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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Brexit, whether the UK will continue to participate in the Unified Patent Court; and whether the central division dealing with pharmaceuticals and life sciences will continue to be based in London, in accordance with the announcement by Baroness Neville-Rolfe at the October 2015 EU Competitiveness Council.

The Government confirmed in November 2016 that the UK will proceed with preparations to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement. Those preparations are progressing. No decision has been taken on our future involvement in the court once we have left the EU. That will be part of the negotiations which have not yet begun. It would be wrong to set out unilateral positions in advance but the Government’s efforts will be focussed on seeking the best deal possible in the negotiations with our European partners.