The Uranium Enrichment Technology (Prohibition on Disclosure) Regulations 2004

Exempt disclosures

3.—(1) Regulation 2 does not prohibit disclosure if–

(a) it is made with the intention of assisting or enabling the proper working of enrichment equipment to be –

(i) tested for the purpose of enabling or facilitating, or

(ii) evaluated in the course of,

the carrying out of any functions of–

(aa) the Health and Safety Executive established under section 10 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974(1); or

(bb) the Environment Agency established under section 1 of the Environment Act 1995(2); or

(cc) Euratom; or

(dd) the International Atomic Energy Agency; or

(b) it is made–

(i) for the purpose of enabling an application for a patent to be filed in the Patent Office (whether under the Patents Act 1977(3) or under any treaty or international convention to which the United Kingdom is a party), or

(ii) for the purpose of enabling such an application to be amended, or

(iii) in the course of the filing or amendment of such an application, or

(iv) by a person acting in the course of his duties in respect of such applications under the authority or direction of the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks; or

(c) it—

(i) consists of information contained in an application for a patent; and

(ii) was made not less than six weeks after the application was filed in the Patent Office;

and no directions have been given under section 22 of the Patents Act 1977 in relation to the application or all such directions have been revoked; or

(d) it is made–

(i) for the purpose of enabling an application for a patent (or other protection for an invention) to be filed outside the United Kingdom under the law of a country other than the United Kingdom or under a treaty or international convention to which the United Kingdom is a party, or

(ii) for the purpose of enabling such an application to be amended, or

(iii) in the course of the filing or amendment of such an application,

where the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has granted written authority for the filing under section 23(1) of the Patents Act 1977; or

(e) it is made by a United Kingdom person outside the United Kingdom acting in the course of his duties in respect of applications for patents (or other protections for inventions) filed outside the United Kingdom under the law of a country other than the United Kingdom or under a treaty or international convention (whether it is one to which the United Kingdom is a party or not); or

(f) it constitutes–

(i) an activity which is authorised by a licence granted in accordance with any provision made under the Export Control Act 2002(4), or

(ii) an export which is authorised by or under Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1334/2000 of 22 June 2000 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports of dual-use items and technology(5), or

(iii) a transfer which is authorised under Article 21 of that Regulation, or

(iv) anything which is the subject of a prohibition imposed by an Order in Council under section 1(1) of the United Nations Act 1946(6) but which is permitted or authorised by means of the exercise of a power conferred by such an Order; or

(g) it is authorised by the Secretary of State under regulation 4(1).

(2) Regulation 2 does not prohibit disclosure of equipment or software by parting with possession of it to the extent that the person making the disclosure–

(a) has the intention of assisting or enabling, or is reckless as to whether the disclosure might assist or enable, another person to undertake a specified activity, and

(b) both believes and has reasonable cause to believe that the undertaking of the specified activity by that other person is supported or approved by the Secretary of State.

(3) Regulation 2 does not prohibit disclosure of information which, at the time of the disclosure, has previously been made available to the general public anywhere in the world otherwise than in contravention of section 80(3) of the Act or of any other prohibition breach of which was an offence at the time when it was so made available (including, in a case in which it was made available outside but not within the United Kingdom, an offence under the law of one or more of the places where it was made available).

(4) Regulation 2 does not prohibit the doing of any thing the prohibition of which would be contrary to a Community obligation of the United Kingdom.

(1)

1974 c. 37.

(2)

1995 c. 25.

(3)

1977 c. 37.

(4)

2002 c. 28.

(5)

OJ L 159, 30.6.2000, p. 1.

(6)

1946 c. 45.