DENNIS * CO.
Lw Book Publish*"
251 MAIN STREET
MJFFALO 3. N: "
UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
SCHOOL OF LAW
LIBRARY
THE
PATENT LAWS
OP
ALL NATIONS:
COMPILED AND ANNOTATED
BY
BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT.
id
YOL. I.
ALGERIA TURKEY.
WASHINGTON :
CHARLES R. BROD1X, LAW PUBLISHER.
1680.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1880,
By BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
HfNRY M. TOOITT,
PRINTER,
1 DCT TREIT, M> V.
PREFACE.
THE usefulness of works like this is well understood. They
enable a solicitor of patents to inform an inventor in what
countries and at what cost he can patent his invention.
They assist counsel to advise the owner of a patent what
rights and protection it gives him, what will constitute an
infringement, and what, in various countries, are his
remedies. These being their uses, they must be published
often, in order that changes in the various laws may be
promptly chronicled, and that statutes newly enacted may
be early substituted for any repealed.
This volume presents the Patent Laws of All Nations,
so far as I have been able to find them in English dress.
Little has been done in revising the translations ; those
given are such as have been found in trustworthy works,
and appear correct. Each law is followed by a reference
to the source whence it was derived ; and in instances
where materially differing translations have been found
both are given, or that preferred is copied, adding a
reference to the other, to aid comparison. The explana-
tions of points in civil and political geography which
abound, though brief, have been prepared with care, on
756590
IV
PREFACE.
the basis of a wide search among the cyclopedias and
geographic works in use in this country ; and will be useful
in showing the territorial authority of the various acts.
More of the within laws have been taken from a com-
pilation by Messrs CARPMAEL, published in England about
two years ago, than from any other one source ; the
United States Patent-office Gazette coming next. It was
prepared with ability and skill, and at the time of its
appearance was satisfactory. But since that time eight
or ten new laws have been promulgated which are here
collected ; and there are as many more of which I have
thought best to give versions different from those presented
by the English work. For example, I have enlarged the
quotations from the acts of the British Parliament ; have
added one or two Canadian acts (being indebted for them
to a digest in pamphlet form by Mr. EICHAKDS of New
York City) ; have taken the Patent provisions of the French
Code of Commerce from M. GOIRAND'S translation, adding
extensive notes of French decisions, founded on his com-
mentary ; and under several other countries have made
considerable additions. The reader will also notice that my
presentation of the laws of the United States is brought
down to date, is accompanied by extensive notes (in which
the more important of the cases collected in ABBOTT'S
NATIONAL DIGEST are rearranged, and those published since
that work are added), and is followed by the official forms.
BENJ. VAUQHAN ABBOTT.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
ALGERIA..... 1
ANTILLES. See SPAIN.
ANTIGUA. See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC 2
Law of October 11, 1864.
AUSTRALASIA 11
Act to constitute a Federal Council, 1885.
See also, NEW SOUTH WALES, NEW ZEALAND, QUEENSLAND,
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, TASMANIA, VICTORIA, WESTERN AUS-
TRALIA.
AUSTRALIA. See NEW SOUTH WALES, QUEENSLAND, SOUTH AUSTRA-
LIA, VICTORIA, WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 15
Law of August 15, 1852. Extracts from a Digest by A. H. Mounsey.
Law of June 27, 1878. Law of December 20, 1879. Decision of
the Minister of Commerce, July 27, 1882, relative to the term of
an Austrian patent.
BADEN. See GERMAN EMPIRE.
BAL1ZE : BELIZE. See BRITISH HONDURAS.
BARBADOES 33
Act of December 12, 1883.
BAVARIA. Sec GERMAN EMPIRE.
BELGIUM 38
Tleport by Mr. J. G. Kennedy. Law of May 24, 1854. Royal Decree
for the execution of the foregoing law.
See also, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
BOSNIA. See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
BRAZIL 51
Law of October 14, 1882.
See also, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
BRITISH COLUMBIA. See CANADA.
BRITISH GUIANA 58
Ordinance No. 13 of 1861.
BRITISH HONDURAS 78
Law of September 10, 1862.
CAMBODIA. See FRANCE.
CANADA 100
Act of June 14, 1872, as amended. Act of April 8, 1875, extending
the foregoing law to Prince Edward Island. Act of April 19, 1884.
CANARY ISLANDS. SCO-SPAIN.
CAPE COLONY: CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 121
Act No. 17 of 1860.
CENTRAL AMERICA. See COSTA RICA, GUATEMALA, NICARAGUA,
SALVADOR.
CEYLON 140
Ordinance No. 6 of 1859.
CHANNEL ISLANDS. See GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
CHILI 152
Law of September 9, 1840. Decree of August 1, 1851.
CISLEITHANIA. See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. *
COCHIN CHINA. See FRANCE.
COLOMBIA 156
Law of May 13, 1869.
COSTA RICA 158
CUBA. See SPAIN.
DENMARK t 159
Report by Mr. Stracbey, 1873.
DOMINICA. See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
ECUADOR. See INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
ENGLAND. See GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii
Page
FIJI: FEEJEE ISLANDS 161
Ordinance No. 3 of 1879.
FINLAND 170
Supreme decree of March 30, 1876 .
FRANCE 176
Law of July 5, 1844; with notes of decisions. Decree of October 21,
1848.
See also, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
FRENCH GUIANA. See FRANCE.
GERMAN EMPIRE 205
Law of July 1, 1877.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 215
Act concerning Monopolies, 1723. Patents, Designs and Trade-
Marks Act. 1883. Patents, Designs and Trade-Marks Amend-
ment Act, 885.
See also, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
GREECE 256
GUADELOUPE. See FRANCE.
GUATEMALA 257
Decree of May 21, 1886.
See also, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
GUIANA. See BRITISH GUIANA. FRANCE.
HAWAIIAN KINGDOM 261
Civil Code, sections 255, 256. Act of August 29, 1884.
HAYTI 264
HERZEGOVINA. See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
HONGKONG 265
Ordinance No. 14, of 1862.
HUNGARY. See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
INDIA ., 268
Act of May 17, 1859.
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION. See close of Vol. II.
IRELAND. See GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
ISLE OF MAN. See GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
ITALY 283
Law of October 30, 1859, as amended January 31, 1864.
See also, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
JAMAICA 297
Act of 1857.
JAPAN , 317
Imperial Proclamation, April 18, 1885. Notification No. 5, Council
of State, April 18, 1885.
LEEWARD ISLANDS 323
Act No. 12 of 1876. Act No. 16 of 1878.
LIBERIA 343
Act of December 23, 1864.
LICHTENSTEIX. See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
LOYALTY ISLANDS. See FRANCE.
LUXEMBURG 317
Law of June 30, 1881.
MANITOBA. See CANADA.
MARQUESAS ISLANDS. See FRANCE.
MARTINIQUE. See FRANCE.
MAURITIUS 355
Ordinance No. 16 of 1875.
MEXICO 365
Law of May 7, 1832. Decree of September 28, 1843. Regulation of
July 12, 1852.
MICQUELON. See FRANCE.
HONTSERRAT. See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
NATAL 371
Law No. 4 of 1870. Law No. 5 of 1871.
NETHERLANDS , 390
NEVIS. See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
NEW BRUNSWICK. See CANADA.
NEW CALEDONIA. See FRANCE.
NEWFOUNDLAND 393
Consolidated Statutes, Title 15, Chapter 54, Section 51.
TABLE OF CONTENTS. ix
Pago
NEW SOUTH WALES 400
Act No. 24 (December 6), of 1852.
See also, AUSTKALASIA.
NEW ZEALAND 402
Act of September 8, 1883.
NICARAGUA 425
Report of Mr. Corbett.
NORWAY 427
Law of June 16, 1885.
NOVA SCOTIA. See CANADA.
ONTARIO. See CANADA.
PARAGUAY 435
PERSIA 435
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. See SPAIN.
PORTO RICO. See SPAIN.
PORTUGAL 436
Civil Code, Chapter 3, entitled ' Property in Inventions."
See also, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. See CANADA.
PRUSSIA 442
Extract from a report by Mr. Plunkett.
See GERMAN EMPIRE.
QUEBEC. See CANADA.
QUEENSLAND 447
Patents, Designs, and Trade-Marks Act, 1884.
REUNION : LA REUNION. See FRANCE.
RUSSIA 473
Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, Vol. XL, Part II. The Stat-
ute of Manufacturing Industry, Section 3.
ST. CHRISTOPHER. See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
ST. HELENA 482
Ordinance No. 3 of 1872.
ST. PIERRE. See FRANCE.
T TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
SALVADOR : SAN SALVADOR. See INTERNATIONAL CONVEN-
TION.
SAXONY. See GERMAN EMPIRK
SCOTLAND. See GUEAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
SKNEGAMBIA. See FRANCE.
SERVIA. See INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA 485
Act No. 78 of (December 21.) 1877.
See also, AUSTRALASIA/
SPAIN 510
Law of July 30, 1878.
See also INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS 523
Inventions Ordinance, 1871.
SWEDEN 536
Law of May 16. 1884.
SWITZERLAND 544
See INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
TAHITI. See FRANCE.
TASMANIA 545
Act to facilitate the granting of letters patent for inventions, 1858.
See also, AUSTRALASIA.
TRINIDAD 567
Ordinance No. 25 of (September 2), 1867.
TUNIS. See INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
TURKEY 571
Law of the 20th day of the month of Rabia I, A. H. f 1297. Febru-
ary 18, 1879.
PATENT LAWS or ALL NATIONS,
VOL. I.
ALGERIA-TURKEY.
ALGERIA.
Isr the encyclopedias and geographical works most in use
throughout the United States at the present time, " Algeria " is the
name of the largest and most important of the colonial possessions
of France ; " Algiers " being its capital city. In general, the pat-
ent law of France extends over her colonies (see FRANCE) ; but
according to M. Leopold Goirand, there is a decree on the subject
of patents, dated June 5, 1850, " specially relating to Algiers."
Gel-rand's French Code of Commerce (1880), 454, art. 15.
ANTIGUA.
See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
ANTILLES.
See SPAIN.
I. 1
2 FOREIGN LAWS.
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.
Law of October 11, 18G4.
TITLE I.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 1. All new discoveries or inventions in any branch of
industry confer on their originators the exclusive right of working
the same during a fixed term and under certain conditions, conform-
ably to article 17 of the constitution, upon the said right being
established by a document called a Patent of Invention, to bu
delivered in the form prescribed by the present law.
ART. 2. The preceding paragraph applies not only to inventions
and discoveries made in this country but also to those patented in
foreign countries, provided the applicant be the inventor or his
assignee, and provided also the conditions and formalities mentioned
hereafter be duly observed.
ART. 3. The following shall be considered as new discoveries or
inventions, viz., all new products of industry ; new means, and the
new application of known means, for obtaining an industrial result
or product.
ART. 4. The following are not patentable ; viz., pharmaceutical
compositions ; financial schemes ; such discoveries or inventions as
have, previous to the application, received a sufficient publicity in
works, pamphlets, or periodicals, in this country or abroad, for
being worked ; those of a mere theoretical nature, without any
indication of their practical use in industry ; and finally, inventions
contrary to morals or to the laws of the republic.
ART. 5. Patents shall be granted for the term of five, ten, or
fifteen years, according to the merit of the invention and the wish
of the applicant ; the re-issue (confirmation) of foreign patents shall
be limited to ten years, and in no case shall the term exceed that
of the original patent, at the expiration of which they shall lapse.
ART. 6. A new patent has to be paid for at the rate of 80, 200,
or 350 piasters (pesos fuertes), according to its being taken for the
term of five, ten, or fifteen years. The re-issue of foreign patents
is subject to the payment of a sum proportional to the term for
which it is granted according to the same scale of fees.
ART. 7. The payment of the fees shall be made, one half at the
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 3
time of application, and the other half by successive yearly pay-
ments.
ART. 8. The executive government shall regulate by a special
decree the mode in which the patent-office has to pay over the said
fees to the public treasury.
TITLE II.
PATENT-OFFICE.
ART. 9. The before mentioned patents are to be delivered by a
special office established for that purpose.
ART. 10. The official staff of the patent-office is to be com-
posed of a commissioner, at a salary of 1,200 piasters per annum ;
of four sub-commissioners, at a salary of 800 piasters per annum ;
of a secretary, at a salary of 600 piasters per annum ; and a porter,
at a salary of 240 piasters. The five former are to be appointed by
the president of the republic direct, and the two latter on the recom-
mendation of the commissioner.
ART. 11. No officer of the patent-office is allowed to hold an
interest, directly or indirectly, in patents which come under his con-
trol, under pain of dismissal, and a fine of from 100 to 1,000 piasters,
if convicted.
ART. 12. The commissioner is chief of the office, and respon-
sible to the government for all the documents arid objects deposited,
which must be carefully kept and registered.
ART. 13. The sub-commissioners must possess a special knowl-
edge of the applied sciences relating to industry, to enable them to
examine, under the direction of the commissioner, all inventions or
discoveries sought to be patented, the grant of the patent depend-
ing on said examination.
ART. 14. The patent-office shall form a department of the
ministry of the interior.
TITLE III.
PROCEEDINGS FOR GRANTING LETTERS PATENT.
FIRST SECTION. APPLICATIONS.
ART. 15. All applications for letters patent must be made by
petition addressed to the commissioner of patents. This petition,
with a 25 cent stamp affixed, has to be delivered at the patent-
office in the capital, or at one of the chief post-offices in the pro-
vinces, and must be accompanied by a description, with proper
drawings and patterns (all in duplicate), and a Jist of the objects
presented.
4 . FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. 16. In cases where the application is made through the
post-office, applicants may deliver the descriptions, patterns, and
drawings in a sealed packet, and require the same to be safely
forwarded, at their own cost, to the patent-office.
ART. 17. The commissioner of patents shall provide the post-
masters mentioned in article 15 with a ledger, duly paged and headed,
in which the petitions shall be entered in order of their presentation,
with the date and time. A similar book shall be kept as a register
at the patent-office. This register is to state in a few words the
subject c the application, and has to be signed by the commissioner,
the secretary, and the applicant, or his attorney. At the request
of the applicant, a certificate of deposit may be delivered to him at
the mere cost of a fourth-class paper stamp.
ABT. 18. No petition shall be delivered without at the same
time depositing one-half of the fees mentioned before, such pay-
ment being authenticated by the certificate mentioned in the previous
paragraph. The officer neglecting to see this payment made at the
time of the application shall be made liable to a fine of double the
amount. The same fine shall be imposed upon postmasters who
neglect to forward applications to the commissioner of patents by
the earliest mail, which is to be proved by the certificate of deposit
and a certificate of the postmaster-general, unless such delay is
caused by want of time, accidents, or circumstances beyond control.
ABT. 19. Applications are to refer to a single chief object, with
its accessories and applications ; they must mention the term for
which the patent is sought, without containing any restrictions,
conditions, or reservations whatever ; they must indicate a short
and precise title of the invention ; they must be written in the
Spanish language ; the omissions or additions must be duly men-
tioned, and the drawings accompanying the same are to be made in
ink, and according to a metrical scale.
SECOND SECTION. ISSUE.
ART. 20. As soon as the application is in the hands of the commis-
sioner, and when it appears that the object applied for is within the
limits of article 2, and does not come under the limitation of article
4, the patent is granted, provided the term applied for does not
exceed ten years ; if it exceeds that time, the application is referred
to the minister of the interior for ulterior decision, from which
decision there lies no appeal.
ABT. 21. All patents shall be issued in the name of the nation, by
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 5
authority of the government, and shall bear the signature of the
commissioner and secretary, with the official seal, and shall consist
of the decree granting the same, accompanied by the duplicate of
the description and drawings. ,
AST. 22. Immediately after the issue of the patent it shall be
delivered to the applicant or his attorney. However, if the appli-
cation has been made through the post-office, the patent shall be
forwarded by the same channel, the respective postmasters having
to acknowledge the receipt as soon as possible. All subsequent
certificates applied for shall be delivered at the rate of 5 piasters
each.
ART. 23. The grant of a patent does not obviate the exceptions
mentioned in article 46.
ART. 24. Applicants not complying with the provisions of article
15, shall have their patent refused, in which case one half of the sum
deposited is returned to them, the other half being forfeited.
ART. 25. On the refusal of a patent an appeal may be made
within ten days to the minister of the interior, who, after proper
investigation, shall confirm or annul the refusal; in the former case
the whole sum deposited is to be forfeited.
ART. 26. A quarterly list of all patents delivered and refused,
with their respective dates, has to be forwarded by the commis-
sioner to the government for publication.
THIRD SECTION. CERTIFICATES OF ADDITION OR IMPROVEMENT.
ART. 27. Improvements in patented discoveries or inventions
entitle the originators to apply for a certificate of addition, which can-
not be granted for a longer period than the original patent has yet to
run, provided it does not exceed ten years, except when half that
time has expired, or when the improvement lessens by half at least
the cost of production, time, risk, or danger, or for other similar
reasons, in which case the commissioner has to fix the proper term
for which such a patent may be granted.
ART. 28. Certificates of addition are subject to the same formal-
ities as patents, with the exception of the fees, the original patentee
having only to pay one-fourth, and others than the patentee one-
half of the said fees.
ART. 29. When such certificates of addition have been obtained
by others than the original patentee, they do not confer on their
owners the exclusive right of working their invention, except under
the condition of paying a premium to the original inventor, the
6 FOREIGN LAWS.
amount thereof having to be fixed by the commissioner by taking
into account the importance of the improvement and of the part
used of the original invention.
AET. 30. The original inventor has the option between availing
himself of the provision contained in the preceding paragraph and
of working the improvement jointly with the improver ; if he
chooses the latter, a patent of addition shall be delivered to him on
the same terms as that to the improver.
AET. 31. In no case shall improvers acquire the right of solely
working the original invention, and the original inventor may only
work the improvement under the second provision of the previous
paragraph.
AET. 32. If two or more parties should apply at the same time
for a certificate of addition for the same improvement, and if they
should not come to some arrangement between themselves, no
patent shall be issued to either. The same provision applies also
to letters patent.
FOUETH SECTION. PBOVISIONAL PATENTS.
AET. 33. Inventors or improvers may obtain a provisional
patent, for the term of one year, and renewable at the expiration
of each year.
AET. 34. Such a patent shall be obtained, on the payment of
50 piasters, by petition drawn up according to the provisions con-
tained in Art. 15, pointing out the object of the invention and the
means of carrying it out.
AET. 35. On the receipt of this petition the commissioner shall
deliver the provisional patent, entering the same in a special book,
to be kept in his custody in the secret archives, together with all
the documents relating thereto.
AET. 36. No provisional patent shall be granted for inventions
prohibited by article 4.
AET. 37. The effect of provisional patents is to defer, whilst
they are in force, all grants of patents relating to the same inven-
tion or improvement until previous notice thereof is given to the
original patentee at his own domicile.
AET. 38. The owner of a provisional patent may oppose an
intended patent for an invention similar to his own, within three
months. At the expiration of that term, or if he has not given
due notice of his change of domicile, he shall forfeit his right.
AET. 39. In case of an opposition by the owner of a provisional
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 7
patent, the commissioners shall give a separate hearing to both
applicants ; and if the inventions should be identical, neither shall
obtain a patent, unless both parties come to an arrangement.
Should such inventions be different, the patent applied for shall be
granted.
AKT. 40. The fees paid for a provisional patent shall be deducted
from the sum to be paid for letters patent, or for a certificate of
addition obtained previous to the expiration of the former.
TITLE IV.
FIRST SECTION. ASSIGNMENT OF PATENTS.
ART. 41. Owners of patents or certificates may assign their rights
on their own terms ; such assignments, however, must be made by
a notarial act, and after the payment of the entire fees mentioned
in article 6. In order to give such assignments legal force with
respect to third parties, they must be registered either at the patent-
office in the capital, or at the before-mentioned post-offices in the
provinces ; and, to have this registration performed, it is necessary
to produce the notarial act of assignment. Within five days of
this registration, or by the earliest mail if in the provinces, a certi-
ficate of the register and the assignment shall be forwarded to the
patent-office. The mutations that have taken place shall be entered
in a special book, the entries to be published quarterly.
ART. 42. Assignments transfer all the rights of the original
patentee, except in cases of special reservations by the latter.
SECOND SECTION. COMMUNICATION AND PUBLICATION OF PATENTS.
ART. 43. On the issue of a patent or certificate the commissioner
shall publish it in the newspapers by inserting the name of the
patentee, the duration of the patent, and a summary of the inven-
tion or discovery.
ART. 44. All descriptions, drawings, patterns, and models of
the patents granted, not coming under the provision of article 33,
shall bo kept at the patent-office for public information. They
shall be open to inspection without charge by any person applying
for the same ; and copies of the written documents shall be deliv-
ered without any other charge than the paper stamp duty of the
fourth class.
ART. 45. At the beginning of each year the commissioner of
patents shall publish in a volume the list of patents granted during
8 FOREIGN LAWS.
the preceding year, together with the descriptions and drawings
required for the comprehension of the patented inventions or dis-
coveries. A copy of the said publication is to be deposited at the
patent-office and at the post-offices mentioned in article 15, for free
public inspection.
TITLE V.
NULLITY AND INVALIDITY OF PATENTS.
ART. 46. All patents or certificates obtained contrary to article
4 are null and void, as likewise all those that have been obtained
under a fraudulent title, not corresponding to the invention ; when-
ever the drawings or descriptions are incorrect or incomplete ;
whenever, in the case of certificates, they refer to a patent not actu-
ally obtained ; or, whenever, in case of a foreign invention, the
foreign patent confirmed by the republic has expired ; or, whenever,
at the date of the patent the discovery or invention was already in
operation in the republic.
ART. 47. All patents duly issued become void whenever the
invention has not been worked within two years of the issue of the
patent ; whenever the working has been interrupted for a similar
period, except by circumstances beyond control, or accident, duly
certified by the office ; or, finally, at the expiration of the term fcr
which the patent has been granted.
ART. 48. Actions for the nullity or avoiding a patent can only
be instituted by interested parties before the sectional tribunals.
ART. 49. No special judicial decree of nullity or lapse is required
for causing the patent discovery or invention to become public prop-
erty ; the mere fact of nullity or lapse suffices for authorizing
every one to work freely the patent articles.
ART. 50. In case the owner of a void or invalid patent should
dispute the free working of the invention or discovery to which it
relates, either by complaint or otherwise, the official declaration of
the invalidity or nullity of the patent may be obtained from the
same sectional tribunals.
ART. 51. All decisions are summary; all proper proofs of title
shall be admitted ; but patentees cannot produce any evidence con-
trary to what is established by the documents of the patent-office,
in proof of their privileges. The term for showing cause is to be
fixed prudentially by the judge ; however, it can never exceed six
months, and that term is only granted in exceptional cases referring
to matters lying beyond the sea, and on giving sufficient security in
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 9
favor of the claimant. Within ten days of the expiration of the
term allowed for evidence, the judge shall deliver judgment and
award costs. From this judgment there lies an appeal to the
Supreme Court, which must be entered within three days. This
court, after previously consulting the patent-office, shall deliver a
final judgment.
ART. 52. The nullity or invalidity of a patent being established
by judgment, and the judgment having become final, the tribunal
shall inform the commissioner of patents thereof, that he may pub-
lish it in the prescribed form.
TITLE VI.
INFRINGEMENTS, LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, AND PENALTIES.
AKT. 53. Infringements of patent-rights shall be considered as
forgeries, and punished by a fine of from 50 to 500 piasters, or by
imprisonment of from one to six months, and the forfeiture of the
infringing articles, all without prejudice to any indemnity for losses
and damages.
ART. 54. The same penalty shall be applied to those who' know-
ingly participate in the infringement by selling, exhibiting, import-
ing, or communicating the infringing articles.
ART. 55. In case of a second offense within five years the before
mentioned penalty shall be doubled.
ART. 56. The fact of having been in the employ of the patentee,
or having acquired surreptitious information of the invention, shall
be considered as an aggravating circumstance.
ART. 57. All actions for the recovery of the above mentioned
penalty are private, and are to be pleaded before the same sectional
tribunals on the production of the patent, without which the
complaint cannot be entered into; the defendant can only plead by
way of answer the annulment or invalidity of the patent, his co-
interest in the same, or his exclusive right of property.
ART. 58. The claimant has a right to demand security from the
defendant for any loss which may be occasioned by his continuing
to work the invention pending the trial, and, in default thereof, he
may claim the suspension of the working and the seizure of the
objects in dispute upon giving in his turn, to the defendant, if
required, sufficient security. The seizure is to be effected with the
usual legal forms.
ART. 59. All those who call themselves patentees without really
10 FOREIGN LAWS.
having patents shall be considered as forgers, and are liable to the
penalties inflicted on forgers, with the exception of the loss of the
infringing articles.
ART. 60. All fines imposed by this law shall be divided equally
between the treasury and the informers.
TITLE VII.
RE-ISSUE OF PROVINCIAL PATENTS.
ART. 61. Owners of the provincial patents which are in force at
the promulgation of the present law may obtain a re-issue within
the six months following, by accompanying the patent with a peti-
tion according to the form prescribed by article 15.
ART. 62. Provincial patents not re-issued within said term shall
have no effect whatever before the tribunals of the republic.
ART. 03. The re-issue may take place in two ways ; either for
the same province in which the patent right was exercised, or for
the whole republic. In the former case the patent shall be granted
free of expense and without any previous examination ; in the latter
case the proceedings shall be the same as for a new patent, and the
portion of the fees corresponding to the term allowed must be paid
in the usual way.
ART. 64. Re-issues of patents granted for the same province
shall only be valid for the remainder of the term of the patent, and
the patent rights conferred shall relate to the said province only.
When granted for the whole republic, such re-issues may extend to
ten years, the time they have already run being deducted.
ART. 65. There shall be kept a special register of these re-issues.
ART. 66. From the promulgation of the present law, all con-
trary provisions shall be abrogated.
ART. 67. The executive government shall be informed thereof.
From CarpmaeVs Patent Laws of the "World, 1.
See APPENDIX OF RECENT LAWS, near end of voL IL
AUSTRALASIA. 11
AUSTRALASIA.
An Act to constitute a Federal Council of Australasia.*
August 14, 1885, 48 & 49 Viet. c. 60.
Whereas it is expedient to constitute a Federal Council of
Australasia, for the purpose of dealing with such matters of common
Australasian interest, in respect to which united action is desirable,
as can be dealt with without unduly interfering with the manage-
ment of the internal aifairs of the several colonies by their respec-
tive legislatures :
Be it enacted, &c. : . . . .
1. Definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise require,
the following terms shall bear the meanings set opposite to them
respectively :
" Colonies." The colonies (including their respective depend-
encies) of Fiji, New Zealand, New South Wales, Queensland,
Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, and the province of
South Australia, and any other colonies that may hereafter be
created in Australasia, or those of the said colonies in respect to
which this Act is in operation :
" Crown Colony." Any colony in which the control of public
officers is retained by Her Majesty's imperial government :
" Her Majesty's possessions in Australasia." The colonies and
such other territories as Her Majesty may from time to time declare
by order in council to be within the operation of this Act :
" Council." The Federal Council as hereby constituted :
* The naraes Australia and Australa- Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia,
sia are used in somewhat different senses and South Australia, are divisions of the
in modern times ; but, with reference to island Australia, but do not form the
the operation of the Act given in the whole of it ; the island contains, also, two
text, Australia is the immense island of large regions or divisions, known on the
that name lying between the Indian and maps as North Australia and Alexandra
the South Pacific oceans, considered alone, Land, respectively. Thus the Act given
that is, without including the smaller, in the text brings under the limited legis-
though settled and important islands of lative power of a " Federal council of
Tasmania, immediately south of Austra- Australasia," the greater part, but as yet
lia (of Victoria), New Zealand, lying not the whole of Australia, and the most
south-east, and the Feejee (or Fiji) is- important, but not all of the other islands
lands, to the east. New South Wales, within Australasia.
12 FOREIGN LAWS.
" Governor." The Governor, lieutenant governor, or other
officer administering the government of the colony referred to, with
the advice of his executive council, except in the case of a Crown
Colony, in which case the word shall mean the Governor, lieutenant
governor, or such other officer alone.
2. Institution of Federal Council. There shall b in and for
Her Majesty's possessions in Australasia a Federal Counci 1 , consti-
tuted as hereinafter provided, and called the Federal Council of
Australasia, which shall have the functions, powers, and authority
hereinafter defined.
3. Power to make laws. Within such possessions Her Majesty
shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the council,
to make laws for the purposes hereinafter specified, subject to the
provisions herein contained respecting the operation of this Act.
15. Matters subject to legislative authority of Council. Saving
Her Majesty's prerogative, and subject to the provisions herein
contained with respect to the operation of this Act, the council
shall have legislative authority in respect to the several matters
following.
(i.) Such of the following matters as may be referred to the
Council by the legislatures of any two or more colonies, that is to
say, . . . patents of invention and discovery, copyright, . . . and
any other matter of general Australasian interest with respect to
which the legislatures of the several colonies can legislate within
their own limits, and as to which it is deemed desirable that there
should be a law of general application ; provided that in such cases
the Acts of the Council shall extend only to the colonies by whose
legislatures the matter shall have been so referred to it, and such
colonies as may afterwards adopt the same.
17, Royal assent to bills passed by Council. Every bill passed
by the Council shall be presented, for Her Majesty's assent, to the
Governor of the colony in which the Council shall be sitting, who
shall declare, according to his discretion, but subject to the pro-
visions of this Act and to Her Majesty's instructions, either that he
assents thereto in Her Majesty's name, or that he withholds such
assent, or that he reserves the bill for the signification of Her
Majesty's pleasure, or that he will be prepared to assent thereto,
subject to certain amendments to be specified by him.
18. Power to Her Majesty to disallow Acts. When the Governor
AUSTRALASIA. ]3
assents to a bill in Her Majesty's name, he sliall, by the first con-
venient opportunity, send an authentic copy of the Act to one of
Her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, and if Her Majesty,
within one year after receipt thereof by the secretary of state,
thinks fit to disallow the Act, such disallowance (with a certificate
of the secretary of state of the day on which the Act was received
by him) being signified by such Governor by message to the
Council, or by proclamation in the Government Gazette of all
the colonies affected thereby, shall annul the Act from and after
the day of such signification.
19. Bill reserved for signification of Her Majesty's pleasure.
A bill reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure shall
not have any force unless and until within one year from the day
on which it was presented to the Governor for Her Majesty's assent,
such Governor signifies, by message to the Council, or by proclam-
ation published as last aforesaid, that it has received the assent of
Her Majesty^
20. Acts of Council, when assented to, laics. All Acts of the
Council, on being assented to in manner hereinbefore provided,
shall have the force of law in all Her Majesty's possessions in
Australasia in respect to which this Act is in operation, or in the
several colonies to which they shall extend, as the case may be, and
on board all British ships, other than Her Majesty's ships of war,
whose last port of clearance or port of destination is in any such
possession or colony.
21. Publication of Acts. Every Act assented to in the 'first in-
stance shall be proclaimed in the Government Gazette of the
colony in which the session of the Council at which it was passed
was held, and shall also be transmitted by the Governor assenting
thereto to the Governors of the several colonies affected thereby,
and shall be proclaimed by them within the respective colonies of
which they are Governors.
22. Acts of Council to supersede colonial enactments. If in any
case the provisions of any Act of the Council shall be repugnant to,
or inconsistent with, the law of any colony affected thereby, the
former shall prevail, and the latter shall, so far as such repugnance
or inconsistency extends, have no operation.
28. Evidence of proceedings. Whenever it shall be necessary
to prove the proceedings of the Council in any court of justice, or
otherwise, a certified copy of such proceedings, under the hand of
14 FOREIGN LAWS.
the clerk or other officer appointed in that behalf by the Council,
shall be conclusive evidence of the proceedings appearing by such
copy to have been had or taken.
30. Commencement of Act in respect of any colony. This Act
shall not come into operation in respect of any colony until the legis-
lature of such colony shall have passed an Act or ordinance, declar-
ing that the same shall be in force therein, and appointing a day on
and from which such operation shall take effect, nor until four
colonies at the least shall have passed such Act or ordinance.
31. Power to determine operation of Act in any colony. This
Act shall cease to be in operation in respect to any colony the legisla-
ture of which shall have passed an Act or ordinance declaring that the
same shall cease to be in force therein: provided, nevertheless, that
all Acts of the council passed while this Act was in operation in
such colony, shall continue to be in force therein, unless altered
or repealed by the Council.
32. Short title. This Act shall be styled and may be cited as
the Federal Council of Australasia Act, 1885.
From 125 Pull Gen. Stat. 324.
See also: NEW SOUTH WALES; NEW ZEALAND; QUEENSLAND;
Souxu AUSTRALIA; TASMANIA; VICTORIA; WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
AUSTRALIA.
See NEW SOUTH WALES; QUEENSLAND; SOUTU AUSTRALIA;
VICTORIA ; WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. Ifr
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
Law of August 15, 1852.
WE, FRANCIS JOSEPH the First, by the grace of God Emperor
of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, King of Lombardy and
Venice, of Dalmatia, &c., &c.,
Being desirous of granting proper protection to the inventive
genius even in those provinces of our empire which hitherto have
been deprived of patent laws, and considering that the experience
earned since the promulgation of the law of March 31, 1832, has
shown that many reforms and enlargements are necessary, at the
advice of our ministers and of our Imperial Council we have
decreed the following rules for the whole extent of our empire:
SECTION I.
OF THE SUBJECT OF AN EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGE.
1. Exclusive privileges may be granted under the restrictions
stated in 2, 3, 4 and 5, for every new discovery, invention, or
improvement having for its object
a. A new product of industry; or,
b. A new means of production; or,
c. A new method of production ;
whether such privileges be demanded by an Austrian subject or by
a foreigner, unless the invention be not patcntable according to
2 ~ 5 -
The term discovery is applied to the finding out an industrial
process that may have been used in former times, but which has
since been lost sight of or remained unknown in the empire.
The term invention is applied to the producing a new object by
new means, or a new object by means known before, or a known
object by means different from those used hitherto for the same
object.
The term improvement or alteration is applied to every appar-
atus, arrangement, or process added to an object known or patented
before, by means of which, in the object in view or in the means of
arriving at it, a better result or greater economy is attained.
The term new is applied to any discovery, invention, or im-
provement that, up to the time of the application for a privilege,
1.6 FOREIGN LAWS.
has neither been worked nor become known through publications m
the empire.
2. No privileges can be granted for preparations of food,
beverages, and medicines, nor for discoveries, inventions, or
improvements which cannot be worked for reasons of public health,
morals, or safety, or as being contrary to the general interest of the
state, according to the existing regulations.
3. A new discovery, invention, or improvement which is to be
imported into the Austrian empire from abroad can only be patented
during the currency of the foreign patent; nor can such a grant be
made except to the foreign patentee or his assign. Under these
restrictions a privilege can be granted for a discovery, invention,
or improvement made abroad, provided it has not yet been published
in the empire.
4. Improvements of inventions that were known or patented
before can only be patented with the restrictive clause that such a
privilege does not refer to the whole article, but only to the
improved part.
5. Scientific principles, or purely scientific theorems, cannot be
patented, even if the principle or theorem admit of a direct appli-
cation to industrial objects. However, patents may be granted for
every new application of such principles or theorems as lead to the
creation of a new industrial product, a new means, or anew method
of production.
6. Two or several discoveries, inventions, or improvements
that are different from each other may only be united into one
patent if those discoveries, inventions, or improvements relate to
one and the same object, as component parts or operative means.
SECTION II.
OF THE CONDITIONS FOB OBTAINING AN EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGE,
AND THE FORMALITIES TO BE FULFILLED.
7. Applicants for an exclusive privilege for a new discovery,
invention, or improvement must fulfill the conditions prescribed in
the present law.
Those conditions are:
a. Applying to the competent authorities by means of a petition
in clue form, accompanied by the prescribed documents.
b. Payment of a fixed tax.
c. Fulfilling the obligation of describing the new discovery,
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 17
invention, or improvement clearly and completely; and, if required
for the sake of clearness, of illustrating it by drawings or models,
so as to enable every competent man to execute the same, after its
publication at the expiration of the patent.
8. Petitions for exclusive privileges may be lodged with the
stadtholder, or with the judges of districts (judges, delegates,
county magistrates), to be forwarded by them.
9. Those petitions must be arranged according to the Form A.
They may be delivered by the applicant himself or his attorney.
Such petitions must contain
a. The Christian and family name, profession, and residence of
the applicant; and, in case of his not being settled in the empire,
also the name, profession, and residence of an attorney domiciled in
the empire. Applicants must state their Christian and family name,
profession, &c., even if the privilege is to be worked under a firm
bearing a different name from that of the patentee. In such cases
the name of the firm chosen must be stated. The said firm, how-
ever, must not correspond with an existing firm unless the consent
of its proprietor be obtained.
b. The name (title) of the discovery, invention, or improve-
ment ; giving the essence of it.
c. The number of years for which the patent is demanded.
That number of years cannot exceed fifteen, except by a special
grant of the Emperor ; and those inventions patented already
abroad, and which are to be imported by their proprietors or their
assigns, can only be patented for the unexpired term of the foreign
patent.
d. The statement whether the discovery, invention, or improve-
ment is to be kept secret or not.
10. Petitions for patents must be accompanied by
a. The due tax, or the receipt for the same, given by a public
treasurer to whom the said tax had been paid. Except that tax,
no other fees are to be demanded for a patent, even in the case of a
previous examination on public grounds.
b. The power of attorney in case the applicant delivers his
petition through an agent ( 9).
c. In cases of discoveries, inventions, or improvements to be
imported from abroad, the foreign letters patent in the original, or 1
in an authenticated copy.
d. The above-mentioned ( 1 c) description of the invention
under sealed cover, on which is written the essence of the discovery-.
12
18 FOREIGN LAWS.
invention, or improvement, corresponding with the statement made
in the petition, and the address of the applicant or his attorney.
11. The patent tax is in proportion to the duration of the
privilege, and is the same for discoveries, inventions, improve-
ments ; for foreigners, or natives. It amounts to 100 florins for
the first five years, 200 florins for the following five years, and 400
florins for the last five years ; the annual ratio being 20 florins for
the first five years, and that of the subsequent years as follows :
6th year, 30 fl.; 7th year, 35 fl.; 8th year, 40 fl.; 9th year, 45 fl.;
10th year, 50 fl.; llth year, 60 fl.; 12th year, 70 fl.; 13th year, 80
fl.; 14th year, 90 fl.; 15th year, 100 fl., amounting to 700 fl. for
fifteen years, the longest period allowed.
The tax due for the whole number of years which the privilege
has been applied for must be paid down at once, or a receipt for the
.amount has to be produced, to avoid the petition being rejected.
The said tax can only be repaid in case of the privilege being
annulled on public grounds, and such repayments shall be in pro-
portion to the unexpired term.
12. The specification ( 10), which is considered as an essen-
tial condition for obtaining an exclusive privilege, must answer the
following requirements :
a. It must be written in German, or in the usual language of the
province where the application is made, and be signed by the
applicant, or the attorney named in the petition.
b. It must contain the detailed description of the discovery,
invention, or improvement, the essence of which was indicated in
the petition.
c. It must be drawn out in such a manner as to enable all com-
petent men to manufacture the article according to this description,
without the addition of new inventions, additions or improvements.
d. What is new and also what constitutes the object of the
privilege must be clearly described and pointed out in the speci-
fication.
e. The discovery, invention, or improvement must be set forth
in a clear and plain manner, and contain no ambiguities that might
lead astray, contrary to the provisions contained in c.
f. It must not keep secret anything relating either to the means
or mode of working ; therefore it is neither permissible to indicate
means that are more expensive or do not produce the same elf ect,
nor to conceal devices that relate to the success of the operation.
g. Should drawings, patterns, or models be required for better
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 19
understanding tbe specification, the former must be annexed in last-
ing colors ; besides which (in as far as it may add to clearness
according to c), any other print or writing may be added which the
applicant shall think fit.
13. The authority to whom a petition is presented is to exam-
ine in the presence of the applicant,
a. Whether the petition Is in due form, and has been signed:
b. Whether the required documents are annexed ;
c. Whether the prescribed tax, or a receipt for the same is
inclosed.
If the authority finds the petition in good order in this respect,
he inscribes, in the presence of the applicant, on the cover of the
specification, the day and hour of its presentation, and the amount
paid, and hands to the applicant or his attorney a certificate con-
taining the name and residence of the applicant or his attorney, the
day and hour of presentation, the payment of the tax, and the title
and essence of the discovery, invention, or improvement as set forth
in the petition.
From that day and hour, the priority of the discovery, invention,
or improvement disclosed, is reckoned, that is, every opposition on
the ground of a similar discovery, invention, or improvement made
or practiced after that time is considered ineffectual, and cannot
refute and annul the novelty of the discovery, invention, or improve-
ment which has been disclosed and described in due order by the
applicant.
If an omission or other defect is found out on examination of
the petition, the latter is returned to the applicant that he may
amend the same.
14. All petitions approved of, together with their annexed
documents, are transmitted to the governors of the respective prov-
ince within three days at the latest, if not addressed to them directl}'.
15. The governors examine such petitions
. As to whether the object of the petition is not evidently unfit
for a privilege.
b. As to whether the annexed documents fulfill the prescribed
conditions, and particularly as to whether the description of the
object of the patent inscribed on the cover of the specification cor-
responds with the indication made in the petition, and whether the
latter is duly signed.
Should a governor think the article to be patented absolutely
unfit for a privilege according to 2-6, he is to inform the petitioner
20 FORETGN LAWS.
thereof, requiring him to withdraw and give a receipt for the sealed
specification, aa well as to receive back the tax paid up, or other-
wise to appeal to the ministry of commerce and trades within the
term assigned in the regulation of trades.
Should it appear that the annexed documents do not answer the
requirements, or that the object of the privilege, as indicated on the
cover of the sealed description, does not correspond with the con-
tents of the petition, the governor is to keep back the petition, and
to assign a proper term for the amendment of the defect. Should
that term not be observed, the petition is to be returned.
All petitions in due form, and not unfit for privilege, as well as
those that have been amended within the prescribed term, shall be
submitted by the governors, together with the sealed specifications,
and all other documents, to the minister of commerce and trades.
16. The minister of commerce and trades is to re-examine
whether all the formalities have been fulfilled, and he has the exclu-
sive authority to open the sealed specification and see
a. Whether the specification is written in a current language
( 12), and whether it is duly signed.
b. Whether the object for which a patent is desired does not
comprehend two or more different objects ( 6) and requires to be
divided.
c. Whether the title of the invention is the same in the petition
as on the cover of the annexed specification, and as in the specifica-
tion itself; moreover, whether the specification possesses that degree
of clearness and distinctness required by 12, particularly whether
the required drawings, patterns, and models are present, and whether
all formal requirements about the same have been observed.
d. Whether the object to be patented as indicated in its essen-
tial features in the petition and on the cover of the specification is
not contrary to sanitary laws, or to other public regulations,
whereby it becomes entirely unfit for a privilege, or fit only under
certain conditions and restrictions. Besides, special care is to be
taken for the required secrecy being observed, and due precautions
against any possible violation of the secret are to be adopted.
17. No examination ever takes place as to the novelty or
utility of the discovery, invention, or improvement before the
granting of the privilege ; on the other hand, no guarantee is given
by the government, which grants the patent in this respect at the
mere risk, peril and cost of the patentee.
18. In all those cases, where the checking and examination
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 21
according to 16 disclose no obstacle, the privilege is granted by the
minister of commerce and trades by a separate document, otherwise
all petitions deemed unfit for acceptance are rejected, the motive
for so doing being mentioned, and the tax being ordered to be repaid.
However, where there exist defects that may be amended, such
rejections take place only after the applicant has failed to amend such
defects within the proper term assigned to him for that purpose.
19. The grant of a privilege releases a patentee in nocas'e from
the laws, regulations, and prescriptions that exist, or may be pro-
mulgated in the interest of public health, safety, morals, or in the
interest of the State; the working of the patent is therefore subor-
dinate to such regulations and prescriptions as may limit or defend it
without the patentee being allowed to invoke an exceptional rule.
20. The inclosed specifications belonging to the privileges,
together with the annexed documents ( 16), are delivered to the
custody and the ulterior use of the central record office for patents,
as will be explained in section V. of the present law.
SECTION III.
OF THE ADVANTAGES AND LIBERTIES INCIDENT TO EXCLUSIVE
PRIVILEGES.
21. An exclusive privilege secures to the patentee the exclu-
sive use of his discovery, invention, or improvement, as laid down
in his specification, for the number of years mentioned in his privi-
lege.
22. The patentee is authorized to establish those workshops
and to engage those workmen which are required for the complete
working of the subject of the patent to any extent ; they may
thus form everywhere in the whole empire establishments and
depots for the manufacture and sale of the subject of their priv-
ilege, and authorize others to work their discovery, invention, or
improvement, under the protection of their privilege; they may form
partnerships, and work their patent to any extent, dispose of their
patent, bequeath it, sell it, give licenses, or otherwise part with it,
and obtain patents abroad for the same object.
However, those rights are strictly limited to the proper object of
the patented discovery, invention, or improvement, and therefore
must not be extended to similar objects, uor be used contrary to
existing laws or other privileges.
23. If the privilege relates to an improvement or an alteration
22 FOREIGN LAWS.
of a patented object it is merely limited to the individual improve-
ment or alteration itself, and it gives to the privileged improver and
alterer no right to the rest of the object that has already been pat-
ented, or of a process that is already known. On the other hand,
the patentee of an object improved or altered by another patentee
is not allowed to use the said improvement or alteration without his
consent.
SECTION IV.
OF THE EXTENT AND DURATION OF EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES, AND
THEIR PUBLICATION.
24. The legal effect of exclusive privileges shall be co-exten-
sive with the Austrian territory.
25. The longest duration of privileges is fixed at fifteen years.
We reserve to ourselves the right of extending that term, yet such
a prolongation shall be demanded by the public authorities only for
highly meritorious cases.
26. Every exclusive privilege begins from the day of the
delivery of the patent. The publication of the grant of the privi-
lege shall be made in the same manner and within the same time as
is provided for laws.
27. Every patentee whose privilege has been granted for a
shorter period than the longest ( 9 c) may claim its prolongation
for one or more years within the fixed longest period, provided they
demand such a prolongation before the privilege has become extinct
( 29 2 a, b). To obtain such a prolongation a petition for the
same must be delivered in due time, together with the original pat-
ent, and the tax in full for the required term of prolongation ( 11),
or the receipt for the same from a public treasurer.
The prolongation is granted by the minister of commerce and
trades, and is officially confirmed on the letters patent.
28. Every privilege granted or prolonged by the minister of
commerce and trades, as well as every cession of a privilege and its
extinction, is published according to 26.
29. Privileges lose their force
1. By nullity or by termination (recall, surrender or decree):
a. Such an annulment may take place if it is shown that the legal
requirements for an exclusive privilege do not exist, particularly
aa. If it is shown that the description of the privilege is defi-
cient, and particularly if is not in accordance with 12, c -f, and
therefore insufficient.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 23
bb. If any one proves legally that the patented discovery, inven-
tion, and improvement, before the day and hour of the official cer-
tificate, bad already no longer the character of novelty in the
empire, according to the provisions of 1, or that the patented
discovery, invention, or improvement had been imported from
abroad, and that the privilege in the Austrian States has not been
granted to the original proprietor of the foreign patent, or his legiti-
mate assignees ( 3) ;
cc. If the proprietor of a valid privilege proves that the discov-
ery, invention or improvement patented at a later period is identi-
cal with his own discovery, invention, or improvement, as previously
laid down according to prescriptions ;
b. If an obligation constituting the validity of the privilege is
not fulfilled :
c. If the privilege is contrary to public law ( 19).
2. By extinction, which takes place,
a. If within one year at the latest from the date of the patent
the patentee has not begun to work his discovery, invention, or
improvement in the empire, or whenever he has interrupted his
works for two complete years ;
b. If the original or prolonged term of the patent has expired ;
e. If the privilege is surrendered voluntarily.
It is well understood that those reasons, whereby the validity
of a privilege ceases or becomes extinct, apply to purchasers of a
privilege as well as to the original patentee.
30. As soon as a privilege is invalidated, the use of the respec-
tive discovery, invention, or improvement is open to all under the
observance of the existing laws regulating trades, and regulations
relating thereto.
SECTION V.
OF THE REGISTRATION OP PRIVILEGES AND RECORDING op SPECIFI-
CATIONS.
31. All privileges as soon as granted are inscribed in a register
at the ministry of commerce and trades.
If the privilege is worked under a chosen firm that differs from
the true name of the patentee, that firm must also be entered in the
register.
The descriptions, drawings, models, <fce., belonging thereto arc
kept in a special record office at the ministry. Every alteration in
a privilege is noted in the above register.
24 FOREIGN LAWS.
32. Any person is at liberty to obtain verbal or written infor-
mation respecting granted privileges at the patent-office, and for this
purpose to inspect.the register for himself. The specifications kept
at the same place, together with the annexes about which secrecy
has not been demanded or belonging to extinct patents, are likewise
open to the public ; finally, copies may be taken of single parts of
such privileges from the register, or from the privileges that are
not to be kept secret. On such occasions those provisions in the
present law ( 44) that relate to infringements are expressly to be
pointed out to the applicants.
33. The record office of patents shall submit every month to
the minister of commerce and trades a synopsis of the alterations
made in privileges during that period by new grants, prolongations,
transfers, and extinctions. A copy of that synopsis is forwarded to
the governors of provinces and chambers of commerce and trades
in the different provinces for the establishment of a register for
giving information about patent matters, which information is to
be given on demand in the proper way. At the expiration of each
year a similar annual synoptical table is published.
34. The specifications of patents expired are printed yearly
according to their apparent utility, and circulated in a proper man-
ner.
SECTION VI.
OF THE TBANSFEBS OF PRIVILEGES.
35. All exclusive privileges may be transferred entirely or
partially to others, during lifetime, as well as by bequest.
36. All assignments, together with the patent, must be sub-
mitted to the minister of commerce and trades, directly, or through
the governor of the province where the transfer took place, or
where the petitioner resides, and for this purpose they must be
duly legalized, unless they are issued by a public authority.
If the evidence of the assignment is found by the government
or ministry to be defective, it shall be returned for correction.
All proper assignments are to be inserted in the special register
( 31), and that insertion is to be confirmed on the patents them-
selves, and in case of a mere partial transfer a special certificate is
to be delivered.
