IP and tax

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The UK government has consistently sought to position the UK as one of the world’s most attractive environments for innovation and enterprise. This has involved developing a number of tax benefits incentivising innovative businesses at both investor and business level and for businesses at each stage of their lifecycle. These tax benefits include:

  1. •

    patent box

  2. •

    research and development (R&D) tax reliefs

  3. •

    capital allowances for purchases of:

    1. ◦

      know-how

    2. ◦

      patents, and

    3. ◦

      R&D

  4. •

    business asset disposal relief (formerly entrepreneurs’ relief)

  5. •

    venture capital trusts

  6. •

    the enterprise investment scheme, and

  7. •

    the seed enterprise investment scheme

Patent box tax regime

The aim of the patent box regime is to provide an incentive for companies to develop and retain patents and other qualifying IP within the UK. For more information, see: Patent box—overview.

R&D tax reliefs

Companies may be entitled to corporation tax relief in respect of qualifying expenditure that they incur on R&D. For more information, see: R&D reliefs—overview.

Patent,

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Latest IP News

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Law360, London: The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) said on 4 September 2025 that it is reviewing whether AI-generated designs should be eligible for protection in Britain.

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Law360, London: Europe's highest court ruled on 4 September 2025 that the question over whether a product infringes on design rights does not need to be answered by a technical expert, saying an informed user should be able to make the call in a dispute over protections for Lego pieces.

Totes of trouble—the battle over the Notting Hill shopping bag (Courtenay-Smith v Notting Hill Shopping Bag Co)

IP analysis: In a clash over creativity and commercial rights, Courtenay-Smith and The Notting Hill Bag Company Ltd took two brothers and their businesses to court, alleging trade mark infringement, passing off, and copyright infringement related to a tote bag design originally created and sold by Courtenay-Smith back in 2009. But the case took an unexpected turn. The court found that when Courtenay-Smith’s original company was dissolved in 2018, the rights to the trade mark and any attached goodwill didn’t stay with her—they passed to the Crown as bona vacantia (ownerless property). No valid steps had been taken to reclaim those rights, making the later trade mark renewal legally void. Without a valid trade mark or demonstrable goodwill, and with the court also finding no copyright infringement due to differences in design, the claimants’ case unravelled. The court’s dismissal of all claims serves as a clear reminder that inadequate management of IP during and after a company’s dissolution can leave valuable creative and commercial assets beyond recovery and outside the scope of legal protection. Written by Laura Evans, trainee trade mark attorney and Lee Curtis, partner and chartered trade mark attorney at HGF Limited, Manchester.

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