§ Dame Angela RumboldTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the effect on British industry of the application of the registration of trade marks in Germany.
§ Mr. LeighMy Department is not aware of any general problem for British industry in respect of the registration of trade marks in Germany.
§ Dame Angela RumboldTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to ensure harmonisation across the Community countries for registration of trade marks during the United Kingdom presidency.
§ Mr. LeighAn EC directive to harmonise substantive provisions of trade marks laws was adopted in 1988. It requires member states to bring their laws into line with its provisions by the end of 1992. In the United Kingdom, we have prepared the necessary legislation, but the Bill is still awaiting a place in the parliamentary timetable. Implementation by other member states is a matter for them, and not the presidency; we understand that. by the end of last year, three of them—Denmark, France and Spain—had passed new legislation in order to implement the directive.
§ Dame Angela RumboldTo ask the President of the Board of Trade when the Community Trade Marks Office will be established.
§ Mr. LeighProgress on the regulation to establish the Community Trade Marks Office—CTMO—has been held up for some years, primarily because of the difficulty of securing agreement on the location of the office. This question has become linked with that of the seats of other EC bodies, and any decision will almost certainly be on a package of such seats. We will, however, be pushing hard during the United Kingdom presidency to try to reach agreement on all the other outstanding issues on the regulation, so that the regulation can come into force as soon as a decision is reached on location. The Commission has said that it expects the CTMO to come into operation around two years after the regulation comes into force.