37. All registered transfers of privileges are to be published
immediately. After such publication no one is allowed to plead
ignorance about the transfer.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 25
SECTION VII.
OP INFBINGEMENTS AND THE PJROCEEDINGS IN LITIGATION.
38. The following are to be considered as infringements, or
as an injury to the holder of a patent. When any one without the
consent of the patentee:
a. Counterfeits or imitates the object of the patent in the man-
mer described in the enclosed specification, even in the case where
the counterfeiting or imitating takes place in consequence of the
grant of a later patent which is entirely or partially identical.
b. Counterfeits or imitates the object of a patent by importing
or bringing such articles from abroad for sale, or for storing and
exhibiting for sale; or, finally,
c. Undertaking the sale, or even the storing or exhibiting of
such articles for sale.
39. If the specification of a privilege is inserted in the open
registers, the very first infringement comes under the law; but if the
specification has been kept secret, the repetition only of the infringe-
ment is considered as contrary to law, both being punishable,
at the request of the injured party with the confiscation of the
existing counterfeit goods, and a fine of from 25 fl. to 1000 fl. In
case of insolvency of the guilty party, the fine is to be discharged
by imprisonment at the rate of one day for 5 fl. As for the tools
and means exclusively used for such counterfeitings, they are to be
destroyed, transformed, or made useless, according to their nature,
unless a special agreement be made between the parties.
The fine is to be paid into the poor-box of the place where the
infringement took place. The confiscated objects are to be
destroyed, unless the plaintiff agrees to take them in payment of
damages given to him.
If the defendant has taken advantage of any knowledge of the
discovery, invention, or improvement acquired in the service or by
the trust of the plaintiff, such a circumstance must be considered as
aggravating the guilt.
40. Should the injured person not proceed criminally, or in
cases of a first infringement of a privilege of which the specification
is kept secret, the injured person is only authorized to demand the
discontinuance of counterfeiting" and selling counterfeit goods, and
a security against the use or sale, during the term of the patent, of
the counterfeit goods found at the infringer's establishment, pro-
26 FOREIGN LAWS.
vided they were manufactured in the empire, and for their re-export-
ation in case they were imported from abroad for sale.
41. In all litigation relating to patents the discovery, inven-
tion, or improvement is only to be judged according to the specifi-
cation annexed to the petition ; that specification must therefore be
taken as a basis in all cases where the decision depends on the con-
tents of the specification, without regard to its being kept secret,
and no additional alteration or framing whatever of the patent
article can be taken into consideration at those proceedings.
42. The ministry of commerce and trades alone decides the
question, whether a patent, from any legal cause whatever, is to be
considered as null and void, or as extinct ( 29). It therefore
especially decides the question of the novelty of a discovery, inven-
tion or improvement ; moreover, the question as to whether it had
only been imported from abroad, and was not appropriate for a
privilege; finally, in contestations arising between two patentees,
the ministry decides the question of the total or partial identity of
their privileges.
43. The examination and punishment of the infringements
mentioned in^ 38 and 39 belongs, except so far as other regulations
be published in future, to the tribunal of the district in which they
took place, according to the laws concerning trades. An appeal to
the higher tribunal of the respective province is open for parties
who feel themselves injured by such decisions, and in case of the
first decision being modified before that tribunal, also to the minis-
try of commerce and trades ; however, such appeals must in all
cases be made within fourteen days at the latest of the signification
of the judgment.
In cases of appeals the execution of the judgment is to be post-
poned till the confirmatory decision has been made. If, during the
inquiry, the decision is found to depend upon a preliminary ques-
tion belonging to the jurisdiction of civil tribunals, the parties are
referred by the criminal court to the competent civil court, and in
such cases the former can only give its own decision according to
the legal decision of the latter. Moreover, the final decision of the
criminal court by which any one has been found guilty of infringe-
ment and fined, may be invoked by the injured party before civil
courts for claiming damages, as the case may be.
44. The criminal court may, if sufficient reasons exist, order
an inspection or inquiry to be made by an expert, and if by these or
other means the case of an infringement is clearly made out, the
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 27
court may, at the request of the injured party, order the immediate
confiscation or other effective keeping of the counterfeit articles,
and the tools and means exclusively used thereto.
However, due care must be taken not to do, without a stringent
necessity, any irreparable injury to the defendant, and therefore to
demand, if required, security from the plaintiff for any injury and
damages that may occur.
45. If during the inquiry the decision is found to depend on
preliminary questions determinable by the ministry of commerce
and trades ( 42), such a decision must be sought for officially, and
the criminal proceedings are to be suspended till it is obtained.
However, any confiscations that may already have taken place,
or any other provisional measures, may be maintained till the ques-
tion is decided as to whether the proceedings are to be continued.
46. In cases of infi'ingements where no penalty is required,
but where merely the discontinuance ( 40) of the infringement, is
demanded, or in cases of decisions about privileges as to the prior-
ity of the discovery, invention or improvement, or as to private
rights or in cases of private claims of the injured party that have
been referred by the criminal court to the usual course of justice,
the civil tribunals are called upon to give judgment according to
the existing regulations respecting summary proceedings in civil
matters, wherever such proceedings have been introduced.
47. The civil tribunal likewise may, if the infringement is
clearly made out or proved, by an inspection or an expert, order, at
the request of the plaintiff, the immediate confiscation or other
effective keeping of the counterfeit articles, either unconditionally
or against proper security for damages ( 40), and under the pro-
visions of 44.
Such measures, however, must be justified, like a prohibition,
within eight days after the entry of the order, by a complaint,
otherwise they will be rescinded immediately at the request of the
opponent, and a claim may be made for damages for the outrage.
48. If the decision of a complaint within the jurisdiction of a
civil tribunal depends on preliminary questions that are to be
decided by the minister of commerce and trades ($ 42), the parties
are required to obtain his decision, and to produce it in the course
of the proceedings.
49. Infringements of the rights of third parties, which paten-
tees commit in working their patent by exceeding the limits of their
rights founded thereon, are to be punished by those authorities to
28 FOREIGN LAWS.
whose competency it belongs to decide on infringements of the
regulations on trades, according to the special prescriptions on that
subject. The circumstance of their having used the privilege for
spoiling trades must be considered as aggravating the guilt.
50. The question about the frauds or culpable actions com-
mitted by parties appropriating illicitly to themselves the original
discovery, invention or improvement of others, in order to obtain
a privilege thereon by themselves or other parties, is to be decided
according to the penal laws,
SECTIOX VIII. [ Omitted because relating to patents delivered
before the promulgation of this law.]
FORM A.
Petition for a Privilege.
[Insert address of the authorities of the respective district or province.]
I [we] N. N. [insert Christian and family name, profession and domicile of the
petitioner or petitioners] beg to state that I [we] have made a new discovery [inven-
tion, improvement] consisting essentially in [insert the comprehensive title].
The complete specification drawn up according to the provisions of 12 of the
patent-law of is subjoined in the appendix.
[Insert whether the Specification is to be kept secret, and state the exact number of the
drawings, modeh, patterns, etc., if any.]
For this discovery [invention, improvement,] announced and duly specified, which I
[we] the undersigned petitioner, believe to the best of my knowledge to be patentable
and new according to the provisions of the said Patent Law, and legal for obtaining
an exclusive privilege at my [our] own risk and responsibility, I [we] solicit such a
privilege for the stated discovery [invention, improvement] in the manner as repre-
sented in the annexed sealed specification, under the legal clauses and conditions for
the term of years, for which purpose I [we] pay the entire patent tax of
florins, due according to 1 1 of the said patent law, and request the deliv-
ery of an official certificate for securing my [our] prior claims.
[Address and date.]
Signature[s].
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 14.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
Extracts* from a Digest of the patent law of Austria-
Hungary, by Mr. A. H. Mounsey, of the British Lega-
tion at Vienna, published 1873.
On the establishment of the dual system of government in
Austria-Hungary, it was decided by a special agreement between
the ministers of Hungary and Cisleithania that the Imperial Decree
of August 15, 1852, in which the law and practice with regard to
inventions are fully explained, should remain in force throughout
the whole Empire.
In accordance with the terms of this agreement, the Cisleitha-
nian and Hungarian ministers of commerce submit to mutual
approval the inventions for which they intend granting patents, and
subsequently to such approval each minister issues patents, bearing
identical dates, for its respective division of the Empire.
Thus an inventor, desirous of securing an exclusive right to his
invention in Austria-Hungary, must provide himself with two pat-
ents. These are, however, granted on a single application, addressed,
at the choice of the applicant, either to the Cisleithanian or Hun-
garian ministry of commerce, and on one payment of the fees.
The patents thus issued are likewise valid in the principality of
Lichtenstein.
The taxes on patents, for natives and foreigners indiscriminately,
are as follows:
Fl. kr.
For the first five years 100 10=$48 72
For the second five years 200 20= 97 44
For the third five years 400 40=19488
For fifteen years 700 70=341 04
These taxes must be paid or deposited in the hands of the gov-
ernment officials previous to the issue of the patent. They are only
returned in cases where patents are canceled on public grounds.
From 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 207.
* The omitted portions of Mr. Moun- statement of the substance of the law
eey's paper are occupied with a concise given in full in the text above.
FOREIGN LAWS.
Law of June 27, 1878.
_Nonc.* This law empowers the ministry of the kingdoms and countries repre-
sented in the house of parliament, to establish a commercial and tariff union with
the ministry of the countries of the Hungarian Crown. The following article relates
to patents for inventions.]
AETICLE XVI. Patents legally obtained are valid in both coun-
tries. For this purpose the conditions of the grant of such patents
will be decreed on the same principles by the legislatures of both
countries by mutual understanding, and shall, when necessary, be
altered in the same way.
Until this takes place the rules relating thereto which are act-
ually existent in both countries, and which do not materially differ
from each other remain in force.
As regards proceedings in granting patents, the petition for a
patent must be deposited at the ministry of that country in which
the inventor has his domicile. Foreigners may present their peti-
tions for the grant of patents at the ministry of one or the other of
the two countries.
The ministry where the petition for a patent has been filed shall
send the petition, after due examination, officially, to the ministry
of the other country, in order to obtain the approbation of the
latter.
The letters patent will be issued separately by each ministry for
the country under its government, but both deeds must bear the
same date, and will be delivered together to the petitioner through
the ministry at which he filed the petition.
The prolongation or annulment of patents for inventions shall
also be effected by mutual understanding.
The tax for the patent shall be paid in that country where the
grant of the patent is petitioned for. For the grant of the patent
in the other country a registration fee amounting to 25 per cent, of
the patent tax shall be paid.
The registration fee must be paid at the same time as the patent
tax, and will be remitted to the ministry of the other country.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 32.
* Notes printed in this manner are from Carpmaelb' edition.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.! 31
Law of December 20, 18T9.
[NOTE. This law relates to the creation of a mutual union of tariffs with Bosnia
and Herzegovina. The following clause refers to patents for inventions.]
SECTION 9. Patents which have been acquired in accordance
with Article XVI. of the Tariff and Commercial Union of June 27,
1878, shall be valid also for Bosnia and Herzegovina according to
the laws and regulations existing in both countries of the Austro-
Hungarian monarchy.
Patents cannot be acquired by Bosnian and Herzegovinian sub-
jects, except according to the said laws and regulations.
Detailed rules for the execution of these principles shall be
issued by the administrations.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 33.
Extract from a Decision of the Minister of Commerce,
July 27, 1882, relative to the term of an Austrian patent :
Imp. Roy. Ministry of Commerce, No. 19, 328.
It is herewith affirmed that, according to the provisions of the
Patent-Law of August 15, 1852, (Reichs-Gesetzblatt, No. 184) each
extension of a patent has solely to be considered as an officially
authenticated acknowledgment of the fact that the patentee really
avails himself of the right to maintain his patent further in vigor,
this right being conferred on him for the lawful term of fifteen
years by the original granting of the letters patent, although this
latter may not purport to be a fifteen years' one ; that for this rea-
son no Austro-Hungarian patent expires in consequence of its origi-
nal term having elapsed, if the extension of the patent has been
applied for in due time, and all the other lawful requirements have
been fulfilled in the same time.
VIENNA, July 27, 1882.
By proxy of the minister of commerce,
PBOFF, M. P.
From 23 Pat. Off. Gaz. 273.
32 FOREIGN LAWS/
BADEN.
Baden, also Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony and Wurtemberg, while
independent, had patent laws of their own. Translations of them
or statements of their substance may be consulted as follows :
Baden, 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 235 ; Bavaria, Id. 237 ; Prussia, Id. 395 ;
post,442-) Saxony, Id. 473 ; Wurtemburg, Id. 579, 607.
In 1871 these sovereignties became merged in the German
Empire under a constitution, which confided the subject of patent
legislation, among others, to the imperial legislature. Some time
was, of course, required before this constitutional provision could be
carried into full effect, but in 1877 a general patent law for the
empire was enacted, which superseded the separate laws above
mentioned.
BALIZE: BELIZE.
These names were formerly applied to the region of country
now more commonly known as BRITISH HONDUBAS (which see) ;
also to its capital city, by which they are retained.
BARBADOES. 33
BARBADOES.
An Act to amend the law relating to the granting of
Exclusive Privileges to the Inventors of new and useful
Inventions. December 1'2, 1883.
Preamble. Whereas it is deemed expedient to amend the law
relating to the granting of exclusive privileges to the inventors of
new and useful inventions ; Be it therefore enacted by the Gov-
ernor, Council and Assembly of this island, and by the authority
of the same as follows :
I. Title of act. This Act may be cited for all purposes as "The
Patent Act, 1883." .
II. Specification to be filed in the colonial secretary^ office.
Every person who desires to obtain in this island such exclusive
privileges in respect of any invention as are hereinafter in this Act
mentioned, shall file in tUe colonial secretary's office of this island
a complete specification of the invention, with a copy of the same,
particularly describing and ascertaining the nature of the invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed.
III. Fee for filing specification. Every person who files in the
colonial secretary's office a specification of -an invention shall pay
to the colonial secretary for the benefit of the general reve: ae a fee
of three pounds six shillings and eight pence.
IV. Patentee to have exclusive right for seven years. Every per-
son who complies with the two last preceding sections of this Act,
his executors, administrators and assigns, and every of them by him-
self and themselves or by his and their deputy or deputies, servants or
agents, or such others as he, his executors, administrators and
assigns shall at any time agree with and no others from time to time,
and at all times during the term of seven years from the date of the
filing of the specification as aforesaid, shall and lawfully may make,
use, exercise and vend within this island the invention described in
the specification so filed as aforesaid in such main, r as to him, his
executors, administrators and assigns, or any of them shall in his or
their discretion seem meet, and he, his executors, administrators,
and assigns shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit,
benefit, commodity aud advantage from time to time coming, grow-
I.-3
34 FOREIGN LAWS.
ing, accruing, and arising by reason of the said invention for and
during the term of years hereinbefore mentioned.
V. Protection to Patentees. It shall not be lawful for any person
or persons, body or bodies politic or corporate, or any of them at any
time during the continuance of the term hereinbefore mentioned,
either directly or indirectly, to make, use, or put in practice the
invention described in any specification so filed as aforesaid, or any
part of the same, or in anywise counterfeit, imitate of resemble the
same, or to make or cause to be made any addition thereto, or sub-
straction from the same, whereby to pretend himself or themselves
the inventor or inventors thereof, without the consent, permission,
license or agreement of the person who filed the specification
thereof, his executors, administrators or assigns in writing, under
his or their hand or hands, and seal or seals, first had and obtained
in that behalf.
VI. Remedy for infringement of patent. If any person or per-
sons whomsoever, body or bodies politic or corporate, shall during
the continuance of the term hereinbefore mentioned at any time,
either directly or indirectly make, use, exercise, put in practice or
vend the invention described in any specification so filed as aforesaid
or any part thereof within this island without a consent, permission,
license or agreement in writing first had and obtained from the per-
son who filed the specification thereof,his attorneys, executors, admin-
istrators or assigns under his or their hand or hands, and seal or
seals, the person who filed the specification thereof, his executors,
administrators and assigns, shall have and be entitled to such and the
like remedies both at law and in equity in the courts of this island
against every such person or persons, body or bodies politic or cor-
porate, for every such infringement or violation of the rights and
privileges to which he and they is and are under this Act entitled,
or against the person or persons for whose benefit the said invention
or any part thereof shall have been so made, used, exercised, put in
practice or vended without f=uch consent, permission, license or
agreement as aforesaid as the grantee of any letters patent for
any invention would be entitled to in the like case by the law of
England but to none other remedies; and in any action, suit or other
proceeding which may be brought, instituted or taken against any
such person or persons, body or bodies politic or corporate, it shall
be lawful for the defendant to plead any such matter in defense as
may be pleaded by any defendant in any action brought in any
livision of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice in England for the
BARBADOES. 35
infringement of any patent granted by Her Most Gracious Majesty
the Queen.
VII. No benefit unless invention a new one, or if person apply-
ing is not the true inventor, &c. Nothing in this Act contained shall
be deemed to confer on any person who files in the colonial secre-
tary's office a complete specification of an invention the exclusive
privileges mentioned in sections four, five, and six of this Act, if
the invention described in such specification is not at the time when
such specification is filed a new invention as to the public use and
exercise thereof within this island, or if such person is not the true
and first inventor within this island of the invention described in
such specification, or if such invention was at the time when such
specification was filed an invention well known elsewhere and also
known to some person or persons in this island other than the per-
son filing such specification.
VIII. Not to give privilege to use the invention of any other
person. Nothing in this Act contained shall extend or be construed
to extend to give to any person who files in the colonial secretary's
office a complete specification of an invention, or to his executors,
administrators or assigns or any of them, privilege to use or imitate
any invention or work whatever which has prior to the filing of such
specification been found out or invented by any other person whom-
soever and publicly used or exercised within this island, and for the
sole use, exercise and benefit whereof within this island the exclusive
privileges mentioned in sections four, five and six of this Act or
similar privileges have, prior to the filing of such specifications, been
obtained ; but the person filing such specification, his executors,
administrators and assigns, and all and every other person and per-
sons who have as aforesaid previously obtained like privileges, shall
distinctly use and practice their several inventions by them invented
and found out.
IX. Mights to cease if invention not brought into operation
within three years. When the invention described in a specification
filed under this Act is not brought into operation within a period of
three years after the filing of the specification, the exclusive right
hereby granted or intended to be granted shall be forfeited and
shall cease to exist.
X. Specifications to be numbered. All specifications filed under
this Act in the colonial secretary's office shall be numbered in that
office consecutively from Number 1 upwards in the order of the
dates on which they are filed.
36 FOREIGN LAWS.
XL Form of certificate. Whenever a specification is filed under
this Act, a certificate of the following form shall be filled up and
signed by the colonial secretary, and given to the person filing such
specification.
No.
Name of inventor filing specification.
Address.
Date of filing specification.
Title of invention.
I hereby certify that the facts above stated are true, and that the inventor whose
name and address are given above is in respect of the invention herein referred to
entitled to the several privileges specified in " The Patent Act, 1883,". subject to the
limitations and conditions therein mentioned.
(Sgd.)
Colonial Secretary,
Barbadoes.
XII. Numbers of certificate and specification to be the same. The
number of each certificate given in compliance with the last preced-
ing section of this Act shall be the same as that of the specification
to which such certificate relates.
XIII. Power of renewal. Every person who at the date of the
passing of this Act, or at any time hereafter, is, in respect of any
invention, entitled under this or any other Act of the legisla-
ture to the exclusive privileges mentioned in this Act, or to similar
privileges, may on or before, but not after the expiration of such
privileges obtain a renewal thereof, for a second or further period
of seven years, and may, on or before, but not after the expiration of
such further period again obtain a renewal thereof for a third period
of seven years ; provided always that no person shall enjoy the
exclusive privileges mentioned in this Act or similar privileges for
more than twenty-one years.
XIV. Fees to be paid on renewal. Every person who desires to
obtain a renewal of the exclusive privileges to which he is, in respecu
of any invention, entitled for a second or further period of seven
years, shall pay to the colonial secretary for the benefit of the
general revenue the sum of ten pounds, and shall thereupon become
entitled to such exclusive privileges during such second or further
period; and every person who desires to obtain a renewal of such
exclusive privileges for a third period of seven years shall pay to
the colonial secretary for the benefit of the general revenue the sum
of twenty pounds, and shall thereupon become entitled to such
exclusive privileges during such third period.
BARBADOES. 37
XV. Renewal certificate. Form. The colonial secretary shall,
on receipt of any fee under the last preceding section of this Act,
fill up and give to the person by or on whose behalf the same is
paid a certificate having on it the number of the specification of the
invention to which it relates, and of the following form:
Specification No.
I hereby certify that the exclusive privileges enjoyed by
in respect of the invention described in the specification above referred to have been
this day renewed for a period of seven years.
(Sgd.)
Colonial Secretary, Barbadoes.
Dated,
And the Colonial Secretary shall cause a copy of the same to be
published three times in the Official Gazette.
XVI. Copy certificate to be published in Official Gazette. When-
ever a specification is filed under this Act, the Colonial Secretary
shall cause a copy of the certificate given to the person filing the
same to be published three times in the Official Gazette.
XVII. Repeal clause. The Act of this island of the twenty-
sixth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,
entitled, "An Act relating to the Law of Patents," is hereby-
repealed.
From Carpm. Pat. L. World, 34.
BAVARIA.
See GERMAN EMPIRE.
38 FOREIGN LAWS.
BELGIUM.
Extracts from a Report of the patent-law of Belgium, by
Mr. J. G. Kennedy of the British Legation, published,
1873.
Patents for invention are delivered in Belgium by virtue of the
law of May 24, 1854. This law and the royal decree of the same
date, determine the rights and the obligations of inventors. The
said law has remained unchanged since the date of the publication,
with the exception of two slight and unimportant modifications,
both favorable to inventors, introduced in 1857, in articles VII. and
XXII., and, taken as a patent law, it appears to have given general
satisfaction on most points.
By the provisions of the law of 1854, patents for inventions are
granted without previous examination either of the novelty or of
the merit of the invention, and at the risk and peril of the inventor.
It is the substitution of the repressive system for the preventive
which formed the basis of the old law of January 25, 1817. The
law of 1854 has also introduced special modifications with respect
to the taxation of patents. By the law of 1817, the tax* which
varied from $60.25 to $285.00 and upwards, had to be paid at once
on delivery of the patent. The general effect of this condition was
the exclusion of all poor inventors. Now that patents cost only
61.90 for the first year, $3.80 for the second, with a yearly increase
of 1.90, and that the previous examination is suppressed, the num-
ber of inventors has greatly increased.
In granting patents the duty of the government is simply to
ascertain that the formalities prescribed by the law and the royal
decree have been fulfilled. In this case, provided the invention is
a licit one, the patent is granted at the risk and peril of the patentee.
In the contrary case, the patent is refused.
The government also interferes in questions of annulment of pat-
ent, first, for default of payment of the annuity tax within the time
pi-escribed ; and, secondly, in the event of the invention not being
worked (" exploit ee"). Excepting in the above two cases, all dis-
putes concerning the exclusive rights of inventors must be decided
by the ordinary civil tribunals.
The chief cause of the annulment, or rather of the lapse of pat-
BELGIUM. 39
cnts, is default of payment of theanuuity within the time prescribed.
More than ninety-five one-hundredths of the patents become public
property in this way.
The action of government with regard to the concession of pat-
ents is very simple. In the case of the canceling of a patent for
default in payment, the Finance Department transmits to the Home
Department a statement of non-payment drawn up by the tax-
receiver ("receveur") of the Finance Department, and thereupon
the annulment of the patent is pronounced and published by royal
decree.
It remains to investigate some of the clauses of the Belgian law
of 1854, in order to illustrate the practical working of the different
sections, and the nature of the privileges conferred on and obliga-
tions incurred by patentees in Belgium.
Article I. enacts that three kinds of patents may be granted
a patent of invention, of importation, and of improvement. A
patent of invention is granted to the inventor who takes out his
Belgian patent before obtaining letters patent in any other country.
In that case, he is entitled to protection for twenty years. A patent-
of importation is granted to an inventor who, previously to lodging
his demand in Belgium, has applied for letters patent in any other
country. The patent of importation is limited to the term for
which the previous foreign patent is granted, and expires with it.
Thus a Belgian patent of importation for an invention already
protected in Great Britain would be granted for fourteen years, and
if the invention were patented in France the Belgian patent would
be for fifteen years.
Belgian patents of importation may be taken out in the name of
the inventor or his assign duly appointed. It has been decided by
the courts in 1858-59, that a simple power from the inventor author-
izing a party to take out a Belgian patent in his own name suffices
for the purpose, said power being stamped and registered.
A patent of improvement may be obtained by a patentee for an
improvement on or addition to his previous invention. The patent
of improvement must be for improvement of the same nature as
the original invention, otherwise it would not be held to be legally
valid. No tax is required for a patent of improvement, which
forms part of the original patent, and expires with it.
In article second the government declines all responsibility as to
the value of the patent or of the invention. In case of legal pro-
ceedings the patentee may be obliged to lodge a certain sum previ-
40 FOREIGN LAWS.
ously to the case being brought before the courts. "When the
patentee is a foreigner he is always obliged to make a deposit, but
said deposit rarely exceeds 895.00.
Under article XVII., in applying for a Belgian patent the inven-
tor or his attorney, having paid the first year's tax, presents him-
self at the office of the provisional government or " Commissariat
d'Arrondissement" where he lodges a receipt for the tax and a
petition to the minister of the interior, praying that letters patent
may be granted to him, and also a sealed packet containing two
copies of the specifications and drawings illustrating the invention.
The specification may be in any form, and written either in French
or Flemish ; the drawings may be made on paper of any size. The
patent clerk registers the hour and date "of the demand in a book
kept for the purpose, and signed by the inventor or his attorney
and by the head of the office.
Article XXI. treats of transfers. All transfers of patents are
subject to a registration tax, fixed by the law at $1.90, but, in prac-
tice, a few francs more are charged for additionals ; and the deed
of transfer has to be stamped according to the size of the paper
upon which the deed is drawn up. The transfer is then notified to
the minister of the interior, who has it recorded in the patent-office
and published summarily in the " Recueil des Brevets d* Invent ion"
Article XXII. of the law of 1854 prescribed that a patent should
be null and void in case the annual tax should not be paid within a
month of its becoming due. In 1857 this article was modified, and
a delay of six months was allowed to pay the tax, with an additional
fee of $1.90 ; and the government is now obliged to call the atten-
tion of the inventor to the fact that the tax is due, by a registered
letter to that effect. This duty devolves on the delegates
(" reccveurs ") of the ministry of finance.
Article XXIII. enacts that all patentees shall work their inven-
tion, or cause it to be worked, within a year of its having been
worked in any other country. The question whether this manufac-
ture or construction of the article must take place in Belgium has
been answered in various ways. The law has, however, left this
matter entirely to the discretion of the government, which alone
has power to decide what is to be understood by the working of an
invention, and to judge in each case whether the requirements of
the law have been complied with. The courts decline all compe-
tency in this matter, and assume that a patent has been worked
according to law until it has been annulled by the government.
BELGIUM. 41
The views of the government in respect of working an inven-
tion may be inferred from divers cases in -which patents have been
annulled. It would appear that it is not considered sufficient to
import the patented articles from abroad and put them on sale in
one or more shops or warehouses, even if large numbers were sold
in the country by this means. It is not even considered sufficient
to have a certain number of the patented articles made and sold in
Belgium, the same articles being imported also from abroad and
sold in Belgium. The mere fact of importing the patented articles
into Belgium, excepting a very limited number to serve as models
seems to be considered as quite contrary to the spirit of the law,
while a patentee having his invention manufactured in Belgium,
and so badly made, owing to the lack of skill or tools, or means of
the workmen he employed, that no purchaser could be found to buy
it, would, in all probability, be held to have complied with the law,
from his having manufactured in the country, and thus favored the
"national industry."
The government seldom or never interferes as regards the work-
ing of a patented invention, unless called upon to do so by any
party having an interest to overthrow the patent. The head of the
department there states the case to the patentee or his agent, and
requests him to say when and where the patent has been worked.
Every facility is afforded him to explain his case and prove that he
has complied with the law ; and it is only if he fail to do so to the
satisfaction of the department that his patent is annulled.
By Article XXIII. (.) The courts may annul a patent if the
invention has been worked commercially in the kingdom by a
third party before the demand of the patent.
This alludes to the working commercially by a third party ; but
if the real and true inventor shall have commercially worked his
invention before applying for a patent, such commercial working
has no influence on the validity of his patent.
(5.) The intentional omission of part of the inventor's secret, or
an erroneous specification given in intentionally, also invalidates a
patent.
(c.) If the complete specification and exact drawings should
have been printed and published previously to the demand of the
Belgian patent, unless such publication should have been prescribed
by law thus, for the publication of an invention to invalidate a
subsequent Belgian patent the complete specifiea! : ^ :uid exact
drawings must be published an abridged specification would have
42 FOREIGN LAWS.
no influence on the Belgian patent. And, as regards patents of
importation, an especial exception is made for such publications as
the Blue Book printed specifications of English patents, by order
of the commissioner of patents.
It may be interesting to mention a further peculiarity connected
with Belgian patents of importation, showing what importance is
attached by the Belgian law to the patentee being the first and real
inventor.
A foreign patentee, though his foreign patent may be several
years old, may, should his invention not come under any of the
stipulations of article XXIV., take out a valid Belgian patent, and
his Belgian patent will have priority over any patents for the same
invention taken out by others between thS date of his foreign pat-
ent and that of his Belgian patent of importation.
From 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 2C3.
Law of May 24, 1854.*
ARTICLE I. Exclusive and temporary rights shall be granted
under the name of patents of invention, of improvement, or of
importation, for all discoveries or all improvements capable of
being employed as articles of industry or of commerce.
AKT. II. Patents shall be granted without previous examination
at the risk and peril of the demander, without guarantee as to the
reality, or the novelty, or merit of the invention, or to the accuracy
of the specification, and without prejudice to the rights of other
parties.
ART. III. The duration of patents is fixed at twenty years, save
the case provided for in article fourteen, and shall take effect from
the date on which the proems verbal shall have been made, as men-
tioned in article eighteen.
For each patent yearly and progressive dues shall be paid, as
follows, viz :
First year, $1.90 ; second year, $3.80 ; third year, $5.70 ; and
so on to the twentieth year, for which the tax shall be 8S8.00.f
* Another translation of tbe law of 1st year 10 francs, 2nd year 20 franc?,
1854, differing very slightly from that in 3rd year SO francs, and so on till the 20th.
the text, is given in Carpmaels' edition. year, for which the tax shall be 200 francs.
f There shall be paid for every patent Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 40.
an annual and progressive tax, as follows :
BELGIUM. 43
These dues shall be paid in advance, and shall not in any case be
reimbursed.
No payment of dues shall be required for patents of improve-
ment when granted to the proprietor of the original patent.
AET. IV. The patents guarantee to their possessors or assigns
the exclusive right
(a.) To make and sell to their profit the patented article, or
cause or license it to be made or sold by other parties.
(b.) To sue in the courts of law such persons who may infringe
on their rights, either by making the patented article, or by employ-
ing the means comprised in the patent, or retaining, selling, or
exposing for sale, or introducing into the Belgian Territory one or
more counterfeited articles of the same.
AET. V. If the persons sued in virtue of article IV. (i) shall
have knowingly infringed (the patent right,) the courts of law shall
pronounce, to the profit of the patentee or of his assigns, confisca-
tion of the articles made in contravention of the patent, or the
instruments, tools, or utensils especially destined for executing the
same, or award the payment of a sum equal to the price of the arti-
cles which may have been already sold.
If the persons sued are of good faith, the court shall prohibit
them, under penalty as above stated, from commercially making
use of the machines or apparatus of production proved as counter-
feits, or to make use of, with the same intent, tools and utensils for
making the patented articles.
In either case, damages and interest may be awarded to the
patentee or his assigns.
ART. VI. Possessors of patents or their assigns may obtain, by
request, authorization from the president of the tribunal of the first
instance, to name one or several persons as experts, in order to
inspect and make an inventory of the machines, apparatus, or arti-
cles supposed to be counterfeited.
The president may by the same ordinance forbid the holders to
part with the said articles, and permit the patentee to appoint a
guardian, or even to place the articles under seal.
The ordinance of the president shall be communicated by a
bailiff ad hoc.
AET. VII. The patent shall be joined to the request, which shall
contain the address where the inventory is to be made. The exam-
iners named by the president of the court shall be sworn by him,
44 FOREIGN LAV/S.
or by a magistrate specially authorized oy him prior to the proceed-
ings.*
ART. VIII. The president may bind the patentee to deposit a
sum as caution money.
In this case his ordinance shall not be delivered unless proof be
given that the caution money has been deposited. The caution
money shall always be required from foreigners.
ART. IX. The plaintiff may be present at the inventory if he
should be specially authorized by the president of the court.
AKT. X. If the doors shall be closed, or access refused, proceed-
ings shall be adopted conformably to article 587 of the Code of
Civil Procedure.
ART. XI. A copy of the proems verbal of the inventory made by
the examiners shall be left by the detainer of the articles pre-
scribed.
ART. XII. If in eight days the inventory is not followed by a
summons before the tribunal of the district where the inventory
was made, the ordinance delivered conformably to article six will
lose its effect, and the detainer of the articles described may reclaim
the original proces verbal, and prevent the patentee from making
use of its contents, and render public the same, without prejudice
to all damages and interest.
ART. XIII. The courts shall consider patent affairs to be sum-
mary and urgent.
ART. XIV. The author of an invention already patented in a for-
eign country, or his assigns, may obtain a patent of importation in
Belgium. The duration of such patent shall not exceed the term of
the patent previously granted in another country for the longest
term, and in no case exceed the limit fixed by article III.
ART. XV. In case of modification of an invention a patent of
improvement may be obtained, the term of which shall end at the
expiration of the original patent.
If, nevertheless, the possessor of the new patent is not the prin-
cipal patentee, he shall not, without the consent of the latter, make
use of the original invention, and reciprocally the principal patentee
shall not make use of the improvement without the consent of the
holder of the new patent.
* As modified by the law of March 27, 1857, enabling the president to depute a
magistrate to swear the examiners.
BELGIUM. 45
ART. XVI. Patents of importation and of improvement confer
the same rights as patents of invention.
ART. XVII. Any person desirous of obtaining a patent shall be
bound to deposit, under seal, in duplicate at the grcffe (office) of
one of the provisional Governors of the Kingdom, or at the office
of a Commissariat cV Arrondissement, observing the formalities
which shall be determined b} r a royal decree, an exact and complete
specification, in one of the languages used in Belgium, and an exact
drawing made to a metrical scale of the invented article.
No deposit shall be received without the production of a receipt
showing that the first annuity tax shall have been paid.
Aproces verbal, drawn up free of cost by the provisional greffier,
or by the district conjmissary, in a special register, and signed by
the demander, shall authenticate each deposit and express the day
and hour of the delivery of the document.
ART XVIII. The legal date of the invention is established by
the proces verbal, which shall be drawn up when the demand of the
patent is deposited.
A duplicate of this proces verbal shall be given to the depositor
free of expense.
ART. XIX. A decree of the minister of the interior, proving
that the described formalities have been accomplished, shall be
delivered forthwith to the depositor, and shall constitute his patent.
An extract of this decree shall be published in the Moniteur.
ART. XX. The specifications of patents granted shall be pub-
lished verbatim, or in substance, under the care of the administra-
tion, in a special collection, three months after the grant of the pat-
ent. When a patentee shall require a complete publication or
extract furnished by himself, such publication shall be effected at
his expense. "* f
After the same term the public shall be admitted to inspect the
specifications, and copies of them may be obtained on payment of
the expenses.
ART. XXL All legal transfers of patents between persons, or
by will, shall be recorded on payment of a fixed fee of ten francs
(81.90).
ART. XXII. If the tax fixed by article III. of the law of May
24, 1854, shall not have been paid in the month when due, the pat-
entee, after previous notice, must pay before the expiration of six
months, under penalty of forfeiture of his rights, a sum of ten
francs, (1.90,) besides the usual annuity.
4d FOREIGN LAWS.
Holders of patents granted since the enforcement of tbe above
law who may not have paid within the legal delay the annuity tax,
conformably to article III., will be relieved of the forfeiture
incurred by payment, within three months of the publication of the
present law, of the sum of ten francs, (1.90,) besides the annuities
due.
The forfeiture of patents shall be published in the Moniteur.
The same shall happen in case the patentee shall have been, at his
own request, relieved of the forfeiture.
AKT. XXIII. The proprietor of a patent must work, or cause to
be worked, in Belgium, the patented article within a year from the
date of its having been worked or used in a foreign country.
The government may, however, by an explanatory decree,
inserted in the Moniteur before the expiration of this term, grant
a prolongation of one year, at most.
At the expiration of the first year, or of the delay which shall
have been granted, the patent shall be annulled by a royal decree.
Annulment shall also be pronounced when the patented article,
made use of in a foreign country, shall have ceased to be worked in
Belgium during one year, unless the possessor of the patent shall be
able to justify the motives of his inaction.
ART. XXIV. Patents shall be declared null and void by the
courts for the following causes :
(a.) When it shall be proved that the patented object has been
worked or made use of for commercial purposes by other parties
prior to the legal date of its invention, or importation, or improve-
ment.
(b.) When the patentee shall have intentionally omitted to
explain in the specification joined to his demand any part of his
secret, or shall have inaccurately specified the same.
(c.) When it shall be proved that the complete specification and
accurate drawings of the patented object have been published in a
printed work prior to the date of the deposit, unless, as regards
patents of importation, this publication should be a case for legal
prescription.
AKT. XXV. A patent of invention shall be declared null by the
courts if the object for which it was granted shall have been pre-
viously patented in Belgium or in a foreign country.
Nevertheless, if the demand has the quality required by article
fourteen, the patent may be maintained as a patent of importation
on the terms of the said article.
BELGIUM. 47
These dispositions shall be applicable, should the case arise, to
patents of improvements.
ART. XXVI. When forfeiture or extinction of a patent shall
have been pronounced, according to articles XXIV. and XXV. by
judgment or decree, having acquired the force of a case judged,
the annulment of the patent shall be proclaimed by a royal decree.
ART. XXVII. [Omitted because relating only to patents exist-
ing when the law took effect.]
From 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 265.
Royal Decree for the Execution of the Foregoing Law.
ARTICLE I. Any person desirous of obtaining a patent of inven-
tion, of improvement, or of importation, must deposit a demand to
this effect in the office ( yreffc, ) of one of the provincial govern-
ments of the kingdom, or in the office of one of the Commis-
sariats tfArrondissements situate out of the chief town of the
province.
To this demand must be joined, under sealed cover
1. The specification of the article invented ;
2. The drawings, models, or patterns which may be necessary
for the comprehension of the specifications ;
3. A duplicate certified copy of the specification and drawings ;
and
4. A list of the documents and objects deposited.
ART. II. The deposit of the documents mentioned at article I.
shall not be received without the production of a receipt showing
the payment of 10 francs, ($1.90,) forming the first annuity of the
tax.
This receipt shall be joined to the other papers.
ART. III. The demand must be written on stamped paper, and
indicate the name, surname, occupation, ( possession, ) and the
real or elected abode of the inventor in the kingdom. It must
express a title, including a summary and precise designation of the
object of the invention. Each demand shall comprise only one sole
principal object, with the details and applications relating thereto.
When a patent of importation shall be demanded the petition
shall make known the date and duration of the original patent, and
the country where it has been granted. If the petitioner is not the
owner of the foreign patent, but his attorney, ( ayant cause, ') he
must justify his title by means of an act in due form.
43 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. IV. The specification must be written in the French, or
German, or Flemish language.
The specification must be written without alterations or inter-
lineations ; the words erased as null shall be counted and verified ;
the pages and references must be initialed, ( paraphes. )
The specification shall explain the invention in a clear and com-
plete manner, and conclude with a clear enunciation of its compo-
nent parts.
AKT. V. The drawings shall be traced in ink, and to a metrical
scale ; they must represent as near as possible the article to be
invented, by plans, and sections, and elevations, and those parts of
the drawings which specially characterize the invention must have a
different tint from the other parts.
ART. VI. All the documents must be dated and signed by the
inventor or his attorney, whose power, duly 'legalized, shall remain
annexed to the demand.
ART. VII. A proems-verbal drawn up by the yreffier of the
provincial government, or by the district commissary, shall be evi-
dence of each deposit, stating the day and hour of the said deposit.
The invention shall be designated by the summary and truthful
title which the demander shall have indicated.
This proces-verbal shall contain the name, surname, quality, and
residence of the demander or his attorney, (" mandataire") It shall
also indicate, when a patent of importation is asked for, the date
and duration of the original patent, and the name of the patentee.
It must make mention of the payment of the first annuity.
This proems-verbal shall be signed by the depositor and by the
writer of the same, and shall be affixed on the cover of the package
containing the documents relative to the demand of the patent.
A copy of ike proces-verbal shall be delivered free of cost to the
depositor.
ART. VIII. The legal date of the invention is confirmed by the
said proces-verbal.
ART. IX. The officers of the provincial Grcfficrs and those
of the Commissaires (V Arrondissement shall be open for the
demand of patents every day from 10 A. M. to 2 P. M., excepting
STimtays Hritf -fetd days.
ART. X. All the documents relating to demands of patents
shall be transmitted within five days to the department of the
interior.
ART. XI. On the arrival of these documents at the above depart-
BELGIUM. 49
ment the demands shall be enrolled, in the order of their date of
admission, in a special register, which the public may inspect any
day, excepting Sundays and fete days from 10 A. M. to 2 P. M.
AKT. XII. In case of omission or irregularity of form the
demander shall be required (" invites ") to make the necessary rec-
tifications.
A note of these rectifications shall be made in the special register
mentioned in the preceding article.
AKT. XIII. Patents demanded in a regular manner shall be
delivered without delay.
A decree of the minister of the interior, stating the accomplish-
ment of the prescribed formalities, shall be delivered to the
demander, and shall constitute his patent.
AKT. XIV. The patent shall expressly state that the grant of
the same is made without previous examination, at the risk and
peril of the demander, and without guarantee as to the reality or
the novelty, or the merit of the invention, or to the accuracy of the
specification, and without prejudice to the rights of other parties.
ART. XV. The first delivery of patents shall be made free of
expense, but all future deliveries demanded by the patentee or his
assigns shall be subject to the reimbursement of the expenses.
ART. XVI. The specifications of patents shall be published ver-
batim or in substance, under the care of the administration, in a
special collection three months after the grant of the patent.
When the patentee shall require a complete publication of his
specification, or of an extract of the same furnished by himself, he
must inform the administration of his desire one month at least
before the expiration of the term fixed by the preceding paragraph,
and consign the amount requisite to cover the cost of this publica-
tion.
ART. XVII. After the said term of three months the public
shall be admitted to examine the specifications, and may obtain
copies thereof on reimbursement of the expenses.
ART. XVIII. The patentee who may desire to obtain a prolong-
ation of the delay, as provided for by article XXIII. of the law,
for putting into activity the patented article, must address his
demand to the minister of the interior two months at least before
the expiration of the delay fixed by the said article.
This demand must contain sufficient motives and indicate within
the legal limit the term necessary for putting into activity the
invention.
L 4
50 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. XIX. All cessions or mutations, total or partial, of a pat-
ent shall be notified to the department of the interior.
The notification of the cession or any other act involving muta-
tion must be accompanied by an authentic extract of the act of ces-
sion or of mutation.
ABT. XX. Proprietors of patents not expired or annulled at the
time of the publication of the law of the 24th May, 1854, may
have their rights placed under the administration of this law on
forming their demand before the 25th May, 1855.
A patentee who shall not have paid, when the benefit of his dis-
position shall be demanded, a sum equal to the amount of the
annuities due according to article III. of the law, shall be bound
to effectuate this payment and justify the same by a receipt joined
to their demand ; otherwise the demand shall be of no avail.
A declaration stating that the patent is placed under the admin-
istration of the new law shall be sent to the interested party.
ART. XXI. The grants of patents, the acts of cession or of muta-
tion, as also the declarations mentioned in the preceding article,
shall be published in a special collection of patents. The decrees
pronouncing annulment of patents, or their having been given up
to the public, shall likewise be inserted in the same collection.
ART. XXII. At the expiration of patents the original drawings
and specifications shall be deposited in the Museum of Industry.
ART. XXIII. The minister of the interior is charged with the
execution of the present decree.
From 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 267.
BOSNIA.
See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
BRAZIL. 51
BRAZIL.
Law of October U. 1882.*
ARTICLE I.
By the grant of a patent to the author of any invention or dis-
covery the law guarantees his right to the property and exclusive
use of the invention.
SECTION 1. According to this law the following shall constitute
an invention or discovery.
1. The invention of new industrial products.
2. The invention of new processes or the new application of
known processes for obtaining an industrial product or result.
3. The improvement of an invention already patented if it
facilitates the manufacture of the product or the use of the patented
invention, or if it increases its utility.
Those industrial products, processes, applications, and improve-
ments shall be considered new which, up to the application for a
patent, have never been employed or used within or without the
empire, nor have been described or published so that they could be
employed or used.
SEC. 2. The following inventions cannot be the subjects of pat-
ents:
1. Those contrary to law or morality.
2. Those dangerous to public security.
3. Those hurtful to public health.
4. Those which do not offer practical industrial results.
SEC. 3. The patent will be granted by the executive power
after the fulfillment of the formalities prescribed in this law and in
its regulations.
SEC. 4. The exclusive privilege for a principal invention will
only be valid for fifteen years, and that for an improvement to the
* The substance of the former law, project then pending for a more complete
which was promulgated August 28, 1830, and comprehensive legislation on the sub-
is given in a report by Mr. Phipps of the ject. A translation of the Law of 1852,
British Legation, published Sept. 16, differing very slightly from that presented
1873, 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 289, together with in the text, may be found in 23 Pat. Of.
accounts of the practice and formalities Gaz. 198.
in granting patents in Brazil, and of the
52 FOREIGN LAWS.
invention granted to the inventor will terminate at the same time
as the original patent.
If public necessity or utility require the free use (vulgarisa?ao)
of an invention or its exclusive use by the State during the privilege
for it, the patent can be disappropriated in conformity with the
legal formalities.
SEC. 5. The patent is transmissible by any of the modes of ces-
sion or transfer recognized by law.
ARTICLE II.
Inventors receiving privileges in other countries can obtain con-
firmation of their rights in the empire, provided they fulfill the
formalities and conditions of this law and observe the further pro-
visions in force applicable to the case. The confirmation will give
the same rights as a patent granted in the empire.
SEC. 1. The priority of right of property of an inventor who,
having solicited a patent in a foreign country, shall make a similar
petition to the imperial government within seven months, will not
be invalidated by facts which may occur during this period such
as another similar petition, the publication of the invention, and its
use or employment.
SEC. 2. To the inventor who, before obtaining a patent, desires
to experiment in public with his inventions, or wishes to exhibit
them in an official or officially recognized exhibition, will be given
a document provisionally guaranteeing to him his right of property
for a specified time and with the formalities required.
SEC. 3. During the first year of the patent only the inventor
himself or his legal successors can obtain a patent for improvements
on the invention. Third parties will be -permitted, however, to
present their petitions within the said period in order to establish
their rights.
The inventor of an improvement cannot make use of the
improved article while the patent for the principal invention lasts
without an authorization from its inventor. Nor can the latter
employ the improvement without agreement with the former.
SEC. 4. If two or more persons petition for patents at the same
time for an identical invention, the government, except in the
hypothesis of section 1 of this article, will require that they previ-
ously determine the priority either by means of agreement or in a
competent court.
BRAZIL. 53
ARTICLE III.
The inventor who seeks a patent shall deposit in duplicate in the
department which the government shall designate, in a closed and
sealed envelope, a specification in Portuguese, describing the inven-
tion with accuracy and clearness, its purpose and the method of
using it, with the plans, designs, models, and samples which may
contribute to an exact understanding of the invention and the
elucidation of the specification, so that any person competent in the
matter can obtain or apply the result, means, or product of which
it treats. The specification shall clearly set forth the characteristic
features of the invention. The rights under the patent will be
limited to the said features, mention of this being made in the
patent.
SEC. 1. With the dociiments deposited shall be presented the
petition, which should be limited to one single invention, specifying
its nature and its purposes or applications in accordance with the
specification and the documents deposited.
SEC. 2. If it shall appear that the subject of the invention
involves an infraction of section 2, article I., or has for its object
alimentary, chemical, or pharmaceutical products, the government
will order a previous seci'et examination of one of the samples
deposited, in conformity with the regulations to be issued, and in
accordance with the result it will or will not concede a patent.
From an adverse decision there will be an appeal to the Council of
State.
SEC. 3. With the sole exception of the cases mentioned in the
preceding paragraph, the patent will be issued without previous
examination. The patent will always designate the object of the
privilege in a concise manner, saving the rights of third parties and
without guarantee of the government, as to the originality or util-
ity of the invention.
In the patent of an inventor privileged outside of the empire it
will be declared that it is valid so long as the foreign patent is in
force, never exceeding the specified period of section 4, article I.
SEC. 4. Besides the expenses and fees incurred, patentees shall
pay a tax of twenty dollars for the first year, thirty dollars for the
second, forty dollars for the third, the annuity for each year of the
privilege being ten dollars more than the preceding annuity. In
no case will the annuities be refunded.
SEC. 5. To the privileged inventor who improves his own inven-
54 FOREIGN LAWS.
tion will bo given a certificate of improvement, which will be
appended to the original patent. For this certificate the inventor
will pay, once for all, an amount corresponding to the annuity about
to become due.
SEC. 6. The transfer or cession of a patent or certificate will not
come into effect until it has been registered in the bureau of agri-
culture, commerce, and public works.
ARTICLE IV.
The patent having been issued, within a period of thirty days the
opening of the deposited envelopes shall take place with the
formalities which the regulations shall specify. The specifica-
tion shall be immediately published in the Diario Official, and one
of the copies of the designs, plans, models, or samples will be open
to the inspection of the public and the study of parties interested,
copies being allowed to be taken.
SEC. 1. In case the previous examination mentioned in section 2,
article III., has not taken place, the government, having published
the report, will order the verification of the requisites and condi-
tions required by law for the validity of the privilege by means of
experiments according to the procedure established for such exam-
ination.
ARTICLE V.
A patent shall be of no effect in case of nullity or lapsing.
SEC. 1. The patent shall be null
1. If in its granting any one of the requirements of sections 1
and 2 of article I. has been violated.
