§ Mr. D. Smithasked the President of of the Board of Trade what periods currently pass between the ascertainment that a patent application is in order for acceptance and its acceptance, between its acceptance and the printed publication of the specification thereof, and, in the case of an unopposed patent application, between the expiry of the opposition period and the grant of the patent; and what steps are being taken to reduce these periods.
§ Mr. MaudlingThe periods which currently pass between the ascertainment that a patent application is in order for acceptance and its acceptance, and between its acceptance and the printed publication of the specification are approximately seven weeks and seventeen weeks respectively. These periods are dependent on the time taken to make printing blocks and print the specifications. Steps are being taken to increase the rate of printing and an improvement is expected.
The period between the expiry of the opposition period when the patent application is unopposed and the grant of the patent is three weeks. The period has not changed for many years and is not thought to have caused inconvenience.