As the right hon. Member for North-East Hampshire says, the hon. Member for Gordon is very engaging, and I almost wish that I could support what he says. However, again it falls to me to say that we are not happy with his suggestion. I refer not to the way in which he made it, but to its detail.

He wants to put forward a two-tier patent system; we are in favour of a two-stage system, which we believe works. On Second Reading, the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare gave us example after example of patents that he thought were not appropriate for development. I am sure that, had the time been available, he would have given many more examples.

We feel that the two-stage system is better than the two-tier system. The right hon. Member for North-East Hampshire highlighted one of the main reasons for the objection, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn). The 1977 Act provides two distinct stages in the process of granting a patent. The first—the preliminary examination and search stage—permits every patent applicant to assess the likelihood that he will be granted a patent, after he has the results of the search of relevant prior art. For those who merely want their idea published, the patent application is published after the preliminary examination and search.

The second stage, the substantive examination stage, is for those who assess that it is worth going on to seek the granting of the patent. We believe that the two-stage process is appropriate, and I have to reject the hon. Gentleman's advances.