asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish the recommendation of the Banks Committee on Patent Law established by the Government in 1967, with regard to the repeal of Section 41 of the Patent Act 1949.

The report of the Banks Committee on Patent Law was published in July 1970 as Command Paper No. 4407; and the Government's response to the report was published in the White Paper "Patent Law Reform" Cmnd. 6000 in April 1975, as a basis for public discussion. The Banks Committee recommended that Section 41 of the Patents Act 1949, which relates to compulsory licences for foods and medicines, should be repealed.