Corporation Tax Act 2009 section 922

Rights to acquire future patent rights

Section 922 deals with how payments made to secure the right to acquire patent rights in the future — before a patent has been granted — are treated for corporation tax purposes.

• A payment to obtain a right to acquire future patent rights is treated as a purchase of patent rights by the payer and a sale of patent rights by the recipient
• If the person later acquires the actual patent rights, the original payment is treated as expenditure on purchasing those rights
• Future patent rights means rights relating to an invention where the patent has not yet been granted
• This ensures that payments made at an early stage, before a patent exists, are brought within the same tax rules that apply to actual patent rights transactions