Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether negotiations on accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership will respect the UK's obligations to (a) the European Patent Convention and (b) other international agreements.

The UK possesses a world leading intellectual property regime, and it will not sign trade deals that compromise it. The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) sets coherent and consistent rules in intellectual property, which will benefit both UK businesses and consumers. CPTPP represents a baseline and commits parties to a minimum level of IP standards.

The UK takes its existing international obligations seriously and have no intention of leaving the European Patent Convention or any other international intellectual property conventions that the UK is party to.