I beg to move amendment No. 1, in clause 1, page 1, line 20, at end add—

'(2) In section 1(1) of the 1977 Act, after paragraph (d) there is inserted—

''(e) the grant of a patent for it is not excluded by section 4A below;''.'.

This technical amendment relates to the revocation of patents under section 72(1) of the Patents Act 1977. At the moment, a method of treatment is not patentable because it is deemed not to be capable of industrial application. That is wrong, because a method of treatment could be capable of industrial application. Nevertheless, it is deemed not to be so. The clause would change to the law to say that a method of treatment will not be patentable. That is a much more straightforward approach, which we welcome, but there are two consequences. First, the Patent Office ought not to grant a patent for a method of treatment. Secondly, if, through the fault of the Patent Office, or for a different reason, the Patent Office does grant a patent for a method of treatment, there has to be an opportunity for the courts to revoke it later.

My amendment would allow the revocation of a grant of a patent that is in breach of new section 4A. Since I tabled my amendment, the Government have tabled their own—a starred amendment, No. 15—which I am satisfied achieves the same result. I do not know whether it is in order for me to say that I would

be content, subject to your guidance, Mr. Amess, to make comments on the Government amendment, but I am happy with it because it seems to accept the principle of the point that I was making in my technical amendment.