§ MR. CAWLEY (Lancashire, Prestwich)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he has yet considered and come to a decision on the report of the referee appointed to inquire into the application for a licence made by an English firm to work in England a patent granted to a German firm; whether he is aware that a patent for the same discovery was refused by the German Patent Office; whether, seeing that the English manufacturer has been put to an expense of £1,800 in bringing a test case forward at the request of the Board of Trade, they will be prepared to pay the expenses of the applicant; and whether, seeing the advantage the present Patent Law is giving to foreigners, particularly in the manufacture of aniline colours, he is prepared to propose some legislation by which English manufacturers may compete on more equal terms with their foreign competitors in the English markets?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADEMore than one application for an order for the granting of a licence has been before the Board of Trade. If the honourable Member refers to the case of Levenstein and Meister Lucius and Co., the reply to the first paragraph of the Question is in the affirmative. The order has, I believe, been issued to-day. I am not in a position to say whether a patent for the same discovery was refused by the German Patent Office, and I decline to admit that the English Patent Law gives an advantage to foreigners. The honourable Member does not state what sort of legislation he contemplates, and I can only therefore say that if it should in any respect be found necessary to amend our law on the subject of patents I will bring the matter before Parliament. The Board of Trade are certainly not prepared to pay the expenses of the applicant, and I demur to the statement that the case was in any respect a test case brought forward at the request of the Board of Trade.