§ MR. STEADMAN (Finsbury, Central)To ask the Postmaster-General whether he will explain why, in view of the amount of money expended at the General Factory, Mount Pleasant, in experimenting on electrical condensers and other work, and of the fact that the whole of the work was done at the factory and by the staff generally, some seven patents have been taken out by an officer of the factory on the results of the experiments done, and is he aware that the patents have been let on royalty to a foreign firm who are now manufacturing condensers on the results obtained at Mount Pleasant.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The officer in question has been allowed to take out patents on conditions which amply protect the interests of the Post Office and other Government Departments. I think it is to the public advantage that the inventive faculty of public servants should be encouraged.