§ MR. T. DUNCOMBEsaid, he wished to know whether it is the intention of the Government to introduce any measure for the improvement of the working of the Patent Law Amendment Act (1832), or to reduce the Stamp Duties payable on Letters Patent for Inventions, especially the £50 payable before the expiration of the third year, and the £100 payable before the expiration of the seventh year, of the patent right, which falls due next autumn.
§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, it was not the intention of the Government to make any alteration in the Patent Law. It was in contemplation to alter the site of the Patent Office, and this would greatly facilitate the business. It was not at present the intention of the Government to reduce the stamp duties now payable upon patents. The present duties of £50 and £100 were part of a system intended to facilitate the taking out of patents, the patentee only having to pay the larger sum after a certain term of years, by which time it could be ascertained whether the patent was likely to be remunerative. The period when the payment of £100 would have to be made was now approaching, and it was not the intention of the Government to make any alteration in this respect.