§ MR. LENG (Dundee)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether the attention of the Government has been drawn to the fact that although the Indian Patent Laws give a preferential treatment to inventors who have applied for patents in Great Britain, on the other hand an inventor resident in British India is relatively in a worse position as regards obtaining 313 a patent in Great Britain than the residents of some 20 foreign countries and colonies, for example, than a resident of the East Indian Colonies of the Netherlands; and whether early steps will be taken to put residents of British India in the same favourable position as regards patents as the residents of other countries or colonies?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. CURZON,) Lancashire, SouthportRepresentations have been made to the Secretary of State to the effect that patentees in British India are precluded from obtaining the advantages conferred by Sections 103 and 104 of the Act of 1883 as amended by the Act of 1885. An alteration of the Indian law is required before the necessary Order in Council can be issued in this country, and the Secretary of State has recently instructed the Government of India to deal with the subject when their Patent Act comes under amendment.