2. If the patentee did not have priority.
3. If the patentee has falsified the truth or concealed essential
matter in the specification describing the invention, whether in its
object or in the manner of using it.
4. If the title of the invention is, with fraudulent purpose,
diverse from its real object.
5. If an improvement has not an indispensable relation with the
principal invention, but can constitute a separate industry, or if
there shall have been the state of priority referred to in article II.,
section 3.
SEC. 2. The patent shall lapse
1. If the patentee does not make effective use of the invention
within three years, counting from the date of patent.
2. If the patentee suspends the effective use of the invention for
BRAZIL. 55
more than one year, except by reason of force majeur admitted by
the government after consulting the Council of State. By use is
understood, in these two cases, the effective exercise of the patented
industry, and the supply of the products in proportion to their
employment or consumption. On proof that the supply of the pro-
ducts is evidently insufficient for the needs of employment or con-
sumption, the privilege can be restricted to a zone determined by
a decree of the government with the approval of the legislative
power.
3. If the patentee does not pay the annuities within the terms of
the law.
4. If a patentee residing out of the empire does not appoint
an accredited agent to represent him before the government or in
court.
5. If the patent is expressly renounced.
6. If the patent or foreign privilege for an invention also
patented in the empire ceases from any cause.
7. When the term of the privilege has expired.
SEC. 3. The nullity of a patent or of a certificate of improvement
shall be declared by a decision of the commercial court (jurzo com-
mercial) of the capital of the empire by means of the summary
process of the decree No. 737 of November 25, 1850.
The following are competent to promote an action for nullity:
the solicitor of the treasury (procurador dos fertos da fazenda)
and his assistants, to whom will be forwarded the documents and
proofs corroborative of the infraction, and any interested party,
with the assistance of that official and his assistants.
An action for nullity in the cases of article I., section 2, Nos. 1,
2, and 3, having been begun, the effect of the patent and the use or
employment of the invention will be suspended until the final decis-
ion. If the patent is not annulled, the patentee will be reinvested
iu its enjoyment for the whole term of the privilege.
SEC. 4. The lapse of patents shall be declared by the minster and
secretary of state for affairs of agriculture, commerce, and public
works, with an appeal to the Council of State.
ARTICLE VI.
The following will be considered inf ringers of the patent:
1. Those who, without license from the patentee, manufacture
the products or employ the processes or make the applications
which are the subject of the patent.
56 FOREIGN LAWS.
2. Those who import, sell, or expose for sale, conceal, or receive
for the purpose of sale products which are infringements of the
privileged industry, knowing them to be such.
SEC. 1. The inf ringers of a patent will be punished, for the ben-
efit of the treasury, with a fine from five hundred dollars to five
thousand dollars, and for the benefit of the patentee, with from ten
to fifty per cent, of the damage caused or which may be caused.
SEC. 2. The following will be considered as aggravating circum-
stances:
1. The infringer being, or having been, an employe or workman
in the establishment of the patentee.
2. The infringer having associated with an employe or workman
of the patentee for acquiring knowledge of the practical method of
obtaining or employing the invention.
SEC. 3. The cognizance of infringements of a privilege belongs
to ihejuizes de direito (district judges) of the comarcas (districts)
where they occur, who will issue, on the petition of the patentee or
his legal representative, warrants of search, apprehension, and
deposit, and will prescribe the preparatory or preliminary proceed-
ing of the process. The sentence shall be governed by law No. 502
of July 2, 1850, and by decree No. 707 of October 9th of the same
year, so far as they apply to the case. The products of which Nos.
1 and 2 of this article treat, and the respective instruments and
apparatus, will be adjudged to the patentee by the same sentence
which comdemns the authors of the infringements.
SEC. 4. The process will not hinder an action by the patentee
to secure indemnification for damage caused or which may be caused.
SEC. 5. Commercial jurisdiction is competent for all cases rela-
tive to industrial privileges in conformity with this law.
SEC. 6. The following will be punished with a fine of from one
hundred dollars to five hundred dollars for the benefit of the
treasury :
1. Those who announce themselves as possessors of a patent, by
using emblems, marks, placards, or labels upon products or articles
prepared for commerce or exposed for sale, as if they had been pat-
ented.
2. Inventors who continue to exercise an industry as patented
when the patent has been suspended, annulled, or has lapsed.
3. Privileged inventors who in prospectuses, advertisements,
placards, or by any mode of public notice shall mention patents
without designating the special object for which they were obtained.
BRAZIL. 57
4. Professional men or experts who being employed under sec-
tion 2, of article III. cause the general diffusion of the secret of
the invention ; without prejudice in this case to such criminal or
civil actions as the laws permit.
SEC. 7. The offenses of which the preceding paragraph treats
shall be prosecuted and judged as simple police offenses, in con-
formity with the legislation in force.
ARTICLE VII.
When a patent has been conceded to two or more co-inventors,
or when it becomes common property by deed of gift or succession,
each one of the co-proprietors may use it freely.
ARTICLE VIII.
If a patent shall be given or left in usufruct, the usufructuary
will be obliged, when his rights cease through the extinction of the
usufruct or termination of the term of privilege, to give to the
owner of the property the value at Avhich it shall be estimated, cal-
culated with relation to the time which the usufruct has lasted.
ARTICLE IX.
Patents of inventions already granted will continue to be gov-
erned by the law of October 26, 1830, the provisions of article V.
section 2, Nos. 1 arid 2, and of article VI. of this present law, with
the exception of pending processes or actions, being applicable to
them.
ARTICLE X.
All enactments contrary to the present law are hereby repealed.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 46.
See also INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
See CANADA.
58 FOREIGN LAWS.
BRITISH GUIANA.
Ordinance No. 13, of (July 12), 1861, to regulate the grant-
ing of Patents.
Preamble.
"Whereas it is expedient to regulate the granting of patents for
inventions in this colony : Be it therefore enacted by His Excel-
lency the Lieutenant-Governor of British Guiana, with the advice
and consent of the court of policy thereof^ as follows :
1. Petition for patent to be accompanied by affidavit and pro-
visional specification. From and after the taking effect of this
ordinance, every inventor desirous of obtaining protection for his
invention within this colony shall petition the Governor to grant to
him, his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, letters patent
for his invention, in the name of Her Majesty, under the public seal
of this colony, and every petition for letter:? patent as aforesaid,
shall be lodged at the office of the government secretary, accom-
panied by an affidavit, signed by the petitioner, that he is the true
and first inventor, and that the invention is not in use by any other
person or persons within the colony, to the best of his knowledge
and belief, and also by a statement in writing, hereinafter called
the provisional specification, signed by or on behalf of the peti-
tioner, describing the nature of the invention ; and all such peti-
tions, affidavits, and provisional specifications shall be preserved
in, and a registry thereof kept at, the said office.
2. Petition and affidavit of absent inventor to be legalized. Also
complete specification. In the event of any such inventor being
resident out of the colony, the petition, affidavit, and provisional
specification may be lodged by any person acting as his agent in
the colony, provided that the petition and affidavit of such inventor
(or his declaration in places where a declaration is allowed by law
instead of an oath) be certified and transmitted under the signature
and seal of any mayor, notary public, or justice of the peace, or of
any British consul, or vice-consul, or of any other officer author-
ized to administer oaths or receive declarations ; and in like
manner the complete specification referred to in the 4th and 12th
sections may be deposited by the agent of any such absent inventor,
provided the same be legalized as aforesaid.
BRITISH GUIANA. 59
3. Applications to be referred to attorney-general for examina-
tion. Every application for letters patent under this ordinance,
together with all documents connected therewith, shall be referred
for examination, and report to the attoi-ney-general, who shall be
at liberty in examining the provisional specification to call to his
aid such scientific or other person as he may think fit, and to cause
to be paid to such person by the petitioner such remuneration as
the attorney-general shall appoint ; and if the attorney-general be
satisfied that the provisional specification describes the nature of
the invention, he shall allow the same, and give a certificate of his
allowance, and such certificate shall be filed in the office of the
government secretary, and thereupon the invention therein referred
to may, during the term of twelve months from the date of the
application for letters patent for the said invention, be used and
published without prejudice to any letters patent to be granted for
the same, and such protection from the consequences of use and
publication is hereinafter referred to as provisional protection :
Provided always, that in case the title of the invention or the pro-
visional specification be too large or insufficient, it shall be lawful
for the attorney-general to allow or require the same to be amended ;
it being, nevertheless, in every case, entirely at the hazard of the
petitioner whether the invention is new or will have the desired
effect.
4. Inventors may deposit a complete specification ; to confer
rights for 12 months. The applicant for letters patent for an
invention, instead of leaving with the petition and affidavit a pro-
visional specification as aforesaid, may, if he think fit, deposit in
the registrar's office for the counties of Demerara and Essequebo an
instrument in writing under his hand (hereinafter called a complete
specification), particularly describing and ascei'taining the nature
of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, of which specification an authentic copy shall be filed with
the petition and affidavit, and the day of the delivery of every such
petition, affidavit, and complete specification shall be recorded at
the office of the government secretary, and a certificate thereof
given to such applicant or his agent, and thereupon, subject and
without prejudice to the provisions hereinafter contained, the
invention shall be protected under this ordinance for the term of
twelve months from the date of the application, and the applicant
shall have during such term of twelve months, the like powers,
rights and privileges a.s might have been conferred upon him by
60 FOREIGN LAWS.
letters patent for such invention issued under this ordinance and
duly sealed as of the day of the date of such application ; and dur-
ing the continuance of such powers, rights, and privileges under
this section, such invention may be used and published without
prejudice to any letters patent to be granted for the same ; and
where letters patent are granted in respect of such invention, then
in lieu of a condition for making void such letters patent in case
such invention be not described and ascertained by a subsequent
specification, such letters patent shall be conditioned to become
void if such complete specification deposited as aforesaid does not
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed ; and every such
complete specification shall be open to the inspection of the public
as hereinafter provided, from the time of depositing the same.
5. Patent not invalidated by protection obtained in fraud. la
case of any application for letters patent for any invention, and the
obtaining upon such application of provisional protection for such
invention or of protection for the same, by reason of the deposit of
a complete specification as aforesaid in fraud of the true and first
inventor, any letters patent granted to the true and first inventor
of such invention shall not be invalidated by reason of such appli-
cation or of such provisional or other protection as aforesaid, or of
any use or publication of the invention subsequent to such applica-
tion, and before the expiration of the term of such provisional or
other protection.
6. Protections to be advertised and provisional specifications
deposited. Where any invention is provisionally protected under
this ordinance, or protected by reason of the deposit of such com-
plete specification as aforesaid, the government secretary shall cause
public notice of such provisional protection or other protection as
aforesaid to be given in the Official Gazette, and the government
secretary shall cause to be delivered to the registrar for the counties
of Demerara and Essequebo every provisional specification after
the term of the provisional protection of the invention has expired,
to be by him entered free of charge in the " Register of Patents "
hereinafter mentioned.
7. Application to be advertised, and oppositions may be entered.
The applicant for letters patent, so soon as he may think fit after
the invention shall have been provisionally protected under this
ordinance, or where a complete specification has been deposited at
the time of filing his petition and affidavit, then so soon as he may
BRITISH GUIANA. 61
think fit after such deposit, may give notice at the office of the gov
ernment secretary of his intention of proceeding with his applica
tion for letters patent for the said invention, and thereupon tha
government secretary shall cause his said application to be adver-
tised in the Official Gazette in such manner as he may see fit ; and
any person having an interest in opposing the grant of such letters
patent for the said invention shall be at liberty to file particulars in
writing of their objections to the said application in the office of the
government secretary within one month from the date of the
notice, and all such objections shall be referred to the attorney-
general.
8. Patent to issue on report of attorney-general. Appeal. When
the time allowed for filing objections as aforesaid shall have expired,
the attorney-genei*al shall report in writing to the Governor upon
each application for letters patent as aforesaid, and also upon any
opposition that may be entered thereto, and public notice of all such
reports having been submitted to the governor shall be given in the
Official Gazette for two successive weeks, at the expiration of which
time, if the attorney-general shall have reported that there is no
valid legal objection to letters patent being granted, the governor
may direct letters patent to issue, as hereinafter provided : Pro-
vided always, that within the said period of two weeks any party
interested who may consider himself aggrieved by any such report
of the attorney-general shall be at liberty to apply by petition to
the Supreme Court of Civil Justice of the colony, or chief justice
during non-session of said court, for their or his judgment upon the
question at issue ; and the court or chief justice, after hearing the
parties interested if they or any of them shall think proper to
appear, shall give judgment accordingly, and all costs shall be in
the discretion of such court or chief justice ; and the attorney-gen-
eral shall alter or amend his report according to such judgment if
necessary.
9. Duration and effect of patent. All letters patent for inven-
tions under this ordinance shall be granted by the governor, in the
name of Her Majesty, under the public seal of the colony, and the
same shall extend to whole of the colony, and shall continue in force
within this colony for the term of fourteen years from the date of
the original application, and during such term the patentee, his
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, shall have full power,
sole privilege, and authority, by himself and themselves, and by his
and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others as he,
62 FOREIGN LAWS.
the said patentee, bis heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, shall
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all
times during the said term of fourteen years, lawfully to make, use,
exercise, and vend the invention mentioned in such letters patent
within this colony, in such manner as to him, the said patentee, his
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, or any of them, shall, in
his or their discretion, seem meet ; and he, the said patentee, his
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, shall and lawfully
may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commodity, and
advantage from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising
by reason of such invention for and during such term of fourteen
years ; but all such letters patent shall be subject to the conditions
hereinafter mentioned.
10. No person to use or imitate the invention without consent.
During the continuance of the said term it shall not be lawful for
any person whomsoever at any time, either directly or indirectly,
to make, use, or put in practice within this colony the said inven-
tion or any part of the same, nor in any wise to counterfeit, imitate,
or resemble the same, nor to make or cause to be made any addition
thereunto, or subtraction from the same, whereby to pretend him-
self the inventor or devisor thereof, without the consent, license, or
agreement of the said patentee, his heirs, executors, administrators,
or assigns, in writing under his or their hands, first had and obtained
iu that behalf ; and if any person shall, at any time during the con-
tinuance of the said term, either directly or indirectly, make, use,
or put in practice within this colony the said invention or any part
of the same, or shall in any wise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble
the same, or make or cause to be made any addition thereto, or
subtraction therefrom, whereby to pretend himself the inventor
or devisor thereof, without such consent, license, or agreement as
aforesaid, every such person shall be liable to such pains and penal-
ties as can or may be inflicted upon any person for any such breach
or violation of this ordinance, and shall further be answerable to the
said patentee, his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns,
according to law, for his and their damages thereby occasioned.
11. Patent to be avoidable on non-fulfillment of certain condi-
tions. All letters patent for inventions under this ordinance shall
be made and shall be subject to the conditions that the same shall
be void, and that the powers and privileges thereby granted shall
cease and determine, if any person shall, during the continuance of
the said term of fourteen years, successfully establish and prove
BRITISH GUIANA. 63
before the Honorable the Supreme Court of Civil Justice of this
colony that the grant of such letters is contrary to law, or prejudi-
cial or inconvenient to Her Majesty's subjects in general, or that the
invention mentioned in such letters patent is not a new invention as
to the public use and exercise thereof, or that the grantee of such
letters patent is not the true and first inventor within this colony :
And such letters patent, or anything therein contained, shall not
extend or be construed to extend to give privilege unto the grantee
thereof, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, or any of
them, to use or imitate any invention or work whatever theretofore
found out or invented by any other of Her Majesty's subjects what-
soever, and publicly used or exercised in this colony, unto whom
like letters patent or privileges shall have already been granted in
this colony for the sole use, exercise, and benefit thereof.
12. Patent to be avoidable on non-fulfillment of further con-
ditions. All letters patent for inventions under this ordinance shall
also be made and shall be subject to the further conditions that the
same shall be void, and that the powers and privileges thereby
granted shall cease and determine, if the patentee shall fail or neg-
lect to record the said letters patent in the registrar's office for
the counties of Demerara and Essequebo within ten days from
the date thereof, and also if the patentee shall fail or neglect
to deposit in the said registrar's office, within six months from the
date of the said letters patent, save (and except as provided in the
4th section of this ordinance) a clear and copious statement in writ-
ing, herein called the complete specification, under his hand, partic-
ularly describing and ascertaining the nature of his invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and also if the said
instrument in writing deposited as aforesaid does not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and also if the said patentee,
his heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, shall not supply or
cause to be supplied for Her Majesty's service in this colony all such
articles of the said invention as he or they shall be required to sup-
ply by the officers administering the department of Her Majesty's
service in this colony for the use of which the same shall be required,
in such manner, at such times, and at and upon such reasonable
prices and terms, as shall be settled for that purpose by the gover-
nor; and further that the said letters patent shall be void, and that
the powers and privileges thereby granted shall cease and determ-
ine, at the expiration of seven years from the date thereof, unless
64 FOREIGN LA^S.
there be paid before the expiration of the said seven years the
stamp duty in the schedule A to this ordinance annexed; and such
letters patent, or a duplicate thereof shall, on such payment, be
stamped with a proper stamp, showing the payment of suc'a duty,
and notice of such payment shall be given by the government sec-
retary in the Official Gazette.
13. No patents to be issued after three months. No letters pat-
ent for inventions under this ordinance shall be issued or be of any
force or effect unless the same shall be applied for, and the stamp
duty then payable in respect thereof tendered, within the period of
three months from the date of the attorney-general's report ; and
no letters patent shall be issued or be of any force or effect unless
the same be granted during the continuance of the provisional pro-
tection under this ordinance, or unless a complete specification has
been deposited under this ordinance, or then unless such letters pat-
ent be granted during the continuance of the protection conferred
under this ordinance by reason of such deposit ; save that where
the application to seal such letters patent has been made during the
continuance of such provisional or other protection as aforesaid, and
the sealing of such letters patent has been delayed by reason of a
caveat, or an application to the Supreme Court or chief justice
against or in relation to such letters patent, then such letters patent
may be sealed within such extended time as the court or chief jus-
tice shall be pleased to grant for enabling the applicant to apply to
the Governor to order such letters patent to be sealed.
14. Patent may be granted to heirs, &c., of applicant. Where
the applicant for such letters patent dies during the continuance of
the provisional protection, or the protection by reason of the deposit
of a complete specification (as the case may be), such letters patent
may be granted f to*f he- heirs, -'executors or administrators of such
applicant during the continuance of such provisional or other pro-
tection, or at any time within three months after the death of such
applicant notwithstanding the expiration of the term of such pro-
visional or other protection, and the letters patent so granted shall
be of the like force and effect as if they had been granted to such
applicant during the continuance of such provisional or other pro-
tection.
15. Patent may be dated as of the day of application. It shall
be lawful to cause any letters patent to be issued in pursuance of
this ordinance to be sealed and bear date as of the day of the
application for the same, or where the governor thinks fit and
BRITISH GUIANA. 65
directs any such letters patent as aforesaid may be sealed and may
bear date as of the day of the sealing of such letters patent, or of
any other day between the day of such application and the day of
such sealing.
16. Patent antedated to be valid. Any letters patent issued
under this ordinance, sealed and bearing date as of any day prior
to the day of the actual sealing thereof, shall be of the same force
and validity as if they had been sealed on the day as of which the
same are expressed to be sealed and bear date : Provided always,
that, save where such letters patent are granted for any invention
in respect whereof a complete specification has been deposited upon
the application for the same under this ordinance, no legal proceed-
ing shall be had upon such letters patent in respect of any infringe-
ment committed before the same were actually granted.
17. Patent obtained in the colony for patented extra-colonial
inventions. Where upon any application made after the taking
effect of this ordinance for or in respect of any invention first
invented in the United Kingdom, or in any foreign country, and a
patent or like privilege for the monopoly or exclusive use or exercise
of such invention in the United Kingdom, or in any foreign country
is there obtained before the grant of such letters patent in this colony,
all rights and privileges under such letters patent shall (notwith-
standing any term in the letters patent limited) cease and be void
immediately upon the expiration or other determination of the term
during which the patent or other like privilege obtained in the
United Kingdom or in such foreign country shall continue in force,
or where more than one such patent or like privilege is obtained
abroad, immediately upon the expiration or determination of the
term which shall first expire or be determined of such several
patents or like privileges : Provided always that no letters patent
for or in respect of any invention for which any such patent or like
privilege as aforesaid shall have been obtained in the United King-
dom or in any foreign country, and which shall be granted in this
colony after the expiration of the term for which such patent or
privilege was granted or was in force, shall be of any validity.
18. Patent not to prevent the use of invention in foreign ships.
No letters patent for any invention (granted after the taking
effect of this ordinance) shall extend to prevent the use of such
invention in any foreign ship or vessel, or for the navigation of
of any foreign ship or vessel which may be in any port in this
colony or in any of the waters within the jurisdiction of any ot
I. 5
66 FOREIGN LAWS.
Her Majesty's courts in this colony, where such invention is not
used for the manufacture of any goods or commodities to be vended
within or exported from this colony : Provided always, that this
enactment shall not extend to the ships or vessels of any foreign
State, of which the laws authorize subjects of such foreign State
having patents or like privileges for the exclusive use or exercise of
inventions within its territories to prevent or interfere with the use
of such inventions in British ships or vessels, or in or about the navi-
gation of Britith ships or vessels while in the ports of such foreign
State, or in the waters within the jurisdiction of its courts, where
such inventions are not so used for the manufacture of goods or
commodities to be vended within or exported from the territories of
such foreign State.
19. Patents heretofore granted in the United Kingdom.
Nothing herein contained shall extend to prejudice or affect any
letters patent heretofore granted in the United Kingdom, and made
applicable by the tenor thereof to this colony, and such letters
patent shall be in every respect as valid and effectual as if this
ordinance had not been passed : and printed or manuscript copies
or extracts, certified and sealed with the seal of the commissioners
of patents, of every such letters patent, and of the specification
thereto relating, and of any disclaimer or memorandum of altera-
tion in respect thereof, shall be deposited or recorded in the
registrar's office, and notice thereof given in the Official Gazette.
20. Disclaimer and memorandum of alteration notice and
appeal. Any person who, as grantee, assignee, or otherwise, shall
obtain letters patent under this ordinance, may, if he think fit, enter
at the said registrar's office, having first obtained the leave of the
attorney-general, certified by his fiat and signature, a disclaimer of
any part of either the title of the invention or of the complete
specification, stating the reason for such disclaimer, or may, with
such leave as aforesaid, enter a memorandum of any alteration in
the said title or specification, not being such disclaimer or such
alteration as shall extend the exclusive right granted by the said
letters patent ; and such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration,
being entered at the said office and notified by the registrar in the
Official Gazette, shall be deemed and taken to be part of such let-
ters patent, or such complete specification, in all courts whatever in
this colony: Provided always, that any person desirous of entering
any such disclaimer or alteration shall be bound to give three weeks
previous notice in the Official Gazette of his intention to enter the
BRITISH GUIANA. . 67
same : And provided further, that any party aggrieved by any
decision of the attorney-general under this section may, within two
weeks from the date of such decision apply by petition to the
Supreme Court or chief justice to alter or amend the same ; and
the court or chief justice, after hearing the parties interested, if
they or any of them shall think proper to appear, shall give judg-
ment accordingly, and all costs shall be in the discretion of such
court or chief justice ; and the attorney-general shall alter or amend
his decision, according to such judgment, if necessary.
21. Caveats may be entered. Any person may enter a caveat
against such disclaimer or alteration at the said registrar's office
within the said period of three weeks, which caveat, being so
entered, shall be referred to and heard and determined by the
attorney-general, subject to an appeal to the court or chief justice
in like manner as is provided in the last preceding section : Pro-
vided always, that no disclaimer or alteration shall be receivable in
evidence in any action or suit pending at the time when such dis-
claimer or alteration was entered, but in every such action or suit
the original title and complete specification alone shall be given in
evidence and deemed and taken to be the title and complete speci-
fication of the invention for which the letters patent shall have
been granted : And provided further, that such entry and notifi-
cation in the Official Gazette of any disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration in pursuance of the leave of the attorney-general, shall,
except in cases of fraud, and subject to the aforesaid appeal, be
conclusive as to the right of the party to enter such disclaimer or
alteration ; and no objection shall be allowed to be made in any
proceeding in this colony upon or touching such letters patent,
specification, disclaimer, or alteration, on the ground that the party
entering such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration had not
sufficient authority in that behalf.
22. Mode of proceeding for confirmation of the letters patent.
If in any action or suit in this colony it shall be specially found by
the court or jury that any person who shall have obtained letters
patent in this colony for any invention, or supposed invention, was
not the first inventor thereof, or of some part thereof, by reason of
some other person or persons having invented or used the same or
some part thereof in this colony before the date of such letters pat-
ent, or if such patentee or his assigns shall discover that some other
person had unknown to such patentee invented or used the same or
some part thereof in this colony before the date of such letters
68 FOREIGN LAWS.
patent, it shall be lawful for such patentee or his assigns to petition
the governor, with the advice and consent of the Court of Policy,
to confirm the said letters patent, or to grant new letters patent,
the matter of which petition shall be referred to and heard before
the Court of Policy, and such court, upon examining the said mat-
ter, and being satisfied that such patentee believed himself to be
the first and original inventor, and further, that such invention or
part thereof had not been publicly and generally used in this colony
before the date of such letters patent, may state by resolution their
opinion that the prayer of such petition ought to be complied with,
whereupon the governor may, if he think fit, grant such prayer ;
and the said letters patent shall in such case be available in law to
give such petitioner the sole right of using, making, and vending in
this colony the said invention as against all persons whatever, any
laws, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding : Provided,
that any person opposing such petition shall be entitled to be heard
before the said Court of Policy, and that any person party to any
former suit or action touching such first letters patent shall be enti-
tled to have notice of such petition before presenting the same.
23. Application for the prolongation of the term of the patent.
If any person who shall obtain any letters patent under this ordi-
nance, or any assignee of such patentee, shall advertise for one
month in the Official Gazette that he intends to apply to the Gover-
nor to grant %o him, with the advice and consent of the Court of Pol-
icy, a prolongation of his term of sole using and vending his inven-
tion within this colony, and shall petition the Governor to that effect,
it shall be lawful for any person to enter a caveat at the office of the
government secretary ; and the matter being referred to the con-
sideration of the Court of Policy, the petitioner and the parties
entering caveats and their respective witnesses shall be heard,
whereupon, and upon hearing and inquiring of the whole matter,
the Court of Policy may state by resolution their opinion that a
further extension of the term in the said letters patent should be
granted, not exceeding seven years ; and the Governor may, if he
think fit, thereupon grant new letters patent for the said invention
for a further term not exceeding seven years after the expiration of
the first term, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwith-
standing ; provided aiways, that no such extension shall be granted
unless the petition shall be presented six months at least before the
expiration of the term originally granted in such letters patent, and
BRITISH GUIANA. 69
shall be thereafter prosecuted by the petitioner with due diligence,
to the satisfaction of the Governor and Court of Policy.
24. Witnesses may be summoned in proceeding under this ordi-
nance. It shall be lawful for the Governor and Court of Policy to
order any person to be summoned to appear before them to give
evidence in any proceeding before them under this ordinance ; and
if any person being served with any such order or summons of the
Governor and Court of Policy, shall refuse or neglect to appear at
the time and place mentioned in such order or summons, such per-
son shall be subject to a fine by the Governor and Court of Policy,
not exceeding two hundred and forty dollars, to be recovered at the
instance of the attorney-general by summary execution.
25. Evidence to be given upon oath. It shall be lawful for the
Governor and Court of Policy to administer to any person who
shall appear as a witness in any such proceeding, any oath or affir-
mation that may lawfully be administered in any court of justice,
and every witness who shall willfully give a false answer to any
question that may be put to him or her, or shall swear falsely ou
any oath, or shall falsely affirm any matter or thing, shall be
deemed guilty of perjury, and on conviction thereof before the
Supreme Court of Criminal Justice shall be subjected to the pains
and penalties imposed on persons guilty of willful and corrupt per-
jury.
26. Summonses to be served by the provost-marshal. All sum-
monses and orders of the Governor and Court of Policy, granted
in any of such proceedings as aforesaid, shall be served and exe-
cuted by provost-marshal of the colony, or his lawful deputy, and
for the making and serving of each copy of any such summons or
order the provost- marshal shall be allowed to charge the sum of
fifty cents, and no more, and for traveling expenses or distance
money the fees chargeable by the marshal under ordinance No. 27
of the year 1855, and the costs of procuring the attendance of
every such witness shall be borne by the party requiring him to be
summoned, unless the Governor and Court of Policy shall otherwise
direct.
27. Register of patents to be kept. There shall be kept at the
Registrar's office aforesaid, a book or books, to be called the " Reg-
ister of Patents," which shall be kept alphabetically indexed, and
wherein shall be entered and recorded in chronological order all
letters patent granted or filed under this ordinance (and nothing
contained in section 24 of ordinance No. 3 of 1860, shall extend or
70 FOREIGN LAWS.
apply to any such letters patent), all provisional specifications after
the term of the provisional protection of the invention has expired,
all complete specifications, disclaimers and memoranda of alterations
entered in respect of such letters patent, all amendments in such
letters patent and specifications, all assignments of such letters pat-
ent, or of any share or interest therein, all confirmations and exten-
sions of such letters patent, the expiry, vacating or cancelling of
such letters patent, with the dates thereof, respectively, and all
other matters and things affecting the validity of such letters pat-
ent as the government secretary may direct: and such register, on
payment of the fee hereinafter provided, shall be open at all con-
venient times to the inspection of the public, subject to such regu-
lations as the Supreme Court may make.
28. In suits for infringement, particulars to be delivered. In
any suit for the infringement of letters patent the plantiff shall
deliver, with his claim and demand, particulars of the breaches com-
plained of in the said suit, and the defendant, on pleading thereto, shall
deliver with his pleading, and the plaintiff, in any proceedi'ngs to
have declared void letters patent granted under this ordinance, shall
deliver with his claim and demand, particulars of any objections on
which he means to rely at the trial in support of the defense in the
said suit or of the averments in the said claim and demand in the
proceedings to have declared void such letters patent respectively ;
and at the trial of such suit or proceeding no evidence shall be
allowed to be given in support of any alleged infringement, or of
any objection impeaching the validity of such letters patent, which
shall not be contained in the particulars delivered as aforesaid :
Provided always, that the place or places at or in which, and in
what manner, the invention is alleged to have been used or published
prior to the date of the letters patent shall be stated in such particu-
lars ; provided also that it shall and may be lawful for any judge of
the Supreme Court to allow such plaintiff or defendant, respectively,
to amend the particulars delivered as aforesaid upon such terms as
to such judge shall seem fit ; provided also, that at the trial of any
proceeding to have letters patent declared void the defendant shall
be entitled to begin and to give evidence in support of such letters
patent, and in case evidence shall be adduced on the part of the
plaintiff impeaching the validity of such letters patent, th'e defend-
ant shall be entitled to the reply.
29. Supreme Court or chief justice may grant an interdict,
In any suit for the infringement of letters patent, it shall be lawful
BRITISH GUIANA. 71
for the Supreme Court or chief justice in non-session, on the appli-
cation of the plaintiff or defendant, respectively, to make such order
for an interdict, inspection, or account, and to give such directions
respecting such suit, interdict, inspection, and account, and the pro-
ceedings therein respectively, as to such court or chief justice may
seem fit. .-.
30. Particulars to be regarded in taxation. In taxing the
costs in any suit, after the taking effect of this ordinance, for
infringing letters patent, regard shall be had to the particulars
delivered in such suit, and the plaintiff and defendant, respectively,
shall not be allowed any costs in respect of any particular, unless
certified by the court or judge before whom the trial was had to
have been proved by such plaintiff or defendant, respectively, with-
out regard to the general costs of the cause : and it shall be lawful
for the court or judge before whom any such suit shall be tried to
certify on the record that the validity of the letters patent in the
claim and demand mentioned came in question, and the record with
such certificate being given in evidence in any suit or action for
infringing the said letters patent, or in any proceeding to have the
letters patent declared void, shall entitle the plaintiff in any such
suit or action, or the defendant in such proceeding, on obtaining a
final sentence, to his full costs, charges, and expenses, taxed as
between attorney and client, unless the court or judge trying such
action or proceeding shall certify that the plaintiff or defendant,
respectively, ought not to have such full costs.
31. Copies of Official Gazette, and certified copies of letters
patent, &c., to. be evidence. Copies of the Official Gazette contain-
ing all notices and other matters required by this ordinance to be
inserted therein, and copies certified and signed by the registrar of
all letters patent granted under this ordinance, and of all specifica-
tions, disclaimers, memoranda of alterations, and all other docu-
ments recorded, deposited-, or entered in his office under this ordi-
nance, shall be received in evidence in all proceedings relating to
letters patent for inventions in all courts whatsoever within this
colony without further proof or production of the originals.
32. 33. [Omitted because relating only to patents existing
when the law took effect.]
34. Solicitor- general to act in case of absence or inability of
attorney -general. In case of the absence or inability to act of the
attorney-general, the duties of his office may, for all the purposes
Y2 FOREIGN LAWS.
of this ordinance, be discharged, and the fees in respect thereof
received by the solicitor-general.
35. Fees and stamp duties on patent to be as in sc/iedule A.
There shall be paid in respect of letters patent applied for or issued
is herein mentioned, the filing of complete specifications and dis-
claimers, reports, certificates, entries, inspections, and searches, and
other matters and things mentioned in the schedule A to this
ordinance, such fees and stamp duties as are mentioned in the said
schedule and no other ; and all fees and stamp duties by such
schedule made payable at the office of the government secretary
shall accrue due, and be paid to Her Majesty for the use of the
colony and in support of the government thereof.
36. Nothing to affect prerogative of Crown. Nothing herein
contained shall extend to abridge or affect the prerogative of the
crown in relation to the granting or withholding the grant of any
letters patent whatever, or the terms, restrictions, conditions, or
provisos thereof.
37. Forms in schedule B may be used. The several forms in
the schedule B. to this ordinance annexed may be used for and in
respect of the several matters therein mentioned, and the Governor
may, with the approval of the Court of Policy, cause to be varied
such forms as occasion may require.
38. Interpretation clause. In the construction of this ordinance,
the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned
to them, unless such meanings be repugnant to or inconsistent with
the context (that is to say) :
The expression " United Kingdom " shall mean the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ;
The expression " invention " shall mean any manner of new
manufacture, the subject of letters patent, and grant of privilege
within the meaning of the Act of Parliament of the twenty-first
year of the reign of King James the First, chapter three :
The expressions " petition," " affidavit,' 5 " provisional specifica-
tion," " letters patent" and " complete specification " respectively
shall mean instruments in form and to the effect in the schedule
B hereto annexed, subject to such alterations as may from time to
time be made therein under the powers and provisions of this
ordinance.
39. Short title. In citing this ordinance in other ordinances,
instruments, and proceedings, it shall be sufficient to use the expres-
sion " The Patent Law Ordinance, 1861."
BRITISH GUIANA. 73
40. Commencement of ordinance. This ordinance shall come
into operation and take effect on the publication thereof.
And that no ignorance may be pretended of this our ordinance,
these presents shall be printed and published in the customary
manner.
SCHEDULE A.
Fees to be paid at the attorney-genera? & office.
On examining provisional specification, to be paid on filing petition $25
On reporting on application for letters patent after notice to proceed 25
On giving notice of disclaimer or alteration 25
On entering caveat 25
Stamp duties to be paid at the government secretary's office.
On notice to proceed 5
On the sealing of letters patent 20
On the letters patent or a duplicate thereof before the expiration of the sev-
enth year 100
On petition for confirmation or prolongation of patent 50
On the sealing of grant confirming or prolonging letters patent 100
Fees to be paid at the registrar's office.
On recording letters patent 5
On depositing complete specification, including copy 15
On entering disclaimer or alteration, including copy and notification in the
Official Gazette 10
Or. entering caveat, including copy and notification in the Official Gazatte .... 10
For copy of any of the before-mentioned documents, or of any provisional
specification deposited, per page 25
On inspecting register of patents, for each patent, and all documents con-
nected therewith 48
N. B. For copies of drawing attached to specifications, the registrar to be allowed
to charge extra, subject to the approval of the chief justice.
SCHEDULE B.
FORMS.
Petition.
To His Excellency [here insert the name of the Governor J Governor and Commander-
in-Chief, in and over the colony of British Guiana, Vice-Admiral and Ordinary of
the same, &c., &c., &c.
The humble petition of [name of the petitioner] respectfully showelh,
That your petitioner is in possession of an invention for [the title of the invention],
which invention he believes will be of great public utility ; that he is the true and
74 FOREIGN LAWS.
first inventor thereof ; and that the same is not in use by any other person or persona
in this colony, to the best of his knowledge find belief.
Your petitioner, therefore, humbly prays,
That your Excellency will be pleased to grant unto him, his heirs, executors,
administrators, and assigns, letters patent, in the name of Her Majesty, for the
sole use, benefit and advantage of his said invention, within the colony of British
Guiana, for the term of fourteen years, pursuant to the ordinance in that case
made and provided.
And your petitioner will ever pray, &c.
Affidavit.
I , of , having been duly sworn, make oath and say, that I am in pos-
session of an invention for [the title as in petition], which invention I believe will be
of great public utility ; that I am the true and first inventor thereof ; and that the
same is not in use by any other person or persons in this colony, to the best of my
knowledge and belief. A. B.
Sworn this day of , A. D. , before me,
A commissioner for administering
oaths to affidavits, &c.
Provisional Specification.
I do hereby declare the nature of the said invention [the title of the inven-
tion] to be as follows : [here insert description],
Dated this day of A. D.
(To be signed by petitioner or his agent.)
letters Patent.
By His Excellency [name of Governor], Governor and Commander-in-Chief
[L. s.j in and over the colony of British Guiana, Viee-Admiral and Ordinary of the
same, &c., &c., &c.
To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting :
Whereas hath, by his petition, humbly represented unto me that he
is in possession of an invention for
which the petitioner conceives will be of great public utility ; that he is the true and
first inventor thereof ; and that the same is not ia use by any other person or persons
in this colony, to the best of his knowledge and belief ; the petitioner therefore most
humbly prayed that I would be pleased to grant unto him, his heirs, executors,
administrators and assigns, letters patent in the name of Her Majesty, for the sole
use, benefit, and advantage of his said invention, within the colony of British Guiana,
for the term of fourteen years, pursuant to the ordinance in such case made and pro-
vided ; Know ye, therefore, that I, in the name and on the behalf of Her most Gra-
cious Majesty the Queen, and being thereto duly authorized by the ordinance in such
case made and provided, do by these presents, give and grant unto the said ,
his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, my special license, full power, sole
privilege and authority that he, the said , his heirs, executors, administrators,
and assigns, and every of them, by himself and themselves, or by his and their duputy
or deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as he, the said , his heirs,
BRITISH GUIANA. 75
executors, administrators, or assigns, shall at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time, and at all times hereafter during the term of years herein
expressed, shall and lawfully may make, use, exercise, and vend his said invention
within the colony of British Guiana, in such manner as to him the said , his
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, or any of them, shall in his or their dis-
cretion, seem meet ; and that he, the said , his heirs, executors, administrators,
and assigns, shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commo-
dity, and advantage from time to time coming, growing, accruing and arising, by rea-
son of the said invention for and during the term of years herein mentioned ; to have,
hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licenses, powers, privileges, and advantages herein-
before granted or mentioned to be granted, unto the said , his heirs, executors,
administrators, and assigns, for and during, and unto the full end and term of four-
teen years from the day of in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and next and immediately ensuing, according to the ordinance
in such case made and provided ; and to the end that he, the said , his heirs,
executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, may have and enjoy the
full benefit and the sole use and exercise of the said invention, I do, by these pres-
ents, require and strictly command all and every person and persons, bodies politic
and corporate, and all others, of what estate, quality, degree, name, or condition
soever they be, within this colony, that neither they, nor any of them, at any time
during the continuance of the said term of fourteen years hereby granted, either
directly or indirectly, do make, use, or put in practice the said invention, or any part
of the same, nor in any wise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor shall
make or cause to be made any addition thereunto, or subtraction from the same,
whereby to pretend himself or themselves the inventor or inventors, devisor or
devisors thereof, without the consent, license, or agreement of the said , his
heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, in writing under his or their hands first
had and obtained in that behalf, upon such pains and penalties as can or may be
justly inflicted on such offenders for their contempt, and further not be answerable to
the said , his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, according to law,
for his and their damages thereby occasioned : Provided always, and these letters pat-
ent are and shall be upon this condition, that if at any time during the said term
hereby granted, it shall be made to appear to the Honorable the Supreme Court of
Civil Justice of this colony, that this grant is contrary to law, or prejudicial or incon-
venient to Her Majesty's subjects in general, or that the said invention is not a new
invention as to the public use and^exercise thereof, or that the said is not the
true and first inventor thereof within this colony as aforesaid, these letters patent
shall forthwith cease, determine, and be utterly void to all intents and purposes, any-
thing herein contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding : Provided
also, that these letters patent, or anything hereinbefore contained, shall not extend or
be construed to extend to give privilege unto the said , his heirs, administrators
or assigns, or any of them, to use or imitate any invention or work whatsoever, which
hath heretofore been found out or invented by any other of Her Majesty's subjects
whatsoever, and publicly used or exercised in this colony, unto whom like letters pat-
ent or privileges have been already granted in this colony for the sole use, exercise,
and benefit thereof, it being my will and pleasure that the said , his heirs, exec-
utors, administrators and assigns, and all and every other person and persons to whom
like letters patent or privileges have been already granted as aforesaid, shall distinctly
76 FOREIGN LAWS.
use and practice their several inventions by them invented and found out, according
to the true intent and meaning of the same respective letters patent, and of these
presents : Provided likewise nevertheless, and these letters patent are upon this
express condition, that if the said shall not record these letters patent in the
registrar's office for the counties of Demerara and Essequebo within ten days from
the date of these presents, and also if the said shall not particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of his said invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under his hand, and cause the same to be
deposited in the office of the said registrar within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of these letters patent, and also if the said instrument in writ-
ing, deposited as aforesaid, does not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and also if tbe
said , his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, shall not supply or cause
to be supplied for Her Majesty's service in this colony, all such articles of the said
invention as he or they shall be required to supply by the officers administering the
department of Her Majesty's service in this colony, for the use of which the same
ehall be required, in such manner, at such times, and at and upon such reasonable
prices and terms as shall be settled for that purpose by the Governor of this colony,
and also if the said , his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, shall not
pay or cause to be paid at the office of the government secretary, the sum of one
hundred dollars stamp duty, on or before the day of , A. D., that
then and in any of the said cases, these letters patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever hereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine and become void, anything
hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding : provided
that nothing herein contained shall prevent the granting of licenses in such manner
and for such considerations as they may by law be granted : And lastly, I do by these
presents, in the name and on the behalf of Her Majesty, grant unto the said ,
his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, that these letters patent, or the filing
thereof, shall be in and by all things good, firm, valid, sufficient, and effectual in the
law, according to the true intent and meaning thereof, and shall be taken, construed,
nnd adjudged in the most favorable and beneficial sense for the best advantage of
the said , his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, in all courts of
record as well as elsewhere in this colony, and by all and singular the officers and
ministers whatsoever of Her Majesty, and amongst all and every the subjects of Her
Majesty in this colony, notwithstanding the not full and certain describing the nature
or quality of the said invention, or of the materials thereunto conducing and
belonging.
In witness whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent this
day of A. D. and to be sealed and bear date as of the said
day of - A. D., in the year of Her Majesty's reign.
Specification.
To all to whom these presents shall come, I , of , send
greeting.
Whereas His Excellency [ Governor's name], Governor and Commander-in-Chicf in
and over the colony of British Guiana, &c., &c., &c., by letters patent, bearing date
the day of , in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
BRITISH GUIANA. ftr
, in the year of Her Majesty's reign, did, in the name of Her Majesty, pur-
suant to the ordinance in such case made and provided, give and grant unto me, the
said , his special license, that I, the said , my heirs, executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said , my heirs, executors, administrators
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at
all times thereafter, during the term therein expressed, should, and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend within the colony of British Guiana, an invention for
[insert title as in letters patent] upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
, by an instrument in writing under my hand, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be deposited in the registrar's office for the counties
of Demerara and Essequebo, within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said letters patent : Now know ye, that I, the said , do hereby
declare the nature of my said invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment ; (that is to say) [describe the invention].
In witness whereof I, the said , have hereto set my hand, this day
of A. D. , in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 55.
78 FOREIGN LAWS.
BRITISH HONDURAS.
An Act for amending the Law for granting Patents for
Inventions. September 10, 1862 ; 26 Victoria, Ses-
sio l a , cap. 11.
WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the iaw concerning Letters
Patent for inventions : Be it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor,
by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly, as
follows :
I. Commissioners of patents. The Lieutenant Governor and the
members of the Executive Council for the time being respectively,
together with such other person or persons as may be from time to
time appointed by the Lieutenant Governor as hereinafter mentioned,
shall be commissioners of patents for inventions ; and it shall be
lawful for the Lieutenant Governor from time to time, by warrant
under his hand and seal, to appoint such other person or persons as
he may think fit to be a commissioner or comissioners as aforesaid ;
and every person so appointed shall be a commissioner during Her
Majesty's pleasure ; and all the powers hereby vested in the com-
missioners may be exercised by any three or more of them, two
members of the Executive Council being two of them.
II. Authentication of documents and copies. Three or more of
such commissioners, of whom two shall be members of the Executive
Council, shall subscribe their names to all warrants for letters pat-
ent under this Act, and all instruments proceeding from the office
of the commissioners ; and all copies or extracts from documents
deposited in the commissioners' office shall be certified by the clerk
of the commissioners, and all courts, judges, and other persons in
this colony shall take notice of and receive the signatures of such
commissioners in evidence, and shall also take notice of and receive
in evidence, without further proof or production of the originals, all
copies or extracts, certified under the hand of the said commission-
ers' clerk, of or from documents deposited in such office.
III. Power of commissioners to make rules and regulations. It
shall be lawful for the commissioners from time to time to make
such rules and regulations (not inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act), respecting the business of their office, and all matters and
things which under the provisions herein contained are to be under
BRITISH HONDURAS. 79
their control and direction, as may appear to them necessary and
expedient for the purposes of this Act ; and all such rules shall be
laid before the Legislative Assembly within fourteen days after the
making thereof, if the General Assembly be sitting in annual session,
and if it be not sitting in annual session, then within fourteen days
after the next meeting of the General Assembly in annual session ;
and in the meantime, and until the commissioners shall make such
rules and regulations, those contained in the schedule annexed to
this Act shall be observed.
IV. Colonial secretary's office to be the office of the commission-
ers, and he their clerk. The office the colonial secretary shall be the
office of the commissioners for the filing of specifications, and the
office of the colonial secretary and the office of clerk of the com-
missioners shall be combined ; and the colonial secretary for the
time being shall be the clerk of the commissioners for the purposes
of this Act.
V. Petition and declaration, specification. Every petition for
the grant of letters patent for an invention, and the declaration
required to accompany such petition, shall be left at the office of
the colonial secretary, and there shall be left therewith a statement
in writing, hereinafter called the provisional specification, signed
by or on behalf of the applicant for letters patent, describing the
nature of such invention ; and the day of the delivery of every such
petition, declaration, and provisional specification, shall be recorded
at the said office, and indorsed on such petition, declaration, and
provisional specification, and a certificate thereof given to such
applicant or his agent ; and all such petitions, declarations, and
provisional specifications shall be preserved in such manner as the
commissioners may direct, and a registry thereof, and of all pro-
ceedings thereon, kept at the office of the colonial secretary.
VI. Applications to be referred to attorney-general. Every
application for letters patent made under this Act shall be referred
by the commissioners, according to such regulations as they may
think fit to make, to Her Majesty's attorney-general for this colony.
VII. Provisional specifications to bercf erred to attorney-general,
who may give certificate. The provisional specification shall be
referred to the attorney-general, who shall be at liberty to call to his
aid such scientific or other person as he may think fit, and cause to
bo paid to such person by the applicant such remuneration as the
attorney-general shall appoint ; and if the attorney-general be
satisfied that the provisional specification describes the nature of
*0 FOREIGN LAWS.
the invention, he shall allow the same, and give a certificate of his
allowance, and such certificate shall be filed in the office of the
colonial secretary, and thereupon the invention therein referred to
may, during the term of six months from the date of the application
for letters patent for the said invention, be used and published
without prejudice to any letters patent to be granted for the same,
and such protection from the consequences of use and publication is
hereinafter referred to as a provisional protection : Provided
always, that in case the title of the invention or the provisional
specification be too large or insufficient, it shall be lawful for the
attorney-general to allow or require the same to be amended.
VIII. Inventor may deposit a complete specification to confer
rights. The applicant for letters patent for an invention, instead
of leaving with the petition and declaration a provisional specifica-
tion as aforesaid, may, if he thinks fit, file with the said petition
and declaration an instrument in writing under his hand and seal
(hereinafter called a complete specification), particularly describing
and ascertaining the nature of the said invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, which complete specification
shall be mentioned in such declaration, and the day of the delivery
of every such petition, declaration, and complete specification, shall
be recorded at the office of the colonial secretary, and indorsed on
such petition, declaration, and specification, and a certificate thereof
given to such applicant or his agent, and thereupon, subject and
without prejudice to the provisions hereinafter contained, the inven-
tion shall be protected under this Act for the term of six months
from the date of the application, and the applicant shall have dur-
ing such term of six months the like powers, rights, and privileges
as might have been conferred upon him by letters patent for such
invention, issued under this Act and duly sealed as of the day of
the date of such application ; and during the continuance of such
powers, rights, and privileges under this provision, such invention
may be used and published without prejudice to any letters patent
to be granted for the same ; and where letters patent are granted
in respect of such invention, then in lieu of a condition for making
void such letters patent in case such invention be not described and
ascertained by a subsequent specification, such letters patent shall
be conditioned to become void if such complete specification, filed as
aforesaid, does not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed ;
and a copy of every such complete specification shall be open to the
BRITISH HONDURAS. 61
inspection of the public, as hereinafter provided, from the time of
depositing the same, subject to such regulations as the commission-
ers may make.
IX. Patent not to be invalidated by protection in fraud. In
case of any application for letters patent for any invention, and the
obtaining upon such application of provisional protection for such
invention, or of protection for the same by reason of the deposit of
a complete specification as aforesaid, in fraud of the true and first
inventor, any letters patent granted to the true and first inventor
of such invention shall not be invalidated by reason of such applica-
tion, or of such provisional or other protection as aforesaid, or of
any use or publication of the invention subsequent to such applica-
tion, and before the expiration of the term of such provisional or
other protection.
