§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will indicate the present prospects for a European patent; and what further initiatives are contemplated.
§ Mr. RidleyA European Patent Convention now being negotiated in Luxembourg by 20 European countries including the United Kingdom, is expected to be adopted at a Diplomatic Conference in the Autumn of 1973. It will provide for a European Patent Office, the location of which is not yet decided, granting patents which become the equivalent of392W national patents in each member country. We shall continue to be closely concerned with this work and expect a successful conclusion.
E.E.C. States, including the United Kingdom on entry, are also expected to adopt a Second Convention which makes the European patent for them an indivisible Community patent carrying uniform rights over the whole Common Market.