Moved by
Lord Howarth of Newport
12: After Clause 19, insert the following new Clause—
“Freedom of Information: lobbying
(1) The Secretary of State must maintain an online register, freely accessible to the public and up-to-date, of all representations, lobbying and advocacy concerning intellectual property addressed to Ministers, their officials and advisers and to staff of the Patent Office and their advisers.
(2) The register must provide information about the names of all individuals and organisations engaged in such communications and the dates, modes and whereabouts of them.
(3) The register must provide a report of the contents of each such engagement, but need not disclose matter that, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, is properly regarded as commercially confidential.”