§ Mr. CURRIEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether instructions have now been given to the Patent Office and the Probate Office that holdings by deceased Scotsmen of patents issued for the United Kingdom are no longer to be treated as English estate for probate purposes; and, if so, from what date the discontinuance of the costs and exactions due to the practice now discontinued came into effect?
Mr. RUNCIMANMy right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. As a result of legal advice instructions have been given to the Patent Office to discontinue the practice to which the hon. Gentleman refers. Resealing in the Probate Registry in England will accordingly not be required in the case now pending, which I may say is the only one which has occurred within the last five or six years.