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T omkins, the IP spe- cialist, is a leader within its niche in Ireland, helping in- digenous and glob- al companies to maximise IP potential and assets. “We have secured protec- tion for inventions, brands and other IP across the globe in- cluding the US and Europe and in China, South Korea, India and other fast-growing mar- kets,” said Dr Christina Gates, managing partner, Tomkins. “We work with US com- panies bringing their IP into Europe, not just Ireland. We also work with Irish compa- nies expanding outside Ire- land to the US, Europe, and worldwide. We typically ad- vise on what a company can achieve from their IP, in other words how to maximise po- tential and value in terms of protection.” What underpins Tom- kins’ competitive edge is its wealth of in-house expertise. “Our staff are qualified sci- entists, engineers, lawyers and business people with a wide experience in industry, who are also trained as pat- ent and trademark attorneys,” said Gates. “ey speak the same technical language of our clients. ey understand their technology, ambitions and commercial needs.” Tomkins specialises in the life sciences, pharma, engi- neering and ICT sectors, to reflect its extensive technical expertise and knowhow in those arenas. In addition to helping cli- ents protect and realise the value in their IP assets, they help them to achieve brand value and recognition. ey also assist their clients with strategic planning, by running IP training workshops, han- dling due diligence issues for their investors, and identify- ing tax breaks. On Friday, June 19, Tomkins, in conjunction with business and tax advisory firm, Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon, will host a CPD-accredited Breakfast Seminar and Webinar on Intellectual Property. It will take place in the Hilton Hotel, Charlemont Place, Dublin 2. As places are limited, those interested in attending are ad- vised to register in advance with Tomkins by telephone on 01-2026700. At the event, Gates will identify and examine how companies can ready them- selves to take advantage of breaks and supports that may be included in the govern- ment’s proposed Knowledge Development Box. “We will encourage compa- nies to focus on innovations,” she said. “For example, have they invented anything, or have they made an improve- ment on something that al- ready exists? Could they regis- ter and value that innovation? ey need to consider if it is worth getting patent, trade- mark or design protection, or to grasp the opportunity to li- cense an innovation to other companies, thereby creating an attractive revenue stream.” Tomkins prides itself on its ability to handle a wide range of IP issues with commercial savvy and foresight. “We are always ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest advances and developments in the world of IP,” said Gates, As she sees it, the planned breakfast seminar and we- binar on June 19, is another example of Tomkins having its finger on the pulse of change. Tomkins has finger on pulse of change Dr Christina Gates, managing partner, Tomkins

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By margaret o’Brien

With pub-lic con-sultation complete, the gov-

ernment’s new Knowledge Development Box (KDB) is expected to be available early next year.

Its aim is to make Ireland a more attractive location for the development of intangible assets and to continue to be

an attractive base for foreign direct investment (FDI).

IP Boxes have shown they can increase the attractiveness of a country as a location for intellectual property. While Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has committed to Ire-land’s KDB being best in class, he needs to bring clarity to this commitment.

Paddy Stapleton, senior tax manager at Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon, said: “What’s need-ed is a well-written piece of

legislation that can be clearly interpreted.”

Orla Gavin, partner at KPMG, said: “It will be es-sential that the definition of qualifying assets is crafted in such a way that it captures a broad base of assets to reflect the diverse range of innovative activity occurring in Ireland. For example, it should be wider than just patents, and should embrace software which is typically protected by copyright.

Views differ regarding the most appropriate tax rate for IP, Stapleton said. “Rates of other regimes vary from 5 to 10 per cent, but because the Netherlands is a direct com-petitor as an FDI location, and it operates a 5 per cent rate, we believe the Irish KDB rate must also operate at 5 per cent in order to be competitive in-ternationally,” he said.

Stapleton hopes the KDB will avoid restrictions on relat-ed party expenditure, which in

his view would limit its impact for both large MNCs and small indigenous niche developers.

“Many Irish companies out-source specialist R&D func-tions to overseas affiliates, or may carry out a portion of its R&D activity through an over-seas branch.

“Where an Irish operation bears the economic risk of de-velopment and has ownership of the relevant IP, profits from such development should come within the KDB.

“This should be carefully considered in designing the model. It should be possible to achieve this without com-promising the ‘substantial activity’ requirement.”

Dr Christina Gates, manag-ing partner at Tomkins, said that one of the most import-ant things was for the KDB to stipulate that patents should be searched and examined.

