Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the case for introducing a grace period for patent applications to protect inventors who disclose their inventions before filing.

The UK already has a 6-month grace period exception, available for a pre-filing-disclosure resulting from a breach of confidence or one made at an officially recognised international exhibition.

However, the government believes that there are strong arguments for more robust global protection against the potential loss of rights. Additionally, as part of its obligations under free trade agreements, the UK is actively promoting the introduction of a 12-month grace period internationally.

It is only through changes at the international level that the government will be able to change its domestic grace period.