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Lord Lucas of Chilworth asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether it is possible for retailers to file a single application to register a shop name as a trade mark and, if not, whether it is possible to change the law to permit this as part of the deregulation initiative.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: An applicant may apply for registration of a trade mark which is used as a shop name provided that the mark is used for the provision of services in respect of which a trade mark may be registered.
Owing to one of the deregulatory measures adopted in recent trade marks legislation (the Trade Marks Act 1994), it is possible to file a single application to register
a trade mark in several or all classes of goods and services. However, it is not possible to use the powers provided under United Kingdom legislation relating to deregulation to modify either the scope or the meaning to be given to the provisions of the Trade Marks Act.
Lord Lucas of Chilworth asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How far they have exercised the principle of subsidiarity in implementing the European Union's Trade Marks Directive; and whether it would be possible under the directive to exercise subsidiarity to allow the Trade Marks Registrar to register retail service marks.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: Council Directive (89/104/EEC), which seeks to approximate the trade mark laws of the European Union member states, adheres to the principle of subsidiarity since its scope is limited to those provisions of trade mark law which affect the functioning of the Internal Market.
The directive does not determine whether a trade mark may be registered for retail services. This question must be decided under the provisions of the Trade Marks Act 1994, which implements and fulfils the United Kingdom's obligations under the directive. The principle of subsidiarity cannot of itself be relied upon to interpret the meaning of harmonising provisions of directives, which is ultimately a matter for the courts to determine.
Lord Lucas of Chilworth asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether it is lawful under United Kingdom law for the Trade Marks Registrar to accept applications for the registration of retail service marks; and, if so, how many such applications have been accepted.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The law concerning the registration of trade marks in the United Kingdom is the Trade Marks Act 1994. Applications for registration of marks for retails services were refused under earlier legislation. The Registrar of Trade Marks has recently received the opinion of leading Counsel on the registrability of such marks under the current legislation, and is considering that opinion.
Information from Satellites: Dissemination
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, in order to satisfy Article 1 of the Space Treaty, all information obtained from satellites should be made universally available.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: Article 1 of the Treaty Principals Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (1968) provides that space shall be the province of all mankind, and for freedom of exploration, access to celestial bodies and scientific investigation, but not for universal availability of information from satellites. The Government work actively to facilitate international co-operation in space,
for example in space science, through the European Space Agency and other international programmes.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Why they do not consider Article 1 of the Space Treaty restrictive on activities in space (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie's Answer, H.L. Deb., WA 172), given that military intelligence satellites are not intended to promote the interests of mankind (as the treaty requires), but rather those of particular states.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: In the Government's view the use of satellites for gathering of military intelligence does fall within the scope of the treaty.
British Coal Enterprise: Sale Conditions
Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will guarantee that British Coal Enterprise's Business Funding and Workspace activities will continue after it has been privatised.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The sale of British Coal Enterprise (BCE) is a matter for British Coal. When launching the sales process for BCE, British Coal indicated that, in considering proposals for the company, it was recognised that the continuation of effective assistance to coalfield communities by purchasers would be a priority.
Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will undertake to retain the proceeds from the sale of British Coal Enterprise within the coalfields areas to provide support for economic regeneration activities.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The sale of British Coal Enterprise is a matter for British Coal. The Government continue to provide support for economic regeneration activities through Regional Selective Assistance and the Single Regeneration Budget, in addition to the support available from European Structural Funds.
Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What assurances can be given that the present scale of European funding received by British Coal Enterprise for the regeneration of the coalfield areas will be available to the new privatised organisation.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: British Coal is seeking offers for British Coal Enterprise (BCE), either as a single business or for its three separate principal activities. Thereafter, the scale of European funding to those entities will continue to depend on applications meeting the strict quality and value for money criteria which the Government apply to the selection of projects for such funding. Should the body concerned not be in the public sector, the treatment of applications will be in accordance with standard UK policy on European Regional Development Fund grants to the private sector.
Xylenols in CS Disinfectant
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will specify which xylenols are present in CS Disinfectant and in what proportions all the chemicals listed in their reply to the Countess of Mar's written Question of 6th November 1995 (col. WA 188) are present in CS Disinfectant.
Lord Lucas: The xylenols present in CS Disinfectant are
The proportions of all the chemicals present in that disinfectant are
| Percentage | |
| Ortho-benzyl para-chlorophenol | 4.5 |
| Ortho-phenyl phenol | 3.5 |
| Xylenols | 18 |
| Isopropyl alcohol | 22 |
| Arylan SBC 25 | 18 |
| Perlankrol ESD 60 | 15 |
| Water Blue Dye | 0.05 |
| Water | 18.95 |
Farm Workers in Wales: Cardiac Failure
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many sudden deaths attributed to cardiac failure have occurred in farmers and farm workers under the age of 45 in each county district in Wales between 1985 and 1992.
Lord Lucas: Certifying doctors are discouraged from using terms such as cardiac failure on death certificates. Such a term expresses the mode of dying but does not accurately describe the underlying cause of death. The following information, compiled by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, from the coding of underlying cause on death certificates, gives figures on deaths due to acute myocardial infarction, ventricular fibrillation and flutter, cardiac arrest as well as heart failure (International Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death (9th revision) codes 410, 427.4, 427.5 and 428 respectively).
Over the period 1985-1992 there were five such deaths of farmers aged under 45 years resident in: Dinefwr (1 death), Meirionnydd (2), Ynys Mon (1) and the Vale of Glamorgan (1). There were three such deaths of farm workers aged under 45 over the same period with one death of residents in each of Monmouth, Dwyfor and Preseli Pembrokeshire. It is not possible to say whether or not these deaths were sudden.
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