The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, has published his report of the re-inspection of Border Force’s identification and treatment of Potential Victims of Modern Slavery.

The completed report was sent to the Home Secretary on 30 January 2018.

The IPO and INPI signed a PPH agreement on 28 March at the 10th UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) in London. The UK meets Brazil annually, using JETCO as a forum to pursue UK trade policy and commercial interests in Brazil.

The Agreement was signed by Andy Bartlett, IPO Divisional Director, and Mauro Maia, Executive Director of INPI. The signing was witnessed by Secretary of State for the Department of Trade, Rt Hon Liam Fox and his counterpart, acting Minister of Industry, Trade and Foreign Service, Marcos Jorge de Lima.

Ministers witnessing the signing of the PPH agreement by Andy Bartlett and Mauro Maia.

Mr Bartlett welcomed the agreement:

This agreement has obvious practical value to innovators seeking international patent protection. It is also symbolic of a more open and strategic approach by the Brazilian government on IP.

This bilateral PPH builds on work initiated under the UK-Brazil Memorandum of Understanding on IP. It will support UK and Brazilian businesses looking to trade in each other’s markets. It will also reinforce the already excellent relationship between the IP Offices of both countries.

Under the PPH program, an applicant whose claims are accepted by one office, can request faster processing of a co-pending application. The PPH can significantly speed up the process of gaining a patent and help minimise the associated costs to the applicant.

This is one of a number of initiatives launched in Brazil this month. Last week, the IPO and Oxentia, Oxford University’s Global Innovation Consultancy, launched a version of the Lambert Toolkit in Brazil. This toolkit helps academia and industry to carry out research projects together. We hope it encourages cross border technology transfer and joint projects between the countries.

UK Embassy, Oxentia, INPI, IPO and University Center of Belo Horizonte colleagues launching the Brazilian version of the Lambert toolkit.

Our Brazilian IP attaché Angelica Garcia has been working to understand the enforcement conditions and legislative process in Brazil. She recently attended meetings with PROCON, the consumer enforcement agency in Sao Paulo and the UK-Brazil Parliamentary group.

Such information gathering activities help us understand the problems facing UK businesses. We can then tailor our advice to those seeking to register and protect IP rights in Brazil.

Angelica also attended the launch of the UK-Brazil Year of Science and Innovation in Rio – a celebration of bilateral science and innovation cooperation.

By cooperating on IP resources such as the Lambert toolkit and issues like granting of patents, we can build stronger and more effective national IP systems. This will support both UK and Brazilian businesses.

The company has shared a video featuring employees who have set up an autism support network.

Sellafield Ltd supports Autism Awareness Week

Autism affects around 1 in 100 people in the UK.

As an inclusive employer of around 10,000 people, Sellafield Ltd is keen to ensure their employees are supported and able contribute to the site’s mission in the best way possible.

The site’s autism network was founded following a chance meeting between two employees, who are parents of autistic children.

The network has now grown to a group of around 50 employees, who are affected by the condition in a range of ways.

The group meet regularly to share their experiences and support each other, and members are keen to help other people who may be struggling with the condition, by directing them to useful information.

IP connect is the Intellectual Property Office media service.

On 28 March, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Business jointly launched the Creative Industries Sector Deal. More than £150 million will be invested by government and industry to help the country’s world-leading cultural and creative businesses thrive.

This follows on from the government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper that was published in November. The strategy committed to roll-out Sector Deals, which are partnerships between government and industry to increase sector productivity.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has been working with DCMS and the Creative Industries on including intellectual property (IP) in this Sector Deal. We have committed to:

• support the Creative Content UK campaign, Get it Right from a Genuine Site, by providing joint funding of £2 million with DCMS

• organise roundtables with online intermediaries and rights holders. These will consider the practicalities of agreeing new Codes of Practice in social media, digital advertising and online market places

• continue our work to help address the value gap, both within the Digital Single Market copyright proposals and at domestic levels

• consider site blocking and ways that this could be introduced

• publish a programme of work to support the IP valuation market by autumn 2018. We will also work with industry to help identify solutions to address skills gaps around IP valuation

For more information, read the full Creative Industries Sector Deal.

Published 28 March 2018

From February next year (2019), lorries meeting the latest Euro VI emissions standards will be eligible for a 10% reduction in the cost of the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) levy.

The cleanest lorries generate 80% less nitrogen emissions than dirtier ones. Those lorries that do not meet the latest emissions standards will be expected to pay 20% more.

Roads Minister Jesse Norman said:

This government is committed to improving the air we breathe and delivering a green revolution in transport.

Heavy goods vehicles account for around a fifth of harmful nitrogen oxide emissions from road transport, but they only travel 5% of the total miles.

That’s why we’re changing the HGV levy to encourage firms to phase out the most polluting lorries and bring in the cleanest ones.

The HGV Road User Levy, introduced in 2014, was brought in as a first step to ensure lorries pay a charge to cover the greater wear and tear they cause to road surfaces than other vehicles. This change to the levy will further incentivise the industry to choose less polluting lorries.

When the change comes into effect, more than half of UK vehicles will pay less. As increasing numbers of companies move to cleaner lorries, the UK haulage industry overall will pay less.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said:

Air pollution has improved significantly since 2010, but we recognise there is more to do which is why we have put in place a £3.5 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions.

Poor air quality affects public health, the economy, and the environment, and all motorists, including hauliers, must play their part if we are to clean up our air for the next generation.

The HGV levy is just one element of the government’s £3.5 billion programme to clean up the air and reduce emissions, which includes £255 million for councils to improve air quality and a dedicated Clean Air Fund of £220 million for those local areas with the biggest air quality challenges.