§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what efforts he is making to bring about greater harmonisation of international patent law.
§ Mr. LeighThere is already considerable harmonisation of substantive patent law in Europe. In a wider arena, my officials have been very active in the negotiations for an international treaty on patent law harmonisation which have taken place under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organisation and will take a committed part in the diplomatic conference to be held in July this year in order to reach agreement on the treaty. They have also taken an active part in discussions at Community level on a directive to harmonise the legal protection of biotechnological inventions.