X. Commissioners to cause protections to be advertised. Whre
any invention is provisionally protected under this Act, or protected
by reason of the deposit of such complete specification as aforesaid,
the commissioners shall cause such provisional protection or such
other protection as aforesaid to be advertised in such manner as
they may see fit.
XI. Application to be advertised, particulars of opposition.
The applicant for letters patent, so soon as he may think fit after
the invention shall have been provisionally protected under this
Act, or where a complete specification has been deposited with his
petition and declaration, then so soon as he may think fit after such
deposit, may give notice at the office of the colonial secretary of
his intention of proceeding with his application for lettess patent
for the said invention, and thereupon the said commissioners shall
cause his said application to be advertised in such manner as they
may see fit ; and any persons having an interest in opposing the
grant of letters patent for the said invention shall be at liberty to
leave particulars in writing of their objections to the said applica-
tion at such place, and within such time, and subject to such regu-
lations as the commissioners may direct.
XII. Specification and objections to be referred to attorney-
general. So soon as the time for the delivery of such objections
shall have expired, the provisional specification, or the complete
specification (as the case may be) and particulars of objection (if
any) shall be referred to the attorney-general.
XIII. Power of attorney-general to order costs. It shall be law-
ful for the attorney-general, if he see fit, by certificate under his
I.-6
82 FOREIGN LAWS.
hand, to order by or to whom the costs of any hearing or inquiry
upon any objection, or otherwise in relation to the grant of such
letters patent, or in relation to the provisional (or other) protection
acquired by the applicant under this Act shall be paid, and in what
manner and by whom such costs are to be ascertained ; and if any
costs so ordered to be paid be not paid within fourteen days after
the amount shall be so ascertained, it shall be lawful for the attor-
ney-general to make an order for the payment of the same, and any
such order may be made a r|Ule of the Supreme Court to the effect
that execution may pass thereupon in common form.
XIV. Power of attorney-general to warrant sealing patent.
Lieutenant governor to have discretion granting. Scire facias. It
shall be lawful for the attorney-general, after such hearing (if any)
as he may think fit, to cause a warrant to be made for the sealing
of letters patent for the said invention, and such warrant shall be
signed by three of the said commissioners, of whom two shall be
members of the Executive Council, and shall set forth the tenor
and effect of the letters patent thereby recommended to be granted,
and shall direct the insertion in such letters patent of all restrictions,
conditions, and provisos as he may deem usual and expedient in
such grants, or necessary in pursuance of the provisions of this Act ;
and the said warrant shall be the warrant for the making and seal-
ing of letters patent under this Act, granting to the applicant, his
executors, administrators, and assigns, for a term not exceeding
fourteen years, the sole right and liberty of making, using, exer-
cising, and vending the said invention according to the tenor of
the said*warrant : Provided always, that the Lieutenant Governor
shall and may have and exercise a discretion in respect of the said
warrant, and any letters patent thereby proposed to be made under
this Act ; and the writ of scire facias shall lie for the repeal of
any letters patent issued under this Act in the like cases as the
same would lie in England for the repeal of letters patent issued
under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland.
XV. Patent to be avoidable on non-payment of certain suras.
All letters patent for inventions granted under the provisions here
inbefore contained, shall be made subject to the condition that the
same shall be void, and that the powers and privileges thereby
granted shall cease and determine at the expiration of three years
and seven years respectively from the date thereof, unless there be
paid before the expiration of the said three and seven years respec-
BRITISH HONDURAS. 83
tively the sum or sums of money in the schedule to this Act
annexed ; and the payment of the said sums of money shall be
indorsed on the warrant for the said letters patent, and the colonial
secretary shall issue under his hand a certificate of such payment,
and shall indorse a receipt for the same on any letters patent issued
on such warrant, and such certificate of payment shall be evidence
of the payment of the several sums respectively.
XVI. Patent under public seal to be valid in the colony. The
commissioners, so soon after the signing of the said warrant as
required by the applicant for the letters patent, shall cause to be
prepared letters patent for the invention according to the tenor of
the said warrant, and it shall be lawful for the lieutenant governor
to cause such letters patent to be sealed with the public seal of the
colony, and such letters patent so sealed shall extend to the whole
of the Colony of British Honduras.
XVII. JVo patent to be issued after three months from date of
warrant. Provided always, that no letters patent, save as herein-
after mentioned in the case of letters patent destroyed or lost, shall
issue on any warrant granted as aforesaid, unless application be
made for the issue of such letters patent within three months after
the date of the said warrant.
XVIII. No patent to be issued after expiration of protection
given by this Act. Provided also, that no letters patent (save let-
ters patent issued in lieu of others destroyed or lost) shall be issued
or be of any force or effect unless the same be granted during the
continuance of the provisional protection under this Act, or where
a complete specification has been deposited under this Act, then
unless such letters patent be granted during the continuance of the
protection conferred under this Act by reason of such deposit, save
that where the application to seal such letters patent has been made
during the continuance of such provisional or other protection as
aforesaid, and the sealing of such letters patent has been delayed by
reason of any caveat or on application to the lieutenant governor
against or in relation to the sealing of such letters patent, then such
letters patent may be sealed at such time as the lieutenant governor
shall direct.
XIX. Patent may be granted to personal representative. Pro-
vided also, that where the applicant for such letters patent dies dur-
ing the continuance of the provisional protection, or the protection
by reason of the deposit of a complete specification (as the case may
be), such letters patent may be granted to the executors or admin-
84 FOREIGN LAWS.
istrators of such applicant during the continuance of such provisional
or other protection, or at any time within three months after the
death of such applicant, notwithstanding the expiration of the term
of such provisional or other protection, and the letters patent so
granted shall be of the like force and effect as if they had been
granted to such applicant during the continuance of such provisiona
or other protection.
XX. If patent destroyed or lost, other may be issued. Pro-
vided also, that in case any such letters patent shall be destroyed or
lost, other letters patent of the like tenor and effect, and sealed and
dated as of the same day, may, subject to such regulations as the
commissioners may direct, be issued under the authority of the war-
rant in pursuance of which the original letters patent were issued.
XXT. Patent may be dated as of the day of application. It
shall be lawful to cause any letters patent to be issued in pursuance
of this Act to be sealed and bear date as of the the day of the appli-
cation for the same.
XXII. Patent ante-dated. Any letters patent issued under this
Act, sealed and bearing date as of any day prior to the day of the
actual sealing thereof, shall be of the same force and validity as if
they had been sealed on the day as of which the same are expressed
to be sealed and bear date: Provided always that, save where such
lotters patent are granted for any invention in respect whereof a
complete specification has been deposited upon the application for
the same under this Act, no proceeding at law or in equity shall be
had upon such letters patent in respect of any infringement com-
mitted before the same were actually granted.
XXIII. Patent for patented foreign inventions. Where upon
any application made after the passing of this act, letters patent
are granted in this colony for or in respect of any invention first
invented in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or
in any foreign country, or in any other British colony, or by the
subject of any foreign power or state, and a patent or like priv-
ilege for the monopoly or exclusive use or exercise of such invention
in the United Kingdom of Great Britian and Ireland, or in any for-
eign country, or in any other British colony is there obtained, before
the grant of such letters patent in this colony, all rights and privi-
leges under such letters patent shall (notwithstanding any term in
such letters patent limited) cease and be void immediately upon the
expiration or other determination of the term during which the pat-
ent or like privilege obtained in the United Kingdom, such foreign
BRITISH HONDURAS. 85
country, or other British colony (as the case may be) shall continue
in force, or where more than one such patent or like privilege is
obtained abroad, immediately upon the expiration or determination
of the term which shall first expire or be determined of such several
patents or like privileges : Provided always, that no letters patent
for or in respect of any invention for which any such patent or like
privilege as aforesaid shall have been obtained in the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in any foreign country, or in any
other British colony, and which shall be granted in this colony after
the expiration of the term for which such patent or privilege was
granted or was in force, shall be of any validity.
XXIV. Patent not to prevent use of inventions on board ships.
No letters patent for any invention shall extend to prevent the use
of such invention in any ship or vessel not registered in British
Honduras, or for the navigation of any ship or vessel not registered
in British Honduras which may be in any port of this colony, or any
of the waters within the jurisdiction of the courts of this colony,
where such invention is not so used for the manufacture of any goods
or commodities to be vended within or exported from the colony:
Provided always, that this enactment shall not extend to the ships
or vessels of any foreign state of which the laws authorize the sub-
jects of such foreign state, having patents or like privileges for the
exclusive use or exercise of inventions within its territories, to pre-
vent or interfere with the use of such inventions in British ships or
vessels while in the ports of such foreign state, or in the waters
within the jurisdiction of its courts, where such inventions are not
BO used for the manufacture of goods and commodities to be vended
within or exported from the territories of such foreign state.
XXV. Specifications to be filed Enrollment not necessary. All
letters patent to be granted under this Act (save only letters pat-
ent granted after the filing of a complete specification) shall require
the specification thereunder to be filed in the colonial secretary's
office, instead of requiring the same to be enrolled, and no enroll-
ment shall be requisite.
XXVI. Specification to be preserved in Secretary's office.
Every specification to be filed in pursuance of the condition of any
tetters patent shall be filed in the colonial secretary's office, and
every provisional specification and complete specification left at the
office of the colonial secretary, on the application for any letters
patent, shall forthwith after the grant of the letters patent, or if no
letters patent be granted, then immediately after the expiration of
86 FOREIGN LAWS.
six months from the time of such application, be filed and preserved
in the said office ; and in case reference is made to drawings in any
specification deposited or filed under this Act, an extra copy of such
drawings shall be left with such specification.
XXVII. Copies of specifications to be open to inspection. The
commissioners shall cause true copies of all specifications (other
than provisional specifications), disclaimers, and memoranda of
alterations filed under or in pursuance of this Act, and of all pro-
visional specifications after the term of the provisional protection
of the invention has expired, to be open to the inspection of the
public at the office of the colonial secretary at all reasonable times,
subject to such regulations as the commissioners may direct.
XXVIII. Register of patents to be kepi. There shall be kept at
the colonial secretary's office a book or books to be called the Reg-
ister of Patents, wherein shall be entered and recorded, in chrono-
logical order, all letters patent granted under this Act, the deposit or
filing of specifications, disclaimers, and memoranda of alterations
filed in respect of such letters patent, all amendments in such letters
patent and specifications, all confirmations and extensions of such
letters patent, the expiry, vacating, or canceling of such letters
patent, with the dates thereof respectively, and all other matters
and things affecting the validity of such letters patent as the com-
missioners may direct ; and such register, or a copy thereof, shall
be open at all convenient times to the inspection of the public, sub-
ject to such regulations a* the commissioners may make.
XXIX. Register of proprietors to be kept. There shall be kept
at the colonial secretary's office a book or books entitled the Reg-
ister of Proprietors, wherein shall be entered, in such manner as the
commissioner shall direct, the assignment of any letters patent, or
of any share or interest therein, and any license under letters patent,
with the name or names of any person or persons having any share
or interest in such letters patent or license, the date of his or their
acquiring such letters patent, share and interest, and any other mat-
ter or thing relating to or affecting the proprietorship in such letters
patent or license; and a copy of any entry in such book, certified
under the hand of the colonial secretary, shall be given to any person
requiring the same, on payment of the fees hereinafter provided ;
and such copies, so certified, shall be received in evidence in all
courts and in all proceedings, and shall \>z primd facie proof of the
assignment of such letters patent, or share and interest therein, or of
the license or proprietorship as therein expressed : Provided
BRITISH HONDURAS. 87
always, that until such entry shall have been made, the grantee or
grantees of the letters patent shall be deemed and taken to be the
eole and exclusive proprietor or proprietors of such letters pat-
ent of all the licenses and privileges thereby given and granted ;
and any writ of scire facias to repeal such letters patent may
be issued to the provost marshal in case of the grantee or
grantees residing in this colony, and in case such grantee or
grantees do not reside in the colony, it shall be sufficient to file such
writ in the clerk of the court's office, and serve notice in writing
thereof at the last known residence or place of business of such
grantee or grantees ; and such register, or a copy, shall be open to
the inspection of the public at the colonial secretary's office, subject
to such regulations as the commissioners may make.
XXX. Falsification or forgery of entries in Registers. If any
person shall willfully make or cause to be made any false entry in the
said register of proprietors, or shall willfully make or forge, or cause
to be made or forged, any writing falsely purporting to be a copy
of any entry in the said book, or shall produce or tender, or cause
to be produced or tendered, in evidence any such writing knowing
the same to be false or forged, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
and shall be punished by fine and imprisonment accordingly.
XXXI. Entries may be expunged or varied. If any person
shall deem himself aggrieved by any entry made under color of this
Act in the said register of proprietors, it shall be lawful for such
person to apply by motion to the Supreme Court, or by a summons
to the chief justice in chambers, for an order that such entry may
be expunged, vacated, or varied; and upon any such application the
said court or chief justice respectively may make such order for
expunging, vacating, or varying such entry and as to the costs of
euch application, as to the said court or chief justice may seem fitj
and the colonial secretary, on the production to him of any such
order for expunging, vacating, or varying any such entry, shall
expunge, vacate, or vary the same according to the requisitions of
such order.
XXXII. Disclaimers, and memoranda of alterations. Anyper-
Bon who, as grantee, assignee, or otherwise, shall obtain letters pat-
ent for the sole making, exercising, vending, or using of any
invention, and in case the original patentee or patentees hath or
have departed with his or their whole or any part of his or their
interest by assignment to any other person or persons, such patentee,
together with such assignee or assignees, if part only hath been
88 FOREIGN LAWS.
assigned, and the assignee or assignees, if the whole hath been
assigned, may, if he or they think fit, lodge with the colonial secre-
tary an application for leave to enter a disclaimer of any part of
either the title of the invention or of the specification, stating the
reason of such disclaimer, or to enter a memorandum of any altera-
tion in the said title or specification, not being such disclaimer or
such alteration as shall extend the exclusive right granted by the
said letters patent ; and all such applications shall be referred by
the commissioners to the attorney- general ; and every such dis-
claimer or memorandum of alteration, when approved by the attor-
ney-general, certified by his fiat and signature, and being filed in
the colonial secretary's office with the specification to which the
same relates, shall be deemed and taken to be part of such letters
patent or such specification in all courts whatever : Provided
always, that any person may lodge with the said colonial secretary
a caveat against such disclaimer or alteration, and every such caveat
shall be referred by the commissioners to the attorney-general ; and
such caveat, being so entered, shall give the party entering the same
a right to have notice of the application being heard by the
attorney-general : Provided also, that no such disclaimer or altera-
tion shall be receivable in evidence in any action or suit (save and
except by any proceeding by scire facias) pending at the time when
such disclaimer or alteration was filed ; but in every such action or
suit the original title and specification alone shall be given in evi-
dence and deemed and taken to be the title and specification of the
invention- for which the letters patent shall have been granted :
Provided also, that it shall be lawful for the attorney-general, before
granting such fiat, to require the party applying for the same to
advertise his disclaimer or alteration, in such manner as to the attor-
ney-general shall seem right, and shall, if he so require such adver-
tisement, certify in his fiat that the same has been duly made :
Provided also, that such filing of any disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration in pursuance of the leave of the attorney-general, certi-
fied as aforesaid, shall, except in cases of fraud, be conclusive of
the right of the party to enter such disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration ; and no objection shall be allowed to be made in any
proceeding upon or touching such letters patent, specification, dis-
claimer, or memorandum of alteration, on the ground that the party
entering such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration had not suf-
ficient authority in that behalf : Provided also, that no action shall
be brought upon any letters patent in which, or in the specification
BRITISH HONDURAS. 89
of which, any disclaimer or memorandum of alteration shall have
been filed, in respect of any infringement committed prior to the
filing of such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, unless the
attorney -general shall certify in his fiat that any such action maybe
brought notwithstanding the entry or filing of such disclaimer or
memorandum of alteration.
XXXIII. Prolongation of term of patent. If the grantee of
any letters patent as aforesaid shall advertise, in such manner as the
commissioners may direct, that he intends to apply to the commis-
sioners for a prolongation of his term x>f sole using and vending his
invention, and shall enter with the colonial secretary a petition
addressed to the lieutenant governor to that effect, it shall be lawful
for any person to enter a caveat against the same with the colonial
secretary ; and, notice being first given, to any person or persons
who shall have entered such caveats, the petitioner shall be heard in
person, or by his counsel or agent and witnesses, to prove his case,
and the persons entering caveats shall likewise be heard in person,
or by their counsel or agents and witnesses, whereupon, and upon
hearing and inquiring of the whole matter, the commissioners are
hereby authorized and empowered, if they shall think fit, to author-
ize to issue their warrant for the grant of new letters patent for
the said invention for a term not exceeding seven years or any
shorter period than that prayed, after the expiration of the first
term : Provided always, that no such extension shall be granted if
a petition for the same shall not have been presented before the
expiration of the term sought to be extended.
XXXIV. Commissioners may warrant extensions. If in any
petition for the extension of the term for which the letters patent as
aforesaid have been granted, presented before the expiration 'thereof,
it be set forth that the grantee thereof has been unable to obtain a
due remuneration for his expense and labor in perfecting such inven-
tion, and that an exclusive right of using and vending the same for
the further period of seven years in addition to the term in such
patent mentioned will not suffice for his reimbursement and remun-
eration, then- upon consideration of the same in manner aforesaid the
commissioners may, if they think fit, grant their warrant for the
extension thereof for a term not exceeding fourteen years, or any
shorter period than that prayed, after the expiration of such first
term.
XXXV. Grant of new letters patent, extending period. It shall
be lawful to grant any such extension either to an assignee or
90 FOREIGN LAWS.
assignees, or to the original patentee or patentees or to an assignee
or assignees and original patentee or patentees conjointly.
XXXVI. Warrant and sealing such letters patent. In the grant-
ing of any new letters patent, extending the term for which the
original letters patent were granted, the warrant of the commis-
sioners shall be a sufficient authority for the sealing of any new
letters patent, and for the insertion in such new letters patent of any
restrictions, conditions, and provisions in the said warrant mentioned ;
and the lieutenant governor shall thereupon cause letters patent,
according to the tenor and effect of such warrant, to be made and
sealed in the manner herein directed for letters patent issued under
the certificate of the attorney-general and the commissioners' war-
rant thereupon : Provided always, that such new letters patent
shall be sealed and bear date as of the day after the expiration of
the term of the original letters patent, which may first expire.
XXXVII. In action for infringement, particulars to be delivered.
In any action in the Supreme Court for the infringement of letters
patent the plaintiff shall, two weeks at least previously to the enter-
ing of his complaint, deliver or cause to be delivered to the person
against whom such action is intended to be brought, particulars of
the breaches intended to be complained of in such action, and the
defendant, on pleading or filing any notice of defense thereto, shall
deliver with his pleas or notice, and the prosecutor in any proceed-
ings by scire facias to repeal letters patent shall deliver with his
declaration, particulars of any objections on which he means to rely
at the trial in support of the pleas in said action, or of the sugges-
tions of the said declaration in the proceedings by scire facias
respectively ; and at the trial of such action or proceeding by scire
facias no evidence shall be allowed to be given in support of any
alleged infringement, or of any objection impeaching the validity
of such letters patent, which shall not be contained in the particulars
delivered as aforesaid : Provided always, that the place or places
at or in which and in what manner the invention is alleged to have
been used or published prior to the date of the letters patent shall
be stated in such particulars : Provided also, that it shall and may
be lawful for the chief justice at chambers to allow such plaintiff
or defendant or prosecutor respectively to amend the particulars
delivered as aforesaid, upon such terms as to such judge as shall
seem fit : Provided also, that at the trial of any proceeding by scire
facias to repeal letters patent the defendant shall be entitled to
begin and to give evidence in support of such letters patent, and iii
BRITISH HONDURAS. 91
case evidence shall be adduced on the part of the prosecutor
impeaching the validity of such letters patent, the defendant shall
be entitled to the reply.
XXXVIII. Supreme Court may grant injunctions. In any
action in the supreme court for the infringement of letters patent,
it shall be lawful for the court if then sitting, or if the court be not
sitting then for the chief justice, on the application of the plaintiff
or defendant respectively, to make such order for an injunction and
inspection or account, and to give such directions respecting such
injunction, inspection, and account, and the proceedings therein,
respectively, as to such court, or chief justice may seem fit.
XXXIX. Particulars to be regarded in taxation of costs. In tax-
ing the costs in any action in the Supreme Court regard shall be
tad to the particulars delivered in such action, and the plaintiff and
defendant respectively shall not be allowed any costs in respect of any
particular unless certified by the chief justice to have been proved by
such plaintiff or defendant respectively, without regard to the gen-
eral costs of the cause ; and it shall be lawful for the chief justice
to certify on the record that the validity of the letters patent in the
declaration mentioned came in question ; and the record with such
certificate being given in evidence in any suit or action for infring-
ing the said letters patent, or in any proceeding by scire facias to
repeal the letters patent, shall entitle the plaintiff in any such suit
or action, or the defendant in such proceeding by scire facias, on
obtaining a decree, decretal order, or final judgment, to his full
costs, charges, and expenses, taxed as between attorney and client,
unless the chief justice shall certify that the plaintiff or defendant
respectively ought not to have such full costs.
XL. Fees and payments in letters patent to be as in schedule.
There shall be paid in respect of letters patent applied for or issued
as herein mentioned, the filing of specifications and disclaimers, cer-
tificates, entries, and searches, and other matters and things men-
tioned in the schedule to this Act, such fees as are mentioned
in the said schedule ; and there shall be made unto and for
flie use of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, to be applied to
the purposes of the government of this colony, for or in respect of
the warrants and certificates mentioned in the said schedule, or the
paper on which the same respectively are written, the payments
mentioned in the said schedule ; and no other fees shall be levied,
or payments, except as hereinafter mentioned, taken in respect to
92 FOREIGN LAWS.
such letters patent and specifications, and the matters and things in
such schedule mentioned.
XLI. Payment of fees to attorney-general and colonial secretary.
Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall prevent the
payment to the attorney-general on the investigation of each appli-
cation, caveat, disclaimer, and memorandum of alterations, includ-
ing certificate or report, or certificate and report, and in cases of
opposition to the granting of letters patent, and to the colonial
secretary for office or other copies of documents in his office, and in
respect of the additional duties imposed on him by this Act, of the
fees fixed in the schedule hereunto annexed.
XLII. Defrayment of expenses incurred under Act. It shall be
lawful for the Lieutenant Governor and Council to allow from time
to time the necessary sums for the defraying the current and inci-
dental expenses by virtue of this Act, and the sums to be so allowed
shall be paid out of such moneys as may be provided by the Gen-
eral Assembly for that purpose, or if no moneys be specially pro-
vided for them, from any unappropriated moneys in the public
treasury.
XLIII. Forms in schedule may be used. The several forms in
the schedule to this Act may be used for and in respect of the sev-
eral matters therein mentioned, and the commissioners may, when
they think fit, vary such forms where occasion may require, and
cause to be printed and circulated such other forms as they may
think fit to be used for the purposes of this Act.
XLIV. Patent granted out of colony. No letters patent here-
after to be obtained in Great Britain or elsewhere, for the exclusive
privilege of any trade or manufacture, or any invention in connec-
tion therewith, shall be of any validity or effect in this colony,
unless letters patent for the privilege of invention in respect of
which such foreign letters patent may have been obtained, shall be
granted, and issued in pursuance of this Act, nor until all the pro-
visions and requirements of this Act shall have been complied with
in respect to letters patent.
XLV. Interpretation of terms. In the construction of this Act
the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned
to them, unless such meanings be repugnant to or inconsistent with
the context :
The expression the " commissioners " shall mean the commis-
sioners for the time being acting in the execution of this Act :
The expression "chief justice" shall include any person
BRITISH HONDURAS. 93
appointed to act as chief justice during a vacancy in the office,
and any senior or other puisne judge of the Supreme Court acting
in the place of the chief justice during his absence or incapacity,
and also any person appointed acting chief justice during such
absence or incapacity :
The expression " colonial secretary " shall include any person
who shall be appointed to act as colonial secretary during any
vacancy in the office, and any person appointed to act or acting for
such officer during the absence on leave or incapacity of the colonial
secretary :
The expression " the attorney-general " shall include any person
who shall be appointed to act as attorney-general during any
vacancy in the office of attorney-general, and any person appointed
to act for the attorney-general during his absence or incapacity :
The expression " invention " shall mean any manner of new
manufacture, the subject of letters patent and grant of privilege
within the meaning of the Act of the Imperial Parliament passed in
the twenty-first year of the reign of King James the First, chapter
three, entitled An act concerning monopolies, and dispensations
with penal laws and the forfeitures thereof :
The expressions "petition," " declaration," " provisional speci-
fication," " warrant," and " letters patent " respectively shall mean
instruments in the form and to the effect in the schedule hereto
annexed, subject to such alterations as may from time to time be
made therein under the powers and provisions of this Act.
XLVI. Short title. In citing this Act in other Acts of the Leg-
islature, instruments, and proceedings, it shall be sufficient to use
the expression "The Patent Law Amendment Act, 1862."
XLVII. Operation suspended until confirmation of Act, &c.
This Act shall not come into operation until Her Majesty's gracious
allowance and confirmation thereof shall have been communicated
to the Legislative Assembly, or made public by proclamation by
His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor.
to* FOREIGN LAWS.
The SCHEDULE to which this Act refers.
FEES to be paid.
1. To Colonial Secretary.
| HI?.
On leaving petition for grant of letters patent ... . . 4
On notice of intention to proceed with application 2
On sealing of letters patent or duplicate 6
On filing specification 4
On certificate of payment at or before the expiration of the third year 2
On certificate of payment at or before the expiration of the seventh year 3
On leaving notice of objections 2
Every search or inspection, per hour or less 2
Entry of assignment or license ^ 1
Certificate of assignment or license < 1
Filing application for disclaimer 4
Caveat against disclaimer 4
Copies of documents, per folio of 90 words 2
On each certificate on copy 3
For preparing each advertisement 1
2. To the Attorney- General.
P.y the person opposing a grant of letters patent, including summons 16
By the petitioner on hearing the case of opposition, including summons 16
By the petitioner for the hearing previous to the fiat of the Attorney-General
allowing a disclaimer or memorandum of alteration in letters patent and
specification 14
By the person opposing the allowance of such disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration, on the hearing of the case of opposition 14
By the petitioner for the fiat of the Attorney-General allowing a disclaimer or
memorandum of alteration on letters patent and specification 16
On investigation of each application, and certificate and report thereon 10
PAYMENTS to be made to the Colonial Secretary and accounted for to the Public
Treasurer.
On sealing letters patent 25
On every assignment or license.. . . f 5
At or before the expiration of the third year 80
At or before the expiration of the seventh year 100
On duplicate of letters patent lost or destroyed 5
FORMS.
No. P' tition.
To His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of- British Honduras,
The humble petition of [here insert tJie name and address of the petitioner]
Showeth,
That your petitioner is in possession of an invention for
[the title of the invention]
BRITISH HONDURAS. 95
(
which invention he believes will be of great public utility ; that he is the true and first
inventor thereof ; and that the same is not in use by any other person or persons, to
the best of his knowledge and belief.
Your petitioner therefor* humbly prays that your Excellency will be pleased to
grant unto him, his executors, administrators, and assigns, letters patent for the
colony of British Honduras, for the term of fourteen years, pursuant to the statutes
in that case made and provided.
And your petitioner will ever pray.
No. Declaration.
I , of , in the colony of British Honduras , do solemnly and
eincerely declare that I am in possession of an invention for, &c.
[the title as in petition]
which invention I believe will be of great public utility ; that I am the true and first
inventor thereof ; and that the same is not in use by any other person or persons, to
the best or my knowledge and belief ; [where a complete specification is to be filed with
the petition and declaration^ insert these words : " and that the instrument in writing
under my hand and seal hereunto annexed, particularly describes and ascertains the
nature of the said invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed ;"J
And I make this declaration, conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by
virtue of the provisions of an Act made and passed in the session of parliament held
in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth,
intituled " An Act to repeal an Act of the present session of Parliament, intituled,
" ' An Act for the more effectual abolition of oaths and affirmations taken and made
" ' in various departments of the state, and to substitute declarations in lieu thereof
** ' and for the more entire suppression of voluntary and extra judicial oaths and
',' affidavits,' and to make other provisions for the abolition of unnecessary oaths."
A.B.
Declared at in British Honduras, this day of A. n.
before me,
C. D. , Judge of Supreme Court.
or .4
Justice of the Peace.
No. Provisional Specification.
I do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for
[insert title as in petition]
tp be as follows :
[here insert description']
Dated this day of A. D.
( To be signed by the applicant or his agent.)
. Reference.
[ To be indorsed on the petition.]
The commissioners of patents for inventions refer this petition to the attorney-'
general, to consider what may properly be done therein.
A. B., Member of Council } Three of the
C. D., Member of Council > commissioners
E. F. ) of patents.
96 FOREIGN LAWS.
Certificate of the Attorney-General, and Warrant thereon of the
Commissioners.
In obedience to the order of the commissioners of patents referring to me the
petition of , of , to consider what may be properly done thereon, I do
hereby certify as follows : That the said petition sets forth that the petitioner
[allegations of the petition] :
And the petitioner humbly prays,
[prayer of the petition] : > j. .-
That in support of the allegations contained in the said petition, the declaration of
the petitioner has been laid before me, whereby he solemnly declares that
[allegations of the declaration] :
That there has also been laid before me [a provisional specification signed
and also a certificate ,] or [a complete specification, and a certificate of the
filing thereof], whereby it appears that the said invention was provisionally protected
[or protected] from the day of > A. D. , in pursuance of the
statute:
That it appears the said application was duly advertised :
Upon consideration of all the matters aforesaid, and as it is entirely at the hazard
of the said petitioner whether the said invention is new or will have the desired suc-
cess, and as it may be reasonable to encourage all arts and inventions which may be
for the public good, I am of opinion that letters patent may be granted unto the
petitioner, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for his said invention within
the Colony of British Honduras, for the term of fourteen years, according to the stat-
ute in that case made and provided, if the Lieutenant Governor shall be graciously
pleased so to do according to the tenor and effect following :
[ See next form.]
Given under my hand this day of A. D.
O. H., Attorney-General.
We, the undersigned, commissioners of patents for inventions in British Hon-
duras, do warrant hereby the issue of letters patent, according to the tenor and effect
above set forth.
Three of the
commissioners
patents.
A . B. | Members of the ) Th
C. D. \ Executive Council > com
K F. ) of
Letters Patent.
BRITISH HONDURAS ss.
VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith.
To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting
Whereas hath by his petition humbly represented unto the Lieutenant Gov-
ernor of our Colony of British Honduras, that he is in possession of an invention for
, which the petitioner conceives will be of great public utility ; that he is the
true and first inventor thereof, and that the same is not in use by any other person or
persons, to the best of his knowledge and belief ; the petitioner therefore most hum-
bly prayed that we would be most graciously pleased to grant unto him, his executors,
administrators, and assigns, our letters patent for the sole use, benefit, and advantage
of his said- invention within our said Colony of British Honduras, for the term of
fourteen years, pursuant to the statutes in that case made and provided :
BRITISH HONDURAS. 97
[And whereas the said hath particularly described and ascertained the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under his hand and seal, and has caused the same to be duly
filed in the office of the colonial secretary :]
And we, being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which may
be for the public good, are graciously pleased to condescend to the petitioners'
request : Know ye therefore, that we of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and
mere motion, have given and granted, and by these presents for us, our heirs and
successors, do give and grant unto the said , his executors, administrators, and
assigns, our especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that he, the said
, his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by himself and
themselves, or by his and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others
as he the said , his executors, administrators, or assigns shall at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times hereafter, during the term of
years herein expressed, shall and lawfully may make, use, exercise, and vend his said
invention within our said colony of British Honduras, in such manner as to him the
said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, or any of them, shall in his or
their discretion seem meet ; and that he the said , his executors, administrators
and assigns shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commo-
dity, and advantage from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising by rea-
son of the said invention for and during the term of years herein mentioned ; to have,
hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licenses, powers, privileges, and advantages herein-
before granted, or mentioned to be granted unto the said , his executors,
administrators, and assigns for and during and unto the full end and term of fourteen
years from the day of A. D. next and immediately ensuing,
according to the statute in such case made and provided ; and to the end that he the
said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, may have
and enjoy the full benefit and the sole use and exercise of the said invention accord-
ing to our gracious intention herein-bel'ore declared, we do by these presents for us,
our heirs and successors, require and strictly command all and every person and par-
sons, bodies politic and corporate, and all others our subjects whatsoever, of what
estate, quality, degree, name, or condition soever they be, within our said colony of
British Honduras, that neither they nor any of them, at any time during the continu-
ance of the said term of fourteen years hereby granted, either directly or indirectly, do
make, use, or put in practice the said invention, or any part of the same so attained
unto by the said as aforesaid, nor in any wise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble
the same, nor shall make or cause to be made any addition thereunto or subtraction
from the same, whereby to pretend himself or themselves the inventor or inventors,
devisor or devisors thereof, without the consent, license, or agreement of the said
, his executors, administrators, or assigns, in writing under his or their hands
and seals first had and obtained in that behalf, upon such pains and penalties as can
nn'l rruy be justly inflicted ot\ such offenders for their contempt of this our royal
command, and further to be answerable to the said , his executors, administra-
tors, and assigns according to law for his and their damages thereby occasioned ;
and, moreover, we do by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, will and
command all and singular the justices of the peace, provost-marshal, alcaldes, con-
stables, and all other officers and ministers whatsoever of us, our heirs and successors,
for the time being, that they or any of them do not nor shall at any time during th ,
L-7
9fc FOREIGN LAWS.
said term hereby granted, in any wise molest, trouble, or hinder the said , hia
executors, administrators, or assigns, or any of them, or his or their deputies, servants,
or agents in or about the due and lawful use or exercise of the aforesaid invention, or
anything relating thereto : Provided always, and these our letters patent are and shall
be upon this condition, that if at any time during the said term hereby granted it
shall be made appear to us, our heirs or successors, or to the commissioners of
patents in our said colony of British Honduras, that this our grant is contrary to law,
or prejudicial or inconvenient to our subjects in general, or that the said invention ia
not a new invention as to the public use and exercise thereof, or that the said
is not the true and first inventor thereof within this our colony of British Honduras
as aforesaid, these our letters patent shall forthwith cease, determine, and be utterly
void to all intents and purposes, anything herein-before contained to the contrary
thereof in anywise notwithstanding : Provided also, that these our letters patent, or
anything herein contained, shall not extend or be construed to extend to give privi-
lege unto the said , his executors, administrators, or assigns, or any of them, to
use or imitate any invention or work whatsoever which hath heretofore been found
out or invented by any other of our subjects whatsoever, and publicly used or exercised,
unto whom our like letters patent or privileges have been already granted for the sole
use, exercise, and benefit thereof, it being our will and pleasure that the said ,
his executors, administrators, and assigns, and all and every other person and persons
to whom like letters patent or privileges have been already granted as aforesaid, shall
distinctly use and practice their several inventions by them invented and found out
according to the true intent and meaning of the same respective leiters patent and of
these presents : Provided likewise, nevertheless, and these our letters patent are upon
this express condition [that if the said shall not particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of his said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under his hand and seal, and cause the same to be filed in
the colonial secretary's office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of these our letters patent ;] [and also if the said instrument in writing filed
as aforesaid does not describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed ;] and also if the said , his executors,
administrators, or assigns, shall not pay or cause to be paid at the office of the
colonial secretary the sums following ; that is to say, the sum of fifty dollars on or
before the day of A. D. , and the sum of one hundred dollars on
or before the day of A. D. ; and also if the said , his exec-
tors, administrators, or assigns, shall not supply or cause to be supplied for our ser-
vice all such articles of the said invention as. he or they shall be required to supply
by the officers or commissioners administering the department of our service for the
use of which the same shall be required, in such manner, at such times, and at and
upon such reasonable prices and terms as shall be settled for that purpose by the
said officers or commissioners requiring the same, that then and in any of the said
cases these our letters patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever hereby
granted, shall utterly cuase, determine, and become void, anything herein-before con-
tained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding : Provided that nothing
herein contained shall prevent the granting of licenses in such manner and for such
considerations as they may by law be granted ; and lastly, we do by these presents, for
us, our heirs and successors, grant unto the said , his executors, administrators,
and assigns, that these our letters patent, or the filing thereof, shall be in and by all
BRITISH HONDURAS. 99
things good, firm, valid, sufficient, and effectual in the law according to the true
intent and meaning thereof, and shall be taken, construed, and adjudged in the most
favorable and beneficial sense for the best advantage of the said , his execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, as well in all our courts of record as elsewhere, and
by ail and singular the officers and ministers whatsoever of us, our heirs and suc-
cessors, in our said colony of British Honduras ; and amongst all and every the
subjects of us, our heirs and successors, whatsoever and wheresoever, notwithstanding
the not full and certain describing the nature or quality of the said invention or of
the materials thereunto conducing and belonging. In witness whereof we have
caused these our letters to be made patent.
Witness His Excellency , Lieutenant-Governor of our said colony of
British Honduras, at Government House, Belize, the day of
A. D. , in the year of our reign.
Specification.
To all to whom these presents shall come:
I , of , send greeting :
Whereas Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by her letters patent bear-
ing date the day of , A. D. , in the year of her reign, did
for herself, her heirs and successors, give and grant unto the said her special
license that I, the said , my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said , my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter during
the time therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend
within the colony of British Honduras an invention for [insert title- as in letters patent]
upon the condition (amongst others) that I the said by an instrument in writ-
ing under my hand and seal should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of,
the said invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the office of the colonial secretary within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said letters patent : Now know ye, that I, the
said , do hereby declare the nature of my said invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement ; (that is to say), [describe tlie invention].
In witness whereof I, the said , have hereunto set my hand and seal,
> this day of A. D.
A.B. (Seal.)
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 78.
CAMBODIA.
See FRANCE.
100 FOREIGN LAWS.
CANADA.
An Act respecting Patents of Invention. June 14, 1872, 35
Viet. c. 26 ; as amended or modified by later laws.*
Preamble. Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as fol-
lows :
PATENT-OFFICE CONSTITUTED.
1. Minister of agriculture to be commissioner of patents. There
shall be attached to the department of agriculture, as a branch
thereof, an office to be called the patent-office ; and the minister of
agriculture for the time being shall be the commissioner of patents;
and it shall be the duty of the said commissioner to receive all
applications, fees, papers, documents, and models for patents, and
to perform all acts and things requisite to the granting and issuing
of patents of inventions; and he shall have the charge and custody
of the books, records, papers, models, machines, and other things
belonging to the said office.
2. Seal to be made, and impressions thereof to be received in evi-
dence. The commissioner shall cause a seal to be made for the pur-
poses of this Act, and may cause to be sealed therewith patents and
other instruments and copies proceeding from the patent-office; and
all courts, judges, and other persons whomsoever shall take notice
of such seal, and receive impressions thereof in evidence, in like
manner as impressions of the Great Seal are received in evidence,
* At the larger law libraries through- arately in 20 Pat. Off. Gaz. 960, and 23
out the United Sates one may consult the Id. 2241. Carpmaels' Pat. L. of World
Canadian patent laws in the Statutes of gives them consolidated, placing the
Canada themselves ; where they may be amendments taken from later laws in
found as follows : their connection with the sections of the
Act of June 14, 1872, Stat. 35 Viet, law of 1872 amended. Richards' Digest
c. 26, Can. Stat. 97. of Patent Laws, &c. of Canada does the
Act of May 23, 1873, 36 Viet. c. 44, same ; he however adds :
Can. Stat. 129. Act of May 17, 1882 ; and
Act of May 26, 1874, 37 Viet. c. 44, Act of April 19, 1884.
Can. Stat. 190. The version given in the text is that
Act of April 8, 1875, 38 Viet. c. 14, of Messrs. Carpmaels collated with that of
Can. Stat. 91. Mr. Richards (the two do not materially
Act of May 25, 1883, 46 Viet. c. 19, differ) with the addition of the Acts of
Can. Stat. 831. 1882 and 1884 quoted from Mr. Richards'
These enactments may be found sep- reprint.
CANADA. 101
and shall also take notice of and receive in evidence, without
further proof and without production of the originals, copies, or
extracts certified under the seal of the said office to be copies of or
extracts from documents deposited in such office.
3. Commissioner to make rules. Publication and effect. The
commissioner may, from time to time, subject to the approval of
the Governor in Council, make such rules and regulations, and pre-
scribe such forms, as may appear to him necessary and expedient
for the purposes of this Act, and notice thereof shall be given in the
Canada Gazette ; and all documents, executed in conformity with
the same and accepted by the commissioner, shall be held valid so
far as relating to proceedings in the patent-office.
4. Deputy commissioner and clerks. Employes in patent-office
not to be concerned in patents. Exception. The deputy of the min-
ister of agriculture shall be the deputy commissioner of patents of
invention ; and the Governor in Council may, from time to time,
appoint such clerks and officers under him as may be necessary for
the purposes of this Act, and such clerks and officers shall hold
office during pleasure. No officer or employe of the patent-office
shall buy, sell, or acquire, or traffic in an invention or patent, or
rights to patents therefor ; and every such purchase and sale, and
every assignment or transfer thereof ; by or to any officer or em-
ploye as aforesaid, shall be utterly null and void. But this shall
not apply to any original inventor, or to the acquisition by bequest.
5.* Annual report and list of patents. Publications of specifi-
cations. The commissioner shall cause a report to be prepared
annually and laid before Parliament of the proceedings under this
Act, and shall, from time to time, and at least once in each year,
publish a list of patents granted, and may, with the approval of the
Governor in Council, cause such specifications and drawings as may
be deemed of interest, or essential parts thereof, to be printed from
time to time for distribution or sale.
WHO MAY OBTAIX PATENTS.
6. Any person may obtain a patent for his invention, it not hav-
ing been then in public use in Canada for more than one year.
Form of patent. Proviso : ichat shall not be patentable. Any per-
son having invented any new and useful art, machine, manufacture,
*According to Richards' edition of the Carpmaels' edition does not mention the
patent law of Canada, the text is Section fact of amendment, but gives the section
6 " as amended by Act of May 23, 1873 ;" in the same language.
102 FOREIGN LAWS.
or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement on
any art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, not known
or used by others before his invention thereof, and not being in
public use or on sale for more than one year previous to his applica-
tion in Canada, with the consent or allowance of the inventor thereof,
may, on a petition to that effect presented to the commissioner, and
on compliance with the other requirements of this Act, obtain a
patent granting to such person an exclusive property therein ; and
the said patent shall be under the seal of the patent-office and the
signature of the commissioner, or the signature of another member
of the Privy Council, and shall be good and avail to the grantee,
his executors, administrators, or assigns, for the period mentioned
in such patent ; but no patent shall issue for an invention having an
illicit object in view, nor for any mere scientific principle or abstract
theorem.
7. As to inventions for which foreign patents have been taken
out. But an inventor shall not be entitled to a patent for his
invention, if a patent therefor in any other country shall have been
in existence in such country more than twelve months prior to the
application for such patent in Canada ; and if during such twelve
months any person shall have commenced to manufacture in Canada
the article for which such patent is afterwards obtained, such person
shall continue to have the right to manufacture and sell such article,
notwithstanding such patent ; and under any circumstances, where
a foreign patent exists, the Canadian patent shall expire at the
earliest date at which any foreign patent for the same invention
expires.
8. -Representatives of inventor may obtain the patent. The
patent may be granted to any person to whom the inventor entitled
under the sixth section to obtain a patent has assigned or
bequeathed the right of obtaining the same, or in default of such
assignment or bequest, to the executors or administrators or other
legal representatives of the deceased inventor.
[NOTE.* The words in italics were added by 36 Viet. cap. 44.]
9. As to patents for improvements on patented inventions.^.
Proviso. Any person who has invented any improvement on any
patented invention may obtain a patent for such improvement, but
shall not thereby obtain the right of vending or using the original
invention, nor shall the patent for the original invention confer the
right of vending or using the patented improvement.
* Notes printed in this form are from Carpmaels' edition.
CANADA. 103
10. As to joint application for patent. In cases of joint appli-
cations, the patent shall be granted in the names of all the appli-
cants ; and in such cases any assignment from one of the said
applicants or patentees to the other, or to any person, shall be regis-
tered iu like manner as other assignments.
CONDITIONS AND FORMALITIES.
11. Declaration to be made by application for a patent. Before
whom. Applicant to elect a domicile in Canada. Every inventor,
before a patent can be obtained, shall make oath, or, when entitled
by law to make an affirmation instead of an oath, shall make an
affirmation, that he verily believes that he is, or, in the case of the
inventor being deceased, the applicant shall make oath or affirm
that the person whose assignee or representative he is, was the
inventor of the invention for which the patent is solicited, and that
the several allegations in the petition contained are respectively true
and correct. Such oath or affirmation may be made before any
justice of the peace in Canada ; but if the inventor or the applicant
is not at the time in Canada the oath or affirmation may be made
before any minister plenipotentiary, charge d' affaires, consul, vice-
consul, or consular agent, holding commission under the government
of the United Kingdom, or any Judge of a court of record or a
public notary, or the mayor or other chief magistrate of any
city, borough, or town corporate in the country in which the
applicant happens at the time to be.
[NOTE.* The words in italics were added by 36 Viet. cap. 44.]
12. Particulars required in application. The petitioner for a
patent shall for all the purposes of this Act elect his domicile at
some known and specified place in Canada, and mention the same
in his petition for a patent.
13. Specification and drawing, form of, and what to show. The
applicant shall, in his petition for a patent, insert the title or name
of the invention, and shall, with the petition, send in a specifica-
tion, in duplicate.
14. Commissioner may require farther drawings. Drawings,
how disposed of. The specification shall correctly and fully
describe the mode or modes of operating contemplated by the
inventor ; and shall state clearly and distinctly the contrivances
and things which he claims as new, and for the use of which he
* Note3 printed in this form are from Carpmacls' edition.
104 FOREIGN LAWS.
claims an exclusive property and privilege ; it shall bear the name
of the place where it is made, the date, and be signed by the inven-
tor, if he be alive (and if not, by the applicant) and two witnesses ;
in the case of a machine the specification shall fully explain the
principle and the several modes in which it is intended to apply
and work out the same ; in the case of a machine, or in any other
case where the invention admits of illustration by means of draw-
ings, the applicant shall also, with his application, send in drawings
in duplicate showing clearly all parts of the invention ; and each
drawing shall bear the signature of the applicant or of his attorney,
and shall have written references corresponding with the specifica-
tion, but the commissioner may require further drawings or dis-
pense with any of them, as he may see fit ; one duplicate of the
specification and of the drawings, if there are drawings, shall be
annexed to the patent of which it forms an essential part, and the
other duplicate shall remain deposited in the patent office. *But
the said commissioner may, in his discretion, dispense with the
said duplicate specification and drawing, and in lieu thereof cause
copies of the specification and drawing, in print or otherwise, to be
attached to the patent of which they shall form an essential part.
[NOTE. The words following the asterisk were added by 36 Viet. cap. 44.]
15. Working model to be delivered to the commissioner.
Or specimens of ingredients. Exception as to explosive materials.
The applicant shall also deliver to the commissioner, unless
specially dispensed from so doing for some good reason, a neat
working model of his invention on a convenient scale, exhibiting
its several parts in due proportion, whenever the invention admits
of such model ; and shall deliver to the commissioner specimens of
the ingredients, and of the composition of matter sufficient in
quantity for the purpose of experiment, whenever the invention is
a composition of matter; provided such ingredients and composition
are not of an explosive character or otherwise dangerous, in which
case they are to be furnished only when specially required by the
commissioner, and then with such precautions as shall be prescribed
in the said requisition.
CONTEXTS, DURATION, SURRENDER, RE-ISSUE OF PATENTS, AND
DISCLAIMERS.
16. Contents of patents. Conditions. Every patent granted
under this Act shall contain the title or name of the invention, with
a reference to the specification, and shall grant to the patentee,
CANADA. 105
his executors, administrators, legal representatives, and assigns, for
the period therein mentioned for the granting of the same, the
exclusive right, privilege, and liberty of making, constructing, and
using, and vending to others to be used, the said invention, subject,
nevertheless, to adjudication before any court of competent juris-
diction.
[XoTK. The words in italics were added by 36 Viet. cap. 44.]
17. Duration of patents and periodical extension not exceed-
ing fifteen years in all. Form of extension. The term limited for
the duration of every patent of invention issued by the patent-office
shall be fifteen years ; but at the time of the application therefor
it shall be at the option of the applicant to pay the full fee required
for the term of fifteen years, or the partial fee required for the term
of five years, or the partial fee required for the term of ten years.
In case a partial fee only is paid the propoilion of the fee paid shall
be stated in the patent, and the patent shall, notwithstanding any-
thing therein or in this Act contained, cease at the end of the term
for which the partial fee has been paid, unless at or before the
expiration of the said term the holder of the patent pays the fee
required for the further term of five or ten years, and takes out
from the patent-office a certificate of sucb payment (in the form
which may be from time to time adopted) to be attached to and to
refer to. the patent, and under the signature of the commissioner,
or, in case of his absence, another member of the Privy Council ;
and in case such second payment, together with the first payment,
makes up only the fee required for ten years, then the patent shall,
notwithstanding anything therein or in this Act contained, cease at
the end of the term of ten years, unless at or before the expiration
of such term the holder thereof pays the further fee required for
the remaining five years, making up the full term of fifteen years,
and takes out a like certificate in respect thereof. Every patent
heretofore issued by the patent-office in respect of which the fee
required for the whole or for any unexpired portion of the term of
fifteen years, has been duly paid according to the provisions of the
now existing law in that behalf, has been and shall be deemed to
have been issued for the term of fifteen years, subject, in case a
partial fee only Las been paid, to cease on the same conditions on
which patents hereafter issued are to cease under the operation of
this section.
[NOTE. The original clause 17 was repealed and the above substituted by 46
Viet. cap. 19.]
106 FOREIGN LAWS.
18. Patents or extension to be examined by minister of justice
before granted. Every patent and instrument for the extension
of time as aforesaid shall, before it is signed by the commis-
sioner or any other member of the Privy Council, and before the
seal hereinbefore mentioned is affixed to it, be examined by the
minister* of justice, who, if he finds it conformable to law, shall
certify accordingly, and such patent or instrument may then be
signed and the seal affixed thereto, and being duly reistered, shall
avail to the grantee thereof.
