Part of Patents Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:30 pm on 15 June 2004.
Gerry Sutcliffe
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Trade and Industry) (Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs)
3:30,
15 June 2004
The hon. Gentleman was not present earlier when I gave the commitment that discussions would continue to take place during the life of the Bill; important improvements could be made to it. This morning, I made the point that there has been lots of consultation on the Bill and the circumstances relating to it However, we will look at everything that is put to us during the lifetime of the Bill before Report.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
