§ Mr. Douglas-Mannasked the Secretary of State for Trade what representations he has received from the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden concerning the availability of information valuable to terrorists at the Patent Office; and what action he is taking in the light of such representations.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisMy hon. Friend wrote to me on 14th October drawing my attention to an article in the "New Scientist" of 12th October 1978 discussing the availability to the public, through United Kingdom and foreign patent specifications, of information which could be used by terrorists; certain noxious chemical substances were particularly referred to in the article.
The United Kingdom patent specifications for the most recently patented substances concerned have not been freely available from the Patent Office or in United Kingdom public libraries since 1975. I understand that the British Library has withdrawn from access equivalent foreign spcifications and has drawn them to the attention of the other United Kingdom public libraries known to hold foreign specifications. The Comptroller-General of the Patent Office has also written to these libraries. All new patent applications filed at the Patent Office are scrutinised to detect those which contain information which might be prejudicial to the safety of the public; publication of this information may be prohibited or restricted under section 22 of the Patents Act 1977.