Intellectual Property Office
- Date 7 October 2025
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 14(1): Not upheld, FOI 17(6): Not upheld
The complainant submitted a request to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) seeking information referred to by its then Chief Executive in a Select Committee hearing in 2021. The IPO initially relied on section 14(2) (repeated requests) to refuse the request before subsequently relying on section 14(1) (vexatious) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the IPO is entitled to rely on section 14(1) of FOIA to refuse the request. He is also satisfied that the IPO was entitled to rely on the provisions of section 17(6) of FOIA not to have to issue a refusal notice in response to this request.