Getting The Most From The Patent Box – In Conversation With Cameron IP and Bonham & Brook

March 18, 2025

 

If your business profits from patented technologies, or if it plans to do so in future, you could reduce your corporation tax rate to 10% as part of the UK Patent Box scheme.

To benefit, you’ll need expert advice from both a Patent Attorney and a Tax Advisor, and to help you, Cameron IP have teamed up with Tax Advisors, Bonham & Brook, to explore the process, and how to make it work for you.

 

OUR EXPERTS

 

Louise Carr is a Senior Patent Attorney with Cameron IP with particular experience in patenting technology in the physics, engineering, electronics and computing fields. She has a global client base, and is well versed in managing international patent portfolios for her clients, in particular covering the UK, Europe, the US, China and Japan.

Louise has experience of working closely with her clients to assist them in putting the right patent protection in place to benefit from the Patent Box scheme, and where relevant, of trying to speed up the process so they can benefit as soon as possible.

 

Vishal Patel has over 8 years of experience in Tax Strategy, R&D tax relief and Patent Box and helps businesses maximise tax benefits and drive innovation. As Head of Financial Consultants at Bonham & Brook, he leads a team of specialists across healthcare, software, technology, and manufacturing, providing expert guidance on tax eligibility, financial assessments, and claims support.

A graduate of the University of Portsmouth in Applied Economics, Vishal combines deep tax expertise with a strategic approach to help businesses unlock funding through tax strategy,  R&D incentives and Patent Box relief.

 

Q. SO WHERE DO I START? 

Louise: The first thing you’ll need to do if you want to benefit from Patent Box tax relief is to get the right advisors on board – so a Patent Attorney like myself, and a Tax Advisor like Bonham and Brook.

Vishal: That’s right – a good Tax Advisor working together with a Patent Attorney will help to guide you through the process and make sure you’re doing the right things in the right order.

 

Q. OK – DONE, SO WHAT NEXT? 

Louise: First of all, we would have an initial meeting with you to explore how the scheme would apply to you. To qualify for the Patent Box regime, your business needs to hold a granted UK patent or European patent covering the UK or to be an exclusive licensee in one or more countries.

Vishal: Yes, this initial meeting with both the Tax Advisor and the Patent Attorney is really important, so we can get the best overview and understanding of your situation to provide you with the best advice collectively.

 

Q. SO IF YOU THINK I QUALIFY, HOW DO I START MY APPLICATION?

Vishal: So if you qualify from a patent point of view, then our specialist team would work with you to identify revenue streams within your business that could be related to the patent, consider the R&D activity involved, and calculate the potential tax benefits that could be available. Once this step is done, we are ready to prepare your application.

 

Q. WHAT DOES THE APPLICATION INVOLVE?

Vishal: We’ll work with you to prepare the application to HMRC, documenting and explaining your patent, including documenting the engineering justification, which our specialist technical team can assist with.

Once the application is complete, we’ll review it and the supporting documentation with you and the Patent Attorney to ensure we are happy from all points of view. When ready, the claim can be made via the company’s tax return.

Q. WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ANY PATENTS AT THE MOMENT? 

Louise: If you can identify an innovative product or process within your business, we may be able to file a patent application for it and progress this to the grant stage. Once the application is granted, it could allow you to benefit from the Patent Box scheme and also potentially obtain a patent monopoly.

 

Q. HOW QUICKLY IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET A GRANTED PATENT? 

Louise: This can vary according to a number of factors, but it is possible to use acceleration techniques to speed up the process. For example, we can request accelerated examination of the patent application through the “Green Channel”, if the invention has an eco-friendly component. There are also other techniques we can use to speed things up. Using all the techniques at our disposal, it can be possible to have a granted patent in under 12 months, although this can’t be guaranteed.

 

Q. AND HOW SOON MIGHT THE RESULT OF MY PATENT BOX APPLICATION COME THROUGH? 

Vishal: Again due to various factors it’s difficult to say but the more information we can provide the better. It is possible that you will be asked for further qualifying documentation, but our process aims to minimise the need for this – we aim to help you submit the claim correctly first time. We can however help you track profits attributable better from the date of the patent application.

 

Q. SOUNDS LIKE QUITE A SIMPLE PROCESS – WHEN CAN I START? 

Louise: Yes, it’s really hassle-free, and we advise you to start the process as soon as possible, so you can start reaping the benefits!

Vishal: Yes indeed! Just give us a call or fill in an online contact form on our website, and we’ll start the ball rolling for you!

 

CONTACT US 

 

Bonham & Brook – Hector Simpson: E. hsimpson@bonhamandbrook.co.uk T. 020 3523 9125

Cameron Intellectual Property – Louise Carr: E. louise@cameronintellectualproperty.com T. 020 8390 3775

 

FURTHER RESOURCES

https://bonhamandbrook.co.uk/patent-box/

https://cameronintellectualproperty.com/services/patents/patent-box

 

Click here to read the original article on cameronintellectualproperty.com

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