Health Bill [HL]

I, too, oppose the amendment. It is a formidable amendment with a formidable array of sponsors, only some of whom we have heard from so far; others may speak shortly. One reason why I oppose the amendment is that while the Government, as we know from earlier debates, have been only too eager to impose various restrictions, especially the one on the display of tobacco products in retail premises, they themselves are not impressed by any evidence that the introduction of plain packaging would reduce further the number of young people smoking. Of course I have heard what the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, whom I respect, the noble Lord, Lord Walton of Detchant, and others have said; they have argued strongly that smoking among young people is wholly undesirable. But this is not a debate about how undesirable smoking is among young people; it is about whether it would assist in the objective of reducing the number of young people smoking if we had so-called plain packaging. The principal reason I want to concentrate on in my opposition to Amendment 105 is the express provision within the amendment that the regulation should be introduced to ban the use of registered trademarks on packaging. Brand names, as the noble Lord, Lord Patel, indicated, are typically registered as trademarks. I trust that the Committee is aware that in order to get a trademark you have to pay application fees, registration fees and renewal fees, which are all paid to the state. The trademark is a right of property. Trademarks are of course a common feature of competition in all sorts of products quite apart from tobacco, but without trademarks the producers—of tobacco, in this case—would have to depend entirely on price competition rather than on differentiation by way of quality, innovation and reputation. Interference with trademarks by one country within the European Union—in this case, the United Kingdom—or, for that matter, one country within GATT—again, the United Kingdom—seems to be contrary to the harmonised EU and international system of trademark protection. I ask those who are going to speak on this amendment, such as other sponsors or the noble Lord, Lord Patel, whether they have satisfied themselves that there is some overriding basis for allowing such infringement of trademarks as is involved in the amendment. I would be glad to hear the Government’s view. What is their attitude to the 1994 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement entered into by this country? The agreement states that the nature of the goods—that is, how desirable or undesirable they are—is not an obstacle to trademark registration. Have they taken into account the view of Christopher Morecambe QC, an expert in intellectual property who has had articles published on this point, that the European Court of Human Rights is on record as ruling that the European Convention on Human Rights applies to intellectual property, which is protected against infringement? Five months ago our Prime Minister said—this is a broad point but I am sure most people would agree with it— ""Investment in … ideas, brands, and research and development"," will be a vital feature in, ""building Britain’s future high value … competitiveness in the global economy"." If a trademark cannot be affixed to a product or its packaging, it is virtually worthless—useless. I doubt if the proposers of this amendment have thought through all the implications of its express reference to trademarks.