Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific (CPTPP) membership is compatible with the UK’s continued membership of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents; and whether they have requested exclusions from Article 18.38 CPTPP (patent grace period) or Article 18.46 CPTPP (patent term adjustment).

The UK has a world leading intellectual property regime and will not sign trade deals that compromise it. The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership sets clear and consistent rules for the intellectual property (IP) sector which will benefit UK businesses and consumers. Article 18.46 (patent term adjustment) is a suspended provision so the UK does not have to sign up to it.

The UK takes its international obligations seriously and our accession negotiations will be consistent with our national interest and wider Government priorities, which include our continued alignment with the European Patent Convention and other international IP treaties.