“In other words, we need to ensure that it’s a real inven-tion,” she said. “Something

that didn’t happen in the past.“We can also learn from the

experience of others. Britain’s Patent Box didn’t require that an invention be developed or finessed in Britain to qualify for tax relief.

“With our KDB, we should insist that any qualifying IP should be created or substan-tially created in Ireland. That’s very important if we are to promote R&D for SMEs, and if we are to build high skilled jobs here.”

Tomkins, the IP spe-cialist, is a leader within its niche in Ireland, helping in-digenous and glob-

al companies to maximise IP potential and assets.

“We have secured protec-tion for inventions, brands and other IP across the globe in-cluding the US and Europe and in China, South Korea, India and other fast-growing mar-kets,” said Dr Christina Gates, managing partner, Tomkins.

“We work with US com-panies bringing their IP into Europe, not just Ireland. We also work with Irish compa-nies expanding outside Ire-land to the US, Europe, and worldwide. We typically ad-vise on what a company can achieve from their IP, in other words how to maximise po-tential and value in terms of protection.”

What underpins Tom-kins’ competitive edge is its wealth of in-house expertise. “Our staff are qualified sci-entists, engineers, lawyers

and business people with a wide experience in industry, who are also trained as pat-ent and trademark attorneys,” said Gates. “They speak the same technical language of our clients. They understand their technology, ambitions and commercial needs.”

Tomkins specialises in the life sciences, pharma, engi-neering and ICT sectors, to

reflect its extensive technical expertise and knowhow in those arenas.

In addition to helping cli-ents protect and realise the value in their IP assets, they help them to achieve brand value and recognition. They also assist their clients with strategic planning, by running IP training workshops, han-dling due diligence issues for their investors, and identify-ing tax breaks.

On Friday, June 19, Tomkins, in conjunction with business and tax advisory firm, Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon, will host a CPD-accredited Breakfast Seminar and Webinar on Intellectual Property. It will take place in the Hilton Hotel, Charlemont Place, Dublin 2. As places are limited, those interested in attending are ad-vised to register in advance with Tomkins by telephone on 01-2026700.

At the event, Gates will identify and examine how companies can ready them-selves to take advantage of

breaks and supports that may be included in the govern-ment’s proposed Knowledge Development Box.

“We will encourage compa-nies to focus on innovations,” she said. “For example, have they invented anything, or have they made an improve-ment on something that al-ready exists? Could they regis-ter and value that innovation? They need to consider if it is worth getting patent, trade-mark or design protection, or to grasp the opportunity to li-cense an innovation to other companies, thereby creating an attractive revenue stream.”

Tomkins prides itself on its ability to handle a wide range of IP issues with commercial savvy and foresight. “We are always ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest advances and developments in the world of IP,” said Gates,

As she sees it, the planned breakfast seminar and we-binar on June 19, is another example of Tomkins having its finger on the pulse of change.

Tomkins has finger on pulse of change

The Sunday Business PostMay 31, 201536 Focus On: Intellectual Property

Get an edge on the competition with KPMGas the largest tax practice in ireland, KPmg advises many of the multination-als locating to these shores – together with many in-novative indigenous Smes – giving the firm a broad perspective on iP issues.

“in today’s knowledge economy, iP can be a crit-ical part of the tax strategy of many businesses,” said adrian Crawford, who heads up ireland’s tax Centre of excellence at KPmg new york.

“We have a dedicated iP specialist team which includes experts in inter-national tax, transfer pric-ing and valuations, supply chain management, r&D tax credits and accounting for iP.”

Crawford and his col-leagues, orla gavin and anna Scally, who spend time visiting companies in the US West Coast Bay area each month, are part of KPmg’s specialist team advising clients on iP strategies, with a partic-ular focus on highlighting ireland as a location for iP investment.

gavin said: “Changes to the international tax land-scape will mean a signifi-cant shift in the location of globally mobile intangible assets in the short to me-dium term, and ireland will need to compete to attract this investment.

“We advise those who may be considering re-structuring to plan and assess options early. The location of iP, and the strategy around its devel-opment and exploitation, are critical value drivers for many businesses and should be given early and considered analysis.”

Crawford said: “We are seeing a lot of interest in ireland as a location of choice for future iP investment and develop-ment, and are working with companies to assess

and model the financial and commercial impact of on-shoring iP to ireland. in many cases, ireland offers a strong proposition when compared to other jurisdictions.

