asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the cost to public funds of the British Patent Office in the year 1978–79; and what revenue he received in patent fees in that year.
The cost of the fee-earning services of the British Patent Office in the financial year 1978–79 was £14,284,000.
| Year | Number of patents sealed | Fees revenue | Patent service Surplus | Deficit | ||||
| £ | £ | £ | ||||||
| 1970 | … | … | … | … | 40,004 | 4,202,882 | 30,386 | — |
| 1971 | … | … | … | … | 38,989 | 4,899,248 | 113,062 | — |
| 1972 | … | … | … | … | 41,609 | 5,355,776 | — | 41,192 |
| 1973 | … | … | … | … | 40,440 | 5,684,127 | — | 717,310 |
| 1974 | … | … | … | … | 35,883 | 6,049,492 | — | 2,126,212 |
| 1975 | … | … | … | … | 39,019 | 10,028,812 | — | 551,457 |
| 1976 | … | … | … | … | 41,755 | 14,715,542 | 3,493,267 | — |
| 1977 | … | … | … | … | 35,442 | 14,881,337 | 3,424,684 | — |
| 1978 | … | … | … | … | 40,148 | 15,009,683 | 2,966,131 | — |
asked the Secretary of State for Trade what changes have been made in the classifying of patents by the British Patent Office; whether consultations were held with industry on such changes; if so, what objections he has received to the changes; and if he will make a statement.
I will reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
asked the Secretary of State for Trade how many patent searches have been made at the British Patent Office in each of the years 1970 to 1978, inclusive.
The number of patent specifications fully examined by the examining staff of the Patent Office for the first time in each of the years 1970–78 is set out in the table below. All but a few of these
However, total fee revenue of the patent, trade mark and design operations was £17,119,000, so that there was a net gain to public funds of £2,835,000. Patent fees revenue in that financial year was £14,790,000.
asked the Secretary of State for Trade how many new patents have been registered by the British Patent Office in each of the years 1970 to 1978, inclusive; and what has been the cost to public funds of the patents registered in each of these years.
The following table, extracted from the reports of the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks presented annually to Parliament, shows the number of patents sealed (registered), the patent fees revenue, and the net surplus or deficit of the patents service for each of the calendar years in question.will have been the subject of at least one official search:
| Year | Number of specifications |
| 1978 | 48,832 |
| 1977 | 45,711 |
| 1976 | 44,765 |
| 1975 | 45,755 |
| 1974 | 45,260 |
| 1973 | 47,258 |
| 1972 | 46,495 |
| 1971 | 50,424 |
| 1970 | 47,805 |