John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

They are not excluded. As I said to the Deputy, this measure is more in their interest. Big companies can incur costs when applying for a patent because of the huge emphasis they place on confidentiality, etc. Small and medium sized enterprises do not incur costs. The scheme seeks to ensure that the Irish Patents Office treats all companies in the same way, regardless of size. It is important to note that intellectual property assets will qualify for patents and copyright software.

In terms of smaller companies, there is a third category of intellectual property assets that share features of patents. Since January 2016, for instance, patents and copyright software automatically qualify for the knowledge development box. The third category that specifically targets small companies are IP assets that share characteristics with the patents. As I said, the patent can be novel, non-obvious and useful.

My Department works within the OECD guidelines and recommendations. The OECD is pretty comfortable with the scheme, taking into consideration how it may very well be - I do not want to use the word "abused"-----