§ Mr. D. Smithasked the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to prepare and publish a record of the dates on which office copies of patent specifications, the printing of which has been delayed, were first available for inspection in the Public Search Room of the Patent Office on the day of demand, and such other information as may be required to enable those interested to ascertain the dates on which such specifications were published, as provided for in Section 101 of the Patents Act, 1949.
§ Mr. MaudlingThe office copies of patent specifications, the printing of which has been delayed, were available for inspection in the Public Search Room of the Patent Office from the date advertised in the Official Journal (Patents). This satisfies the requirements of Section 13 (2) of the Patents Act. If the office copy was with the printer there would have been a delay of 24 hours while it was obtained.
Lists are being prepared of those specifications which were not available 48W for sale in printed form on the dates on which the office copies were laid open for inspection, and showing the dates when printed copies of such specifications were ultimately available. These lists will appear in the Official Journal (Patents) as soon as possible and will also be made available in pamphlet form, free of charge.
§ Mr. D. Smithasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the dates on which the printing of the patent specifications, of which printed copies should have been made available on 29th July, 6th August, and 12th August, 1959, respectively, will be completed: and by what periods such dates are later than the ending of the recent dispute in the printing industry.
§ Mr. MaudlingThe printing of copies of patent specifications which should have been made available on 29th July, 6th August and 12th August, 1959, was completed on 31st December, 1959, 6th January, 1960, and 12th January, 1960, respectively. The dispute in the printing industry ended on 6th August, 1959.