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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
upon suitable legislation.
Examination of Patents
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.
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.
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