§ Sir Trevor Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on the average effective patent life of pharmaceutical products.
§ Mr. PattieThe term of the patent is 20 years from the date of filing. Patents filed before June 1978 are subject, 631W during the last four years of that term, to licences of right. The Association of the British Pharmacutical Industry has supplied statistics showing that, for products first marketed in recent years, the average time that had elapsed from filing of the corresponding patent was as follows:
Years 1981 9.1 1982 11.6 1983 10.6 1984 11.7 1985 11.8
§ Sir Trevor Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what steps are being taken by Her Majesty's Government to encourage inventors by increasing the patent life of products;
(2) whether the Government proposes to legislate on the basis of paragraph 6.11 of chapter VI of Cmnd. 9712;
(3) when the Government propose to introduce legislation on the basis of Cmnd. 9712 on intellectual property and innovation.
§ Mr. PattieI shall write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.