§ Mr. Emeryasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the cost to the Patent Office of processing a request for an extension of time from 12 months to 15 months within which to file a complete specification pursuant to a patent application filed originally with a provisional specification; what relationship this cost bears to the fee charged on such a request; what proportion of such requests is estimated to come from United Kingdom applicants; and what falls in the annual receipts of the Patent Office he estimates would result from reducing 199W the fee charged to £1 and to 10s. respectively.
§ Mr. DarlingThis fee is intended to encourage applicants to file specifications within the normal period of 12 months rather than to reflect the actual cost of processing requests for extensions of time. It was first fixed at £2 in 1885, and was increased with other fees to £3 in 1955 and £3 10s. 0d. in 1964 to compensate for the fall in the value of money. At least 90 per cent. of such requests come from United Kingdom applicants. If the fee were reduced to £1, the receipts would fall by £7,500, and by £9,000 if it were reduced to 10s. Any loss so occasioned would need to be offset by a rise in other fees as the Patent Office aims to balance expenditure by receipts.