MINISTER of Justice, Senator Mark Golding, said government intends to introduce legislation that will provide greater protection to the country’s innovators and inventors.

He said that work has been underway on a new Patent and Designs Bill for some time, and the government is committed to “taking it as quickly as possible to the point where it can be taken to parliament”.

“It is a very major piece of legislation; it covers both patent and designs. Quite often, those are treated separately but the decision was taken to treat them in a single piece of legislation, which contributes to the volume of it,” Senator Golding said.

He was speaking on a motion moved by Opposition Senator, Dr Christopher Tufton in the Upper House on Friday, urging the government to enact legislation for a new Patent and Designs Bill.

Senator Golding said that the inputs of critical reviewers and stakeholders “have to be taken into account in drafting whatever further refinements need to be introduced in order to ensure that it is coherent and workable”.