The Gazette 1971

merited, the difference in training between the two sides of the profession will basically disappear. If a lawyer from another Common Market country wishes to practise in England, he must choose to prac- tise either as a barrister or as a solicitor, but he cannot practise as both. However, under the respective systems of Common Law and of Civil Law, the structures of the legal professions, and the methods of legal proce- dure are very different. In England, it is essential to be a British National to become a solicitor, although there is no such restriction as regards a barrister—this restric- tion will doubtless disappear in the event of British entry. Although there will never be an ideal system of law, nor an ideal system of procedure, we could improve ourselves in considering what is most required and needed for the proper representation of the citizen. Harmonisation of Competition Laws On Friday afternoon, the subject of "The Harmon- isation of Laws Relating to Competition as between Great Britain, the European Community and Its Mem- ber States" was duly considered. The French rapporteur was Maitre Jacques Lassier. Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty of Rome set out in detail the practices of competition which are prohibited as being incompatible with the Common Market. It is not proposed to change the rules relating to competition within the Community in the event of Britain joining. According to English Constitutional practice, the Treaty of Rome will in due course become an integral part of internal British legis- lation—this in effect means that there should be no contradiction between British domestic law and the Treaty of Rome. The effect of the British Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1956, was to emphasise the following problems : (a) the registration of agreements; (b) a special Court to deal with this; (c) agreements illegal as contrary to the public interest; (d) control of prices; and (e) quota control. There would not seem to be any insurmountable difficulties in procedure between the various countries to apply these laws. The eminent British rapporteur on patents and trade- marks was Mr. John Burrell. He stated that the basic disciplines affecting competition are if possible uniform throughout the Community, despite the lack of unifor- mity of legislation and of administrative procedures. In England, the Common Law system provides the under- lying thesis for legislation affecting patents and trade- marks. There is a great mass of judicial precedents, broadly described as "competition litigation", such as passing off, imitation of trade names, master and ser- vant, which depend solely on the Common Law; it would be impossible if not harmful to legislate in the vast areas of judge-made law. It would be more helpful to determine the areas where the differences exist (i.e. licensing of trade-marks), and to agree subsequently The greatest effort to reach agreement internationally has taken place on the subject of patents. Despite its imperfections, the Banks Committee in July 1970 re- ported it had received no proposals for an alternative. Since 1968, France has adopted an examination system in the case of long-term patents for a full twenty year term; this now replaces the previous declaratory system. upon suitable legislation. Examination of Patents

Undoubtedly an efficient patent system is particularly valuable for a patentee where resources are to be put at risk in developing new processes. The widely practised Continental system of "early publication" of patents avoids the situation whereby a large number of patent applications remain unpublished for several years un- known to competitors. Aims of Patents The following aims relating to patents should be stressed : (1) A system of national patents should be estab- lished in all Common Market countries, where each patent has a correspondingly equal value both as respects validity and the scope of the claim. (2) A uniform novelty search should be achieved through a properly staffed and balanced international agency. (3) Ultimately an international European patent should be achieved. This means that any application made in any one country of the Community will result in the grant of an international patent which will take effect and be capable of being enforced in any member State. The Paris Convention of 1883 lays down certain basic principles including equal treatment in patents for other nationals. The Formalities Convention of 1953 prescribed a uniform procedure with respect to the filing of patent applications. Strasbourg Conference The Strasbourg Conference of 1963—which so far has only been ratified by Ireland—has been followed in the drafts of the current Irish, French and Scandinavian patent law. It establishes common standards on patent- able inventions, on novelty, and on the question of con- flict between concurrent applications. The Convention stipulates that patents will be granted for any inven- tions which are (a) susceptible of industrial application in any industry, (b) new, and (c) involve an inventive step. As regards patentability, we should obviously be ad idem with our Continental neighbours. The British definition of an invention as "a method of manufacture" is archaic, after the decision of the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Swift's case, where a method for tender- ising meat by injecting a known enzyme into an animal before slaughter was held to be patentable. It is uncer- tain how far patents can be granted in respect of com- puter programmes and agricultural and biological pro- cesses. Collaboration and harmonisation with France in these fields is necessary. The Strasbourg definition should be adopted. The problem of administration in patents presents great difficulties in the sphere of information, standard- ised searches and translation. 48,000 specifications are currently filed annually in the British Patent Office, of which no less than 70 per cent are filed by overseas applicants; there remain at present 47,000 unexamined applications, which represent one year's work. There also seems to have been a marked increase in the num- ber of patents applied for covering a single invention. For 100,000 inventions, some 580,000 patent applica- tions were being filed over different countries. There have, however, been multi-lateral projects for collabora- tion, such as the IIB (Institut International des Brevets) founded in 1947, which provides information retrieval services for member Governments and for industry. The Council of Europe Convention on the International Classification of Patents for Invention of 1954—IPC— provides for a unified system of classification. 143