HC Deb 30 May 1870 vol 201 cc1596-7
MR. T. HUGHES

said, he wished to ask the Secretary to the Board of Trade, Whether he can hold out any hope of protection being extended to unpatented inventions of workmen which may be exhibited at the forthcoming Workmen's International Exhibition?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

said, in reply, that it was the intention of the Government to introduce a measure for that purpose. In 1865, an Act was passed for that purpose; but it had been pointed out to him that that Act was, to say the least of it, ambiguous. He was told that some persons put this interpretation upon it—that if an inventor exhibited his invention any other person might obtain a patent in respect of that invention in fraud of, and behind the back of the inventor. Now, that never was the intention of the Legislature; and if the Act was open to that construction, certainly it was right that any misapprehension as to its meaning should be removed. He therefore proposed, on the part of the Government, to introduce a Bill, the effect of which would be to protect exhibitors, who were the true inventors, against any loss of the patent rights that would accrue to them from their publishing their inventions, and which, would not give any other person whatever the right to obtain a patent in respect to any invention so exhibited. He should state further that it was thought fair to workmen, who might exhibit in that exhibition, that protection should be given to them for six months from the date of the commencement of the exhibition. That being so, there would be no reason to apprehend any fraud or piracy. He had made an arrangement with the secretary of the exhibition that, if he would send to his, or to the Solicitor General's chambers a list of the inventions exhibited, care would be taken that exhibitors, who might have reason to think that persons applying for patents had any intention to pirate their inventions, should have due notice to enable them to oppose such applications for patents, as they were entitled to do by law. He trusted that a Bill, in the form he had described, would meet all the requirements that might be thought necessary.