I am not entirely surprised, although I would like to make two points of clarification. The idea is that people who wanted a vanity patent should be able to register it through a one-stage process. I say to the right hon. Member for North-East Hampshire that removing the exemption would enable us to say, ''That is the deal; we are not liable because we have not gone through the whole process.'' That would not cause the Chancellor of the Exchequer concerns, because there would be no liability.

The Minister is right to say that, in a sense, the two-stage process exists. I made that point; however, there would be a patent only if both stages were gone through. We were asking why we should not allow people to register a patent through the first stage, without any liability on the part of the Patent Office, to enable them to register the vanity element, while requiring the full process for anybody who had a serious intention for their patent.

The judgment would be made by the person making the application; they would have to consider how seriously they wanted their patent to be taken. If they could get a patent number that said that their idea had been registered, that would satisfy their vanity; only if their idea needed commercial application would they need to take it forward. However, at the moment, the

silly patents that I gave details about have to go through the whole process to get a patent number and be duly qualified as patents.

There was a serious point behind the new clause, and a serious intent to reduce the work load of the Patent Office. The problem is that some people are so vain that they will insist on going through the whole process and take up Patent Office time. I am more than happy to withdraw the new clause, but there was a serious point behind it: to try to reduce the work load and deal with the needs of the kind of people—home inventors, perhaps—who have the desire to register their inventions, but do not necessarily need to go through the whole process as they do now. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.

Motion and clause, by leave, withdrawn.

Question proposed, That the Chairman do report the Bill, as amended, to the House.