19. In certain cases of error, &c., the commissioner may cause
a new patent to issue, on amended specification. Effect of new
patent and specification. Whenever any patent shall be deemed
defective or inoperative by reason of insufficient description or
specification, or by reason of the patentee claiming more than he
had a right to claim as new, but at the same time it appears that
the error arose from inadvertence, accident, or mistake, without
any fraudulent or deceptive intention, the commissioner may, upon
the surrender of such patent, and the payment of the further fee
hereinafter provided, cause a new patent, in accordance with an
amended description and specification to be made by such patentee,
to be issued to him for the same invention for any part or the whole
of the then unexpired residue of the period for which the original
patent was or might have been, as hereinbefore directed, granted ;
in case of the death of the original patentee or of his having
assigned the patent, a like right shall vest in his assignee or legal
representative : The new patent, and the amended description and
specification, shall have the same effect in law, on the trial of any
action thereafter commenced for any cause subsequently accruing,
as if the same had been originally filed in such corrected form
before the issue of the original patent, and the commissioner may
entertain separate applications and cause patents to be issued for
distinct and separate parts of the thing patented, upon payment of
the fee for a re-issue for each of such re-issue putents.
[NOTE. The words in italics were added by 38 Viet. cap. 14.]
20. Patentee may disclaim anything included in patent by mis-
take. Form. Disclaimer not to effect pending suits. In case of
death of patentee. Effect of disclaimer. Similarly, whenever by
any mistake, accident, or inadvertence, and without any willful
intent to defraud or mislead the public, a patentee has made his
specification too broad, claiming more than that of which he or the
party through whom he claims was the first inventor, or has in the
CANADA. 107
specification claimed that he or the party through whom he claims
was the first inventor of any material or substantial part of the
invention patented, of which he was not the first inventor, and to
which he had no legal right ; the patentee may, on payment of the
fee hereinafter provided, make disclaimer of such parts as he does
not claim to hold by virtue of the patent or the assignment thereof :
such disclaimer shall be in writing, and in duplicate, and attested in
the manner hereinbefore prescribed for a patent, one copy to be
filed and recorded in the office of the commissioner, the other copy
to be attached to the patent and made a part thereof by reference,
and such disclaimer shall thereafter be taken and considered as part
of the original specification. Such disclaimer shall not affect any
action pending at the time of its being made, except in so far as
may relate to the question of unreasonable neglect or delay in mak-
ing it. In case of the death of the original patentee or of his having
assigned the patent, a like right shall vest in his assigns or legal
representatives respectively, any of whom may make disclaimer.
The patent shall thereafter be deemed good and valid for so much
of the invention as is truly the disclaimant's own, and not dis-
claimed, provided it be a material and substantial part of the inven-
tion, and definitely distinguished from other parts claimed without
right ; and the disclaimant shall be entitled to maintain a suit for
such part accordingly.
ASSIGNMENT AND INFRINGEMENT OF PATENTS.
21. Government may use patented invention. The government
of Canada may always use any patented invention, paying to the
patentee such sum as the commissioner may report to be a reason-
able compensation for the use thereof.
22. Patents to be assignable. To be registered on pain of
nullity. Every patent for an invention whensoever issued shall be
assignable in law either as to the whole interest or as to any part
thereof, by any instrument in writing ; but such assignment, and
also every grant and conveyance of any exclusive right to make and
use and to grant to others the right to make and use the invention
patented, within and throughout Canada or any part thereof, shall
be registered in the office of the commissioner, in the manner from
time to time adopted by the commissioner of patents for such regis-
tration ; and every assignment affecting a patent for invention shall
be deemed null and void against any subsequent assignee unless such
instrument is registered as hereinbefore prescribed, before the regis-,
108 FOREIGN LAWS.
tering of the instrument under which such subsequent assignee may
claim.
23. Remedy for infringement of patent. Every person who,
without the consent in writing of the patentee, makes, constructs,
or puts in practice any invention for which a patent has been
obtained under this Act, or any previous Act, or procures such
invention from any person not authorized to make or use it by the
patentee, and uses it, shall be liable to the patentee in an action of
damages for so doing ; and the judgment shall be enforced, and the
damages and costs that may be adjudged shall be recovered in like
manner as in other cases in the court in which the action is brought.
24. Action for infringement of patent. Injunction may issue.
Appeal attowed. An action for the infringement of a patent may
be brought before any court of record having jurisdiction to
the amount of damages asked for, and having its sittings within the
province in which the infringement is said to have taken place, and
being, at the same time, of the courts of such jurisdiction within
such province, the one of which the place of holding is nearest to
the place of residence or of business of the defendant ; and such
court shall decide the case and determine as to costs. In any action
for the infringement of a patent, the court, if sitting, or any judge
thereof in chambers if the court be not sitting, may, on the applica-
tion of the plaintiff or defendant respectively, make such order for
an injunction, restraining the opposite party from further use, man-
ufacture, or sale of the subject matter of the patent, and for his
punishment, in the event of disobedience to such order, or for
inspection or account, and respecting the same and the proceedings
in the action, as the court or judge may see fit ; But from such
order an appeal shall lie under the same circumstances and to the
same court, as from other judgments or orders of the court in
which the order was made.
25. Court may discriminate in certain cases. Whenever the
plaintiff fails to sustain his action, because his specification and
claim embrace more than that of which he was the first inventor,
and it appears that the defendant used or infringed any part of the
invention, justly and truly specified and claimed as new, the court
may discriminate, and the judgment may be rendered accordingly.
26. Defense in actions for infringement. The defendant, in any
such action, may specially plead as matter of defense, any fact or
default which by this Act, or by law, would render the patent void;
and the court shall take cognizance of that special pleading and of
CANADA. 109
the facts connected therewith, and shall decide the case accord-
ingly,
NULLITY, IMPEACHMENT, AND AVOIDANCE OF PATENTS.
27. Patents man & e declared void in certain cases, or valid only
for part. Copy of judgment to be sent to patent-office. A patent
shall be void if any material allegation in the petition or declaration'
of the applicant be untrue, or if the specification and drawings con-
tain more or less than is necessary for obtaining the end for which
they purport to be made, such omission or addition being willfully
made for the purpose of misleading ; but if it shall appear to the
court that such omission or addition is simply an involuntary error,
and it is proved that the patentee is entitled to the remainder of
his patent pro tanto, the court shall render a judgment in accord-
ance with the facts, and determine as to costs, and the patent shall
be held valid for such part of the invention described ; and two
office copies of such judgment shall be furnished to the patent-office
by the patentee, one to be registered and to remain of record in the
office, and the other to be attached to the patent, and made a part
of it by a reference.
28. Patents to be conditioned for the manufacture in Canada of
the thing patented: and of the patentee's not importing it into
Canada. Proviso. Commissioner may extend the term for manu-
facture in Canada. Every patent granted under this Act shall be
subject and expressed to be subject to the condition that such pat-
ent and all the rights and privileges thereby granted shall cease
and determine, and the patent shall be null and void at the end of
two years from the date thereof, unless the patentee, or his assignee
or assignees, shall within that period have commenced, and shall,
after such commencement, continuously carry on in Canada the
construction or manufacture of the invention or discovery patented,
iu such manner that any person desiring to use it may obtain it or
cause it to be made for him at a reasonable price, at some manu-
factory or establishment for making or constructing it, in Canada,
and that such patent shall be void if, after the expiration of twelve
months from the granting thereof, the patentee, or his assignee or
assignees, for the whole or a part of his interest in the patent, imports
or causes to be imported into Canada, the invention for which the
patent is granted; and provided always, that in case disputes should
arise as to whether a patent has or has not become null and void
under the provisions of this section, such disputes shall be settled
110 FOREIGN LAWS.
by the minister of agriculture, or his deputy, whose decision shall
be final.
(a) Whenever a patentee has been unable to carry on the con-
struction or manufacture of his invention within the two years here-
inbefore mentioned, the commissioner may at any time not more
than three months before the expiration of that period grant to the
patentee a further-delay on his adducing proof to the satisfaction
of the commissioner that he was for reasons beyond his control
prevented from complying with the above mentioned condition.*
[NOTE. The words to which (a) is prefixed were substituted by 88 Viet. c. 14.]
29. Proceedings for impeachment of patent. Scire facias may
issue. Any person desiring to impeach any patent issued under this
Act, may obtain a sealed and certified copy of the patent and of the
petition, affidavit, specification, and drawings thereunto relating,
and may have the same filed in the office of the prothonotary or clerk
of the Superior Court for the province of Quebec, or of the Court of
Queen's Bench or Common Pleas for the province of Ontario, or of
the Supreme Court in the province of Nova Scotia, or of the Supreme
Court in the province of New Brunswick, according to the domicile
elected by the patentee as aforesaid, or in the court of highest juris-
diction in the province of Manitoba or British Columbia, which
courts shall adjudicate on the matter, and decide as to costs. The
patent and documents aforesaid shall then be held as of record in
such court, so that a writ of scire facias under the seal of the court
grounded upon such record, may issue for the repeal of the patent,
for cause as aforesaid, if upon proceedings had upon the writ in
accordance with the meaning of this Act, the patent be adjudged
to be void.
[NOTE. The words in italics were substituted by 37 Viet. c. 44.]
30. Judgment voiding patent to be filed in patent-office. A cer-
* According to Richards' edition of the may import or cause to be imported into
Patent Laws of Canada the following Canada the invention for which the patent
" sub-section 3 " was inserted in section is granted : Provided, that the patentee or
28, by Act, May 17, 1882. his assignee or assignees for the whole or
3. Further provision as to extension of any part of the patent, shall show cause
patent. The commissioner may grant to satisfactory to the commissioner to war-
the patentee or his assignee or assignees rant the granting of such extension : but
for tne whole or any part of the patent, no extension shall be granted unless
an extension for a further period of application be made to the commissioner
time, not exceeding one year beyond the at some time within three months before
twelve months limited by the first para- the expiry of the twelve months afore-
graph of this section, during which he said or any extension thereof.
CANADA. Ill
tificate of the judment voiding any patent shall, at the request of
any person or party filing it, to be of record in the patent-office, be
entered on the margin of the enrollment of the patent in the office
of the commissioner, and the patent shall thereupon be and be held
to have been void and of no effect, unless and until the judgment be
reversed on appeal, as hereinafter provided.
31. To be subject to appeal. The judgment declaring any patent
void, shall be subject to appeal to any court of appeal having
appellate jurisdiction in other cases over the court by which the
same was rendered.
PARENTS ISSUED UNDER FOREIGN LAWS.
32. Existing provincial and dominion patents to remain in force.
Extension of provincial patents to other provinces, on certain con-
ditions. All patents issued under any Act of the Legislature of the
late province of Canada, or of Nova Scotia, or of New Brunswick,
or of British Columbia, and all patents issued for the provinces of
Ontario and Quebec, under any Act of the late province of Canada,
and all patents issued under the Patent Act of 1869, to the date of
the coming into operation of the present Act, shall remain in force
for the same term and for the same extent of territory, as if the
Act under which they were issued had not been repealed, but sub-
ject to the provisions of this Act in so far as applicable to them.
2. And it shall be lawful for the commissioners upon the appli-
cation of the patentee named in any such patent, being the inventor
of the subject matter of the patent, if the subject matter of the
patent has not been known or used, nor with the consent of the
patentee on sale in any of the other provinces of the Dominion, to
issue on payment of the proper fees in that behalf a patent under
this Act extending such provincial patent over the whole of the
Dominion, for the remairlder of the term mentioned in the provin-
cial patent.
33. Records of provincial patent-offices to be handed over to the
commissioner. All the records of the patent-offices of the late
province of Canada, and of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, of
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and British Columbia, shall be
handed over by the officers in charge of them to the commissioner
of patents of invention, to form part of the records of the patent-
office for the purposes of this Act.
112 FOREIGN LAWS.
TARIFF OF FEES.
34. Tariff of fees. The following fees shall be payable to the
commissioner, before an application for any of the purposes herein-
after mentioned shall be entertained, that is to say :
$
On petition for a patent for 5 yea-3 20 00
On petition for a patent for 10 years 40 00
On petition for a patent for 15 years 60 00
On petition for extension from 6 to 10 years 20 00
On petition for extension from 10 to 15 years 20 00
On petition for extension from 5 to 15 years 40 00
On lodging a caveat 5 00
On asking to register a judgment pro tanio 1 4 00
On asking to register an assignment 2 00
On asking to attach a disclaimer to a patent 2 00
On asking for a copy of patent with specification 4 00
On petition to re-issue a patent after surrender ; and on petition to extend a
former patent to the dominion, for every uuexpired year of the duration of
sub-patent, the fee shall be at the rate of 4 00
On office copies of documents, not above mentioned, the follow-
ing charges shall be made :
*
For every single or first folio of certified copy 50
For every subsequent hundred words (fractions from and under fifty being not
counted, and over fifty being counted for one hundred. ) 25
35. For copies of drawings. For every copy of drawings, the
party applying shall pay such sum as the commissioner considers a
fair remuneration for time and labor expended thereon by any
officer of the department or person employed to perform such ser-
vice.
36. Fees to be in full of all services. The said fees shall be in
full of all services performed under this Act, in any such case, by
the commissioner or any person employed in the patent-office.
37. Fees to form part of consolidated revenue fund. Excep-
tion. All fees received under this Act shall be paid over to the
receiver-general and form part of the consolidated revenue fund
of Canada, except such sums as may be paid for copies of drawings
when made by persons not receiving salaries in the patent-office.
38. Return of fees in certain cases only. Case of withdrawal.
No fee shall be made the subject of exemption in favor of any per-
son ; and no fee once paid, shall be returned to the person who
paid it, except :
CANADA. 113
1, When the invention is not susceptible of being patented ;
2. When the petition for a patent is withdrawn ;
And in every such case the commissioner may return one half
of the fee paid ;
And in the case of withdrawal, a fresh application is necessary
to revive the claim, as if no proceeding had taken place in the
matter.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
39. Intending applicant for a patent may file a caveat. Effect
of caveat. Proviso: duration of caveat. An intending applicant
for a patent who has not yet perfected his invention, and is in fear
of being despoiled of his idea, may file in the patent-office a descrip-
tion of his invention so far, with or without plans, at his own will ;
and the commissioner, on reception of the fee hereinbefore pre-
scribed, shall cause the said document to be preserved in secrecy,
with the exception of delivering copies of the same whenever
required by the said party or by any judicial tribunal the secrecy
of the document to cease when he obtains a patent for his inven-
tion ; and such document shall be called a caveat : Provided always,
that if application shall be made by any other person for a patent
for any invention with which such caveat may in any respect inter-
fere, it shall be the duty of the commissioner forthwith to give
notice by mail to the person who has filed such caveat, and such
person shall within three months after the date of mailing the
notice, if he would avail himself of the caveat, file his petition and
take the other steps necessary on an application for patent, and if,
in the opinion of the commissioner, the applications are interfering,
like proceedings may be had in all respects as are by this Act pro-
vided in the case of interfering applications : Provided further, that
unless the person filing any caveat shall within one year from the
filing thereof have made application for a patent, the commissioner
of patents shall be relieved from the obligation of giving notice, the
caveat then remaining as a simple matter of proof as to novelty or
priority of invention if needed.
40. Commissioner may object to grant a patent in certain cases.
The commissioner may object to grant a patent in the following
cases :
1. When is he of opinion that the alleged invention is not pat-
entable in law ;
2. When it appears to him that the invention is already in th
I 8
114 FOREIGN LAWS.
possession of the public with the consent or allowance of the inven-
tor ;
3. When it appears to him that there is no novelty in the inven-
tion ;
4. When it appears that the invention has been described in a
book or other printed publication before the date of the application,
or is otherwise in the possession of the public ;
5. When it appears that the invention has already been patented
in Canada (or elsewhere, when the case is one within the seventh
section of this Act), except, however, when the case is one in which
the commissioner has doubts as to whether the patentee or the
applicant is the first inventor.
41. Commissioner to notify ground of objection to applicant.
Whenever the commissioner objects to grant a patent as aforesaid,
he shall notify the applicant to that effect, and shall state the ground
or reason therefor with sufficient detail to enable the applicant to
answer, if he can, the objection of the commissioner.
42. Appeal by applicant to Governor in Council. Every appli-
cant who has failed to obtain a patent by reason of the objection of
the commissioner as aforesaid, may at any time within six months
after notice thereof has been addressed to him or his agent, appeal
from the decision of the commissioner to the Governor in Council.
43. Arbitration in case of interfering applications. The same:
Appointment of arbitrators. Their oath of office. Powers of arbi-
trators tosummon and swear witnesses. Willful false evidence to be
perjury. As to fees to arbitrators, and by whom paid. In case of
interfering applications for any patent, the same shall be submitted
to the arbitration of three skilled persons, one of whom shall be
chosen by each of the applicants, and the third person shall be chosen
by the commissioner or by his deputy or the person appointed to
perform the duty of that office ; And the decision or award of such
arbitrators, or any two of them, delivered to the commissioner in
writing, and subscribed by them or any two of them, shall be final
as far as respects the granting of the patent:
2. If either of the applicants refuses or fails to choose an arbi-
trator, when required so to do by the commissioner, the patent shall
issue to the opposite party ; And when there are more than two
interfering applicants, and the parties applying do not all unite in
appointing three arbitrators, the commissioner or his deputy or per-
son appointed to perform the duty of that officer, may appoint the
three arbitrators for the purposes aforesaid :
CANADA. 115
3. The arbitrators so named shall, before a judge of any court
in any of the provinces of Canada, subscribe to the following oath :
" I, the undersigned (A. B.), being duly appointed an arbitrator under the authority
of the forty-third section of the Patent Act of 1872, do hereby solemly swear (or
affirm, as the case may be), that I will well and truly perform the duty of such arbi-
trator on the the interfering applications of (C. D. and E. F.) submitted to me :"
4. The arbitrators, or any one of them, after having been so
sworn, shall have the power of summoning before them any party
or witness, and of requiring him to give evidence on oath, orally, or
in writing (or on solemn affirmation, if the person be entitled to
affirm in civil matters), and to produce such documents and things
as such arbitrators deem requisite to the full investigation of the
matters into which they are appointed to examine, and shall then have
the same power to enforce the attendance of such witnesses, and to
compel them to give evidence, as is vested in any court of law in
civil cases, in the province in which the arbitration is to be had; and
any willfully false statement made by any such witness on oath or
solemn affirmation, shall be deemed to be willful and corrupt per-
jury ; but no such party or witness shall be compelled to answer
any question, by his answer to which he might render himself liable
to a criminal prosecution:
5. The fees for the services of arbitrators shall be a matter of
agreement between the said arbitrators and the parties, and shall be
paid by the parties naming them, respectively, except those of the
arbitrator or arbitrators when named by the Commissioner of Pat-
ents, which shall be paid by the applicants jointly.
44. Documents to be open to inspection. All specifications,
drawings, models, disclaimers, judgments, and other papers, except
caveats, shall be open to the inspection of the public at the patent-
office, under such regulations as may be adopted in that behalf.
45. As to clerical errors. Clerical errors happening in the fram-
ing or copying of any instrument of the patent-office, shall not be
construed as invalidating the same, but when discovered they may
be corrected under the authority of the Commissioner.
46. Destroyed patent may be replaced. In case any patent be
destroyed or lost, others of the like tenor, date, and effect may be
issued in lieu thereof, on the party paying the fees hereinbefore pre-
scribed for office copies of documents.
47. As to use of patented invention in foreign vessels. No pat-
ent shall extend to prevent the use of any invention in any foreign
116 FOREIGN LAWS.
ship or vessel, where such invention is not so used for the manufact-
ure of any goods to be vended within or exported from Canada.
48. Patent not to affect a previous purchaser of the invention.
Proviso : As to other persons. Every person who before the issuing
of a patent has purchased, constructed or acquired any invention
for which a patent has been obtained under this Act, shall have the
right of using and vending to others, the specific article, machine,
manufacture, or composition of matter patented, so purchased, con-
structed, or acquired before the issue of the patent therefor, with-
out being liable to the patentee or his representatives for so doing;
but the patent shall not be held invalid as regards other persons by
reason of such purchase, construction, or acquisition, or use of the
invention by the person first aforesaid, or by those to whom he may
have sold the same, unless the same was purchased, constructed, or
acquired or used for a longer period than one year before the appli-
cation for a patent therefor, which circumstance would then have
the effect of making the invention one having become public and in
public use.
49. Patented articles to be marked as such. Penalty for
default. Every patentee under this Act shall stamp or engrave on
each patented article sold or offered for sale by him the year of the
date of patent applying to such article thus : " Patented 1872," or
as the case may be ; or when from the nature of the article this
cannot be done by fixing to it or to every package wherein one or
more of such articles is or are enclosed a label marked with a like
notice ; and any such patentee selling or offering for sale any such
patented article not so marked or not enclosed in a package so
marked shall be liable to the punishment of a fine not to exceed one
hundred dollars, and in default of the payment of such fine, to
imprisonment not to exceed two months.
[NOTE. The original clause 49 was repealed and the above substituted by 38 Viet.
c. 14.]
50. Falsely marking anything as patented to be a misdemeanor.
Punishment. Whosoever writes, paints, prints, moulds, casts,
carves, engraves, stamps, or otherwise marks upon anything made
or sold by him, and for the sole making or selling of which he is not
the patentee, the name or any imitation of the name of any patentee
for the sole making or selling of such thing without the consent of
such patentee or without the consent of the patentee, writes,
paints, prints, moulds, casts, carves, engraves, stamps, or otherwise
marks upon anything not purchased from the patentee, the words
CANADA. 11 1
" Patent," " Letters Patent," Queen's Patent," " Patented," or any
word or words of like import, with the intent of counterfeiting or
imitating the stamp, mark, or device of the patentee, or of deceiv-
ing the public and inducing them to believe that the thing in ques-
tion was made or sold by or with the consent of the patentee, or
whosoever puts to sale as patented, any article not patented in
Canada, for the purpose of deceiving the public, shall be deemed
guilty of misdemeanor, and shall on conviction be punished therefor
by fine, or by imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of the court
before which the conviction shall be had ; but the fine shall not
exceed two hundred dollars, nor shall the imprisonment exceed three
months.
51. Making false entry or copy in matters subject to this Act to
be a misdemeanor. Any person willfully making or causing to be
made any false entry in any register or book, or any false or altered
copy of any document relating to the purposes of this Act, or who
shall produce or tender any such false or altered document, know-
ing the same to be such, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall
be punished by fine and imprisonment accordingly.
52. inconsistent enactments repealed. JKxception. Chapter
thirty-four of the Consolidated Statutes of the late Province of
Canada, respecting Patents for Inventions, Chapter one hundred
and seventeen of the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia (third series),
Chapter one hundred and eighteen of the Revised Statutes of
New Brunswick, and the Patents Ordinance, 1867, of British
Columbia, the Patent Act of 1869, and any Act amending any of
the said Acts or laws, or any other Act relating to patents, are
hereby repealed, in so far as they or any of them may be inconsist-
ent with this Act, or make any provision in any matter provided
for by this Act, except only as respects all rights acquired and
penalties or liabilities incurred under the said laws or any of them,
before the coming into force of this Act, as to which they shall
remain in force, and nothing in this Act contained shall affect any
suit pending in any court of law or equity at the time of the coming
into force of this Act.
53. Short title. In citing this Act it shall be sufficient to call it
"The Patent Act of 1872."
54. Commencement of Act. This Act shall commence and take
effect on the first day of September, 1872.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 105.
118: FOREIGN LAWS.
Provisions of Act of April 8, 1875, Stat. 38 Viet. c. 14,
extending the foregoing law to Prince Edward Island.
4. Provisions of 35 V., c. 27, and its amending Acts and pat-
ents issued under them, extended to Prince IZdward Island. From
and after the passing of this Act all and every the provisions of The
Patent Act of 1872, as amended by this Act, and of the Acts
amending the same, shall have the same force and effect in Prince
Edward Island as the same then respectively have in the other
provinces forming this Dominion ; and every patent theretofore
issued under the said Acts or any of them shall extend over the said
province for the remainder of the term mentioned therein.
6. Inconsistent enactments of acts of General Assembly of
Prince Edward Island repealed. The following Acts of the General
Assembly of Prince Edward Island are hereby repealed, that is to
say The Act passed in the seventh year of the reign of his late
Majesty King William IV., chapter twenty-one, entitled An Act for
granting Patents for useful Inventions ; the Act passed in the
thirty-second year of Her Majesty's reign, chapter twenty, entitled
An Act to add to and amend the Act relating to Patents for useful
Inventions ; and the Act passed in the thirty-third year of her
Majesty's reign, chapter nineteen, entitled An Act to amend the
Act relating to Patents for useful inventions, but in so far only
as such Acts, or any of them, may be inconsistent with this Act or
make any provision in any matter provided for by this Act except
only as respects all rights acquired and penalties or liabilities incurred
under the said Acts, or any of them, before the coming into force
of this Act, as to which the said Acts shall remain in force ; and
nothing in this Act contained shall affect any suit pending in any
court of law or equity at the time of the coming into force of this
Act.
From Richards' Digest of Patent-Laws (of Canada), 12.
PATENTS ISSUED UNDER FORMER LAWS.
6. Existing provincial patents to remain in force. All patents,
issued under the said Acts of the General Assembly of Prince
Edward Island, or any of them, to the date of the passing of this
Act shall remain in force in the said province for the same term as
if the Act or Acts under which such patent respectively were issued
had not been repealed, but subject to all the provisions of this Act,
CANADA. 119
in so far as such provisions, or any of them, may be applicable to
such patents respectively.
2. Extension of provincial patent provided for. And it shall
be lawful for the commissioner, upon the application of the patentee
named in any such patent, being the inventor of the subject-matter
of the patent, if the subject-matter of the patent has not been
known or used nor with the consent of the patentee on sale, in any
of the other provinces of the dominion, to issue, on payment of the
proper fees in that behalf, a patent under this Act extending such
provincial patent over the whole of the dominion, for the remainder
of the term mentioned in the provincial patent.
7. Records of patent office of Prince Edward Island to be
handed over to commissioner. All the records of the Province of
Prince Edward Island shall be handed over by the officers in charge
of them to the commissioner of patents of invention, to form part
of the records of the patent-office for the purposes of the Act
hereby amended and of the Acts amending the same and of this
Act.
8. Proceedings for impeachment of patents. Any person desir-
ing to impeach any patent issued under The Patent Act of 1872, as
amended by subsequent Acts and by this Act, the petitioner for
which has elected his domicile at any place in Prince Edward
Island, may obtain a sealed and certified copy of the patent and of
the petition, affidavit, specification and drawings thereunto relating,
and may have the same filed in the office of the clerk of the Supreme
Court of Judicature in that province, which court shall adjudicate
on the matter and decide as to costs. The patent and documents
aforesaid shall then be held as of record in such court, so that a
writ of scire facias under the seal of the court grounded upon such
record may issue for the repeal of the patent, for cause as aforesaid,
if upon proceeding had upon the writ in accordance with the mean-
ing of this Act, the patent be adjudged to be void.
9. Act to be one with former Acts. Short title. This Act shall
be read and construed as one Act with the Act hereby amended,
and the two Acts amending the same; and the said four Acts may be
cited together as The Patent Acts, 1872 to 1875.
From Richards' Digest of Patent Laics, &c. (of Canada), 24.
FOREIGN LAWS.
Act of April 19, 1884, Stat. 47 Viet. c. 38,
1. A bill or note given for a patent right or interest therein, to
have certain words on its face. A bill of exchange or promissory
note, the consideration of which consists in whole or in part of the
purchase money of a patent right, or of a partial interest (limited
geographically or otherwise) in a patent right, shall have written
or printed prominently and legibly across the face thereof, before
the same is issued, the words " given for a patent right."
2. Purchaser or holder of such instrument to take it subject to
certain rights of defense. The indorsee or other transferee of any
such instrument having the words aforesaid so printed or written
thereon shall take the same subject to any defense or set-off in
respect of the whole or any part thereof, which would have existed
between the original parties.
3. Punishment for inducing any one to make, take, t&c. such
bill or note without certain words to it. Any one who issues, sells
or transfers by indorsement or delivery any such instrument not
having the words " given for a patent right " printed or written in
manner aforesaid across the face thereof, knowing the consideration
of such instrument to have consisted in whole or in part of the pur-
chase money of a patent right, or of a partial interest (limited geo-
graphically or otherwise) in a patent right, shall be guilty of a mis-
demeanor, and shall be liable to be imprisoned in any jail or other
place of confinement for any term not more than once year, or to
such fine as the judge may think fit, not exceeding two hundred
dollars.
From Richards' Digest of Patent Laws, &c. (of Canada).
CAPE COLONY. 121
CAPE COLONY : CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
Act to provide for the granting, in this Colony, of Patents
for Inventions. No. IT of I860.*
Preamble. Whereas it is expedient that the making of new and
useful inventions should be encouraged by securing to their inven-
tors, for a limited time, the exclusive enjoyment thereof : Be it
enacted by the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, with the
advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assem-
bly thereof, as follows :
I. Interpretation of terms. In the interpretation of this Act the
term " invention " shall bear and have the same meaning as the
term " invention " bears and has in the Act of the Imperial Parlia-
ment, the 15th and 16th of Her Majesty, chapter 83, and the term
"letters patent" shall mean authorizations granted by the governor
under the public seal of the colony, and the term " proceeding in
the nature of a scire facias " shall mean as much as may be what
the same term would mean if used in an Act of the Imperial Parlia-
ment.
II. Power to grant patents. It shall be lawful to make and issue
in the manner hereinafter mentioned, letters patent granting to the
true and first inventor of any invention the privilege of the sole and
exclusive working, making, and enjoyment of such invention,
within this colony, for any term not exceeding fourteen years from
the date of such letters patent.
III. Governor to make rules for executing this Act. It shall be
lawful for the governor, with the advice of the Executive Council,
from time to time to make such rules and regulations, not incon-
sistent with the provisions hereof, as may appear to be necessary
and expedient for the purposes of this Act, and all such rules and
regulations shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within
fourteen days after the making thereof, if Parliament be sitting,
and if Parliament be not sitting, then within fourteen days after
the next meeting in Parliament.
IV. Applicants to deposit specifications. They may be amended.
* A translation of this law differing the schedule of fees, may be found in 20
very slightly from that presented in the Pat. Off. Gaz. 1167.
text, and without the schedules, except
122 FOREIGN LAWS.
All applications under this Act for the grant of letters patent for
an invention shall be made as follows, that is to say, the applicant
shall deposit at the office of the colonial secretary an instrument in
writing under his hand, particularly describing and ascertaining the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and also a copy of such instrument, and of the drawings
accompanying the same, if any ; and the day of the deposit of
every such specification shall be recorded at the said office, and
indorsed upon such specification, and a certificate thereof given to
such applicant or his agent ; and thereupon, subject and without
prejudice to the provisions hereinafter contained, the said invention
shall be protected under this Act, for the term of six months next
after the said deposit, and the applicant shall have during such term
the like powers, rights, and privileges as might have been conferred
on him by letters patent for such invention issued under this Act,
and duly sealed, as of the day of such deposit, and during the con-
tinuance of such powers, rights, and privileges under this provision,
such invention may be used and published without prejudice to any
letters patent to be granted for the same ; and where letters patent
are granted in respect of such invention, such letters patent shall be
conditioned to become void if such specification does not particu-
larly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed : Provided always, that
in the case the title of the invention or the said specification be too
large or insufficient, it shall be lawful for the attorney-general here-
inafter mentioned, during the said term of six months, and before
the grant of the letters patent, to allow or require such specification
to be amended, or another and sufficient specification to be deposited
in lieu thereof ; and every such amended or new specification shall
have the force, effect, and operation as if it had been originally
deposited in its amended state.
V. Patent not affected by specification of pretended inventor. In
case of the deposit of any such specification as aforesaid, in fraud
of the true and first inventor, any letters patent granted to the true
and first inventor of any such invention shall not be invalidated by
reason of such deposit, or of any use or publication of the inven-
tion subsequent to such deposit, and before the expiration of the
said term of protection.
VI. Mode of proceeding after deposit of specification. The
applicant so soon as he shall think fit after the deposit of such
specification as aforesaid, and of the drawings and models accom-
CAPE COLONY. 123
panying the same, if any, may give notice in writing at the office
of the attorney-general of his intention to proceed with his applica-
tion for letters patent for the said invention, stating in such notice
the title of the said invention, and the day on which the specifica-
tion thereof was deposited at the office of the colonial secretary, and
at the time of giving such notice shall produce the said certificate
of deposit ; and thereupon the said attorney-general shall deliver to
the applicant or his agent an appointment in the form contained in
the second schedule to this Act, or to the like effect ; and such
applicant or agent shall cause the said appointment to be published
once in the Government Gazette, once in some newspaper published
in the city of Cape Town, and twice in some newspaper published
in the town or place at or near to which the applicant uses or exer-
cises the said invention, or (in case he does not use or exercise the
same) in or near to which he resides, or if there shall be no news-
paper published in such town or place, then twice in some newspaper
circulating in the neighborhood where he uses or exercises the said
invention, or (in case he does not use or exercise the same) where
he resides ; and any persons having an interest in opposing the
grant of letters patent for the said invention shall be at liberty to
leave particulars in writing of their objections to the said applica-
tion at the office of the attorney-general within such time, not being
less than one month, as the said attorney-general by such appoint-
ment may direct.
VII. Attorney-general to hear applications and objections, and
award costs. At the time and place named in the said appointment
the applicant shall produce the newspapers containing the same,
and the attorney-general shall thereupon hear and consider the said
application and all objections to the same mentioned in the said
particulars, if any, and for that purpose shall obtain from the office
of the colonial secretary the copy of the said specification, and of
the drawings and models accompanying the same, if any, and may
call to his aid such scientific or other person or persons as he may
think fit, and may, by writing under his hand, order to be paid to
such person or persons some remuneration for his or their attend-
ance, and may also in like manner order that the costs of any hear-
ing, upon any objection or otherwise, in relation to the grant of
such letters patent or the protection acquired by the applicant
under this Act, shall be paid, and in and by such writing shall fix
the amount of such remuneration or costs, and by or to whom the
same respectively shall be paid ; and every such order shall be in
124 FOREIGN LAWS.
the form contained in the third schedule to this Act or to the like
effect, and may be made a rule of the Supreme Court : Provided
always, that the applicant, the objectors, and their respective wit-
nesses and evidence, shall be respectively heard, examined, and
considered separately, and apart from and in the absence of the
other and his witnesses and evidence.
VIII. Attorney -general may issue grant for patent. The
attorney-general after such hearing and consideration may issue a
warrant under his hand for the granting of letters patent for the
said invention, and by such warrant shall direct the insertion in
such letters patent of all such restrictions, conditions, and provisos
as he may deem usual and expedient in such grants, or necessary in
pursuance of this Act, and the said warrant shall be the warrant
for the making and sealing of letters patent under this Act, accord-
ing to the tenor of the said warrant ; and every such warrant shall
be in the form contained in the fourth schedule to this Act, or to
the like effect.
IX. Patent may be repealed or withheld, and specifications
canceled. A writ of the Supreme Court, in the nature of a writ of
scire facias in England, shall lie fey* the repeal of any letters patent
granted under this Act, and it shall be lawful for the Governor,
with the advice aforesaid, to order such attorney-general to with-
hold such warrant as aforesaid, or that any letters patent, for the
granting whereof he has issued a warrant, shall not issue, or to
order the insertion in any such letters patent of any restrictions,
conditions, and provisos, in addition to or in substitution for any
restrictions, conditions, or provisos which would otherwise be
inserted therein under this Act ; and it shall also be lawful for the
Governor, with the advice and consent aforesaid, to order any
specification in respect of the invention described in which no letters
patent may have been granted, to be canceled, and thereupon the
protection obtained by the deposit of such specification shall cease,
X. Patent void on non-performance of conditions. All letters
patent for inventions granted under this Act shall be in the form
contained in the fifth schedule to this Act, or to the like effect, and
be made subject to the condition that the same shall be void, and
that the powers and privileges thereby granted shall cease and
determine at the expiration of three years and seven years respec-
tively from the date thereof, unless there be paid within the said
three and seven years respectively the sum or sums of money in
that behalf hereby required to be paid, and the colonial secretary
CAPE COLONY. 125
shall issue under bis hand a certificate of such payment, and shall
indorse a receipt for the same on the letters patent.
XI. Patent to be issued within three months. The colonial sec-
retary, so soon after the receipt by him of the warrant aforesaid as
required by the applicant, shall cause to be prepared letters patent
for the invention according to the tenor of the said warrant ; and
it shall be lawful for the Governor, with the advice of the Execu-
tive Council, to cause letters patent to be sealed with the public
seal of the colony, and such letters patent shall be made applicable
to the said colony, and shall be valid and effectual as to the whole
of the same ; but, except as hereinafter mentioned, no letters patent
shall issue on any warrant granted as aforesaid, unless application
be made to seal such letters patent within three months after the
date of the said warrant, nor unless such letters patent be granted
during the continuance of the protection conferred under this Act
by reason of such deposit as aforesaid.
XII. Patent may issue after that time, in certain cases. Where
the application to seal such letters patent has been made during the
continuance of such protection as aforesaid, and the sealing of such
letters patent has been delayed from accident, and not from the
neglect or willful default of the applicant, then such letters patent
may be sealed at such time, not being more than one month after
the expiration of such protection as the Governor, with the advice
aforesaid, shall direct ; and where the applicant for such letters
patent dies during the continuance of such protection as aforesaid,
such letters patent may be granted to the executors, testamentary
or dative, of such applicant during the continuance of such protec-
tion, or at any time within three months after the death of such
applicant, notwithstanding the expiration of the term of such pro-
tection ; and the letters patent so granted shall be of the like force
and effect as if they had been granted to such applicant during the
continuance of such protection ; and in case any letters patent
shall be destroyed or lost, other letters patent of the like tenor and
effect, and sealed and dated as of the same day, may, subject to
such regulations as the Governor, with the advice aforesaid, may
direct, be issued under the authority of the warrant in pursuance of
which the original letters patent were issued.
Xm. Patent to bear date of deposit of specification. All let-
ters patent to be issued in pursuance of this Act shall be sealed and
bear date as of the day of the deposit of such specification as afore-
said, and shall be of the same force and validity as if they had been
126 FOREIGN LAWS.
sealed on the day as of which the same are expressed to be sealed
and bear date ; and after any letters patent shall have been granted
or issued under this Act it shall not be necessary or admissible to
inquire or ascertain whether such appointment as aforesaid has or
has not been delivered and published in the manner hereinbefore
mentioned and directed.
XIV. Patent for foreign invention ends with foreign patent.
Where, upon any application made under this Act, letters patent are
granted for or in respect of any invention, first invented in parts-
out of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and a patent or like
privilege for the monopoly or exclusive use or exercise of such
invention in any parts out of the Cape of Good Hope is obtained
before the grant of such letters patent in the Cape of Good Hope,
all rights and privileges under such letters patent shall, notwith-
standing any term in such letters patent limited, cease and be void
immediately upon the expiration or other determination of the term
during which the patent or like privilege obtained in such part out
of the Cape of Good Hope shall continue in force, or, where more
than one such patent or like privilege is obtained abroad, immedi-
ately upon the expiration or determination of the term which shall
first expire or be determined of such several patents or like privi-
leges : Provided always, that no letters patent for or in respect of
any invention for which any such patent or like privilege as afore-
said shall have been obtained abroad, granted in the Cape of Good
Hope after the expiration or determination of the term for which
euch patent or privilege was granted or was in force, shall be of
any validity.
XV. Patent not to prevent use of inventions in foreign ships.
No letters patent for any invention, granted after the passing of
this Act, shall extend to prevent the use of such invention in any
foreign ship or vessel, or for the navigation of any foreign ship or
vessel which may be in any port of the Cape of Good Hope, in case
such invention is not so used for the manufacture of any goods or
commodities to be vended within or exported from the same.
XVI. Specification to be filed after issue of patent, <&c. Every
specification deposited at the office of the colonial secretary as
aforesaid, and the drawings and models accompanying the same, if
any, shall forthwith, after the grant of the letters patent, or if no
letters patent be granted, then immediately on the expiration of six
mouths from the time of such deposit, be transferred to and kept in
CAPE COLONY. 127
such office as the governor, with the advice aforesaid, shall from
time to time appoint for that purpose.
XVII. Notice of application to disclaim or make alterations.
Any person who shall obtain letters patent under this Act, or in
case such person shall depart with the whole or any part of his
interest by assignment, such person, together with the assignee (if
part only has been assigned), or the assignee alone (if the whole
hath been assigned), may apply to the attorney-general for leave to
enter a disclaimer of any part of either the title of the invention or
of the specification, or a memorandum of any alteration in the said
title or specification, not being such disclaimer or such alteration,
as shall extend the exclusive right granted by the said letters pat-
ent ; and thereupon the attorney-general shall deliver to such
patentee and assignee, or either of them, or to their or either of
their agents, an appointment in the form contained in the sixth
schedule to this Act, or to the like effect, and such patentee or
assignee shall thereupon cause such disclaimer (stating the reason
for the same) or such memorandum of alteration to be written at
the foot of such appointment, and shall cause the same respectively
to be published in the manner hereinbefore required, with respect
to the said first-mentioned appointment, and any person having an
interest in opposing the said application shall be at liberty to leave
particulars, in writing, of their objections to the same, at the office
of the attorney-general, within such time, not being less than one
month, as the said attorney-general by such appointment may
direct : Provided always, that where such application as aforesaid
shall be for leave to enter a disclaimer of any part of the title of the
said invention, or a memorandum of any alteration in such title, the
attorney-general may dispense with such appointment and publica-
tion, and in that case shall certify in the fiat hereinafter mentioned,
that he has dispensed with the same.
XVIII. Application for disclaimer to be heard. At the time and
place named in such appointment, the said patentee and assignee,
or one of them, shall produce the newspapers containing the same,
and the said disclaimer or memorandum of alteration at the foot
thereof ; and the attorney-general shall thereupon hear and consider
the said application, and all objections to the same mentioned in the
said particulars, if any, and all such power and authority shall and
may be exercised on such occasion by the attorney-general, as by
virtue of the provisions hereinbefore contained can and may be
exercised in relation to the hearing and considering an application
128 FOREIGN LAWS.
for letters patent, and objections to the same, and shall and may be
enforced in the same manner.
XIX. How disclaimer may be entered, and alterations made.
After such hearing and consideration, or without such hearing and
consideration where the said appointment and publication shall
have been dispensed with, as aforesaid, such patentee and assignee,
or either of them, may, by leave of the attorney-general, to be cer-
tified by a fiat under his hand (to be written at the foot of the same
parchment with the said disclaimer or memorandum), enter such
disclaimer, stating the reason for the same, or such memorandum
of alteration ; and at the time of entering such disclaimer or memo-
randum of alteration shall deposit a copy thereof in the office next
hereinafter mentioned, and such disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration being filed in such office as the Governor, with the advice
aforesaid, shall from lime to time appoint for that purpose, shall be
deemed and taken to be part of such letters patent or such specifi-
cation, and subject to the several incidents thereof in all colonial
courts, and shall be valid and effectual in favor of any person in
whom the rights under the said letters patent may then be, or here-
after become, legally vested ; and no objection shall be allowed to
be made in any proceeding upon, or touching such letters patent,
specification, disclaimer, or memorandum of alteration, on the
ground that the person entering such disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration had not sufficient authority in that behalf : Provided
always, that no action shall be brought upon any letters patent in
which, or on the specification of which, any disclaimer or memoran-
dum of alteration shall have been filed in respect of any infringe-
ment committed prior to the filing of such disclaimer or memoran-
dum of alteration (unless the attorney- general shall certify in his
said fiat that any such action may be brought, notwithstanding the
entry or filing of such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration) ;
and no such disclaimer or alteration shall be receivable as evidence
in any action or suit (save and except in any proceeding, as
aforesaid, in the nature of a scire facias) pending at the time when
such disclaimer or alteration was filed as aforesaid ; but in every
such last mentioned action or suit the original title and specifica-
tion alone shall be given in evidence, and be deemed and taken to
be the title and specification of the invention for which the letters
patent have been or shall have been granted : Provided also, that
when any such fiat shall have been granted or issued under this
Act, it shall not be necessary or material to inquire or ascertain
CAPE COLONY. 129
whether such appointment as last aforesaid has or has not been
delivered and published or dispensed with in accordance with this
Act ; and such filing of any disclaimer or memorandum of altera-
tion, in pursuance of the leave of the attorney-general certified as
aforesaid, shall, except in cases of fraud, be conclusive as to the
right of the party to enter such disclaimer or memorandum of alter-
ation under this Act.
XX. Copies of specification, disclaimers, tfcc., open for inspec-
tion. The copies of all specifications, and the drawings and models
accompanying the same, if any, and of all disclaimers and memo-
randa of alterations respectively deposited under or in pursuance of
this Act, shall be open to the inspection of the public at all reason-
able times after the grant of letters patent, or if no letters patent
be granted, then immediately on the expiration of six months from
the time of such deposit, but subject to such regulations as the
Governor, with the advice aforesaid, may make in that behalf.
XXI. Mode of obtaining extension of the term. If any person
having obtained letters patent under this Act, or in case such person
shall have departed with his whole, or any part of his interest by
assignment, if such person, together with the assignee (where part
only hath been assigned) or if the assignee alone (where the whole
hath been assigned), shall, six months before the expiration or
other termination of such letters patent, present to the Governor
a petition for the extension of the term in such letters patent men-
tioned, and shall set forth in such petition that he or they has or
have been unable to obtain a due remuneration for his or their
expense or labor in perfecting such invention, and that an exclusive
right of using and vending the same for some further period, to be
named in such petition, in addition to the said term, is necessary
for his or their reimbursement and remuneration, it shall be lawful
for the Governor, with the advice aforesaid, to refer the considera-
tion of the said petition to commissibners to be appointed for that
purpose in the manner hereinafter mentioned.
XXII. Mode of obtaining confirmation of invalid patent. If in
any suit or action it shall be proved or specially found by the verdict
of a jury that any person who shall have obtained letters patent for
any invention or supposed invention was not the first inventor
thereof, or of some part thereof, by reason of some other person
having invented or used the same or some part thereof, before the
date of such letters patent, or if such patentee or his assigns shall
discover that some other person had, unknown to such patentee,
I. 9
130 FOREIGN LAWS.
invented or used the same or some part thereof before the date of
such letters patent, such patentee or his assigns may petition the
Governor to confirm the said letters patent, or to grant new letters
patent, and it shall be lawful for the Governor, with the advice
aforesaid, to refer the consideration of the said petition to commis-
sioners to be appointed for that purpose in the manner hereinafter
mentioned.
XXIII. Governor to appoint commissioners. For the purpose of
considering any such petition as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the
Governor, if, with the advice aforesaid, he shall think fit, to issue
and direct in the name of Her Majesty, her heirs or her successors,
to five or more persons, of whom some of the judges of the Supremo
Court shall be two, a commission reciting such petition, and requir-
ing and authorizing such persons or any three of them, of whom one
of the said judges shall be one, to meet at some time, not being less
than two months from the publication of the said commission in the
Government Gazette, and at some place to be respectively fixed in
the said commission, and then and there to consider the said petition
and to report to the Governor, in case such petitioner shall have
prayed for an extension of the term in the letters patent mentioned,
whether any and, if any, what further extension of the said term
should be granted, according to the prayer of the said petition, and
upon what, if any, conditions, or, in case such petitioner shall have
prayed for a confirmation of the letters patent, or for a grant of
new letters patent, whether such confirmation or grant should be
made.
XXIV. Notice of commission to be published, and caveats
entered. Two months at least before the time named in the said
commission for the consideration of any such petition as aforesaid,
the petitioner shall cause to be published in the same manner as is
hereinbefore required with respect to the said first-mentioned
appointment, an advertisement of the contents of the said commis-
sion in the form contained in the seventh schedule to this Act, or to
the like effect ; and any person having an interest in opposing the
said petition shall be at liberty to enter a caveat against the same
at the office of the colonial secretary at any time, not being less than
one week before the time named in the said commission for the exe-
cution thereof.
XXXV. Commissioners to hear all parties, and report. At the
time and place fixed in the said commission for that purpose, the
commissioners shall meet and proceed to consider such petition, and
CAPE COLONY. 131
the petitioner shall be heard by his counsel and witnesses, to prove
his case as stated in such petition, and the publication of the said
last-mentioned advertisement as required by this Act ; and the per-
sons entering caveats shall likewise be heard by their counsel and
witnesses ; and all such witnesses shall be examined upon oath or
affirmation, which oath or affirmation such commissioners as afore-
said are hereby authorized and required to administer, and there-
upon, and upon hearing and inquiry of the whole matter, in case such
petitioner shall have prayed for an extension as aforesaid, the said
commissioners may report whether any, and, if any, what further
extension of the said term should be granted ; and the Governor is
hereby authorized and empowered, if he, with the advice aforesaid,
shall think fit, to grant to the petitioner new letters patent for the
said invention, for a term not exceeding fourteen years after the
expiration of the first term, anything hereinbefore contained to the
contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding ; and such new letters
patent shall be sealed and bear date as of the day after the expira-
tion of the term of the first letters patent ; or, in case sttch peti-
tioner shall have prayed for a confirmation or grant as aforesaid,
such commissioners, upon examining the said matter, and being sat-
isfied that such patentee, as aforesaid, believed himself to be the
first and original inventor, and being satisfied that such invention,
or part thereof, had not been publicly and generally used before the
date.of such first letters patent, may report to the Governor their
opinion that the prayer of such petition ought to be complied with,
whereupon the Governor may, if he, with the advice aforesaid, shall
think fit, grant such prayer ; and the said letters patent shall be
available at law and in equity to give to such petitioner the sole
right of using, making and vending such invention, as against all
persons whatsoever, anything hereinbefore contained to the con-
trary thereof notwithstanding: Provided that any person, party to
any former action or suit touching such first letters patent as last
aforesaid, shall be entitled to have notice in writing of the time and
place fixed, as aforesaid, for the first meeting of the said commis-
sioners to consider the said petition, and after any such report shall
have been tnade, it shall not be material to inquire or ascertain
whether any such advertisement as last aforesaid has or has not
been published, or whether any such notice as last aforesaid has
or has not been given in the manner hereinbefore directed in that
behalf.
