§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the cost to public funds of the British Patent Office in the year 1978–79; and what revenue he received in patent fees in that year.
§ Mr. EyreThe cost of the fee-earning services of the British Patent Office in the financial year 1978–79 was £14,284,000.
Year Number of patents sealed Fees revenue Patent service Surplus Deficit £ £ £ 1970 … … … … 40,004 4,202,882 30,386 — 1971 … … … … 38,989 4,899,248 113,062 — 1972 … … … … 41,609 5,355,776 — 41,192 1973 … … … … 40,440 5,684,127 — 717,310 1974 … … … … 35,883 6,049,492 — 2,126,212 1975 … … … … 39,019 10,028,812 — 551,457 1976 … … … … 41,755 14,715,542 3,493,267 — 1977 … … … … 35,442 14,881,337 3,424,684 — 1978 … … … … 40,148 15,009,683 2,966,131 —
§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Trade what changes have been made in the classifying of patents by the British Patent Office; whether consultations were held with industry on such changes; if so, what objections he has received to the changes; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many patent searches have been made at the British Patent Office in each of the years 1970 to 1978, inclusive.
§ Mr. EyreThe number of patent specifications fully examined by the examining staff of the Patent Office for the first time in each of the years 1970–78 is set out in the table below. All but a few of these
414WHowever, total fee revenue of the patent, trade mark and design operations was £17,119,000, so that there was a net gain to public funds of £2,835,000. Patent fees revenue in that financial year was £14,790,000.
§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many new patents have been registered by the British Patent Office in each of the years 1970 to 1978, inclusive; and what has been the cost to public funds of the patents registered in each of these years.
§ Mr. EyreThe following table, extracted from the reports of the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks presented annually to Parliament, shows the number of patents sealed (registered), the patent fees revenue, and the net surplus or deficit of the patents service for each of the calendar years in question.
will have been the subject of at least one official search:
Year Number of specifications 1978 48,832 1977 45,711 1976 44,765 1975 45,755 1974 45,260 1973 47,258 1972 46,495 1971 50,424 1970 47,805