§ Mr. ROBERT HARCOURTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property provides that any application for a patent from a foreign country must be made within twelve months from the date of application for the same patent in that foreign country; whether application in contravention of that provision are so frequently allowed as to cause it to be practically inoperative; and whether, seeing that parties interested are put to unnecessary expense for revocation proceedings, he will consider an alteration of the law to obviate such difficulties?
§ Mr. BURNSApplicants for patents based upon foreign applications who desire 1937W to obtain the benefits of the International Convention, for the Protection of Industrial Property must make application in the United Kingdom within twelve months from the date of the first foreign application. No exception to this rule is allowed. If an applicant does not desire to avail himself of the benefits of the Convention he may make application at any time in the United Kingdom. No alteration of the law in this respect is contemplated.