XXVI. Indexes to specifications, disclaimers, &c. The governor,
132 FOREIGN LAWS.
with the advice aforesaid, may cause indexes to all specifications,
disclaimers, and memoranda of alterations heretofore or to be here-
after enrolled or deposited as aforesaid, to be prepared in such form,
as may be thought fit, and such indexes shall be open to the inspec-
tion of the public at such places as the governor, with the advice
aforesaid, shall appoint, and subject to the regulations to be made
as hereinbefore provided.
XXVII. Register of patents to be kept. There shall be kept at
the office to be appointed as aforesaid, a book or books to be called
the " Register of Patents," wherein shall be entered and recorded
in chronological order all letters patent granted under this Act, the
deposit and filing of specifications, disclaimers, and memoranda of
alterations filed in respect of such letters patent, all amendments in
such letters patent and specifications, all confirmations and exten-
sions of such letters patent, the expiry, determination, vacating, or
canceling such letters patent, with the dates thereof respectively,
and all other matters and things affecting the validity of such let-
ters patent as the Governor, with the advice aforesaid, may direct ;
and such register or a copy thereof shall be open at all convenient
times to the inspection of the public, subject to such regulations
as the governor, with the advice aforesaid, may make in that
behalf.
XXVIII. Register of proprietors to be kept. There shall be
kept at the same office a book or books entitled " The Register of
Proprietors," wherein shall be entered, in such manner as the gover-
nor, with the advice aforesaid, shall direct, the assignment of any
letters patent, or of any share or interest therein, any license under
letters patent, and the district to which such license relates, with
the name or names of any person having any share or interest in
such letters patent or license, the date of his or their acquiring
such letters patent, share, and interest, and any other matter or
thing relating to or affecting the proprietorship in such letters
patent, or license ; and a copy of any entry in such book, certified
as hereinafter mentioned, shall be given to any person requiring the
same, and shall be primd facie proof of the assignment of such
letters patent, or share, or interest therein, or of the license or pro-
prietorship as therein expressed : Provided always, that until such
entry shall have been made, the grantee or grantees of the letters
patent shall be deemed and taken to be the sole and exclusive
proprietor or proprietors of such letters patent, and of all the
licenses and privileges thereby given and granted, and such register,
CAPE COLONY. 133
or a copy, shall be open to public inspection subject to such regu-
lations as the governor, with the advice aforesaid, may make.
XXIX. Falsification or forgery of entries. If any person shall
willfully make, or cause to be made, any false entry in the said
registry, or shall willfully make or forge, or cause to be made or
forged, any writing falsely purporting to be a copy of any entry in
the said book, or shall produce or tender, or cause or suffer to be
produced or tendered in evidence, any such writing, knowing the
same to be false or forged, he shall be guilty of the crime of con-
travening this section of this Act, and shall upon conviction be
liable to imprisonment with or without hard labor for any period
not exceeding five years.
XXX. Entry may be expunged, or varied, by order of Supremo
Court. If any person shall deem himself aggrieved by any entry
made under color of this Act in the said register, it shall be lawful
for such person to apply by motion to the Supreme Court for an
order that such entry may be expunged, vacated, or varied; and upon
any such application, such court may make such order for expung-
ing, vacating, or varying such entry, and as to the costs of such
application as to such court may seem fit ; and the officer having
the care and custody of such registry, on the production to him 4>f
any such order, shall expunge, vacate, or vary the said entry accord-
ing to such order.
XXXI. Penalty for unauthorized user of word "Patent." If any
person shall write, paint, print, mould, cast, carve, engrave, stamp,
or otherwise mark upon anything made, used, or sold by him, for
the sole making or selling of which he hath not, or shall not have
obtained letters patent, the name or any imitation of the name of any
other person who hath or shall have obtained letters patent for the
sole making or vending of such thing, without leave in writing of
such patentee or his assigns : or if any person, shall, upon such
thing not having been purchased from the patentee, or some person
who purchased it from or under such patentee, or not having had
the license or consent in wi'iting of such patentee or his assigns,
write, paint, print, mould, cast, carve, engrave, stamp, or otherwise
mark the word " Patent," the words " Letters Patent," or the words
" By the Queen's Patent," or any words of the like kind, meaning,
or import, with a view of imitating or counterfeiting the stamp,
mark, or other device of the patentee, he shall fur every such
offense forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds, one half to
Her Majesty, Her heirs arid successors, and the other half, with full
134 FOREIGN LAWS.
costs of suit, to any person who shall sue for the said penalty by
action of debt: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall
be construed to extend to subject any person to any penalty in
respect of stamping, or in any way marking the word " Patent,"
upon anything for the sole making or vending of which letters
patent before obtained shall have expired or otherwise determined.
XXXII. In actions for infringement, particulars of breaches and
objections to be delivered. In any action for the infringement of let-
ters patent the plaintiff shall deliver with his declaration particulars
of the breaches complained of in the said action, and the defendant
on pleading thereto shall deliver with his pleas, and the prosecutor in
any proceedings in the nature of scire fachs to repeal letters pat-
ent, shall deliver with his declaration particulars of any objections
on which he means to rely at the trial in support of the pleas in the
said action, or of the suggestions of the said declaration respec-
tively : and at the trial of such action or proceedings, no evidence
shall be allowed to be given in support of any alleged infringement,
or of any objection impeaching the validity of such letters patent,
which shall not be contained in the particulars delivered as afore-
said: Provided always, that the place or places at or in which and
in what manner the invention is alleged to have been used or pub-
lished prior to the date of the letters patent, shall be stated in such
particulars : Provided also-, that it shall and may be lawful for any
judge at chambers to allow such plaintiff, or defendant, or prose-
cutor respectively, to amend the particulars delivered as aforesaid,
upon such terms as to such judge may seem fit : Provided also,
that at the trial of any proceeding to repeal letters patent, the
defendant shall be entitled to begin and give evidence in support of
such letters patent, and in case evidence shall be adduced on the
part of the prosecutor impeaching the validity of such letters pat-
ent, the defendant shall be entitled to the reply.
XXXIII. Particulars to be regarded in taxing costs. In taxing
the costs in any action for infringing letters patent, regard shall be
had to the particulars delivered in such action; and the plaintiff and
defendant respectively shall not be allowed any costs in respect of
any particular, unless certified by the court before which the trial
was had, to have been proved by such plaintiff or defendant respec- '
tively ; and it shall be lawful for the court before which any such
action shall be tried, to certify on the record that the validity of the
letters patent in the declaration mentioned came in question, and the
record with such certificate being given in evidence in any suit or
CAPE COLONY. 135
action for infringing the said letters patent, or in any proceeding
in the nature of a scire facias to repeal the letters patent, shall
entitle the plaintiff in any such suit or action, or the defendant in
any such proceeding, on obtaining a decree or judgment, to his full
costs, charges, and expenses, to be taxed as between attorney and
client, unless the court making such judgment, decree, or order
shall certify that the plaintiff or defendant respectively ought not
to have such fall costs.
XXXIV. Pees on obtaining patents. There shall be paid in
respect of letters patent applied for or issued as herein mentioned,
the depositing of specifications, disclaimers, and memoranda of
alterations, warrants, certificates, entries, and searches, and other
matters and things respectively mentioned in the last schedule to
this Act, such fees as are enumerated in that schedule ; and such
of the said fees as are thereby made payable to the attorney-
general, as well as the residue thereof, shall form part of the
colonial revenue.
XXXV. English patents subject to this Act. All letters patent
which shall be granted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland after the first day of July, in the year of Our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty, for any invention, shall, so far
as the same relate to this said colony, be utterly void and of none
effect, and in nowise be put in execution : But all such letters pat-
ent granted in the said United Kingdom on or before that day, and
which, if this Act had not been passed, would have been valid in
this colony, shall be deemed and taken to have been granted under
this Act and may be dealt with accordingly.
SCHEDULES.
THE FIRST SCHEDULE.
To all to whom these presents shall come, I, John Doe, of Cape Town, engineer,
send greeting : Whereas I am desirous of obtaining letters patent for securing unto
me Her Majesty's special license that I, my executors and assigns, and such others as
I or they should at any time agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might,
from time to time and at all times during the term of fourteen years (to be computed
from the day on which this instrument shall be left at the office of the colonial secre-
tary), make, use, exercise, and vend within the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, an
invention for [insert the title of the invention] ; and in order to obtain the said letters
patent, I must, by an instrument in writing under my hand, particularly describe and
136 FOREIGN LAWS.
McertaU. *l>0 nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed wia must also enter into the covenant herein-after contained ; Now know ye
that tne nature of the said invention and the manner in which the same is to be per-
tormed, are particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
that is to say [describe the invention}. And I do hereby, for myself, my heirs and
executors, covenant with Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, that I believe the
said invention to be a new invention as to the public use and exercise thereof, and
tnat 1 do not know or believe that any person other than myself is the true and first
inventor of the said invention, and that I will not deposit these presents at the office
of the colonial secretary with any such knowledge or belief as last aforesaid. In
witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Cape Town this day of
186 .
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Patent for [insert the title a in the specification].
This is to notify that John Doe, of, &c. , did, on the day of instant (or
last) deposit at the office of the colonial secretary in Cape Town, a specification or
instrument in writing under his hand, particularly describing and ascertaining the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
that by reason of such deposit the said invention is protected and secured to him
exclusively for the term of six calendar months thence next ensuing. And I do
further notify that the said John Doe has given notice in writing at my office, of his
intention to proceed with bis application for letters patent for the said invention, and
that I have appointed [Thursday] the day of next, at o'clock in the
noon, at my office, to hear and consider the said application and all objections
thereto ; and I do hereby require all persons having an interest in opposing the grant
of such letters patent to leave, before that day, at my office in Cape Town, particu-
lars in writing of their objections to the said application, otherwise they will be pre-
cluded from urging the same.
Given under my hand, this day of , 186 .
W. P., Attorney General.
THIRD SCHEDULE.
Upon hearing the objection of A. B., to the grant to John Doe, of letters patent
for [insert the title as in the specification], I do by this writing under my hand, order
that the said A. B. shall pay to the said John Doe the sum of for the costs of
such hearing [or to E. F. the sum of as a remuneration for his attendance at
such hearing].
W. P., Attorney General.
Given under my hand, this day of 186 .
FOURTH SCHEDULE.
I have heard and considered the application of John Doe for letters patent for
[insert the title as in t/ie specijication], and also all objections to the same, and having
j>erused the specification and the usual and necessary advertisements, am of opinion
that as it is entirely at the hazard of the said applicant whether the said invention is
new and will have the desired success, Her Majesty's royal letters patent may be
issued in the form contained in the fifth schedule to the Act [with the following addi-
tional clauses, that is to say : here set them out, if any].
Given under my hand, this day of 186 .
W. P., Attorney General
CAPE COLONY. 137
FIFTH SCHEDULE.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land, Queen, Defender of the Faith, to all to whom these presents shall come, greet-
ing : Whereas John Doe, of in the division of , engineer, hath represented
that he is desirous of obtaining our royal letters patent for securing unto him our
special license that he, his executors and assigns, and such others as he or they
should agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might make, use, vend, and
exercise within our colony of the Cape of Good Hope, an invention for [insert tlie title
of the invention], and by an instrument in writing under his hand deposited in the
office of the colonial secretary, the said John Doe hath particularly described and
ascertained the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed : And we, being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions
which may be for the public good, are graciously pleased to confer upon the said
John Doe the privileges herein-after mentioned. Know ye, therefore, that we of our
especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion have given and granted, and by
these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant unto the said John
Doe, his executors and assigns, our especial license, full power, sole privilege, and
authority, that he, the said John Doe, his executors, administrators, and assigns, and
every of them, by himself and themselves, or his and their deputy or deputies, ser-
vants or agents, or such others as he or they shall at any time agree with, and no
others, during the term herein expressed, shall and lawfully may make, use, exercise,
and vend his said invention within our said colony, in such manner as to him, his
executors and assigns, or any of them, shall seem meet ; and that he, his executors
and assigns, shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commo-
dity and advantage, from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising by
reason of the said invention, during the said term : to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy
the said licenses, powers, privileges, and advantages unto and by the said John Doe,
his executors and assigns,' for and during and unto the full end and term of
years now next ensuing. And to the end that he, his executors and assigns, and
every of them, may have and enjoy the full benefit and the sole use and exercise of
the said invention, according to our gracious intention, we do by these presents, for
us, our heirs and successors, require and strictly command all and every person and
persons, whatsoever, of what estate, quality, degree, name, or condition soever they
be within our said colony, that neither they, nor any of them, at any time during the
said term, either directly or indirectly, do make, use, or put in practice the said inven-
tion, or any part of the same, so attained unto by the said John Doe as aforesaid, nor
in any wise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor shall make or cause to be
made any addition thereunto, or subtraction from the same, whereby to pretend himself
or themselves the inventor or inventors, devisor or devisors thereof, without the
consent, license, or agreement of the said John Doc, his executors or assigns, in
writing under his or their hands first had and obtained in that behalf, upon such
pains and penalties as can or may be justly inflicted on such offenders for their con-
tempt of this our royal command ; and further to be answerable to the said John Doe,
his executors and assigns, according to law, for his and their damage thereby
occasioned : Provided always, and these our letters patent are and shall be upon this
condition, that if at any time during the said term hereby granted, it shall appear that
this our grant is contrary to law, or prejudicial or inconvenient to our subjects in
general, or that the said invention is not a new invention as to the public use and
138 FOREIGN LAWS.
exercise thereof, or that the said John Doe is not the first and true inventor thereof
within this colony, these our letters patent shall forthwith cease, determine, and be
utterly void to all intents any purposes, anything herein-before contained to the con-
trary thereof in anywise notwithstanding ; Provided also, that these our letters patent,
or anything herein contained, shall not extend, or be construed to extend, to give
privilege unto the said John Doe, his executors and assigns, or any of them, to use or
imitate any invention or work whatsoever which hath heretofore been found out or
invented by any other of our subjects whatsoever, and publicly used or exercised,
unto whom our like letters patent or privileges have been already granted for the
sole use and exercise and benefit thereof, within our said colony ; it being our will and
pleasure that the said John Doe, his executors and assigns, and all and every person
and persons to whom like letters patent or privileges have been already granted aa
aforesaid, shall distinctly use and practice their several inventions by them invented
and found out, according to the true intent and meaning of the same respective letters
patent and of these presents : Provided likewise nevertheless, and these our letters
patent are upon this express condition, that if the said instrument in writing does
not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and also, if the said John Doe, his executors or
assigns, shall not pay at the office of the colonial secretary of our said colony the
Bum of pounds within three years next after the date of these presents, and
the sum of pouuds within seven years next after such date, that then, and in
any of the said cases, these our letters patent and all liberties and advantages whatso-
ever hereby granted shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, anything herein-
before contained to the contrary hereof in anywise notwithstanding ; provided that
nothing herein contained shall prevent the granting of licenses in such manner and
for such considerations as they may by law be granted : And, lastly, we do by these
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant unto the said John Doe, his executors
and assigns, that these our letters patents shall be in and by all things good, firm,
valid, sufficient, and effectual in the law, according to the true intent and meaning
thereof, and shall be taken, construed, and adjudged in the most favorable and bene-
ficial sense for the best advantage of the said John Doe, bis executors and assigns.
In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent, and to be
sealed and bear date as of the day of
THE SIXTH SCHEDULE.
Patent for [insert t/ie title],
This is to notify to all whom it may concern, that John Doe, of, &c., has
applied to me for leave to enter a disclaimer of part [or memorandum of alteration,
as the case may be] of the said invention, the particulars whereof are stated below ; I
do therefore appoint [Thursday] the day of next, at o'clock in
the poon, to hear and consider the said application, and all objections to the same.
And I do hereby require all persons having an interest in opposing th said applica-
tion to leave, before that day, at my office in Cape Town, particulars in writing of
their objection to the same, otherwise they will be precluded from urging such
objections.
Given under my hand this day of
W. P., Attorney-General.
The following is th* disclaimer [or as tlie COM may be] which I desire to make in,
&c. [the applicant must here setfortli what he wishes to enter, and sign it].
CAPE COLONY. 139
THE SEVENTH SCHEDULE.
Patent for [insert the title],
Notice is hereby given that I have presented a petition to His Excellency the
Governor, praying for the confirmation of [or extension of the term iri\ the said patent,
and that a commission has issued authorizing and requiring certain commissioners
therein named to consider and report upon the subject to the said Governor, which
said commissioners will meet for that purpose on the day of next, at
o'clock in the noon, at . All persons objecting to the said confirmation
[or extension] must enter a caveat against the same at the office of the colonial secre-
tary in Cape Town, otherwise they will be precluded from objecting to it.
Dated this day of JOHN DOE.
THE LAST SCHEDULE.
s. d.
On depositing specification 2 10
To the attorney-general for any " appointment " 2 4 6
On obtaining letters patent 2 10
At or before the expiration of the third year 10
At or before the expiration of the seventh year 20
To the attorney -general with particulars of objections 2 4 6
On presenting petition for extension or confirmation 210
Every search and inspection 1
Entry of assignment or license 10
Certificate of assignment or license 010
Filing memorandum of alteration or disclaimer 210
Entering any caveat. . , 2 10
Copy or extract of any writing per common law folio 1,0
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 127.
CENTRAL AMERICA.
See COSTA RICA, GUATEMALA, NICARAGUA, SALVADOR.
140 FOREIGN LAWS.
CEYLON.
An Ordinance for granting exclusive Privileges to Inven-
tors ; No. 6 (of November 2), 1859.
Preamble. Whereas it is expedient for the encouragement of
inventors of new manufactures, that certain exclusive privileges in
their inventions should be granted to them in Ceylon, it is enacted
by the Governor of Ceylon, with the advice and consent of the
Legislative Council thereof, as follows :
1. Short title of ordinance. This ordinance may be cited for
all purposes as the "Inventions Ordinance, 1859."
2. Commencement of ordinance. This ordinance shall come
into operation on the day of passing the same.
3. Inventor may petition to file specification. Form, &c., of
petition. The inventor of any new manufacture may petition the
Governor for leave to file a specification thereof. Every such peti-
tiot shall be in writing, in the form or to the effect mentioned in
the schedule hereunto annexed, and shall be signed by the peti-
tioner, or, in case the petitioner shall be absent from Ceylon, by an
authorized agent, and shall state the name, condition, and place of
residence of the petitioner, and the nature of the invention.
4. Order to file specification. An alien ami, whether resident
in Ceylon or not, may petition for leave to file a specification under
this ordinance.
5. Poicer to refer petition for inquiry and report. Upon such
petition, the Governor may, with the advice of the Executive
Council, make an order authorizing the petitioner to file a specifi-
cation of the invention : Provided always, that before making such
order, the governor shall refer the petition to any person or persons
for inquiry and report, and such person or persons shall be entitled
to a reasonable fee for such inquiry and report, to be paid by the
petitioner ; the amount of fee, in case of dispute, to be settled by
the district court of Colombo in a summary manner.
6. Exclusive privilege for fourteen years. Extension. If
within the space of six months from the date of such order, the
petitioner cause a specification of his invention to be filed, in man-
ner hereinafter mentioned, the Governor, with the advice and con-
sent of the Executive Council, may, in the Form D. in the schedule
to this ordinance appended, under the public seal of the Island of
CEYLON. Ul
Ceylon, grant to the petitioner, his heirs, executors, administrators,
and assigns, the sole and exclusive privilege of making, selling, and
using the said invention in Ceylon, and authorizing others so to do,
for the term of fourteen years from the time of filing such specifi-
cation ; and for such further term, if any, not exceeding fourteen
years from the expiration of the first fourteen years, as the Gover-
nor, with the advice of the Executive Council, may think fit to
direct, upon petition to be presented by such inventor, at any
period, not more than one year, and not less than six months, before
the expiration of the exclusive privilege hereby granted.
7. Order to file specification may be subject to conditions. An
order, authorizing the filing of a specification, or for extending the
term of such exclusive privilege as aforesaid, may be made subject
to such conditions and restrictions as the Governor, with the advice
of the Executive Council, may think expedient.
8. Specification to be in writing, and to describe invention.
Every specification of an invention filed under this ordinance shall
be in writing, and shall be signed by the petitioner, and shall par-
ticularly describe and define the nature of the said invention, and
in what manner the same is to be carried out.
9. Petition and specification to be left with colonial secretary ;
accompanied by declaration. Every petition for leave to file a
specification, and every specification filed under this ordinance, shall
be left with the colonial secretary, and shall be accompanied by a
declaration in writing, signed by the petitioner, in the form or to the
effect mentioned in the schedule hereunto annexed, marked A. and
B. respectively ; and if the inventor be absent from Ceylon, the
petition and specification shall also be accompanied by a declara-
tion, signed by the agent who shall present or file the same, to the
effect that he verily believes that the declaration purporting to be
the declaration of the inventor was signed by him, and that the con-
tents thereof are true ; which declaration shall be in the form here-
unto annexed, marked C. The date of the delivery of every such
petition and specification shall be indorsed on the same respectively
and shall be also recorded at the office of the colonial secretary.
10. False statement in declaration punishable as perjury. Any
person who shall willfully and corruptly make any false statement
in any declaration required by this ordinance shall be liable to the
pains and penalties of perjury.
11. Payment of fees. No specification shall be filed until the
petitioner shall have paid all fees payable under this ordinance.
142 FOREIGN LAWS.
12. To be open to inspection. The specification, or a copy
thereof, shall be open at all reasonable times, at the office of the
colonial secretary, to public inspection, upon payment of a fee of
five shillings.
13. Jiook for the registry of petitions, specifications, &c. A
book shall be kept in the office of the colonial secretary, wherein
shall be entered every such petition and specification, and every
order made upon such petition, or relating to the invention
therein mentioned, and every grant of exclusive privilege. Every
specification and every such grant as aforesaid shall be numbered
according to the order in which it is entered in such book ; and a
reference shall be made in such book, in the margin of the entry of
each specification, to every order relating to the invention.
14. Inspection of registry book. Certified copy of entry.
Such book, or copy thereof, shall be open at all convenient times
for the inspection of any person, upon payment of a fee of five
shillings ; and the said colonial secretary shall cause a copy of any
entry therein, certified under his hand, to be given to any person
requiring the same, on payment of the expense of copying.
15. Certified copy to be primd facie evidence. Every such cer-
tified copy shall be prima facie evidence of the document of which
it purports to be a copy.
16. When exclusive privilege does not attach. No person shall
be entitled to any exclusive privilege under the provisions of this
ordinance,
If the invention, at the time of presenting the petition for leave
to file the specification, was not a new invention in Ceylon, or
If the petitioner is not the inventor or importer thereof into
Ceylon, or
If the specification filed does not particularly describe the nature
of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be carried out.
17. New invention. Knowledge of invention fraudulently
acquired. Public use by actual inventor. An invention shall be
deemed a new invention within the meaning, of this ordinance, if it
shall not, before the time of applying for leave to file the specifica-
tion have been publicly used in Ceylon. The public use of an inven-
tion, prior to the application for leave to file a specification shall not
be deemed a public use within the meaning of this section, if the
knowledge thereof shall have been obtained surreptitiously, or in
fraud of the inventor, or shall have been communicated to the pub-
lic in fraud of the inventor, or in breach of confidence. Provided
CEYLON. ]43
the inventor shall, within six months after the commencement of
such public use, apply for leave to file a specification, and shall not
previously have acquiesced in such public use. Provided also, that
the use of an invention in public by the inventor thereof, or by his
servants or agents, or by any other person by his license in writing,
shall not be deemed a public use thereof, within the meaning of this
ordinance.
18. Inventor having patent in England may petition. If an
inventor who, prior to the time of applying for leave to file a speci-
fication of an invention under this ordinance, shall have obtained
Her Majesty's letters patent for the exclusive use of such invention
in any part the United Kingdom, but not extending to this island,
shall petition the Governor for leave to file a specification of such
invention, it shall be competent to the Governor, with the advice of
the Executive Council, to make an order authorizing the petitioner
to file a specification of the invention and exemplification of the
letters patent granted to him. On this being done, the petitioner
shall be entitled to the sole and exclusive privilege of making, using
and selling the said invention in Ceylon for the term or terms men-
tioned in the 6th section. Provided the petition for leave to file the
specification shall state that such letters patent have been granted,
and shall also state the date thereof, and the term during which the
same are to continue in force.
19. Exclusive jurisdiction in the district court of Colombo. And
whereas it is expedient that sole jurisdiction over all actions, suits,
and proceedings arising in respect of this ordinance should be vested
in the district court of Colombo, to the exclusion of other courts
having jurisdiction under the 24th and 29th sections of the Letters
Patent of his late Majesty King William the Fourth, bearing date
the 18th day of February, 1830 ; And whereas by Letters Patent
of her present Majesty, bearing date the 28th day of January, 1843,
it is declared that it shall be competent to the Governor, by any
law or ordinance to be by him from time to time made, with the
advice and consent of the Legislative Council, to make provision
for the better administration of justice within this island, anything
in the said Letters Patent of King William the Fourth to the con-
trary notwithstanding: It is therefore enacted that the said district
court of Colombo shall have sole and exclusive jurisdiction over all
such actions, suits, and proceedings as aforesaid, wheresoever
the same may arise, and to the exclusion of all other district courts
in the island, subject, however, to appeal, as hereinafter provided.
144 FOREIGN LAWS.
20. Particulars to be delivered. In any suit for the infringement
of such exclusive privilege the plaintiff shall deliver with his libel
particulars of the breaches complained of in said suit, and the
defendant, in pleading thereto, shall deliver, with his answer, par-
ticulars of the grounds (if any) upon which he means to contend
that the plaintiff is not entitled to an exclusive privilege in the
invention. In like manner, upon any application to the said district
court under the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th sections of this ordinance, the
applicant shall deliver particulars of the objections on which he
means to rely. At the trial of any such suit or issue, no evidence
shall be allowed to be given in support of any alleged infringement
or of any objection impeaching the validity of such exclusive privi-
lege, which shall not be contained in the particulars delivered as
aforesaid. If it be alleged that the invention was publicly known
or used prior to the date of the petition for leave to file such
specification, the places where and the manner in which the inven-
tion was so publicly known or used, shall be stated in such particu-
lars. Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the court in
which the suit or proceeding is pending, or in which the issue is
tried, to allow the plaintiff or defendant respectively to amend
the particulars delivered as aforesaid, upon any such terms as shall
seem fit.
21. Defect in specification or petition, or want of novelty in
invention, <fcc., no defense. Actual use a defense. No such suit
shall be defended upon the ground of any defect or insufficiency of
the specification of the invention, nor shall any such suit be
defended upon the ground of a misdescription of the invention in
the petition ; unless the defendant shall show that he is the actual
inventor or derives title from him.
22. Application to declare exclusive privilege not acquired. It
shall be lawful for any person to apply by motion to the district
court of Colombo for a rule to show cause why the court should
not declare that an exclusive privilege in respect of an invention
has not been acquired under tbe provisions of this ordinance, by
reason of all or any of the objections following, (to be specified in
the rule,) that is to say :
Invention not new. That the said invention was not, at the
time of presenting the petition for leave to file the specification, a
new invention ; or
Petitioner not the inventor, &c. That the petitioner was not
the inventor thereof, and in addition thereto, either that the appli-
CEYLON. 145
cant was the inventor, or that the inventor has dedicated or made
known the invention to the public, or has acquiesced in the public
use thereof ; or
Invention not described in specification. That the specification
filed does not particularly describe and define the nature of the
invention, or in what manner the same is to be carried out ; or
Fraud in petition or specification. That the petitioner has
fraudulently inserted in the petition or specification, as part of his
invention, something which was not new or whereof he was not the
inventor ; or
False statement in petition. That the petitioner has willfully
made a false statement in his petition ; or
Fraudulent misdescriptionof part of invention in specification.
That some part of the invention, or the manner in which that part
is to be carried out as described in the said specification, is not
thereby sufficiently described and defined, and that such defect or
insufficiency was fraudulent, and is injurious to the public.
23. Like application as to part of an invention. Any person
may in like manner apply to the said district court for a rule to
show cause why that court should not declare that an exclusive
privilege has not been acquired under the provisions of this ordi-
nance, in any part of the invention to be specified in the rule, by
reason of all or any of the objections following (to be specified in
the rule), that is to say :
That such part of the invention was not new at the date of the
petition for leave to file the specification ; or
That the petitioner was not the inventor of that part of the
invention, and, in addition thereto, either that the applicant was
the inventor of that part, or that the inventor has dedicated or
made known the same to the public, or has acquiesced in the public
use thereof ; or
That that part of the invention, and the manner in which it is
to be carried out, is not sufficiently described and defined in the
specification, and that such defect or insufficiency is injurious to the
public.
24. Application by Queen's adoocate on breach of special
condition. It shall be lawful for the Queen's advocate or any
deputy Queen's advocate to apply to the said district court for a
rule calling upon the petitioner, his executors, administrators, or
assigns, to show cause why the question of the breach of any
special condition upon which the leave to file a specification has
I. 10
146 FOREIGN LAWS
been granted, or any other question of fact on which the revo*
cation of the exclusive privilege by the Governor under the power
hereinafter reserved may, in the judgment of the said Governor,
depend, should not be tried in the form of an issue directed by
the said court ; and if the rule be made absolute, the court, unless
the breach or other matter of fact be admitted, may thereupon
direct such issue to be tried, and certify the result of such trial to
the Governor. The costs of such trial, and also the costs of such
proceedings, shall be in the discretion of the said court.
25. When exclusive privilege shall cease. Every exclusive
privilege under this ordinance shall cease if the governor, with the
advice of the Executive Council, shall declare by notification in the
Government Gazette that the same, or the mode in which it is exer-
cised, is mischievous to the State, or generally prejudicial to the
public ; or if a breach of any special condition on which the peti-
tioner shall have been authorized to file a specification, or upon
which the term of the exclusive privilege shall have been extended,
shall be proved to the satisfaction of the aforesaid district court,
and if the governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, shall
thereupon declare that such exclusive privilege shall cease.
26. District court may direct issue for trial. The said district
court may, if it think fit, direct an issue for trial before the same
court of any question of fact arising upon an application under
sections 22, 23, 24 of this ordinance, and such issue shall be tried
accordingly, in a summary manner.
27. Judgment. If it shall appear to the said district court at
the hearing of any application under the provisions of sections 22
and 23 of this ordinance that, by reason of any of the objections
therein mentioned, the said exclusive privilege in the invention or
in any part thereof has not been acquired, the court shall give
judgment accordingly, and shall make such order as to the costs of
and consequent upon the application as it may think just ; and
thereupon the petitioner, his heirs, executors, administrators, and
assigns, shall, so long as the judgment continues in force, cease to
be entitled to such exclusive privilege.
28. Amendment of specification. If the court, at the hearing
of any such application as last aforesaid, shall think that the peti-
tioner has, in the description of his invention in the petition or
specification, included something which at the date of the petition
was not new, or whereof he was not the inventor, or that the speci-
fication is iu any particular defective or insufficient, but that the
CEYLON. 147
error, defect, or insufficiency was not fraudulently intended, the
said court may adjudge the said exclusive privilege to have been
acquired and to be valid save as to the part thereof affected by such
error, defect, or insufficiency ; or if the court shall think that the
error, defect, or insufficiency can be amended without injury to the
public, it may adjudge the exclusive privilege in the whole of the
invention to be valid, and may, upon such terms as shall appear
reasonable, order the specification to be amended in any of the said
particulars ; and thereupon the petitioner, his heirs, executors,
administrators, or assigns, shall, within the time limited by the
court for the purpose, file a specification amended according to such
order.
29. Misdescription in petition, not to defeat privilege. An
exclusive privilege shall not be defeated upon the ground that there
is any misdescription of the invention in the petition, unless such
description was fraudulent.
30. Entry in Registry Book of judgment, &c. Whenever it
shall be adjudged by the said district court that an exclusive privi-
lege as to the whole or any part of an invention has not been
acquired, the colonial secretary shall, upon the production of the
judgment or order, cause an entry thereof to be made in the said
book hereinbefore directed to be kept, and shall cause a reference
to such entry to be made in the margin of the entry of the specifi-
cation contained in such book.
31. Actual inventor entitled to assignment of privilege fraudu-
lently obtained. If upon proceedings instituted within two years
from the date of a petition to file a specification the inventor shall
prove to the satisfaction of the said district court that the petitioner
was not the inventor, and that at the time of the petition he knew,
or had good reason to believe, that the knowledge of the invention
was obtained by himself, or by some other person surreptitiously or
in fraud of the inventor, .or by means of a communication made in
confidence by the actual inventor, to him or to any person through
whom he derived such knowledge, the court may compel the peti-
tioner to assign to the inventor any exclusive privilege obtained
under this ordinance, and to account for and pay over the profits
thereof.
32. Service of proceeding. A book shall be kept in the office
of the colonial secretary, (such book to be open to inspection without
fee), wherein every person filing a-specification under this ordinance
shall cause to be stated, under a number corresponding with the
148 FOREIGN LAWS.
number of the specification, some place in Ceylon where service of
any rules or proceedings, for the purpose of canceling or revoking
his exclusive privilege, may be made. Any person, partnership, or
company, from, time to time being proprietors of, or having shares
or interest in such exclusive privilege, shall cause to be entered in
such book, under such number as aforesaid, their names, together
with the name of some place for the service of such proceedings as
aforesaid. All such rules and proceedings shall be deemed suffi-
ciently served on any such person, partnership, or company, if a
copy thereof be left at the place entered in such book, or (if
any other place be substituted for the same, by entry in the said
book) at the place last substituted, by delivering the same to any
person resident at or in charge of such place, or if there be no per-
son resident at or in charge of such place, or if such place be not
within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the court, by causing
such rule or proceeding to be sent by post, by a registered letter
directed to such person, partnership, or company, at such place ;
and if any such person, partnership, or company shall neglect to
make or cause to be made such entry, then service of such rule or
proceeding may be effected by affixing a copy thereof to some con-
spicuous part of the court-house, or in such other manner as the
court may direct, provided that notice of any rule obtained or pro-
ceeding taken under either of the sections 22, 23, and 24, shall be
served on all persons appearing to be proprietors, or to have shares
or interests in the exclusive privilege under the provisions of this
section, and it shall not be necessary to serve such notice on any
other person.
33. Prerogative in respect to letters patent saved. Nothing in
this ordinance contained shall abridge or affect the prerogative of
the crown in relation to the granting or withholding the grant of any
letters patent for inventions, or otherwise, or affect or interfere with
any letters patent for an invention heretofore granted or hereafter
to be granted by the crown.
34. Right of appeal saved. All decisions and orders of the
district court of Colombo, made under the authority of this ordi-
nance, shall be subject to an appeal to the Supreme Court, and
every such appeal shall be brought on and prosecuted in such man-
ner and shall be subject to such regulations as now exist or shall be
hereafter made by law ; and subject to the rules and limitations
contained in the 52nd clause of the charter, any party or parties to
any suit or proceeding under thu ordinance may appeal to her
CEYLON. 149
Majesty, her heirs and successors, in her, his, or their Privy Coun-
cil, from any final judgment, decree, or sentence of the Supreme
Court, or against any rule or order made by such Supreme Court,
and having the effect of a final or definitive sentence.
35. Stamp of petition. Every petition for leave to file a speci-
fication under the provisions of this ordinance, or for the extension
of the term of an exclusive privilege, shall be written or printed on
a stamped paper of the value of ten pounds.
36. Interpretation. In the construction of this ordinance, the
following words and expressions shall have the meanings hereby
assigned to them, unless there be something in the subject or con-
text repugnant to such constructions :
The word " invention " shall include an improvement. The
word " manufacture " shall be deemed to include any art, process,
or manner of producing, preparing, or making an article, and also
any article prepared or produced by manufacture. The word
" inventor" w r hen not used in conjunction with the word " actual"
shall include the importer of an invention not publicly known or
used in Ceylon. The words " inventor " and " actual inventor "
shall include the heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns of an
inventor or actual inventor, as the case may be. The word
" assigns " shall include grantees of the sole use or benefit in Ceylon,
of an invention, or of the sole use of an exclusive privilege, for a
limited time. The words " colonial secretary " shall include any
person acting as or for the colonial secretary. The words " Queen's
advocate " shall include any person acting as or for the Queen's
advocate.
SCHEDULE.
FORM OF FKTITION.
To the Governor of Ceylon.
The petition of [here insert name, addition, and place of residf.net- \ for leave to file
a specification under the Inventioiis Ordinance, 1850. Showeth,
That your petitioner is in possession of an invention for [state the title of the inven-
tion], which invention he believes will be of public utility ; that ho is the inventor or
owner of the said invention [or, as the case may be, the assignee, or the executor, or
administrator, or heir of the inventor or owner of the said invention] ; and that the
same is not, ~v.blicly known or used in Ceylon, to the best of his knowledge and belief
[or, a.< the case may be, that he is the first importer into Cci/lon of the said invention,
and that the same is net publicly known or used in Ceylon],
If letters patent have been obtained for the invention, stale according to the require-
ments of section 18.
150 FOREIGN LAWS.
The following is a description of the invention [here describe if],
Your petitioner therefore prays leave to file a specification of the said invention,
pursuant to the provisions of the Inventions Ordinance, 1859.
And jour petitioner, &c.
(Signed)
The day of
FORMS OF DECLARATION.
A.
I [here insert name, addition, and place of residence"] do solemnly and sincerely
declare, that I am in possession of an invention for [state the title of the invention as
in the petition] ; that I believe the said invention will be of public utility ; that I am
the inventor or owner of the said invention [or, as the case may be, the assignee, or
executor, or administrator, or heir of the inventor or oMmer of the said invention ; or,
that I am the first importer of the said invention into Ceylon] ; and that the same is
not publicly known or used in Ceylon, to the best of my knowledge and belief ; and
that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my said invention is truly described ia
my petition for leave to file a specification thereof.
(Signed)
The day of
B.
I [here insert name, addition, and place of residence] do solemnly and sincerely
declare that I am in possession of an invention for [state the title of the invention],
which invention I believe will be of public utility ; that I am the inventor or owner of
the said invention [or, as the case may be, the assignee, or executor, or administrator,
or heir of the inventor or owner of the said invention ; or, that 1 am the first importer
of the said invention into Ceylon] , and that the same is not publicly known or used,
in Ceylon, to the best of my knowledge and belief ; and that, to the best of my belief
the instrument in writing under my band hereunto annexed particularly describes and
defines the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be
carried out.
(Signed)
The day of
C.
I of , do solemnly and sincerely declare, that I have been appointed by
the said , his agent for the purpose of , and 1 verily believe that tho
declaration purporting to be the declaration of the said marked ( ) wag
signed by him, and that the contents thereof are true.
(Signed)
The day of
FORM OP GRANT.
D.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c.
To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting.
Whereas A. B. of C. D. has presented to us [insert name of Governor'] Governor
CEYLON. 151
of Ceylon, a petition (numbered in the book of petitions for exclusive privilege in
inventions in the colonial office), praying for leave to file a specification of a certain
invention, intituled [here insert title of invention], and we have, with the advice and
consent of the Executive Council, made an order, dated the day of
18 , authorizing the said A. B. to file a specification of the said invention; and
whereas the said A. B. did on the day of 18 , file a specification in
accordance with the said order, and the same is entered in the Book of Specifications
in the colonial office, and bears the number therein ; and whereas the said Gov-
ernor and the Executive Council are agreed that the said A. B. hath done all things to
entitle him to exclusive privilege in the invention in the said petition and specification
instituted, mentioned, and described, for the term of years ; Now know ye that
we, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, do grant to the said A. B.
his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, the exclusive privilege of making,
selling, and using (as the case may be) the said invention in the said specification
described in Ceylon for the term of years, in terms of and subject to the provis-
ions of the Inventions Ordinance, 1859 (here insert any condition under which the
grant is made).
(Signed) (Signature of Governor).
From Carpm. Pat. L, of World, 149.
CHANNEL ISLANDS.
See GBEAT BIUTAIN AND IRELAND.
152 FOREIGN LAWS.
CHILI.
Law of September 9, 1840.
ARTICLE 1. The author or inventor of an art, manufacture,
machine or instrument, preparation of materials or any improve-
ment thereof, who seeks to obtain the exclusive right to it assured
by Article 152 of the Constitution, * shall present at the ministry
of the interior a faithful, clear, and succinct account of the work
or invention, declaring that the discovery is original and unknown
in the country, accompanying it with samples, drawings, or models,
as the circumstances of the case may require, and soliciting a patent
which may establish his property therein.
ART. 2. The minister of the interior shall name a commissioner
of one or more experts to examine the work or invention, and
inform him as to its originality ; they, in presence of the applicant,
making oath to the faithful discharge of their duty, and also to
religiously guard during the whole time prescribed by the law the
secret which may be communicated.
ART. 3. After due investigation, the President of the Republic
shall grant the exclusive privilege for a term not exceeding ten
years, and shall order the issue of the necessary patent, which shall
be authenticated by his signature, and sealed with the seal of the
Republic.
ART. 4. This patent shall be registered in full in a book kept in
the office of the ministry of interior.
ART. 5. Before delivery of the letters of patent to the applicant,
he shall show by the exhibition of the proper receipt that he has
paid into the public treasury the sum of $50f and that he has
deposited in the National Museum drawings, samples or models, and
a specification in full, to the satisfaction of the inspecting commis-
sion, and bearing the signature of each of its members, which shall
* Article 162 of the Chilian constitu- es?ary to publish the invention. Report
tion, dated May, 1833, accords to every of Mr. J. De V. Drummond-Hay, of the
author or inventor the exclusive proprie- British Legation, 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 317.
torship of his discovery or invention for f Mr. J. De V. Drummond-Hay states
the time which the law may cede to him, the fee as the " sum of 10 (about |50)."
and further authorizes the payment of a 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 318.
proper indemnity should it be found nee-
CHILI. 153
contain a complete, minute, and specific description distinguishing
the invention or discovery from other matters previously known
and employed, and defining the method or principles adopted, in
order to enable any other competent person to use the same for the
public benefit at the expiration of the term of the patent. This
written specification shall be closed in presence of the commission,
the title or subject of the patent being written on the envelope, and
the proprietor shall declare that he has faithfully fulfilled the con-
ditions here imposed, and the commission shall certify thereto. The
proprietor during the term of his privilege may examine the envel-
ope as often as he pleases, in order to see if it remains sealed and
closed as when he handed it over.
ART. 6. In the National Museum a room shall be set apart for
the reception of the plans, samples or models, and a secure chest for
the safe keeping of the closed packets above mentioned, which shall
not be opened or published before the expiration of the patent,
except in cases of articles 11, 12, 15.
ART. 7. The $50 above mentioned shall go toward the mainte-
nance, &c., of the room in the Museum.
ART. 8. * [Omitted because repealed by law of July 25, 1872.]
ART. 9. Property in a patent is transferable like anything else,
but in such cases the minister of the interior must first be informed,
reasons being given. If these are found to be good, the transfer
shall be noted in the transfer book, and if not, the provisions of
article 11 shall come into play.
ART. 10. Any person constructing protected articles by the same
method shall pay a fine of from $100 to $1000, the articles so con-
structed, and the machines, implements, &c., made use of being
confiscated, and the value thereof being divided between the Gov-
*ART. 8 permitted "introducers of arts, into the country, or established snch
industries or machines invented elsewhere conventions or industries, or have taken
and entirely unknown or not established steps for their introduction or estabhsh-
nor employed in Chili " to obtain exclu- ment, and thereby incurred expense pre-
sive privileges on same conditions as pre- vious to the petition for suth exclusive
scribed for new inventions, except that the privilege, should have a right to oppose
term was limited to eight years. By a the cession of the monopoly desired. By
law of August 16, 1866, the restriction the law of July 25, 1872, the provision of
was imposed upon any petitioner for the ART. 8 of the law of 1840 allowing intro-
introduction of inventions already known ducers to obtain patents was repealed,
in other countries, that the privileges See reprort of Mr. J. De V. Drummond
solicited should be published in the Offi- Hay, 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 318 ; Carpm. Pat,
cial Journal for thirty days, in order that L. of World, 165.
parties who might have already brought
154 FOREIGN LAWS.
ernment and the patentee, and in addition losses and damages may
be recovered.
AET. 11. Patentees whose patents have been surreptitiously
obtained, that is to say, by false testimony or under a false name,
or for industries already established in the country, shall immedi-
ately in the same manner be fined, besides which they shall be con-
demned in costs, and shall incur imprisonment of from three to
twelve months.
AST. 12. In case of dispute between rival inventors, arbitration
shall be employed, one arbitrator being named by each party, and a
third by the minister of the interior.
AET. 13. Patents conceded may be general, that is for the
whole Republic, or particular, that is for a department or portion
thereof.
AET. 14. For each patent a proportionate term shall be fixed for
the establishment of the machinery, plant or manufactures, on the
conclusion of which the term of the patent shall commence to run.
ART. 15. If, at the expiration of this term of establishment, the
invention has not come into work, the privilege shall lapse, as shall
it also do if after establishment it shall be abandoned for more than
one year, or if the products are adulterated, becoming inferior to
the samples, specimens, or models exhibited.
AET. 16. Renewal of patents can only be granted when accidents
or unforeseen circumstances render the patentees really deserving
of it, and it shall be sought at least six months before the expiration
of the actual patent.
AET. 17. The present law shall not invalidate the mining
ordenanza with respect to patents in that branch, nor what is
established in the law of 24th July, 1834, with reference to liter-
ature and the fine arts.
From Carpm. Pat. Z. of World, 164.
Decree of August 1, 1851.
Having noticed in several reports of the experts nominated for
the concession of special privileges, that the necessary demonstra-
tion of the specialty of that to which the privilege relates has not
been submitted to the government, and it being indispensable to
correct this abuse in order to the due fulfillment of the law,
CHILI. 155
I have granted and decreed that those persons who, as experts,
are nominated agreeably to article 2 of the law of 9th September,
1840, shall not only report as to the usefulness or introduction of the
invention, but also to the injury which might result to industry or
commerce, also as to the difficulties and expenses incurred by the
petitioners, in order to regulate the period for which the privilege
should be granted, and the time within which the said industry
shall be established.
They shall also show whether it relates to a new invention, or
only to one newly introduced into the country, and specify what
particulars should be required for the clear recognition of the inven-
tion, introduction, or industry, which by granting of the above
privilege shall be otherwise prohibited.
Signed, &c.
Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 167,
CISLEITHANIA : AUSTRIA.
See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
COCHIN CHINA.
See FRANCE.
156 FOREIGN LAWS.
COLOMBIA.
Law No. 35 of (May 13,) 1869.*
ART. 1. All new discoveries or inventions, in whatever kind of
industry, give the inventor under the conditions and for the time
mentioned in this law a right to the exclusive benefit of his inven-
tion or discovery. This right is secured by grants issued by the
Executive Power of the Union, called Patents of Invention.
ART. 2. Any Colombian or foreigner who shall invent or improve
any machine, mechanical contrivance, combination of materials, or
process, useful to industry, arts or sciences, or any manufacture or
industry, may obtain a patent from the Executive Power, securing
to him or to his lawful representatives, for a term of from five to
twenty years, the exclusive right to make, sell, or use his discovery
or invention.
ART. 3. No privileges shall be granted for the importation of
natural or manufactured productions from foreign countries.
ART. 4. Persons applying for a patent in Colombia for inven-
tions which have already been patented in a foreign country may
obtain the said patent, provided the invention in question has not
been already introduced into public use. A patent granted in
Colombia for an invention which has already been patented in a
foreign country, shall expire at the same time as the foreign pat-
ent.
ART. 5. In order to obtain a patent of invention or improvement
the person interested shall apply either personally or through his
attorney to the Executive Power, specifying his invention or
improvement, explaining it with clearness, and asking for the pat-
ent to be granted to him ; and if the said patent be granted, he is
required before he receives it to furnish within forty days an exact
drawing or model of the machine or mechanical contrivance he^hall
have invented, or a full and detailed description of the new method
or process, or a specimen of the manufacture, if the nature of the
case should admit, in order that the same may be deposited in the
* A statement of the patent law of law as is given in the text, but differently
Colombia, by Mr. Charles O'Leary, of the expressed, was published September 23,
British Legation, founded on the same 1873, in 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 316.
COLOMBIA. 157
corresponding department of state, to be there at hand should any
questions arise touching the patent.
ART. 6. Every patent shall contain a copy of the present law, as
also of the executive decree granting the privilege, and specifying
the invention, improvement, or new industry, and the term of its
duration, and shall declare the patentee to be in possession of said
privilege, and it shall be published twice at least in the National
Official Gazette.
ART. 7. A patent of invention or improvement shall be granted
without previous inquiry as to the usefulness of the article, or as to
whether it be really an invention or improvement. The govern-
ment does not declare, on issuing a patent, that the invention or
improvement is genuine or useful, or that the patentee is the actual
inventor, or the article is a new one, or that the descriptions or
models are exact ; as those who are interested in the matter are at
liberty to prove the contrary before the law courts.
The Executive Power shall give notice through the National
Gazette thirty days before issuing the grant of any applications that
may be made for patents.
ART. 8. No patent shall be issued unless all the formalities laid
down in this law are fulfilled, or in case the invention, improve-
ment, or new industry, should endanger public health or security, or
if it should be opposed to morality or to existing rights.
ART. 9. When the term for which a patent is granted expires,
the manufacture, sale, or use of the patented invention or improve-
ment shall become free ; the descriptions furnished by the inventor
shall be published, and copies of the respective drawings or models
may be had on application at the expense of the person asking for
them. This will likewise take place when, before the expiration of
the term, the patent is declared null and void.
ART. 10. All attempts to imitate or counterfeit patented articles
or industries, shall be prosecuted in accordance with the penal laws
of the Union.
ART. 11. Besides the case mentioned in article 4, patents become
void when they have been granted to the prejudice of a third party,
\vhich shall be decided by the tribunals of the States.
ART. 12. A patent for a new industry will also be void when
said industry is not practiced during a whole year, unless unavoid-
able circumstances should have intervened.
ART. 13. On receiving the patent the patentee shall pay into the
national treasury a fee of from five to ten dollars ($5 to $10) for
158 FOREIGN LAWS.
every year of the privilege. The person who applies for a patent
shall fix a term for its duration within the maximum fixed, and
shall deposit at the treasury the sum of ten dollars ($10) which he
shall forfeit if the patent be refused, and which shall be taken in
part payment of the patent fee should the patent be granted.*
ABT. 14. The law of May 15, 1848, respecting Patents of
Invention or Improvement of Machines and Industrial Apparatus
is hereby repealed.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 169.
COSTA RICA.
