§ Lord Mottistoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many industrial designs were registered in total in 1987 and whether they will indicate the numbers of such designs in each major industrial category.
§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Lord Young of Graffham)A total of 7,040 industrial designs were registered last year. The five largest categories accounting for over 50 per cent. of the applications received were: measuring, identifying and computing instruments (912); containers (833); radio and audio/visual electronic devices (800); games and toys (714); furniture (661); and displaying etc. (600).
§ Lord Mottistoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many of the industrial designs registered in 1987 would have been denied protection if the Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill as amended in Committee in this House had been enacted in 1986.
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§ Lord Young of GraffhamThe information requested by the noble Lord could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, we estimate that some 15 per cent. of the designs which were registered in 1987 would not have been registered if the Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill as amended in Committee had been enacted in 1986. It is not possible to say how many of these registrations would be held not to be valid registrations under the Registered Designs Act 1949.
§ Lord Mottistoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
How the proposed move of the Patent Office to Newport in South Wales will affect the operation of the Designs Registry.
§ Lord Young of GraffhamThe main business of the Designs Registry is carried out by correspondence and will be unaffected by the move. However, the registry will maintain a small public office in London for receiving applications, dealing with register inquiries and holding hearings. The search and examination work will, of course, be done from the main office in Wales.
§ Lord Mottistoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether a study has been made of the effect that the proposed changes to the criteria for registering designs will have on British obligations to other countries.
§ Lord Young of GraffhamNo such study has been made because the proposed changes to the criteria for registering designs will have no effect on British obligations to other countries.