Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the transfer of intellectual property for projects for which a catapult grant has been awarded to that catapult grant on (a) small businesses, (b) start-up businesses and (c) entrepreneurs.

The intellectual property (IP) associated with any grants from Innovate UK is owned by the project participants. The sharing of IP between project participants in a collaborative R&D project is established through a collaboration agreement for that consortium. Innovate UK does not dictate the terms of those collaboration agreements. When a Catapult, which are set up as private businesses, is one of the collaborators they are subject to the same approach. Agreement would be reached across the consortium, and while a Catapult might take an IP stake it would only do so where this supported delivery of its strategic objectives to support innovation and the translation of R&D.