According to a memorandum published October 7, 1873, in 4
Pat. Off. Gaz. 373 (under the title San Jose), the constitution states
that it belongs to the constitutional Congress to promote the pro-
gress of the arts and sciences, and to secure, for a limited time, to
authors or inventors the exclusive rigkt of their writings or discov-
eries ; and every one who believes himself to have a right to a pat-
ent of invention must solicit it from Congress.
CUBA.
See SPAIX.
* The fee is thus stated by Mr. Charles it is desired to take it out is mentioned
O'Leary. To secure a privilege a fee of in the petition, but no petition is enter-
from $6 to $10 (1 to 2) for every year tained unless preceded by a payment into
of its duration must be paid to the gov- the treasury of f 10 (2), which the pefi-
ernment, the entire sum being levied tioner forfeits if the application is refused,
when the patent is granted. In soliciting or if granted is computed as part pay-
a patent, the number of years for which ment of the fee.
DENMARK. 150,
DENMARK.
Report by Mr. Strachey, of the British Legation, published
1873.
1. No laws have been passed in Denmark on the subject of pro-
tection to inventions.
Inventors are protected by royal letters patent granted through
the ministry of the interior, in accordance with rules prescribed by
the traditional practice of that department.
2. A person who wishes his invention to enjoy gueret, or
monopoly, must address the ministry of the interior, accompanying
his demand by detailed specifications and drawings.
3. The ministry forwards these papers to the Polytechnic
School, with a request that the director will report on the appli-
cant's scheme. The director, after consulting, if necessary, the pro-
fessors of the institute, reports to the ministry whether the alleged
invention is new and deserving of protection. He also states the
period for which, in his opinion, the gueret or patent should be
granted.
4. The ministry always adopts the director's conclusion. It is
understood that a patent will be allowed whenever the alleged
invention really contains something novel in principle or practice.
Generally speaking, the applicant's request is granted.
5. The patents usually run for three, four, or five years.
Important inventions are protected for ten years, and in special
cases for fifteen years. Patents granted to foreigners never run
for more than five years.
6. The fee charged at the ministry of interior for the whole
transaction is l 17s. 6d. ($9.) The time occupied in the corre-
spondence is about two months.
7. The patent is forfeited (1) if it is shown that a similar inven-
tion has been used in Denmark before ; or (2) if the patentee does
not carry out his invention within the year, and continue to employ
it.
COPENHAGEN, December 24, 1872.
From 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 319.
100 FOREIGN LAWS.
DOMINICA.
See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
EAST INDIES (French).
See FRANCE.
ECUADOR.
See INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
See also APPENDIX OF RECENT LAWS, near end of Vol. II.
ENGLAND.
See GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
FIJI. 161
FIJI: FEEJEE ISLANDS.
Ordinance No. III. 18 79. To repeal Ordinance No. XXIV.
O/1S77, and to make other provisions in lieu thereof for
the issue of Letters Patent.
I. Privileges. Every inventor shall be entitled, under the con-
ditions and restrictions hereinafter enacted, to the sole exclusive
right of and in his invention.
II. Interpretation clause. In the interpretation of this ordinance
the word " invention " shall mean and include any manner of new
manufacture, also every new pi'ocess of manufacture, and every new
method of application of known processes, and improvements in any
known process.
The word "inventor" shall include the heirs, executors, admin-
istrators or assigns of an inventor.
III. Form of letters patent and privileges conferred. The right
and privilege granted to inventors shall be conferred by letters pat-
ent under the seal of the colony in form contained in schedule A
hereto, whereby the inventor shall be entitled to the sole and exclu-
sive privilege of using, selling, or making his said invention in the
colony, and of authorizing others so to do, for the term of fourteen
years from the date of the letters patent.
IV. Letters patent not to be granted in certain cases. No person
shall be entitled to letters patent
a. If the invention is of no utility.
b. If the invention at the time of presenting the petition was
not a new invention.
c. If the petitioner is not the true and first inventor thereof.
d. If the petition or any specification contain a willfully false
statement.
And the attorney-general may make an application to the Supremo
Court on any such grounds for the cancellation or revocation of any
letters patent.
V. Proceeding in application for letters patent. Every person
desirous of obtaining letters patent under this ordinance shall file in
the office of the colonial secretary a petition in the form contained
in schedule B signed by him or his agent or attorney, setting forth
the residence of the inventor and the title of the invention. To the
I. 11
162 FOREIGN LAWS.
petition shall be annexed a specification (or instrument in writing),
particularly describing and ascertaining the nature of the said inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is to be produced or per-
formed, and with such specification or instrument in writing shall be
filed the drawings necessary to elucidate the same, and such peti-
tion, and all documents and drawings accompanying the same, shall
be in duplicate.
VI. Petition to be accompanied by declaration. Every petition
and specification particularly describing the nature of an invention
shall be accompanied by a declaration in writing, signed by the peti-
tioner, or his agent or attorney for him, in the form contained in
schedule C, hereto.
VII. Petition, specification, <&c., to be recorded. The colonial
secretary shall cause to be filed every petition and specification,
with accompanying drawings, if any, explaining the nature of any
invention ; and also any certificate granted by the attorney-general,
and every letters patent issued, and a memorandum of any order
relating thereto.
VIII. Records may be inspected. Such records shall be open to
the inspection of all persons, at any reasonable hour, upon the pay-
ment of a fee of four shillings, and any person may have a copy of
any document recorded on payment for the same at the rate of
eight-pence for every folio of seventy -two words.
IX. Certified copies to be received as evidence. Copies of any
documents so recorded, certified as correct by the colonial secre-
tary, shall be received in evidence in any court of law in the colony.
X. Specification may be amended. A specification may be
amended on application to the attorney-general, provided that if
tue attorney-general shall refuse to allow such specification to be
amended the same may be amended by leave of the Governor in
Council, and when so amended shall, except as to suits and pro-
ceedings relative to the exclusive privilege claimed by any inventor
pending at the time, have the same effect as if no amendment had
been made, and no extension or enlargement of any exclusive privi-
lege before acquired should be effected thereby.
XI. Provisional certificate. When any applicant has filed his
petition for letters patent, the Governor shall direct the same to be
referred by the colonial secretary to the attorney-general, with one
of the duplicates of such petition and the specification, and all other
accompanying documents and drawings, and a certificate of the filing
of the petition ; and the attorney general shall, if he deem the
FIJI. 163
invention as prima facie entitled to protection, issue a certificate to
that effect, as in form contained in schedule D, and the inventor
shall, subject to the provisions of this ordinance, be protected for a
period of six months in like manner as by letters patent ; Provided
nevertheless, that it shall be competent to the attorney-general to
extend the period of such protection pending the decision as to any
opposition made to the granting of any letters patent as to him
shall seem necessary.
XII. Where certificate is refwed, appeal may be made. If in any
case the attorney-general shall refuse to issue such certificate as
hereinbefore provided, an appeal shall lie from the decision of the
attorney-general so refusing such certificate to the Governor in Coun.
cil, who may direct the same to be issued by the clerk of the coun-
cil in such manner and subject to such conditions and restrictions
as shall seem fit, provided that such application shall be made to the
Governor in Council within one month from the time of the decision
of the attorney-general refusing a certificate being made known to
the applicant for letters patent, or to his agent or attorney : provided
also that any certificate to be issued by direction of the Governor in
Council shall be issued within three months from the date of such
appeal, and upon the issue of such certificate like proceedings shall
be had and taken as if such certificate had been issued by the attor-
ney-general.
XIII. Procedure where no opposition is made to application.
Within two months of the issue of the certificate of the attorney-
general, or, where the attorney-general has refused to issue such
certificate, from the date of the issue of the same by the clerk of
the council, as provided in the next preceding section, the applicant
for letters patent shall give notice in the form contained in schedule
E, hereto, twice in the Royal Gazette, and one other paper published
in Fiji ; and if no notice of opposition to the application for letters
patent be sent to the attorney-general within three months of the
date of publication of the first of such notices, the attorney-general
shall report such fact to the Governor in Council, and the Governor
in Council shall, within three months from the date of such report,
cause letters patent to be issued with such reservations, provisos,
and conditions as may be deemed fit.
XIV. Where application is opposed, holder of certificate may
appeal. Any person desiring to oppose such application shall, within
the time last mentioned in the next preceding section, give notice
in writing of his opposition to such application and of the grounds
164 FOREIGN LAWS.
thereof to the attorney-general, who shall, after hearing the parties
to and against such application, and such witnesses as he may deem
necessary, decide the same and intimate his decision to the Governor
in Council, and the Governor in Council shall, within three months
from the date of such intimation, if the same be favorable to the
person holding a provisional certificate, direct the issue of letters
patent to such person with such reservations, provisons, and condi-
tions as may be meet. And in case the decision be adverse to the
party holding the provisional certificate, he may appeal against such
decision to the Governor in Council ; and the Governor in Council
shall, within three months from the date of such appeal, either
direct the issue of letters patent to the appellant, subject to such
reservations, provisos, and conditions as he may deem fit, or make
such other order as may be meet.
XV. Where letters patent have been granted for inventions
already patented beyond the colony. Proviso. Where upon appli-
cation made under this ordinance for letters patent in respect of
any invention first invented in parts out of the colony, and letters
patent for the exclusive use of such invention has been granted in
such parts before the grant of such letters patent in this colony, all
rights and privileges under such letters patent last mentioned shall
(notwithstanding any term in such letters patent limited) cease and
be void immediately upon the revocation, cancellation, or other
determination of such letters patent obtained in parts beyond the
colony ; or where more than one such patent is obtained, then upon
the revocation, cancellation, or other determination of the first of
such letters patent : Provided that no letters patent shall be granted
in respect of any invention for which letters patent have been
granted in parts beyond the colony and have expired, or if letters
patent shall be granted in respect thereof the same shall not be of
any validity.
XVI. Patents for inventions protected by imperial patent. Any
person holding Her Majesty's letters patent for any invention may
obtain letters patent for the same in this colony on satisfactory
proof of the issue of such letters patent, provided the patent
obtained in this colony shall be subject to the provisions relating to
patents obtained in places beyond the colony contained in the next
preceding section.
XVII. Letters patent to be registered. All letters patent and
assignments of letters patent shall be registered in the office of the
FIJI. 165
registrar-general on the payment of fees in respect thereof, as speci-
fied in schedule F.
XVIII. Governor in Council may annul letters patent. Letters
patent may be annulled by the Governor in Council if the same be
proved to be prejudicial to the public interests, or if the special
conditions on which the same have been granted are not observed.
Notice of any letters patent being annulled, and the cause thereof,
shall be inserted in the Royal Gazette. On the issue of any letters
patent any petition, specification, and other documents and draw-
ings referring thereto, shall be transferred from the office of the
colonial secretary to the registrar-general, and shall be filed by him
forthwith.
XIX. Letters patent to be for one invention only. No letters pat-
ent will be allowed to include several distinct and separate inven-
tions ; but where one invention is applicable to the improvement of
several manufactures, or where several inventions are applicable to
the improvement of one and the same manufacture, the whole may
be included in the same letters patent.
XX. Notice of proceeding under section IV. to be published. The
attorney-general shall give at least one month's notice of his inten-
tion to proceed under section IV., by notice in the Royal Gazette,
and such notice shall be published in not less than three issues of
the Royal Gazette, and the period of one month before mentioned
shall commence from the date of the publication of the last of such
notices, and such publication shall be in lieu of service of any writ
or process required by the rules of the Supreme Court.
XXI. Where letters patent may be canceled or revoked by order
of Supreme Court. If upon any of the grounds set out in section
IV. of this ordinance, the Supreme Court or a judge thereof shall
order any letters patent to be canceled or revoked, a copy of such
order shall be forthwith forwarded by the registrar of the court to
the registrar- general, who shall record the same, and all right under
any letters patent so canceled or revoked shall cease.
XXII. Supreme Court may order amendments. The court may
order any specification or petition to be amended, and may reserve
its decision for a time sufficient to allow of such amendment to be
effected, and thereafter give judgment on such terms as to costs
and otherwise as may seem fit.
XXIII. Penalty for making false declaration. Any person
making a false declaration under this ordinance shall be deemed
guilty of perjury, and upon conviction be liable to imprisonment
166 FOREIGN LAWS.
not exceeding two years, without prejudice to any action which any
injured parties may bring against him.
XXIV. Fees. The fees specified in schedule F of this ordi-
nance shall be paid to the colonial treasurer for the several matters
referred to therein. Provided that the Governor in Council may
make additions, alterations, and amendments in the said schedule,
and such additions, alterations, and amendments so made and pub-
lished in the Royal Gazette shall have the full force and effect of
law.
XXV. Ordinance No. XXIV. of 1877 repealed. From and
after the passing hereof, Ordinance No. XXIV. of 1877 shall be,
and the same is, hereby repealed : provided that nothing herein
contained shall affect or prejudice any proceedings or thing lawfully
done or taken, or any letters patent granted or protection issued by
virtue of the said ordinance.
XXVI. Short title. This ordinance may be cited as " The Pat-
ents Ordinance, 1879."
Passed in Council this thirteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
SCHEDULE A.
YICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, to all to whom these presents shall
come, greeting :
Whereas A. B., of in the colony of Fiji hath represented that he is
desirous of obtaining our royal letters patent for securing unto him our special
license, that he, his executors, administrators and assigns, and such others as he or
they should agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise
and vend within our colony of Fiji and its dependencies, an invention for [insert the
tide of the invention}, and by an instrument in writing under his hand and seal
deposited in the office of the colonial secretary, the said A. B. hath particularly
described and ascertained the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed. And we, being willing to give encouragement to all arts
and inventions which may be for the public good, are graciously pleased to confer
upon the said A. B. the privileges hereinafter mentioned. Know ye therefore that
we, of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, have given and granted, '
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant unto the
said A. B., his executors, administrators and assigns, our special license, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that he the said A. B., his executors, administrators and
assigns, and every of them, by himself and themselves, or his and their deputy or
deputies, servants or agents, or such others as he or they shall at any time agree
with, and no others, during the term herein expressed, shall, and lawfully may, make
FIJI 167
use, exercise and vend his said invention within our said colony and its dependencies,
in such a manner as to him, his executors, administrators and assigns, or any of them
shall seem meet, and that he, his executors, administrators and assigns shall, and
lawfully may, have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commodity and advantage from
time to time coming, growing, accruing and arising by reason of the said invention
during the said term. To have, hold, exercise and enjoy the said licenses, powers,
privileges and advantages unto and by the said A. B., his executors, administrators
and assigns, for and during, and unto the full end and term of fourteen years now
next ensuing. And to the end that he, his executors, administrators and assigns, and
every of them, may have and enjoy the full benefit and the sole use and exercise of
the said invention according to our gracious intention. We do by these presents, for
us, our heirs and successors, require and strictly command all and every person and
persons, bodies politic, corporate, and all other our subjects whatsoever, of what
estate, quality, degree, name or condition soever, may be within our said colony and
its dependencies, that neither they nor any of them at any time during the said term,
either directly or indirectly, do make, use or put in practice the said invention, or any
part of the same so attained unto by the said A. B. as aforesaid, nor in anywise coun-
terfeit, imitate or resemble the same, nor shall make or cause to be made any addition
thereunto or subtraction from the same, whereby to pretend himself or themselves
the inventor or inventors, devisor or devisors thereof, without the consent, license or
agreement of the said A. B., his executors, administrators or assigns, in writing under
his or their hands and seals first had and obtained in that behalf, upon such pains
and penalties as can or may be justly inflicted on such offenders, on their contempt
of this our royal command, and further to be answerable to the said A. B., his exec-
utors, administrators and assigns, according to law, for his and their damages thereby
occasioned. Provided always, and these our letters patent are and shall be upon this
condition, that if at any time during the said term hereby granted it shall appear
that this our grant is contrary to law or prejudicial or inconvenient to our subjects
in general, or that the said invention is not a new invention as to the public use and
exercise thereof, or that the said A. B. is not the true and first inventor thereof
within this colony or its dependencies, these our letters patent shall forthwith cease,
determine and be utterly void to all intents and purposes, anything hereinbefore
contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding. Provided also that
these our letters patent, or anything herein contained, shall not extend or be con-
strued to extend to give privilege unto the said A. B., his executors, administrator*
or assigns, or any of them, to use or imitate any invention or work whatsoever which
hath heretofore been found out or invented by any of our subjects whatsoever, and
publicly used or exercised, or unto whom our like letters patent or privileges have
been already granted for the sole use, exercise and benefit thereof within our saiii
colony or its dependencies, it being our will and pleasure that the said A. B., hi*
executors, administrators and assigns, and all and every other person and persons t%i
whom like letters patent or privileges have been already granted as aforesaid, shs*J,
distinctly use and practice their several inventions by them invented and found om.
according to the true intent and meaning of the said respective letters patent, andtof
these presents. Provided likewise nevertheless, and these our letters patent ait;
upon this express condition, that if the said instrument in writing does not particu-
larly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in what mann the
same is to be performed, and also if the said A. B., his executors, administrates or
168 FOREIGN LAWS.
assigns shall not supply or cause to be supplied for our service all such articles of the
said invention as he or they shall be required to supply by the persons administering
the department of our service, for the use of which the same shall be required in
such manner, at such times and at and upon such reasonable prices and terms as
shall be settled for that purpose by the said persons requiring the same, that then
and in any of the said cases, these our letters patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever hereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine and become void, anything
hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding. Provided
that nothing herein contained shall prevent the granting of licenses in such manner
and for such considerations as they may by law be granted. And lastly, we do by
these presents for us, our heirs and successors, grant unto the said A. B., his execu-
tors, administrators and assigns, that these our letters patent shall be in all things
good, firm, valid and sufficient, and effectual in law, according to the true intent and
meaning thereof, and shall be taken, construed and adjudged in the most favorable
and beneficial sense for the best advantage of the said A. B., his executors, adminis-
trators and assigns, as well in all our courts of record as elsewhere, and by all and
singular the officers and ministers whatsoever of us, our heirs and successors in our
said colony and its dependencies, and amongst all and every the subjects of us, our
heirs and successors whatsoever and wheresoever, notwithstanding the not full and
certain describing the nature or quality of the said invention, or of the materials
thereunto conducing and belonging. In witness whereof we have caused these our
letters to be made patent.
Witness our trusted and well beloved Governor and Coramander-in-Chief, &c., &c.,
of our said colony, at on the day of 18.
SCHEDULE B.
Petition.
I of do hereby humbly petition his Excellency the Governor for letters
patent in respect of an invention [state title of invention"].
I have furnished with this petition the necessary specifications or instruments
particularly describing the nature of the said invention, and a solemn declaration that
I am the true and first inventor thereof, in accordance with law.
Signed Petitioner
or agent or attorney for petitioner.
SCHEDULE C.
I of do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am in possession of an
invention for, &c. [the title as in petition], which I believe will be of great public
utility, that I am the true and first inventor thereof, and that the same is not in use
by any other person or persons, to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that the
instrument in writing under my hand hereunto annexed particularly describes and
ascertains the nature of the said invention, and the manner in which the same is to
be performed.
SCHEDULE D.
la obedience to his Excellency's commands, referring to me the petition of
of , to consider what may be properly done therein, I do certify as follows :
FIJI. 169
That the said petition sets forth that the petitioner [state briefly the allegations of
the petition],
That ra support of the allegations contained in the said petition, the declaration
of the petitioner has been laid before me, whereby he solemnly declares that [state
briefly the allegations of declaration].
That there has also been laid before me a specification, or instrument in writing,
particularly describing the nature of the said invention, and a certificate of the filing
of the said petition, declaration and specification.
Having duly and carefully considered the same, I hereby certify that the petitioner
is entitled, prima facie, to protection on account of his said invention, provided the
said application for letters patent be duly advertised according to Ordinance No. III.
of 1879, and that the petitioner do otherwise comply with the enactments of the said
ordinance.
Given under my hand, this day of A. D.
SCHEDULE E.
In the matter of the application of of , for letters patent for
Notice is hereby given, that an application has been made for the issue of letters
patent herein under the provisions of the " Patents Ordinance of 1879." And any
person desirous of opposing such application is required to give notice of such oppo-
sition, and of the grounds thereof to the attorney-general, within three mouths from
the date of the publication hereof.
A. B., Applicant.
SCHEDULE F.
. d.
On depositing petition and specification 5 5
For provisional certificate of protection 3 3
For obtaining letters patent 10 10
On lodging particulars of objections 210
Every search and inspection 4
Registration of letters patent 5
Filing memorandum of alteration or amendment of specification 1 1
Registration and assignment of letters patent 10
Copy or extract of any writing, per folio of 72 words 8
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 174.
170 FOREIGN LAWS.
FINLAND.
Supreme Decree of March 30, 1876.
We, Alexander the Second, by the grace of God, Emperor and
Autocrat of all the Russias, Czar of Poland, Grand Duke of Fin-
land, &c., &c., hereby make known : that upon the representation
of the finance department of our Senate for Finland, and upon the
recommendation of the Governor-General for this territory, we have
thought fit with regard to the mode and conditions for granting
patents or privileges for the utilization and profitable working (to
the exclusion of all other persons during a given period) of new
inventions relating to handicraft industry and art, and also for im-
provements upon inventions already made to decree as follows :
CHAPTER I.
Of the rights to be conferred by a patent, and also the duration of
time for which a patent will be granted.
SECTION 1. A patent entitles the owner of the invention to make,
exercise and vend, alone or through others, everywhere in Finland,
the invention to which it relates, to the exclusion of all others, dur-
ing the time specified by the letters patent. It is incumbent upon
the owner that he should strictly conform to whatever is prescribed
by the existing laws with regard to the manufacture and the sale of
wares, without being obliged in order to enjoy the advantages of
the said right, to acquire the dignity of a master craftsman or the
freedom of a citizen.
The patent right is to be considered as the personal property of
the owner, and may in consequence be devised by will, and also, in
accordance with the ordinary legal practice, be assigned to other
persons, together with the rights acquired by the letters patent, but
subject to the observance of what is hereinafter prescribed in sec.
2 of the succeeding chapter.
SEC. 2. A patent may be granted : (1) For new inventions relat-
ing to handicraft, industry or art.
(2) For improvements upon earlier inventions of the same kind,
but without prejudice to any such previously granted patent right.
A patent cannot be granted for the preparation of medicines nor
FINLAND. 171
for any invention which is of such a nature that the employment of
the same would be contrary to the existing laws, to the public safety
or to good morals.
Nor can any one by a patent acquire the exclusive right to make
use of a new principle, but only to use the manner, method, and
means for the employment of an invention which are mentioned and
described in the petition for the patent.
SEC. 3. A patent will be granted for the period of at least three
years, and at the utmost twelve years, according to the nature and
importance of the invention.
If any person has obtained a patent in a foreign country, and has
thereby been compelled to publish a description of the manner in
which the invention is to be applied, a patent may nevertheless be
granted to him for a given time in Finland also, but not for a longer
period, than that within which the patent granted in the foreign
country will expire.
SEC. 4. The inventor only is entitled to the patent.
CHAPTER II.
On the manner in which patents will be granted.
SEC. 5. If an inventor wishes to obtain a patent he must present
his petition to the finance department of the Senate, and the said
petition must contain, together with a declaration of the object of
the patent, the following particulars :
A precise specification as to how far the invention for which the
patent is desired is new, or whether it is an improvement upon an
invention already in use ; the novelty of the invention or of the
eventual improvement is specially to be cited ;
A declaration of the period of time for which the petitioner
desires to obtain the patent right ;
A declaration whether the invention has previously been pat-
ented in any foreign country or not, and in the first case attested
information is to be produced when such a privilege was granted,
and for how long a time ;
A full and accurate description of the invention and of the
method of using the same, and accurate drawings or models are also
to be annexed to the petition in cases where such drawings or mod-
els are considered necessary ;
If the petitioner is not in a position at once to send in a full
description, such fact must be mentioned m the petition, and he is
172 FOREIGN LAWS.
then bound within one month after the presentation of the petition
to send in a description ; during this period the examination of the
petition remains in abeyance. If the petitioner does not send in his
description within the term named, his application will be refused.
The petitioner is however, not precluded from sending in a fresh
petition, together with a full description with reference to the same
object.
Petitions referred to in this section are in case the petitioner has
not his residence in Finland, to be presented through some person
domiciled therein. The name and residence of such person are to
be set out in the power of attorney to be executed in his favor
by the petitioner, empowering such attorney to act for and represent
him in all matters relating to the patent. This power of attorney is
to accompany the petition and the documents relating to the same.
SEC. 6. After the petition, together with the supplemental doc-
uments, has been sent in to the finance department of the Senate,
and after subsequent examination and approval by the said depart-
ment, a patent will be issued for the invention.
In the patent are to be set out the principle contents of the peti-
tion of the applicant:
The period for the duration of which the patent is granted ;
The privileges which are to be conferred by the patent ;
And the obligations which the holder of the patent must fulfill in
order to enjoy the privileges of the patent right.
The patent must further contain expressly a declaration, in
terms which cannot be mistaken, of that for which he requires pro-
tection, that the invention is new, and that it can be used with
advantage.
SEC. 7. The Manufactures- Direction is to be informed of
all petitions for patents granted by the Senate, and the whole of the
collective documents belonging to the matters connected with the
patent are to be made over to them.
The Manufactures- Direction is bound to include these
documents together in a catalogue and arrange them in accordance
with their nature, in such a manner as that every person who may
desire to do so may be afforded an inspection of the same.
SEC. 8. If two or more persons present themselves desiring to
obtain a patent for inventions of a like nature, it shall be decided
upon examination whether the one of them who has first sent in the
completed documents before the others shall receive the patent, or
whether all the petitions are to be refused.
FINLAND. 173
SEC. 9. In addition to the customary dues which are payable to
the Senate for the issue of a patent, an impost duty of twenty marks
per annum is to be paid into the state treasury of Finland for
every year for which the patent right is granted.
CHAPTER III.
Of the obligations and rights of the owners of patents.
SEC. 10. Whoever has received a patent is obliged:
1. To bring the patent right to public notice by means of the
publication of the patent and the description three times in the
official Swedish and Finnish newspapers of the country. The
description must be in the same terms as that included in the peti-
tion for the patent. Such publication is to be effected within two
months, to be reckoned from the day of the issuing of the patent.
2. Within two years from the last-mentioned day, to send in
evidence to the Manufactures-Direction that he is in full work-
ing of the patented invention ; the said term may be limited by the
finance department of the Senate at the granting of the patent to
one year, and also extended, upon petition for that purpose, to at
the utmost four years, as the scope and nature of the invention
merit.
3. Afterwards, in every year during the whole duration of the
patent, to give evidence to the Manufactures- Direction that the
invention is being continuously worked.
SEC. 11. If the holder of a patent wishes to assign the same to
any other person, or if it comes by inheritance into the possession of
another person, such fact must be notified to the Manufactures-
Direction, whereupon the matter is to be referred by a memoran-
dum to the finance department of the Senate. The new patent
holder will have brought to his notice by the medium of the memo-
randum, the obligations Avhich are to be fulfilled by him during the
continuance of the patent.
If a transfer should be effected to any person not domiciled in
Finland, he is obliged, in accordance with the provisions contained
in the last clause of section 5, to appoint an attorney to act for
him.
SEC. 12. The patent right ceases and becomes forfeited :
When the holder of a patent shall have omitted the observance
of any of the provisions contained in section 10 ;
lU FOREIGN LAWS.
When, in consequence of any of the causes of complaint
mentioned in section 14, the tribunal declares the patent to be
annulled.
SEC. 13. When a patent has become forfeited, and also when
the time for which the patent was originally granted has expired, it
is incumbent upon the Manufactures-Direction to publish in the
official Swedish and Finnish newspapers of the country the fact
that the patent has become canceled.
CHAPTER IV.
Of the judicial conduct of actions relating to a patent.
SEC. 14. If a patent is granted for an invention similar to one
previously patented, or which has already been discovered by some
other person in Finland or elsewhere, or if the owner of the patent
has falsely declared himself to be the inventor, or if it is proved
that the patented invention is dangerous to the public safety or to
the public health, or may lead to immorality, any person who
believes his right to be prejudiced by the patent may, within one
year after the patent resolution has been published for the third
time in the newspapers named in section 10, and also the state
attorney, so soon as the protection of the commonwealth requires
it, may bring an action against the owner of the patent, before the
tribunal of the place wherein the owner or, in case of his resid-
ing out of the country, his legally appointed representative is
domiciled. The tribunal shall, in case any of the above enumerated
events have happened, declare that the patent is to be revoked, in
which case a copy of the judgment of the tribunal is to be for-
warded to the Manufactures- Direction without delay. This
latter shall proceed to act in the matter, after the judgment has
become legally valid, in the manner prescribed in section 13.
SEC. 15. If the owner of a patent believes that after the grant-
ing of the patent another person works the patented invention
illegally, he may bring his action against him by means of a citation
before the public tribunal to which the person informed against
belongs. If the owner of the patent is able to give proof that his
rights are being infringed upon in the matter mentioned the accused
person shall be subject to a fine for the first time of from one hun-
dred to three hundred Finnish marks, and in the case of repeated
infringements of from three hundred to six hundred marks, and
FINLAND. 175
also be condemned each time to payment of compensation for the
full amount of damages. Of the money fine, one half of the
amount is to go to the owner of the patent, who alone can bring
such action before the tribunal, and the other half to the poor and
work-house fund of the country. If the condemned person is not
in a position to pay the fine, the same shall be, in accordance with
the prescriptions now in force with regard to pecuniary amercement,
exchanged for imprisonment.
SEC. 16. Should it appear upon the trial of an action for the
infringement of a patent right that the invention to which the pat-
ent relates has been known or used in the country or elsewhere
before the petition for the patent was presented to the finance
department, or that the holder of the patent has given an incorrect
or incomplete description of the method and the means to be
employed for working the invention, and that a trustworthy basis
for forming a judgment as to the peculiar characteristics of the
invention has not thereby been obtained ; or if the owner of the
patent has falsely held himself out as the inventor, the defendant is
not answerable.
CHAPTER V.
General provisions.
SEC. 17. Whenever in this decree "months" are spoken of
within which particular obligations are to be fulfilled, in the appli-
cation of this term each month is to be reckoned as 30 days.
SEC. 18. This decree comes into force on the 1st June, 1876,
without prejudice, however, to the legal validity of patents previ-
ously granted.
And hereto every person to whom tho same relates must here-
after conform.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 185.
176 FOREIGN LAWS.
FRANCE.
Law of July 5, 1844 ; with Notes Founded on the Comment-
ary of M. Leopold Goirand.
TITLE I.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 1. Every new discovery or invention, in all kinds of
industry, confers upon its author, subject to the conditions and for
the periods hereafter determined, the exclusive right to work for
his benefit the said discovery or invention. This right is evidenced
by documents delivered by the government, under the name brevets
cT invention (letters patent).
NOTE, founded on the commentary of M. Leopold Goirand. A patent of invention
in France consists of an. official declaration, delivered by the government to any indi-
vidual who claims to be an inventor, to the effect that on a given day, such individual
deposited with the minister of agriculture and commerce, a demand, accompanied by
certain documents in which he claims the invention of which he declares himself to be
the author. This official declaration does no more than state a fact ; it has but one
object, and that is, to indicate the period from which the right of the party applying
for the patent is to run, in France. The government does not at this stage examine
the claim, and does not, therefore, guarantee the genuineness thereof. The formula
which the law requires to be placed upon all patented articles is accordingly worded :
" Breveie sans garantie du gouvernement (patented without government guaranty) ;"
which in practice is abbreviated : S. G. D. G.
There is only one kind of patent, but it may be taken out under three different
circumstances : 1. For an invention, properly so-called. 2. For an improvement or
change in or an addition to an invention. A patent of this kind is called in practice
a " brevet de perfectionrtfment (patent for improvement)." 3. For an invention which
has been already patented abroad, and is now sought to be introduced into France.
This is called a " brevet f importation (patent for importation)."
ART. 2. The following are considered as inventions or new dis-
coveries :
The invention of new industrial products.
The invention of new means, or a new application of known
means for obtaining a result or an industrial product.
This enumeration must not be construed too strictly ; practically it has been
extended to comprise all possible inventions. The courts have gone so far as to decide
that not only new applications of known means, but also the merely new combination
FRANCE. 177
of known means to obtain a product or a commercial result, is an invention, within
the meaning of the law. There are inventions, however, which, although new, are not
patentable. Such are those belonging to pure science, and not capable of being
applied to industry. Thus the discovery of a natural law, or a natural phenomenon,
etc., cannot be patented. It is proper to distinguish between the simple observation
of a scientific phenomenon, and the practical, commercial application to which such
observation can be put. The former is not, and the latter is, patentable. (Court of
Cassation, December 20, 1851, and February 9, 1853.) As a rule, every invention
which has a commercial value is capable of being patented.
An " industrial product," as that term is used in Article 2, is a well defined body
or material object which has a form and specific characteristics that distinguish it from
all other objects. Thus, a new tissue of known materials can be patented as a new
product, if the same materials have never before been combined to make a product hav-
ing the same characteristics. (Court of Paris, November 19, 1857 ; December 6, 1859.)
It is necessary to distinguish between the product and the process ; a new result, even
if the process is not new, may be patented. A distinction must also be made between
a new product, and a new result. The latter is never a material object, but simply a
new effect, or the better use of known means ; as such, it is not patentable in itself ;
that which is^patentable is the process by which the new effect is produced. The Court
of Cassation has decided that an industrial result cannot be patented independently of
the means employed to obtain it ; also, that the object which an inventor has in view
when inventing a product or process, cannot be the subject of a patent, but that
inveution consists only in the means by which the difficulty is overcome and the object
realized. (Court of Cassation, April 17, 1870.)
" Means," in the phrase " the invention of new means," in article 2, signifies the
processes employed by the inventor to obtain a product or result. They are of three
sorts: 1, chemical agents ; 2, mechanical forces ; 3, processes, which depend on both.
The novelty of the means is evidently a simple question of fact ; and in France, if the
process is new, the law does not go into that question with respect to the product.
The new application of known means to obtain a result or product of commer-
cial value. The greater number of patents belong to this category of inventions : and
when such patents are submitted to the courts, they must, in order to form a due esti-
mate of them, consider, not each method or process separately, but all such methods
or processes taken together. The expression "new application," &c., employed by the
law, is very broad ; it comprises any new combination of known means, any new com-
bination of known substances, and all new arrangements of known forces, whether
chemical or mechanical, or both. (Court of Cassation, January 17, 1852 ; December 2,
1359 ; February 12, 1854 ; Court of Rouen, March 1, 1860). In short, " to apply known
means in a new manner " is purely and simply to employ means that are known, just
as they are known, without changing them in any respect, but with a view to obtain a
different result from any hitherto produced. Thus it has been decided that : " Though
the mode of making boxes by a single roll of card-board is not a new invention, it is
certain that such mode had never before been applied to boxes destined for lucifer
matches ; that by means of this system, by which many slides are manufactured sim-
ultaneously, a great saving has been effected in the manufacture of match-boxes, and
moreover, that upon this point the application is new ; and the patent taken is there-
fore valid." It has also been decided that the manufacture of a compound by the aid
of known ingredients is pateutable, from the fact that such elements had not before
I. 12
178 FOREIGN LAWS.
been combined to produce the same result. (Court of Cassation, April 7, 1869.) Also,
that a machine which has become public property can become once more the subject
of a patent when, by new combinations, it is applied to a class of industry different
from that to which it had been formerly applied ; or more generally, when it is applied
in a manner unknown up to the date of application (Court of Rouen, March 4, 1841 ;
Court of Cassation, November 25, 1856 ; Court of Paris, July 1, 1870) ; also that the
application of water-meters to gas, is, if new, patentable. (Court of Paris, August 1,
1861.) Evidently, when an inventor has obtained a patent for the new application of
known means to produce a compound already known, any other individual who can
obtain the same result or the same product, by the use of different means, can
obtain a valid patent therefor. (Court of Dijon, February 9, 1876.)
The " new application of known means " must not be confounded with the employ-
ment of known means for a different purpose. The law does not protect new
employment ; therefore, if an apparatus, formerly applied to a certain substance, is
afterwards applied to another substance, to which it renders exactly the same service,
no modification of the apparatus being necessary for such new employment, the sec-
ond employment will not be patentable. It is upon this ground that the Court of
Appeal of Paris refused to sanction an invention to apply rollers to a kitchen range,
as rollers had already been applied to stoves ; neither would it sanction a patent for
closing rings which had already been adapted to the closing of bracelets. (February 28,
1855.) Again, the Criminal Court of the Seine refused to uphold a patent taken for
adapting to pianos the same screws which had been formerly adapted to piano stools
(December 7, 1858); nor would it uphold one taken for reproducing musical works by
photography, which was formerly used for the reproduction of drawings. (February
28, 1865.) So also, mere changes of form and dimensions are not patentable, at least,
unless they produce a new result or a new product ; in such a case they can be pat-
ented.
ART. 3. The following are not capable of being patented ;
1. Medical compositions and medicines of every kind. These
remain subject to special laws and regulations, and especially to the
decree of August 18, 1810, relating to secret remedies.
2. Plans and combinations of credit or finance.
ART. 4. Patents shall be valid for five, ten, or fifteen years.
The following fees shall be paid for every patent taken.
For a patent of five years, 500 francs.
For a patent of ten years, 1000 francs.
For a patent of fifteen years, 1500 francs.
This fee shall be payable in annual sums of 100 francs. The
patent shall be forfeited if the patentee allows a term to pass with-
out payment thereof.
Fifteen years is the maximum duration of a patent; but a special act of the Leg-
islature can, on exceptional grounds, prolong such duration for another fifteen years,
A patent taken out for improvement, runs also from the day on which the deposit
of the papers for the improvement was made.
At the eipiration of the period prescribed for patents, they fall into the public
FRANCE. 179
domain or become public property. Any person can then manufacture or make use of
the article patented, but the name of the inventor, if he has given his name to the
object of the invention, does not fall into the public domain, and other manufacturers
must respect his name, and are not allowed, under penalty of prosecution, to use the
name of the inventor, except in connection with the following formula ; " Fabrique
suivant h systeme de A. B. ." (Court of Paris, November 24, 1865.)
TITLE II.
FORMALITIES ATTENDING THE TAKING OF PATENTS.
SECTION I.
THE APPLICATION.
ART. 5. In order to obtain a patent, the applicant must deposit,
under seal, at the office of the secretary of the prefecture in the
department in which he is domiciled, or in any other department,
after having elected domicile therein, the following, viz.:
1. His petition to the minister of agriculture and commerce.
2. A description of the discovery, invention or application that
forms the object of the patent.
3. Drawings or samples necessary for the elucidation of the
description.
4. A schedule of the documents deposited.
Minors, married women, and persons under legal disability can, nevertheless,
become patentees. The heirs of an inventor can take out a patent, either in his name
or in their own, for inventions discovered by their ancestor. Foreigners, also, can
obtain patents in France.
Nothing prevents a firm or company from taking out a patent, and creditors can
take out a patent on behalf of a deceased inventor, upon condition that before his
death, the inventor has, by initiating the necessary steps, manifested the intention of
having it patented.
When one individual is employed upon wages by another, and such employe dis-
covers an invention, does the invention belong to him or to his master, if no agree-
ment exists between them ? This question has been submitted upon various occasions
to the French courts. The civil tribunal of the Seine has decided (November21, 18Y3),
that if workmen or agents, either of the government or of a private undertaking, can
be deprived of the right of patenting inventions which they have made, it is only in
cases in which such inventions are the result of works executed by them in their relation
as employes, under the orders and superintendence of their master or chef, and especi-
ally when they have received special instructions to examine and apply the improve-
ments in dispute. The Court of Paris "(July 21, 1874), has confirmed the above decis-
ion.
An inventor who is abroad, and desires to take out a patent in France, without
coming into France, can make such deposit of documents as is provided by article 5,
by handing them to a French diplomatic representative, who will transmit the same to
France.
180 FOREIGN LAWS.
ABT. 6. The application must be limited to a single principal
object, the details constituting the same, and the application
thereof which may have been indicated. It shall mention the terms
that the petitioners have asked for, within the limits prescribed by
article 4, and shall contain no conditions, restrictions or reserves.
It shall designate a title, consisting of a summary and precise
description of the object of the invention. Such description must
not be written in a foreign language, and must not contain altera-
tions or additions. Words struck out must be counted and stated,
and the pages and marginal notes initialed.
Such document must not contain any other denomination of
weights and measures than those specified in the tables annexed to
the law of July 4, 1837.
Drawings must be traced in ink according to the metrical scale.
Duplicates of the description and of the drawings must be
joined to the petition.
All the documents must be signed by the petitioner or by his
attorney in fact, whose power must be annexed to the petition.
As the specification may include the details which constitute the invention claimed,
and the application of the invention claimed by the inventor, it has been decided that
the patentee of a patent for purifying gas by soda and alum can obtain by the same
patent the right to obtain soda and alum by processes which are to be specially
employed in purifying gas. (Court of Cassation, May 4, 18S5.) But it is not neces-
sary that all the applications of an object should be enumerated by the inventor. An
application not enumerated is protected by the principal patent if it arises naturally
from the invention. (Court of Cassation, December 17, 1837.)
The specification should also give a title to the patent, which should designate
plainly the invention claimed. Patents are classed in alphabetical order at the offices
of the ministry of agriculture and commerce, in order that the public may be able eas-
ily to see, on inspection, if a patent has been taken for such and such an invention or
in relation to such and such a matter.
The object of the patent should also be described. The metric system alone must
be used to designate weights and measures. The description is of great importance.
It must be at least sufficiently detailed to enable the article invented to be manufac-
tured therefrom ; that is to say, it should indicate in a complete and straightforward
manner, the various means employed by the inventor.
In default of these conditions being complied with, tlie patent is void and of no
effect. The law does not require that the description should enumerate all the points
appertaining to the invention ; but the patentee acquires the exclusive property in
what he describes. A drawing or sample cannot replace a description.
Finally, the drawings and samples necessary for the explanation of the description
must be joined to the petition.
ART. 7. No deposit shall be received, unless accompanied by a
FRANCE. 181
receipt acknowledging payment of the sum of 100 francs, on
account of the whole fee due for the patent.
A certificate drawn up free of expense by the secretary-general
of the prefecture, upon a register for that purpose, and signed by
the petitioner, shall be evidence of every deposit, and shall state
the day and hour of the same. A copy of such certificate shall be
handed to the depositor upon payment of the stamp duty.
ART. 8. The patent shall begin to run from the day of the deposit
prescribed by article 5.
SECTION II.
ON THE DELIVERY OF PATENTS.
ART. 9. Upon the deposit of the application, and five days
from the date of the deposit, the prefect shall forward the papers,
under the seal of the inventor, to the minister of agriculture and
commerce, and join thereto a certified copy of the certificate of
registration, the receipt proving the payment of the tax, and, if there
be one, the power of attorney mentioned in article 6.
ART. 10. Upon the arrival of the papers at the ministry of agri-
culture and commerce, they shall be opened and the demand shall
be registered ; and the patent shall be issued in the order of the
receipt of the petitions.
ART. 11. Patents, the petitions for which have been properly
made, shall be delivered, without previous examination, at the risk
and peril of the petitioner, and without guarantee either of the
existence, novelty or merit of the invention, or of the fidelity or
exactness of the description.
A decree of the minister, proving the regularity of the demand,
shall be delivered to the petitioner, and shall constitute his patent,
To such decree shall be annexed a certified duplicate of the
description, and of the drawings mentioned in article 6, after they
have been compared with the originals and declared to be in con-
formity therewith.
The first copy of patents shall be delivered without cost. For
any further copy required by the patentee or his representative, a
fee of 25 francs is chargeable. Drawings shall be at the expense
of the applicant.
ART. 12. All petitions in which the formalities prescribed by
Nos. 2 and 3, of article 5, and by article 6, have not been observed
shall be rejected. Half the amount paid shall remain the property
of the treasury, but the petitioner may receive back the whole of
182 FOREIGN LAWS.
the amount, if he repeats his demand for a patent within three
months from the day upon which he received notice of the rejection
of his prior petition.
ART. 13. In cases where, by the application of article 3, patents
cannot be granted, the tax can be returned.
AET. 14. An ordinance in the Bulletin des Lois shall publish
every three months all the patents delivered within that time.
AET. 15. The term of a patent can only be extended by special
law.
SECTION III.
ON CERTIFICATES OF ADDITION.
ART. 16. The patentee or his representatives have the right,
during the whole term of the patent, to register changes, improve-
ments or additions thereto, upon fulfilling the formalities prescribed
by articles 5, 6 and 7 as regards registration.
Such changes, improvements or additions shall be evidenced by
certificates, delivered in the same form as the principal patent, and
shall have, from the respective dates of petition and delivery, the
same effects as the principal patent, to which they pertain.
A fee of 20 francs shall be paid for every petition for a certifi-
cate of addition.
Certificates of addition taken out by one of several parties who
have an interest in the patent, shall benefit the remainder.
ART. 17. Any patentee, who, for a change, improvement or addi-
tion, desires to take out a principal patent of five, ten, or fifteen
years, instead of a certificate of addition which expires with the
original patent, must fulfill the formalities prescribed by articles 5,
6 and 7, and pay the tax mentioned in article 4.
The law affords two means of improving the original invention. The patentee can
either take out a new patent which is called a " brevet de perfeclionnement " (patent
for improvement), or he can obtain a " certtficat <T addition " (certificate of addition).
If he takes out a patent for improvement, he must proceed in exactly the same way
as when taking out the tirst patent. He must pay an annual tax of 100 f. and carry
out all the formalities prescribed for the principal patent. By this course he will
actually have a further patent, which will be absolutely independent of the prior one,
and will extend to five, ten or fifteen years, according to the period fixed in the petition.
As the patent for improvement is a distinct patent altogether from the principal pat-
ent, it follows that in the case of the transfer of the principal patent, the transferee,
unless a contrary stipulation be made, acquires no right whatever over the patent for
improvements.
It may be that the patentee, if the modification is insignificant, is unwilling to take
out a new patent, which would necessitate the carrying out on his part of many form-
FRANCE. 183
alities, and the payment of an annual tax of 100 francs. In this case, the law leaves
him the resource of taking out a certificate of addition. Such certificate is applied for
in the same way as a patent, but it has the advantage of requiring the payment of 20
francs only for the whole of its duration; but in contradistinction to the patent for
improvement, the certificate of addition is absolutely dependent upon that of the prin-
cipal patent. It lasts for the same period, and is liable to extinction at any time that
the original patent expires, or becomes canceled for any reason whatever. (Court of
Cassation, June 1, 1865, and December 14, 1868.) The same rule holds, though the
certificate of addition contains, in fact, a new invention. (Court of Appeal, July 7,
1854.)
A certificate of addition depends upon the prior patent. It follows that all the
parties can avail themselves of it, and that all the representatives of the inventor c.an
profit by it. Thus, in the case of a transfer of the original patent, unless a contrary
stipulation be inserted, the transferee acquires all the certificates of addition which
have been taken out in relation thereto. In short, the certificate of addition is an
economical way of taking out a patent for improvements ; but it has also its inconven-
iences, the greatest of which is, that it stands or falls with the principal patent, when
the latter expires or becomes annulled or canceled by law. A certificate of addition
is? also liable to be canceled upon the ground that it has no relation to the principal
patent.
ART. 18. No person otbcr than the patentee or his representatives
acting as above mentioned can, during the space of one year, legally
take out a patent for a change, improvement, or addition to the
invention constituting the object of the prior patent. Nevertheless
any person who desires to take out a patent for a change, addition,
or improvement to a discovery already patented, can, during the
said y-ear, send in a petition, which shall be transmitted to, and shal
remain deposited under seal with the minister of agriculture and
commerce. When the year has expired, the seals shall be broken,
and the patent delivered. Nevertheless, the principal patentee
shall have a preference as to the changes, improvements and addi-
tions, for which he may himself, during the year, have demanded a
certificate of addition or a patent.
A change, an improvement or an addition to a patent may be discovered by a
third party. The law, however, is less favorable as regards improvements than as
regards inventions. The inventor has two means of protecting his improvements,
viz. : brevet de perfect 'ionnement and certificat cT addition. A party other than the
original inventor has only one means of protecting his invention, viz. : he must take
out a brevet de perfectionncmciit.
Again, in order to prevent competition, which necessarily would be advantageous
to the party taking out the patent for improvement, the latter cannot work such pat-
ent until after the expiration of the principal patent. This provision is a favor which
the law grants to the original patentee. Another favor granted to him is, that if,
within the year immediately following, he discovers any improvement on his invention,
he has a priority over all others, who may, during the same year, discover the same
184 FOREIGN LAWS.
improvement. Thus during the year following the taking out of the patent, an
immense advantage is secured to the inventor ; but this does not absolutely close the
door to other parties, for they can always, during such period, present petitions for
patents for improvements invented by themselves, subject to the condition that if the
original patentee also invents the same improvement, the preference is granted to him.
In order, however, to conciliate all interests, those of third parties as well as those
of the inventor, the law requires that all demands by third parties for patents for
improvements, must be deposited under seal, and such applications are not opened
until the expiration of one year after the original patent was delivered. This period
of one year runs from the day of the deposit of his claim. Certain authorities, how-
ever, have decided that the period runs from the date of the delivery of the patent.
(Tribunal of Epernay, October 4, 1860.)
ART. 19. No person who has taken out a patent for a discovery,
invention, or application attaching to the object of another patent,
shall have any right to work the invention already patented ; and
reciprocally, the proprietor of the original patent may not work the
invention which is the object of such subsequent patent.
SECTION IV.
OF THE ASSIGNMENT OF PATENTS.
ART. 20. A patentee may assign the whole or a part of his
patent.
The total or partial assignment of a patent, whether gratuitous
or for a valuable consideration, must be by notarial deed, and upon
payment .of the entire amount of the tax prescribed by article 4.
No assignment shall be legal as regards third parties, until it
has been registered at the secretary's oflice of the prefecture of the
department in which the deed of assignment shall have been exe-
cuted.
Assignments, and all other deeds relating to the same, shall be
registered upon the filing of an authenticated copy of the assign-
ments. A copy of all certificates of registration involved, together
with a copy of the assignment above mentioned, shall be forwarded
by the prefets (prefects) to the minister of agriculture and com-
merce, within five days from the date of the registration.
ART. 21. A register shall be provided at the ministry of agri-
culture and commerce, upon which shall be inscribed every assign-
ment of every patent ; and every three months, an ordinance shall
publish in the form provided by article 14, the assignments that
have been registered during the previous quarter.
