Patent Box – Positive Progress

Originally published 1st July 2011

The Government has last month published its revised proposals for the "Patent Box", a tax incentive regime aimed at encouraging the development and exploitation of patents in the UK.

In outline, the proposed Patent Box regime applies a reduced 10% tax rate to certain profits attributable to patents. The original proposals published in November last year were narrow in scope, resulting in limited industry enthusiasm. However, the revised proposals significantly widen the application of the regime and, with a little further work, it now seems possible that the "Box" could become the valuable incentive that both industry and the Government are hoping for.