THE BRITISH Patent Office became an 鈥榚xecutive agency鈥� this month. It
is the fifth office within the Department of Trade and Industry to be given
agency status in an effort to improve the quality of its service and make
it more cost-effective.
Nicholas Ridley, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, says the
Patent Office will now have a 鈥榤ore commercial ethos鈥�. The agency鈥檚 first
step is to move out of London. Staff whose job it is to examine new patent
applications and check them against existing literature complain of 鈥榠nsensitive
handling鈥� of the relocation plans and warn of a 鈥榮erious deterioriation鈥�
in the service offered to patent applicants.
The Patent Office currently occupies offices in State House, near Holborn
in central London. Two years ago, Lord Young, the former Secretary of State,
admitted that the British patents system was in 鈥榤arked decline鈥� because
work was being lost to the European Patent Office in Munich. Independently,
the Prime Minister鈥檚 Efficiency Unit recommended that sections like the
Patent Office should have greater independence. The department鈥檚 answer
was to build a new Patent Office, 5 kilometres outside Newport in south
Wales.
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The new building will not be ready until 1991, but already 53 patent
examiners have been moved to temporary offices in Cardiff. Many others,
especially those more than 50 years old, do not want to start a new life
in Wales. Thirty have resigned and a further 60 are expected to follow.
This, claims their union, the Institution of Professionals, Managers and
Specialists, is leading to understaffing in key areas such as electronics
and biotechnology. The examiners鈥� library of 4 million technical documents
must be moved in stages, so the parts in transit will be inaccessible. The
granting of patents will be delayed by an extra 18 months, claims the union.
Not so, says the Patent Office. It is not proving difficult to recruit
new staff in south Wales. And the office gives short shrift to the examiners鈥�
plea that they should stay in London while new staff are trained. The move
must be complete by September 1991 and all examiners have signed a contract
of employment which includes a 鈥榤obility obligation鈥� clause. They must be
prepared to work anywhere in Britain.
