Posted by Michael Gilligan on 16/07/2021 12:21:18:
Because the Secretary of State for Defence applied for a patent for an apparently innocuous and relatively trivial invention.
Applying for patents for things that fall out of ongoing R&D is SOP for many organisations whether actually relevant to their business or not.
In this case the Secretary of Defence is probably a "rubber stamp" situation for all patent applications from certain departments …. not that it necessarily goes across his/her desk.