive that represents potentially one of the most significant tax incentives ever introduced in the UK.

Here are 10 facts to get you started – plenty more detail to come in future posts:

  1. 10% corporation tax rate will apply to company income falling within the Patent Box – this more than slashes the corporation tax rate in half!
  2. Applies to qualifying patent derived profits generated from 1 April 2013 – 10% tax rate phased in over four years
  3. Companies must satisfy specific ownership requirements to one or more patents to fall within this regime
  4. Patents must be granted for the relief to apply. For patents pending, you can track the relevant income for six years and claim the tax relief upon grant
  5. Patent must be granted by certain designated patent offices to qualify: the UK Intellectual Property Office; the European Patent Office or other patent offices within certain designated EU countries
  6. Companies must take an active role in developing the invention to which the patent applies to qualify – passive ownership will not suffice.
  7. For groups, the company that holds the patent must carry out an active role to manage the IP
  8. Relevant patent profits are calculated by applying either an apportionment or streaming methodology – apportionment is the default calculation methodology
  9. Disappointingly the calculations are complex as you must run through a six stage process to reach the qualifying relevant patent profits –  but this is where we can help.
  10. You enter the patent box regime by election – it is not automatic.

Given that this relief kicks in from 1 April 2013, your company may already fall within this regime if your financial year end falls after this date e.g. those with an April, May or June  year end!

If you already have patents or are considering filing patents, you need to start planning now to maximise this opportunity. 

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Ticking the UK patent box

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Intellectual Property Planning 0

The Patent Box lands in the UK on 1 April 2013 as part of the government’s bid to make the UK a more attractive and globally competitive place to do business.

I won’t dish out the detail of the patent box right now suffice to say that it will provide a lower rate of UK corporation tax for patent income (10%). The main rate of corporation tax is currently 26% and will be 24% at the time of the introduction of this new relief.

The patent box is not new – other countries have successfully piloted similar schemes (some EU countries with more attractive patent box rates than our proposed rate) and now the US is taking a serious look.

We already have the R&D tax credit in the UK to reward companies engaged in pushing the envelope of knowledge in the areas of science and technology although some 12 years post intro there are still many companies that are struggling to get to grips with this increasingly attractive tax incentive and many who have yet to make a claim (much to my frustration!).

HMRC recently held a meeting outlining the new patent box relief (slides here). I am not the only one left thinking that once companies have gone to the hassle of calculating the profits attributable to this lower rate, there may not be much eligible for the special 10% tax rate!

This is a good initiative but yet again the implementation of this tax incentive leaves a headache for companies and their advisors. What are your thoughts on what you’ve seen so far?

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