“However, there is increasing emphasis on the alignment of r&D substance, ie, highly qual-ified senior people, with economic ownership of iP. This will become critical from a transfer pricing perspective. ireland’s challenge is how to attract and retain individuals with the requisite skill sets, given our high per-sonal tax rates.”

The proposed Knowl-

edge Development Box (KDB) is a topical issue for companies who are look-ing at ireland as a location for iP investment, and this includes and irish Smes.

KPmg’s submission on the KDB included an extensive list of recom-mendations on the regime design, having consulted widely with irish business of all sizes and multi-nationals operating in ireland.

Crawford said: “There are a number of design issues critical to the ef-fectiveness of the KDB as a competitive tax offering for ireland.

“it will be essential that the definition of quali-fying intangible assets is as broad as possible, to reflect the diverse range of innovation being un-dertaken in ireland, and is not just restricted to patents.

“The modified nexus approach being suggested for box regimes interna-tionally, which broadly restricts qualifying in-come by reference to locally performed r&D, is problematic for mul-tinational companies in ireland.

“This is because ireland is a small country which, by definition, has inherent limitations on the amount of r&D which can be per-formed locally.”

Crawford noted that even if the KDB is limited in application, ireland’s overall tax regime contin-ues to provide a competi-tive tax offering relative to other jurisdictions.

in addition, the govern-ment has committed to examine ways in which ireland can ensure that our corporate tax regime remains competitive.

For more information, register for KPMG’s tax app at kpmg publications.ie/registration

While the g o v e r n -ment in-troduced s e v e r -

al changes to Ireland’s IP tax regime in recent years, Aidan Byrne, international tax partner at Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon, said it has been a case of “tinkering around the edges” without fundamentally changing the IP tax landscape.

“Businesses crave certainty when it comes to tax legis-lation, or indeed any cor-porate legislation. If there is any doubt about what does or doesn’t qualify for tax reliefs, the effect of that is to generate great uncertainty,” said Byrne.

“Accordingly, the legislative provisions giving effect to the KDB should put the regime on a long-term legislative footing, accompanied by very clear guidance, which allows inves-tors to have certainty over the medium to long term.

“I spend a lot of time talking to US firms hoping to enter the Irish market, and I can

tell them with certainty that our corporation tax rate is 12.5

per cent. However, I have to be really cautious about what

I say regarding the detail of our IP tax regime. They only

want to deal with certainties when it comes to the rules. They don’t want any surprises, and unfortunately there are grey areas.

“The fact is that the UK R&D tax credit system is better and clearer than ours, and they are beginning to win more IP-based business because of it. The UK also offers a lower per-sonal tax band to high-earning executives setting up multi-national bases in the UK, and that’s another issue that needs to be addressed.

“The marginal personal tax rate of 52 per cent, and the low threshold at which it applies, is a significant impediment to attracting talent from over-seas. This is a recurring theme from our international client base, and it is important that the government addresses this issue.”

The Sarp relief which pro-vides for income tax relief on a proportion of income earned by an employee who is as-signed by his or her employer to work in the state was re-cently improved, but its take up has been extremely lim-ited. “Further improvements can be made and ultimately, the 52 per cent rate needs to be reduced if real success is to be delivered in attracting overseas investment and in-ternationally mobile talent.”

The KDB will work hand-in-hand with an R&D tax credit regime that is quite at-tractive as it stands, but said Byrne, “there is scope for incremental improvements. This is an ideal time to review the regime. In particular, re-ducing the restrictions around the eligibility of outsourced expenditure would be key in this respect”.

He believed the planned KDB provided Ireland with an ideal opportunity to be in-novative and to deliver clearly written rules that can be clear-ly interpreted; thereby giving Ireland Inc the best possible chance to win more IP based business.

Aidan Byrne, international tax partner at Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon

Orla Gavin, partner at KPMG

Dr Christina Gates, managing partner, Tomkins

Adrian Crawford, head of Ireland’s Tax Centre of Excellence at KPMG New York

Open possibilities with the Knowledge Development Box

Ireland is losing business over ‘uncertain’ IP taxes

Ireland offers a strong proposition when compared to other jurisdictions

Unlock value created by

bright ideasOur experienced tax and

intellectual property specialistscan help optimise your IP strategy

To find out how we can help, contact

Adrian Crawfordt: +1 212 872 7792

e: [email protected]

Orla Gavint: +353 1 410 1202

e: [email protected]

Anna Scallyt: +353 1 410 1240

e: [email protected]

© 2015 KPMG, an Irish partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks of KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. (804)

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