Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the announcement on 28 November that they intend to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement, whether the UK, once a signatory to the agreement, will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

The UK has been a long-standing supporter of creating an international patent court for Europe. The decision to proceed with ratification provides a tangible realisation of the UK’s commitment to continue to play a full role in relation to our European partners while we remain a member of the EU.

This decision should not be seen as pre-empting the UK’s objectives in the forthcoming negotiations with the EU. It is also without prejudice to the UK’s future position on the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union once the UK has left the EU.