Development of Inventions Act 1948
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1948 c. 60 |
| Year | 1948 |
Development of Inventions Act, 1948
(11 & 12 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 60.
An Act to establish a national corporation for securing the development and exploitation of inventions; to authorise advances to the corporation out of the Consolidated Fund and, in respect of certain services, payments to the corporation out of moneys provided by Parliament; and for matters connected therewith.
[30th July 1948]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 The National Research Development Corporation.
(1) There shall be established, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, a body corporate to be called the National Research Development Corporation, which shall have the functions—
(a ) of securing, where the public interest so requires, the development or exploitation of inventions resulting from public research, and of ally other invention as to which it appears to the Corporation that it is not being developed or exploited or sufficiently developed or exploited;
(b ) of acquiring, holding, disposing of and granting rights (whether gratuitously or for consideration) in connection with inventions resulting from public research and, where the public interest so requires, in connection with inventions resulting from other sources.
(2) In this Act—
the expression ‘invention’ includes any new process or new technique and shall be construed without regard to whether or not a patent has been or could be granted;
the expression ‘public research’ means research carried out by a Government department or other public body or any other research in respect of which financial assistance is provided out of public funds.
(3) In the exercise of their functions under paragraph (a ) of subsection (1) of this section, the said Corporation (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Corporation’) shall have power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to carry on any activity the carrying on of which appears to the Corporation to be requisite, advantageous or convenient for or in connection with the exercise of their said functions, and in particular may carry on, or promote or facilitate the carrying on by other persons, of any business.
(4) The Corporation shall, except where it appears to them that special circumstances otherwise require, exercise their function of securing the exploitation of any invention by entrusting the exploitation thereof, on terms appearing to the Corporation to be appropriate, to persons engaged in the industry concerned.
2 Constitution of Corporation.
(1) The Corporation shall consist of a chairman and a managing director appointed by the Board of Trade, and such number of other members so appointed, not being less than four or more than ten, as the Board may from time to time determine.
(2) The members of the Corporation shall be appointed from among persons appealing to the Board of Trade qualified as having had experience, and shown capacity, in matters relating to science, technology, industry, finance, administration or the acquisition and disposal of rights in inventions.
(3) The provisions of the Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the remuneration of members of the Corporation out of the funds of the Corporation, as to the appointment, and tenure and vacation of office, of the said members, and otherwise in relation to the Corporation.
3 Balancing of accounts of Corporation.
3. The Corporation shall so exercise their functions as to secure, in so far as can be done consistently with the fulfilment of their purposes, that as soon as may be after the establishment of the Corporation the return to them from their activities shall be sufficient to meet their outgoings on revenue account, taking one year with another.
4 Powers of Board of Trade as to exercise of functions of Corporation.
(1) The Board of Trade may, after consultation with the Corporation, give to them directions of a general character as to the exercise of their functions, and the Corporation shall comply with any such directions.
(2) The approval of the Board of Trade shall be requisite for the exercise by the Corporation of any of the following activities, that is to say—
(a ) the carrying out by the Corporation, or the entering by the Corporation into any agreement for the carrying out on their behalf, of any project for the making of goods, the construction of works or the provision of services, or the setting-up by the Corporation of any company or other organisation for carrying out any such project;
(b ) the provision of financial assistance to any person undertaking the development or exploitation of any invention;
(c ) the acquisition of, or of any interest in, any undertaking:
Provided that the approval of the Board shall not be requisite—
(i) by virtue of paragraph (a ) of this subsection, for anything done only by way of experiment or trial, or
(ii) by virtue of paragraph (b ) of this subsection, for the giving of assistance to a person in any year where the amount of that assistance together with any other assistance given to him by the Corporation in that year (less, where that other assistance took the form of a loan, any repayment made by him) does not exceed five hundred pounds.
The approval of the Board of Trade may be given for the purposes of this subsection either as respects any particular case or as respects any class of cases, and subject to such conditions and limitations as the Board think fit.
(3) The Corporation shall furnish the Board of Trade with such information concerning the property and activities of the Corporation as the Board of Trade may from time to time require.
(4) The Corporation shall as soon as possible after the end of each financial year of the Corporation make a general report to the Board of Trade as to the exercise by the Corporation of their functions during that year, and the report for any year shall set out any direction given to the Corporation under subsection (1) of this section during that year unless the Board have notified to the Corporation their opinion that it would be against the national interest so to do.
(5) The Board of Trade shall lay a copy of every report of the Corporation before Parliament.
5 Power of Government departments to meet Corporation's losses on services provided for departments.
5. Where in the exercise of their functions under paragraph (a ) of subsection (1) of section one of this Act the Corporation carry out any project in response to representations made by a Government department that it is in the public interest that the...
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