A patent is personal property ; it can therefore be pledged in the same way as all
other personal property, and the ordinary rules of law must be observed by relation
FRANCE. 185
thereto. It can also be sold by the creditors of the inventor in the same way as other
personalty. Such sale must be effected through a notary. A patent can be trans-
ferred wholly or in part gratuitously, or for a valuable consideration, or for the whole
of its duration or for a part.
The patentee can, while preserving the property in his patent, and without trans-
ferring any part of it, grant to third parties the right of working his invention, in
totality or in part. Such a concession is called in French " tolerance " (license). No
special form is required. A license may be granted by a simple letter.
As in regard to other contracts, a deed of transfer of a patent is, in case of ambig-
uity, more strictly interpreted against the transferor than against the transferee.
In practice, the prefects do not comply as regards this registration with the provis-
ions of article 20. They follow those of the Instruction Ministerielle of October 31,
1844, which are as follows:
No deed of transfer can be registered, except upon the production and the deposit
of the following, viz.:
1. Of the receipt proving the payment of the last installment at the proper period ;
2. Of the receipt of the Receveur General in the departments, and of the Receveur
Central in Paris, proving the payment of the whole of the taxes relating to the pat-
ent ;
3. Of an authenticated extract of the notarial deed executed before a notary of the
department, and proving the total or partial transfer of the patent, either gratuitously
or for a valuable consideration. If the patent, however, had been previously trans-
ferred, a certificate of the registration of the said transfer, and an authentic extract
of the notarial deed above mentioned would suffice for the registration. Only this
document need be annexed to the proce-i verbal.
The law has not indicated a fixed period within which registers of transfers of
patents must be filed, but non-compliance with the formalities of registration renders
the transfer void as regards third parties. Such nullity, however, concerns third par-
ties alone ; the transfer is, nevertheless, binding between the parties themselves.
(Court of Paris, March 19, 1861.) But the courts do not consider infringers as third
parties. The latter cannot, therefore, plead the irregularity of the transfer. (Court
of Paris, March 2, 1849.) The same may be said in regard to the necessity of a nota-
rial deed to make a transfer of a patent. The above two propositions have been
decided by the Court of Appeal of Paris, February 19, 1876.
The doctrine above stated applies to transfers for valuable consideration. As
regards gratuitous transfer, it is necessary, besides the above mentioned formalities,
that the special provisions of the French law relating to deeds executed gratuitously
or without valuable consideration, should be observed. Again, what has been said
applies to transfers made in France. It is clear that a French patentee can there
make an effective transfer according to the formalities of the country in which he is
residing ; but as soon as he re-enters France, he should, without delay, have the deed
registered at the secretary's office of the prefecture of one of the districts in France.
Lastly, what has been said applies solely to French patents, as transfers of foreign
patents can be carried into effect in the form used for the transfer of any other kind
of personal property.
When a transfer of personal property takes place, the transferer guarantees to the
transferee the existence of the object transferred. This general principle of law
applies to transfers of patents, and that if at a future time the patent becomes void or
186 FOREIGN LAWS.
fails, the transfer has been made without consideration, and consequently becomes
void. In order to avoid this guarantee, the transferor should insert special stipulations
to this effect in the deed of transfer. Again, notwithstanding all such stipulations, it
is clear that he remains responsible, if the invention be not in reality applicable, and
if it cannot give the results which constituted the object of the patent. Again,
although a transferor may have stipulated that he shall not be liable in the event of
the patent being declared void, such a clause cannot protect him in such a case, on
account of an act for which he is personally responsible. The transfer of a patent
which is declared to be void on the ground of insufficiency, is of no effect.
It has been decided that although the transfer of a patent is, in a certain
sense, a contract of chance, yet the transfer is, notwithstanding, a contract, and that
it must be regarded as being without consideration, and consequently void, when the
invention is not capable of an industrial application. (Cassation, August 22, 1861.)
But if the transferee contracted with full knowledge of the facts, and if he profited
by the working of the patent until the date when it was declared void, the deed of
transfer will hold good. (Paris, August 6, 1855.)
When once the contract of transfer is canceled, what is the situation of the par-
ties ? Must the transferor refund the consideration to his transferee ?
It has been decided that in the case of a patent being declared void, the transferor
is not obliged to reimburse the transferee the installments received by him in payments
except after deducting profits derived from the invention up to the date of the declar-
ation of nullity by the transferee. (Court of Cassation, May 25, 1369.)
The fact of the inventor having granted licenses to various parties does not pre-
vent him selling his patent to other parties, but the transferees must respect all licenses
granted prior to such transfer. A licensee cannot bring an action for infringement
of a patent. A patentee cannot grant power to a licensee to bring such action in his
name, as in France no party can plead in the name of a third person. (Cassation,
March 8, 1852 ; April 27, 1869.) A licensee is entitled to be secured, by his grantor,
in the peaceable working and quiet enjoyment of the invention : but as long as no
one disturbs his enjoyment, he has no claim against the inventor. If, however, an
infringer damages his license, his right to security immediately arises.
Besides voluntary transfers of patents, there are other modes of transfer. A pat-
ent can be transmitted by succession, gift, transfer to a company, and partition, as in
the case when co- proprietors cannot work a patent together. In other cases in which
guch voluntary transfers take place, the deed must be registered. Again, a patent can
be sold by forced sale. An unpaid creditor has the right to seize and sell the patent
of his debtor. The seizure of a patent is effected by means of an opposition lodged
with the minister of agriculture and commerce. Such opposition must be preceded by
what is called a commandement (summons) and can only be made pursuant to a titre
executoire.
ART. 22. The assignee of a patent, and those who may have
acquired from a patentee or his representatives the right to work a
discovery or invention, are entitled to the benefit of all certificates
of addition which may be subsequently delivered to the patentee or
his representatives. Reciprocally, the patentee or his representa-
tives shall benefit by the certificates of addition which may be
subsequently delivered to assignees.
FRANCE. 187
All parties who Lave a right to certificates of addition, may
obtain delivery of a copy thereof at the ministry of agriculture
and commerce, upon payment of the sum of 20 francs.
The patentee can always prevent the transferee being enriched by an important
addition. He has only to take out a patent for improvement himself. In this case,
he will retain, individually, his improvement, unless it be stipulated in the deed of
transfer that all subsequent patents for improvements shall belong to the transferee.
SECTION V.
OF THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS or DESCRIPTIONS AND
DBA WINGS OF PATENTS.
AET. 23. Descriptions and drawings, samples and models of
patents delivered, shall, until the expiration of such patents,
remain deposited with the Ministere of agriculture and commerce,
where they may be referred to by the public, free of charge.
Any person may obtain, at his expense, a copy of such descrip-
tions and drawings upon compliance with the formalities prescribed
in the reglement made as provided by article 50.
ART. 24. After the payment of the second annuity, the descrip-
tions and drawings shall be published in full or in part.
At the commencement of each year a catalogue, containing
the titles of patents delivered during the preceding year, shall also
be published.
ART. 25. The collection of descriptions and drawings, and the
catalogue published pursuant to the preceding article, shall be
deposited with the Minister of agriculture and commerce, and with
the secretary of the prefecture of each department, where they can
be consulted free of expense.
ART. 26. At the expiration of the patents, the original descrip-
tions and drawings shall be deposited with the Conservatoire des
Arts et Metiers.
TITLE III.
OF THE RIGHTS OF FOREIGNERS.
ART. 27. Foreigners may obtain patents of inventions in
France.
ART. 28. The formalities and conditions prescribed by the pres-
ent law shall be applicable to patents demanded or delivered in
execution of the preceding article.
ART. 29. The author of an invention or discovery already
patented abroad, may obtain a patent in France, but the duration
188 FOREIGN LAWS.
of such latter patent cannot exceed that of the patent delivered
abroad.
TITLE IV.
OF ANNULMENT AND FORFEITURE; AND OF ACTIONS
RELATING THERETO.
SECTION I.
Or REPEAL AND FORFEITURE.
ART. 30. Patents delivered in the following cases arc void
and of no effect:
1. If the discovery, invention or application is not new ;
2. If, pursuant to the terms of article 3, the discovery, invention
or application is not susceptible of being patented ;
3. If the patents relate to principles, methods, systems, dis-
coveries, or theoretical or purely scientific conceptions, the commer-
cial applications of which are not described therein ;
4. If the discovery, invention or application is considered con-
trary to public policy and good manners, and to existing laws,
without prejudice in such case, and in that provided in the preced-
ing paragraph, to the penalties which may be incurred for the
manufacture or the sale of prohibited objects ;
5. If the title under which the patent has been demanded
fraudulently indicates an object other than the true object of the
invention ;
6. If the description joined to the patent is not sufficient for the
carrying out of the invention, or if it does not indicate in an
explicit and complete manner the true means employed by the
inventor ;
7. If the patent has been obtained contrary to the provisions of
article 18.
Certificates of changes, improvements, or additions which do
not relate to the principal patent, shall also be void and of no
effect.
There is a great difference between the annulment (repeal) and the decheance (for-
feiture) of a patent. Annulment renders the patent void, as well for the past aa for
the future. Forfeiture renders it void for the future only. There is another distinc-
tion between them. Annulment may be pronounced only for a part of a patent, leav-
ing the rest valid, whereas forfeiture affects the entire patent. Actions for either can
be instituted against the inventor by individuals or by the ministere publique (public
minister). In the first case, they are valid as between the parties only ; as in France,
judgments, affect only the parties thereto. In the second case, they are valid as to all
FRANCE. 189
parties ; the public minister represents the public. The same proceeding applies to
certificates of addition. Judgments affecting the original patent affect equally all the
certificates of addition pertaining thereto, because the existence of the latter depends
upon the former ; but the converse is not true. The civil tribunals have sole jurisdic-
tion in both cases.
There is valid ground for annulment when the discovery, the invention, or the
application is not new. If it were permitted to obtain a patent for an old invention,
this would damage the interests of third parties having already taken out patents, and
would also prejudice the public who have already acquired a right in such old patents.
However, it is not necessary that the invention should be new as regards all its parts ;
an invention which comprises an assemblage of various elements is patentable, if some
of such elements are new. (Court of Appeal of Paris, March 21, 1860.) When the
invention patented is composite, the courts can cancel it as regards those parts that are
not new, and maintain it as regards those that are new. An invention is not reputed
to be new, when an anterior invention, or the fact that it has been previously divulged,
can be proven.
Subdivision 7 of article 30 provides, that certificates of addition are also void that
have no connection with or reference to the principal patent. It is the intention of
the law to prevent the payment of a simple sum of 20 francs, instead of 5, 10, or 15
annuities of 100 francs each, under pretense of taking out a certificate of addition,
and thus obtaining an actual patent for quite another invention. The question as to
whether a certificate of addition is connected or not with the principal patent is a
question of fact. The Court of Appeal of Paris, on July 20, 1875, confirmed a judg-
ment of February 3, 1874, and thereby annulled the certificate of addition taken for
fastening cravats without a band round the neck, when the original patent was taken
for a system of fastening cravats with a band round the neck ; but a sufficient relation
exists between the certificate and tne patent, although the certificate is only connected
as an accessory to the principal operation patented, provided its object is to facilitate
and complete the execution of such principal operation. (Court of Lille, July 17,
1874 ; Court of Douai, March 15, 1875.)
ART. 31. Any discovery, invention or application, which in
France or abroad, and previously to the date of the deposit of the
demand, has received sufficient publicity to enable it to be worked,
shall not be reputed to be new.
In order to constitute a publicity sufficient to annul a patent, it must have been
such as t render the execution thereof possible. Simple indiscretions of newspapers
or general descriptions without details of special apparatus, do not constitute prior pub-
lication. (Court of Appeal of Colmar, December 7, 1864.) Also a statement in a
scientific work, unaccompanied by working explanations will not be considered as a
previous publication. (Court of Paris, April 16, 1866.) The fact of having divulged
one's intention to a third party, does not cause it to fall into the public domain, if the
third party does not reveal the secret which has been confided to him. (Court of
Appeal of Paris, April 16, 1866.) Again, a communication made to a learned society
does not operate as divulgation, if it is made confidentially and privately. Conse-
quently, a confidential communication made to a jury of an exhibition, before a patent
is taken out, does not constitute publication. (Court of Appeal of Paris, March 8,
1869.) As regards trials made by an inventor before taking out his patent, it baa
188 FOREIGN LAWS.
of such latter patent cannot exceed that of the patent delivered
abroad.
TITLE IV.
OF ANNULMENT AND FORFEITURE; AND OF ACTIONS
RELATING THERETO.
SECTION I.
OF REPEAL AND FORFEITURE.
ART. 30. Patents delivered in the following cases arc void
and of no effect:
1. If the discovery, invention or application is not new ;
2. If, pursuant to the terms of article 3, the discovery, invention
or application is not susceptible of being patented ;
3. If the patents relate to principles, methods, systems, dis-
coveries, or theoretical or purely scientific conceptions, the commer-
cial applications of which are not described therein ;
4. If the discovery, invention or application is considered con-
trary to public policy and good manners, and to existing laws,
without prejudice in such case, and in that provided in the preced-
ing paragraph, to the penalties which may be incurred for the
manufacture or the sale of prohibited objects ;
5. If the title under which the patent has been demanded
fraudulently indicates an object other than the true object of the
invention ;
6. If the description joined to the patent is not sufficient for the
carrying out of the invention, or if it does not indicate in an
explicit and complete manner the true means employed by the
inventor ;
7. If the patent has been obtained contrary to the provisions of
article 18.
Certificates of changes, improvements, or additions which do
not relate to the principal patent, shall also be void and of no
effect.
There is a great difference between the annulment (repeal) and the decheanct (for-
feiture) of a patent. Annulment renders the patent void, as well for the past as for
the future. Forfeiture renders it void for the future only. There is another distinc-
tion between them. Annulment may be pronounced only for a part of a patent, leav-
ing the rest valid, whereas forfeiture affects the entire patent. Actions for either can
be instituted against the inventor by individuals or by the minislere pnbligue (public
minister). In the first case, they are valid as between the parties only ; as in France,
judgments, affect only the parties thereto. In the second case, they are valid as to all
FRANCE. 189
parties ; the public minister represents the public. The same proceeding applies to
certificates of addition. Judgments affecting the original patent affect equally all the
certificates of addition pertaining thereto, because the existence of the latter depends
upon the former ; but the converse is not true. The civil tribunals have sole jurisdic-
tion in both cases.
There is valid ground for annulment when the discovery, the invention, or the
application is not new. If it were permitted to obtain a patent for an old invention,
this would damage the interests of third parties having already taken out patents, and
would also prejudice the public who have already acquired a right in such old patents.
However, it is not necessary that the invention should be new as regards all its parts ;
an invention which comprises an assemblage of various elements is patentable, if some
of such elements are new. (Court of Appeal of Paris, March 21, 1860.) When the
invention patented is composite, the courts can cancel it as regards those parts that are
not new, and maintain it as regards those that are new. An invention is not reputed
to be new, when an anterior invention, or the fact that it has been previously divulged,
can be proven.
Subdivision 7 of article 30 provides, that certificates of addition are also void that
have no connection with or reference to the principal patent. It is the intention of
the law to prevent the payment of a simple sum of 20 francs, instead of 6, 10, or 15
annuities of 100 francs each, under pretense of taking out a certificate of addition,
and thus obtaining an actual patent for quite another invention. The question as to
whether a certificate of addition is connected or not with the principal patent is a
question of fact. The Court of Appeal of Paris, on July 20, 1875, confirmed a judg-
ment of February 3, 1874, and thereby annulled the certificate of addition taken for
fastening cravats without a band round the neck, when the original patent was taken
for a system of fastening cravats with a band round the neck ; but a sufficient relation
exists between the certificate and tne patent, although the certificate is only connected
as an accessory to the principal operation patented, provided its object is to facilitate
and complete the execution of such principal operation. (Court of Lille, July 17,
1874 ; Court of Douai, March 15, 1875.)
ART. 31. Any discovery, invention or application, which in
France or abroad, and previously to the date of the deposit of the
demand, has received sufficient publicity to enable it to be worked,
shall not be reputed to be new.
In order to constitute a publicity sufficient to annul a patent, it must have been
such as t render the execution thereof possible. Simple indiscretions of newspapers
or general descriptions without details of special apparatus, do not constitute prior pub-
lication. (Court of Appeal of Colmar, December 7, 1864.) Also a statement in a
scientific work, unaccompanied by working explanations will not be considered as a
previous publication. (Court of Paris, April 16, 1866.) The fact of having divulged
one's intention to a third party, does not cause it to fall into the public domain, if the
third party does not reveal the secret which has been confided to him. (Court of
Appeal of Paris, April 16, 1866.) Again, a communication made to a learned society
does not operate as divulgation, if it is made confidentially and privately. Conse-
quently, a confidential communication made to a jury of an exhibition, before a patent
is taken out, does not constitute publication. (Court of Appeal of Paris, March 8,
1859.) As regards trials made by an inventor before taking out his patent, it baa
192 FOREIGN LAWS.
SECTION II.
OP ACTIONS FOE ANNULMENT OB FORFEITURE.
ART. 34. All parties interested can institute proceedings for the
annulment or forfeiture of a patent. Such actions, as well as all
contests relative to property in patents, must be brought before the
civil court of first resort.
The persons having interest in the patent in question, must have a bond fide inter-
est which can be recognized by the court. It has been decided that a person believ-
ing hituself to be threatened with an action for infringement by a patentee, has a
sufficient interest to entitle him to commence a suit for the annulment of a patent.
It results in general that an action for annulment or forfeiture against a patent which
has expired cannot be brought. Actions for annulment or forfeiture can be brought
either as principal demands or claimed by way of set-off. This latter case arises when
a person sued for infringement pleads the nullity or defect of the patent by reason of
which it is proceeded against.
A person criminally prosecuted for infringement of patent can plead in the
tribunal correciionnel that the patent is void. In this case, if he proves the nullity or
the defect, he would be acquitted ; but that is all the court can do ; it cannot annul
or forfeit the patent itself, it can only condemn or acquit the defendant. (Court of
Cassation, April 1, 1870.)
ART. 35. If the action is brought simultaneously against the
proprietor of the patent and against one or several assignees, such
action must be brought in the court of the domicile of the owner of
the patent.
When the patentee has not been summoned, and a transferee has been sued, the
former can intervene in the action in order to defend his patent.
ART. 36. The proceedings must be commenced and carried
through in the form prescribed for summary matters by article 405
and the Code of Civil Procedure. Notice thereof shall be given to
the procureur of the republic.
In the event of two demands being entered with regard to the same patent before
two different tribunals, the rules of the Code of Procedure relating to such cases are
applied. (Code Civ. Pro. art. 171.)
In the same manner, if criminal proceedings for infringement are taken at the
same time as civil proceedings for cancellation of a patent, the criminal proceedings
are adjourned until the question of the nullity of the patent has been decided. (Court
of Cassation, February 14, 1855.)
ART. 37. In all proceedings to obtain the repeal or forfeiture
of a patent, the public minister may intervene and demand that a
judgment for the same be rendered. He may even proceed imme-
diately in a special action to obtain a judgment for the repeal of a
patent in the cases provided by Nos. 2, 4 and 5 of article 30.
FRANCE. 193
Judgments pronounced for the annulment or forfeiture of patents, have only a
relative value (Civil Code, art. 1351); that is to say, the benefit of such annulment
or forfeiture can only be invoked by the parties to the action ; the patent remains
good as regards persons who have taken no part in the proceedings.
It has been decided that a judgment rendered by a foreign court upon the question
of the invalidity of a patent taken abroad, cannot be invoked as final in case the ques-
tion is raised before a French court by the same parties, or in relation to a patent taken
iu France arising out of the same invention. (Court of Paris, December 13, 1860.)
ART. 38. In the cases provided by article 37, all parties inter-
ested in the patent, whose muniments of title have been registered
at the ministry of agriculture and commerce, pursuant to article 21,
must be cited.
ART. 39. When a final judgment for the absolute repeal or
forfeiture of a patent has been rendered, notice thereof shall be
given to the minister of agriculture and commerce, and the repeal
or the forfeiture shall be published in the form prescribed by arti-
14, relating to the obtaining of patents.
The public minister cannot intervene before the tribunal correctionnel, as such
court cannot annul or forfeit a patent (Court of Amiens, December 28, 1850) ; nor
in the action which article 34 provides for a further action against a patentee, viz. :
an action relating to the property itself of the patent. The ownership of a patent can
be contested ; but the public minister cannot in such cases intervene.
TITLE V.
OP INFRINGEMENT. PROCEEDINGS AND PENALTIES RELAT-
ING THERETO.
ART. 40. Any violation of the rights of the patentee, either by
the manufacture of articles, or by the employment of means pat-
ented, constitutes the misdemeanor of infringement. Such offense
is punished by a fine of from 100 francs to 2,000 francs.
WHAT CONSTITUTES INFRINGEMENT IN GENERAL. It is not necessary, in order to
constitute an infringement of the rights of the patentee, that the manufacture or the
employment as above should cause him prejudice. (Court of Cassation, March 20,
1857.) It matters not whether the invention be important or otherwise, or whether
the infringement be total or partial, or whether it be made for the sake of gain or
simply for the personal use of the inf ringer. (Court of Paris, February 25, 1851.)
MANUFACTURE OF PATENTED OBJECTS. As regards the manufacture of an isolated
piece of a machine, it is certain that if such portion is the essential contrivance or
one of the essential contrivances of the machine, the fabrication thereof will constitute
infringement. There may be infringement when all the portions manufactured are
individually public property, only, however, when the intention exists of uniting them,
later, to construct the object patented in its entirety. (Court of Cassation, July 26,
1851 ; Court of Paris, February 15, 1867.)
I. 13
194 FOREIGN LAWS.
Upon the question whether a manufacturer who repairs portions of a patented
object is guilty of infringement as against the patentee, the law was for a long time
unsettled. A judgment of the Tribunal Civil of the Seine, confirmed by a judgment
of the Court of Appeal of Paris, February 15, 1867, established it as follows:
" Repairs do not amount to infringement, when the effect thereof does not amount to
the construction of an entirely new article."
The great principle by which the judges are guided is, that in order to decide
whether there has been infringement, we must examine the resemblances and not the
points of difference between the product or means patented and the product or means
asserted to be infringements. (Tribunal Correctionnel of Paris, January 11, 1876;
Court of Appeal of Paris, February 25, 1876; Court of Cassation, June 23, 1876.)
From this principle it follows that tha infringer cannot, to excuse himself, contend
that he has perfected the invention, because to improve, in such a case, is to infringe.
(Tribunal Civil of the Seine, January 14, 1870 ; Court of Appeal of Paris, July 2, 1878 ;
Court of Cassation, March 4, 1876.) To adjudicate upon questions of infringement,
the judges should compare the object claimed to be infringed with the object described
in the patent, and not that manufactured by the patentee. (Court of Cassation,
December 30, 1843.) This is natural, as the object manufactured by the patentee
does not deserve the protection of the law, unless it be covered by the patent itself.
As the law punishes the infringing manufacturer of a patented article, the person
ordering such article must be placed upon the same footing ; his culpability is equally
great, if not greater than that of the manufacturer (Paris, February 10, 1859) ; but
the law does not treat in the capacity of manufacturer, the workman, or even the
foreman, who is only working under orders.
EMPLOYMENT OF PATENTED MEANS. The employment itself is punished, whether the
infringer have acted bond fide or not. (Court of Cassation, December 3, 1841.) The
rule is severe, but it follows from the text of the law. (Compare article 40 with
article 41.) The word " knowingly," which is contained in article 41, which permits
the infringer to be acquitted if he has not acted " knowingly," and if he has acted in
good faith, does not exist in article 40, therefore the bona fides mentioned in article
40, can be taken in consideration of extenuating circumstances, but not as an excuse
giving a right to acquittal. Evidently, the employment or use punished by law, must
be a commercial user ; a user purely personal does not constitute infringement. Thus
a person who purchases an infringed object thoughtlessly or without an intention of
commercial speculation, but for his personal use, does not commit the offense of
infringement. (Court of Cassation, February 27, 1858.)
ABT. 41. Parties who have knowingly concealed, sold, or
exposed for sale, or introduced upon French territory one or more
infringed articles, incur the same penalties as infringers.
COMPLICITY IN INFRINGEMENT. The four acts defined by above law to be separate
offenses, are in reality rather acts of complicity, included by the law with cases of
infringement specially punished by article 40, viz., manufacture and employment.
Such acts are the sole acts of complicity punished by the law of 1844. The agent of
an infringer is not his accomplice, even should he act knowingly. Thus, he cannot
be prosecuted for any act of concealment, sale, or exposure for sale, or introduction.
(Court of Cassation, July 26, 1850.)
A person guilty of one of the four offenses mentioned in article 41, can plead hia
FRANCE. 195
good faith. This arises from the word " knowingly " inserted in the text. Thus, a
retailer or introducer can plead good faith. His best means of proving such good
faith is to disclose the name of the manufacturer of the articles infringed, in order
that the infringed articles may be seized upon his premises.
A single act of sale suffices to bring an offender within the law. Article 41
enacts a certain punishment, and must be as strictly construed as other penal enact-
ments. Thus, the gift or exchange of a patented object cannot be punished. Again,
the purchase of an infringed object is not a misdemeanor ; but the possession of such
object by the purchaser can be construed into an act of user or an act of sale, accord-
ing to the good faith of the holder, or the contrary. As regards exposure for sale,
such exposure must be made by the trader with the evident intention of sale. The
placing of goods in the Universal Exhibition of 1867, did not constitute an exposure
for sale within the law. (Paris, January 9, 1868.)
The introduction of counterfeit articles into France, in transit only, does not con-
stitute a misdemeanor. (Paris, July 23, 1860.) It is otherwise if the goods are
found in the custom-house or bonded warehouses, as such goods are not necessarily
destined for re-exportation. (Court of Paris, May 30, 1861.)
Such are the four offenses to which the law of 1844 extends the penalties for
infringement by manufacture or user, but the law makes this difference, viz., that the
bona fides admitted simply as extenuating circumstances with respect to the offenses
comprised in article 40 constitutes, on the contrary, an entire defense, with right of
acquittal, with respect to offenses contained in article 41. With the sole exception
of this difference, these two categories of offenses are subject to the same principles.
The penalty is the same, viz., 100 francs to 2,000 francs. In case of repetition, the
increase of the punishment is the same ; one month to two months' imprisonment.
ART. 42. The penalties provided by the present law cannot be
cumulated.
The heaviest penalty alone may be imposed for all acts anterior
to the commencement of proceedings
ART. 43. In case the offense is repeated, a penalty of imprison-
ment for a term of from one to six months shall be pronounced
over and above the fine provided by articles 40 and 41.
An offense is deemed to have been repeated when the defendant
has been convicted of the same offense within the previous five
years.
Imprisonment for from one to six months may also be inflicted,
if the infringer be a workman or an employe who has worked in
the factory, or in the establishment of the patentee, or if the
infringer has associated himself with such workman or employe of
the patentee, or acquired knowledge from the latter of the details
comprised in the patent. In the latter case, the workman or
employe can be prosecuted as an accomplice.
" Associated," in the third paragraph means that an agreement or fraudulent con-
spiracy has been formed. In order to punish the former workman and the new
196 FOREIGN LAWS.
employer, proof that an agreement of partnership existed between them is not
required.
ART. 44. Article 463 of the Penal Code * may be applied in the
cases covered by the preceding provisions.
ART. 45. Proceedings in the tribunal correctionnel to obtain the
application of the penalties above mentioned, cannot be instituted
by the public minister except upon complaint of the injured party.
PARTIES who may sue for infringement. They are : 1. The owner of the patent.
He may institute proceedings, whether he be a simple individual or a company. The
heirs and legatees of the patentee and the transferees of the patent can also sue-
Those who have the uses of the patent can proceed, but naked ownership does not
jusitfy an action, as infringement must injure the exercise of the right to work the
patent, not the mere title to it.
2. The public prosecutor, in the tribunal correctionnel. But although infringe-
ment constitutes a misdemeanor, the public prosecutor cannot act of his own accord.
He can only act upon a complaint made by the injured party. Yet, the offense is a
misdemeanor, the withdrawal of the injured party does not necessarily put an end
to the proceedings of the public prosecutor.
If the proprietor of the patent be under legal incapacity, such as a minor, an inter-
dicted person, or an individual provided with a conseil judiciaire, or a married woman,
he or she cannot proceed without the aid of parties legally capable of representing him
or her, such as guardians or the conseil judiciaire, the husband, or the permission of a
court of justice. But a bankrupt can sue for infringement without the consent of
his assignee.
TIME WITHIN WHICH SUIT MAT BE BROUGHT. The duration of the right to sue
dates from the day of the demand of the patent, pursuant to article 5. If the patent
by virtue of which the suit is brought has expired, the action can still be brought upon
two conditions : 1. That the acts of the plaintiff all took place previous to the expi-
ration of the patent ;
2. That they were not barred by lapse of time at the period of the commencement
of the proceedings.
Moreover, actions for infringement are regulated by articles 637 and 638 of the
Criminal Code, and are barred after three years. Acts of manufacture and of sale,
although continuous, do not constitute successive offenses. It follows, therefore, that
infringements by manufacture and by sale constitute a series of distinct misdemeanors,
each of which can be prosecuted, and the limitation of action of three years runs, in
relation to each, from the date upon which the offense was committed. (Court of
Cassation, August 8, 1857.)
WHO MAY OR SHOULD BE SUED. The parties to be prosecuted are : The infringer
and those included with him by law. (Articles 40 and 41.) If the infringer is in
bankruptcy, the snydic must be sued, even if the cause be tried before a criminal
court, on account of the pecuniary penalties demanded by the plaintiff. If a com-
pany is the infringer, each of the members must be proceeded against in the criminal
court, as misdemeanors are personal. If a company is in liquidation, the liquidator
must be sued, as above, on account of the pecuniary penalties which the plaintiff
demands.
* This article authorizes the admission of " extenuating circumstances."
FRANCE. 197
ABT. 46. The tribunal correct ionnel, if it has once obtained
jurisdiction of an action for infringement, may decide upon the
defenses put forward by the defendant, either as regards the repeal
or forfeiture of the patent, or upon questions relating to property
in the said patent.
ABT. 47. The owners of the patent can by virtue of an order of
the court of first resort, proceed by huissier to designate and
describe in detail, with or without seizure, the objects which they
assert are infringed. The order may be made upon a simple
petition, or upon the production of the patent. It shall name, if
necessary, an expert to assist the huissier in his description.
If an application is made for an order of seizure, the said order
may require the plaintiff to furnish security, and to pay the money
into the Caisse de Consignations, before proceeding further.
A foreign patentee who has recourse to seizure must always
furnish security.
A copy of the articles described or seized, and of the deed
proving the deposit of security when such security is required,
shall be served upon the defendant, or the proceedings shall be
void, and the huissier responsible for the damages. .
EVIDENCE. In order to be successful in his suit, the plaintiff must prove the
infringement. It is therefore important that he should produce evidence of its
existence from the period when the infringement came to his knowledge. To this
effect, the patentee has several means open to him.
He can lodge a complaint with the procureur of the republic. In this case, the
infringement would be governed by the rules of criminal procedure, and adjudicated
upon by juges correctionnelt. Or, he can purchase of the infringer an object
infringed, and obtain an invoice, indicating the source from which the retailer obtains
his goods, and with such evidence he can proceed with his action ; or if the infringer
does not contest the evidence, he can content himself with his declaration before the
judges. But in practice, as it is important that the counterfeit article should be
preserved, the proceeding called " seizure with description " is employed, or the mode
of " simple description by constat d'huissier." The patentee can supplement either of
these modes by any other documentary evidence in his possession. (Court of Amiens,
1850 ; Court of Paris, February 2, 1856; and August 13, 1873.)
PROCESS OF DESCRIPTION WITH SEIZURE. In order to seize an object which he
alleges to be infringed, the patentee must fulfill a preliminary indispensable formal-
ity, he must present a petition to the president of the tribunal for permission to
seize. This petition must be accompanied by the patent, as the patentee must prove
his right. If the patent has expired, the petition can, nevertheless, be presented,
but upon condition, that the facts alleged against the infringer have taken place prior
to the expiration of the patent. The president is free to refuse to make the order
upon the petition, as his power is discretionary. (Court of Cassation, June 15, 1866.)
No appeal can be made from his decision granting or refusing the petition.
198 FOREIGN LAWS.
The order when made may appoint an expert to assist the huwier in his descrip-
tion. This expert is a person possessing special knowledge of the product or appa-
ratus alleged to be infringed. The patentee himself can attend the seizure, as he is
more competent than any one else to draw up a description of the infringement. The
order requires in all cases the presence of the commusaire de police. This is indis-
pensable, for if by chance the inf ringer refuse to open his premises, or if he be absent,
or if no infringements be discovered upon the premises, the presence of the commis-
saire de police will prevent the alleged inf ringer from proceeding against the patentee
for violation of his domicile. By law the president can grant a general order, viz., he
can authorize the patentee to seize in all places at once, in which he believes infringe-
ments to exist, such as exhibitions, custom-houses, bonded warehouses, etc., and upon
the premises of all the persons possessing infringed objects, without its being neces-
sary for the patentee to specify in his petition the names of such persons or their
addresses. (Court of Cassation, June 15, 1866.) A patentee can, by virtue of one
order, issue several seizures upon the premises of the same individual. (Tribunal of
St. Etienne, November 4, 1859.) The president can order that the books, correspon-
dence and papers of the infringer be impounded, initialed or examined. He can also
order that those containing proofs of the infringement be seized on the spot. (Court
of Lyons, November 30, December 5, and 26, 1865, January 8, 1866 ; Court of
Cassation, June 15, 1866.)
When the president grants the order for seizure, he can, if he thinks expedient,
require the plaintiff to furnish security. In this case, such security must be deposited
before the seizure takes place. Such security, demand for which is discretionary with
the president, is always obligatory in the case of foreigners suing for infringement,
except euch as are authorized to exercise their civil rights in France, and except those
belonging to States between which and France diplomatic treaties exist, dispensing
French subjects abroad from furnishing security in similar cases. This security is
quite distinct from security for costs, which a French defendant can require a foreign
plaintiff to furnish at the commencement of legal proceedings. (Paris, November 14,
1860.)
Article 47 requires that a copy of the following should be left with the infringer
of the objects described or seized : 1. Of the order of the president. 2. Of the docu-
ment proving the deposit of the caution money in cases where such security has been
ordered. Should default be made in compliance with the above enactment, the pro-
ceedings are void, and the huissier is liable for damages.
USUAI, PROCEDURE ON THE PART OP PATENTEE. The above is the process of
" description with seizure." The other remedy open to the patentee to prove infringe-
ment is the " simple description " of the object ; otherwise called description witho\i|
seizure. In practice, the two modes of procedure are jointly adopted : 1. Seizure is
made of a sample or of articles strictly necessary to prove the infringement. 2. A
description is made of the other articles which ate left in the possession of the
infringer.
WRIT. A writ must be issued, whether the plaintiff take proceedings in the civil
court or the Tribunaux Correctionnels. The writ must be issued within eight daya
after the report of the seizure or of the simple description.
ABT. 48. In case the complainant fails to prosecute, either in the
civil courts, or in the tribunal correctionnel, within eight days from
FRANCE. . 199
the seizure allowing one day for every three myriambtres of dis-
tance between the place in which the articles seized or described are
situated and the domicile of the defendant whether for infringing
or for concealing, introducing or selling the infringing articles, such
seizure or description shall be void by law, without prejudice to the
damages which may be claimed in the manner prescribed by article
36.
The day of the date of the writ is not included in the eight days.
The period is increased according to distance, in the proportion of one day for
each five myriametres between the place in which the objects were seized or described,
and the domicile of the infringer. If the seizure lasts for several days, the delay for
appearance is calculated from the last day of the seizure. If the patentee proceeds
against several infringers, and if he makes several seizures or descriptions, each
infringer must be served within the prescribed period respectively, under penalty of
the seizure being declared void. If the seizure should be declared void, it does not
necessarily follow that the plaintiff's demand is canceled. This is natural, as the pat-
entee can dispense with making a seizure, if he possesses other proofs. (Cassation,
March 27, 1835 ; Court of Amiens, December 28, 1850.) However, when the seizure
is declared void, the patentee cannot invoke it as a means of proof ; therefore, if the
patentee possesses other evidence he incurs no danger ; but if otherwise, he loses his
case by his own default. When the patentee has allowed the time for suing to pass
without issuing his writ, he can make a second seizure, or a second description, by
virtue of the same judge's order, as the nullity of the seizure does not affect the order
of the president, nor the right of action of the patentee. (Court of Amiens, December
28, 1850.) But it is evidently necessary, in order that such second seizure should avail
the plaintiff, that he should issue his fresh writ within a legally described period dated
from such second seizure. It would be imprudent to rely upon the second seizure, as
the nullity of the prior seizure would free the objects attached thereby, and the
patentee on making a further seizure would find nothing.
CHOICE OP JURISDICTIONS AND TRIBUNALS, The injured party can proceed
either in the civil courts, or in the tribunal correctionnel. If he elects to proceed
in the tribunal correctionnel, he can act either by direct citation or by lodging
a complaint with the procureur of the republic. In the two cases he can only claim
one thing from the tribunal, viz., the condemnation of the infringer to pay damages
in reparation of the injury caused to him. As regards the sentence of imprison-
ment or fine, such cannot be claimed, except by the public prosecutor, who alone
has a right to demand it. Advantages and disadvantages are attached to both
the above modes of procedure. Advantages of the criminal proceeding are that the
expenses are less heavy, and the procedure is more expeditious. The plaintiff can
avail himself of witnesses to complete his documentary evidence. The disadvantages
are as follows : The defendant can also call witnesses to justify his acts, which priv-
ilege he would not possess in a civil action. He can also plead good faith, which can
be accepted as extenuating circumstances in the case of principal infringers ; and still
more so in the case of parties whom the law treats as in complicity with the infringers ;
such are retailers, and parties introducing the infringed objects. Such plea of good
faith can, even in such latter cases, entitle the defendants to acquittal. (Article 41.)
In the event of the plaintiff failing in his prosecution, he is exposed to an action for
00 FOREIGN LAWS.
damages, which are far heavier in relation to proceedings in the criminal courts than
in a civil case. Lastly, the decision in a criminal case has far less effect than in a
civil case. Thus, a criminal decision does not prevent the plaintiff, in the event of
the prosecution failing, from instituting fresh proceedings against the same defendant
in the event of his committing the same offense after the date of the first proceedings ;
on the contrary, when a decision has been rendered in a civil case in the defendant's
favor, the question cannot be raised again between the same parties in relation to the
same object or proceeding. In the event of such further proceedings being instituted,
the defendant would simply have to plead the previous judgment in his favor.
With respect to what tribunals have jurisdiction in civil cases, article 59 of the
Code of Civil Procedure provides as follows : The patentee can proceed against
infringers in the civil tribunal of the domicile of either of them, at his choice, in the
case in which several joint defendants exist who are not strangers to each other. And
in the case of several joint defendants and the institution of criminal proceedings,
article 63 of the Code of Criminal Instruction applies. Thus, the patentee can pro-
ceed either in the tribunal of the domicile or residence of the inf ringer, or, if there are
several infringers who have participated in the same act of infringement, before the
court of the domicile of either of them, either in the court of the place in which the
defendant resides, or in the court of the place in which the act of infringement was
perpetrated.
A defendant cited criminally, can he represented by an avoue in the cases in which
the penalty relating to the misdemeanor for which he is prosecuted does not amount
to imprisonment.
Lastly, in prosecutions for infringements, as well as those relating to all other
misdemeanors, the public minister must always be heard.
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST FOREIGNERS. Inasmuch as the French tribunals are incom-
petent to adjudicate upon misdemeanors committed out of France by foreigners, if
the offense of infringement be committed abroad, the patentee cannot proceed in
France ; but the rule is otherwise if the offense be committed in France by a foreigner.
For instance, if after having manufactured goods abroad, he enter France to dispose
of them, he can be prosecuted or proceeded against in the French courts.
OBSTACLES AND DEFENSES. Apart from security for costs, limitation of actions
and special pleas in bar, the defendant in civil and criminal cases can plead various
defenses. For instance, he can plead that he was authorized by transfer or otherwise
to act as he did ; or that the infringement in question was not committed by him ; or
that the patent has become void ; or that, assuming the patent to be valid, the object
manufactured by him is not an imitation of the object patented.
When prosecuted in the tribunal corrcctionnel, the defendant, if proceedings have
been commenced in the civil courts to have the patent of the plaintiff declared void,
can require the criminal proceedings to be adjourned until judgment has been given
in the civil courts. This proceeding is called a sursis. The judges of the tribunal
correctionnel are at liberty to grant or refuse the application. (Court of Cassation,
June 15, 1866.) In the civil courts, a defendant cannot demand an adjournment
until the tribunal correctionnel has adjudicated in the same matter.
A defendant in proceedings before a tribunal corrcctionnel cannot compel a party
who has sold the infringed object to him, to intervene in the proceedings to guarantee
him in respect of the consequences, as misdemeanors are personal offens.es. (Court
of Cassation, March 5, 1872.) In the civil courts, on the contrary, a defendant can
FRANCE. 201
call upon another party to pay the amount of pecuniary damages in which he may be
condemned.
Whether proceedings are instituted in the civil courts or tribunal correctionnel,
the defendant can put in a counter-claim for damages for the prejudice which such
proceedings may have caused him, morally and actually.
ART. 49. A judgment for the confiscation of articles admitted
to be infringements, and, if there be any, of instruments or uten-
sils destined specially to the manufacture thereof, shall, even in the
case of acquittal, be rendered against the defendant, whether for
infringement, or for concealing, introducing or selling the infring-
ing articles. The articles confiscated shall be handed to the pro-
prietor of the patent, without prejudice to an action for further
damages, and to the publication of the judgment, when so ordered.
CONFISCATION is not discretionary with the court, but obligatory. (Court of Cassa-
tion, December, 9, 1848.) It must always be pronounced as regards the object
infringed, even when the defendant is acquitted upon proving his good faith. Confis-
cation can be ordered not only in respect of the object seized, but in respect of
objects simply as described. (Court of Cassation, August 20, 1851.) Confiscation
pronounced in cases of infringement is not a penalty ; thus civil courts as well as
Iribunaux correctionnels can pronounce it. (Court of Cassation, May 9, 1859.)
Damages can be granted both in civil courts and in the tribunaux correctionnels.
There are two sorts of procedure adopted by the judges in relation to damages.
The amount can be decided forthwith, or it can be ordered to be calculated pursuant to
a statement to be drawn up relating to the damage. The parties then come before the
court again, and a further decision is rendered, which definitively fixes the amount
thereof.
DAMAGES granted to a patentee should represent two kinds of prejudice caused to
him, viz. : material and moral injury. Material damage represents all profits lost to
the inventor by the infringements. In calculating the same, the profits realized by the
inf ringer must not be considered alone, as such profits may have been less than those
which the real inventor would have realized, but the profits which the patentee haa
lost through the t fraudulent sales made by the inf ringer, calculated at the price realized
by the patentee for the same goods in the ordinary course of his business. Moral
prejudice consist in the fact that the rights of the patentee have been contested by the
infringer, and that such rights, notwithstanding the gaining of the suit, may neverthe-
less have been damaged. Again, the infringer, in order to sell at a cheaper rate, may
have manufactured the goods in an inferior manner, and thus brought discredit upon
the invention.
ARREST has been abolished in civil cases by the law of July 22, 1867, but can still
be pronounced by the tribunaux correctionnels in connection with damages. A civil
tribunal can also pronounce it in the following case, viz. : when the patentee has con-
tented himself with requiring the tribunal correctionnel simply to punish the infringer
by fines or imprisonment, and when he has afterward commenced an action in the
civil tribunal, to have the amount of damage ascertained and adjudged. This is the
only case in which a civil tribunal can sentence to a term of imprisonment.
COSTS. The infringer can be condemned to pay the costs on one or several publi-
202 FOREIGN LAWS.
cations and insertions of the judgment in the newspapers. The above measure,
designed to advertise legal decisions, does not constitute a penalty, but a simple repa-
ration for the prejudice caused to the patentee ; therefore civil tribunals as well as
'.ribunanjc correetionnel* can pronounce it.
TITLE VI.
SPECIAL AND PROVISIONAL MEASURES.
ART. 50. Royal ordinances, having the effect of JReglements
d* Administration Publique, shall provide the necessary measures
for the execution of the present law.
This law shall not take effect until three months after its pro-
mulgation.
ART. 51. Ordinances rendered in the same form shall control
the application of the present law in the colonies, with the modifi-
cations that may be considered necessary.
ART. 52. The following laws shall be repealed from the date
upon which the present law becomes executory, -viz.:
The laws of the 7th of January and 25th of May, 1791 ; that
of the 20th of September, 1792 ; the arrtt'e of the 17 vendemiaire,
year 7 ; the arrete of the 5th vendemiaire, year 9 ; the Decrets of
the 25th November, 1800, and 25th January, 1807, and all provis-
ions previous to the present law relating to patents of invention, of
importation, and of improvements.
[Articles 53 and 54 omitted, because relating only to patents
existing and proceedings pending wheti the law took effect.]
From Goirand's French Code of Commerce, pp. 765 and 441.
.-j 'f* ^
Decree of October 21, 1848, Regulating the Application of
the Patent Law of July 5, 1844, to the French Colonies.*
ART. 1. The patent law of the 5th July, 1844, shall be applica-
ble in the colonies from the date of the publication of the present
decree.
* A French patent extends to the col- A royal ordinance regulates the appli-
onies. Ency. Brit. 9 ed. tit. Patent. cation of the law of 1844 to the colonies.
Royal ordinances, &c. shall control the The formalities requisite for obtaining
application of the present law in the col- patents are the same as in France, except
ouies, with the modifications that may be that the documents must be deposited in
considered necessary. Law of July 6, triplicate instead of in duplicate. The
1844, 61. procedure in cases of infringement is
FRANCE. 203
ART. 2. Applicants for patents of invention in the colonies must
deliver three copies of the documents prescribed by article 5 of the
above law, at the office of the director of the interior.
The entry establishing the said delivery shall be made in a
special register to be signed by the said officer and the applicant,
agreeably to article 7 of the said law.
AET. 3. Before making the said entry, the director of the inte-
rior shall require the production of :
1. The receipt of the colonial treasury for the payment of
100 francs due for the first installment of the annual patent fees.
2. Three copies of each of the documents mentioned in para-
graphs 1, 2, 8, and 4 of article 5 of the patent law of the 5th July,
1844.
One copy of each of these documents shall be kept under a
sealed cover at the offices of the directors, to be consulted when
required. The other two copies shall be enclosed in a single
envelope sealed up by the applicant.
ART. 4. The governor of each colony shall with the least possi-
ble delay, after due registration of the applications, forward to the
minister of agriculture and commerce, through the minister of the
navy and colonies, the sealed envelope containing the two respec-
tive copies, annexing thereto a certified copy of the entry, the
receipt for the payment of the first installment of the annual patent
fees, and, if there be one, the power of attorney of the applicant.
ART. 5. Patents shall be forwarded with the least possible
delay to their owners, through the minister of the navy and colo-
nies.
ART. 6. The registration of assignments of patents mentioned
in article 20 of the patent law of the 5th July, 1844, shall take
place at the offices of the directors of the interior.
Copies of the entries of registration, accompanied with authentic
abstracts of the assignments and the receipts for the payment of
the total amount of the patent fees, shall be forwarded to the min-
ister of agriculture and commerce, conformably to article 4 of the
present decree.
identical. Goirand's French Code of usually included : Cambodia, Cochin
Commerce (1880), p. 500. China, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Loy-
The encyclopedias and geographic ally Islands, Marquesas Islands, Mar-
works in use in this country vary some- tinique, Micquelon, New Caledonia, Sene-
what in the enumeration they give of the gambia, St. Pierre, Tahiti,
colonies .of France, but the following are
204 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. 7. All patent fees prescribed by articles 4, V, 11 and 22 of
the patent law of the 5th July, shall be paid to the treasurer of
each colony, who is to deposit them at the public treasury, and
shall at the same time forward to the minister of agriculture and
commerce, through the same channel, the returns of the payment
of patent fees.
ART. 8. All actions for infringements shall be tried before the
court of appeal, in the colonies.
The delay allowed with respect to distances as fixed by article
48 of said law, shall be modified conformably to the ordinances
which, in the colonies, regulate proceedings in civil actions.
ABT. 9. The minister of agriculture and commerce, and the
minister of the navy and colonies, are respectively commissioned
with the execution of the present decree.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 205.
FRENCH GUIANA.
See FRANCE, ante p. 203, foot-note.
GERMAN EMPIRE. : 205
GERMAN EMPIRE.
Law of July 1, 1877.
FIRST SECTION.
PATENT RIGHTS.
1. Patents are granted for new inventions which can be turned
to account in trade.
The following are excepted:
1. Inventions the use of which would be incompatible with the
laws or public morals.
2. Inventions of articles of food (for nourishment or luxuries),
' of medicines and of substances produced by chemical process, so
far as the invention does not relate to a definite method of pro-
ducing such articles.
2. An invention is not regarded as new, if it has already been
described in any printed publication, or publicly used in Germany
at the time of application for a patent in accordance with this law,
in such a manner that its employment appears possible by other
persons skilled in the particular trade to which it relates.
3. Whosoever first applies for a patent of invention accord-
ing to the provisions of this law, is entitled to the grant of the
same.
The claim of the petitioner to the grant of a patent will not be
allowed, if the essential contents of his application have without
permission been taken from the descriptions, drawings, models,
implements or contrivances of another person, or from a method of
manufacture used by the latter, if such person raises opposition on
that account.
4. The patent has the effect that nobody is allowed without
the permission of the patentee to manufacture, trade in, or offer
for sale, the article to which the invention relates.
If the invention relates to a process, to a machine or other
mechanical contrivance, to a tool or other implement, the patent
has moreover the effect of prohibiting any one from applying such
method or of using the article to which the invention relates
without permission of the inventor.
5. The patent has no effect against a person who, at the time
206 FOREIGN LAWS.
the patentee made his application, had already been using the
invention in Germany, or who had made the necessary preparations
for using the same.
The patent, moreover, has no effect when the invention is to be
used by order of the Imperial Chancellor for the army or navy, or
in the interest of public welfare. Yet the patentee has in such
case the right to claim proper compensation from the Empire or
the State in whose special interest a limitation of the effect of the
patent has been applied for. The amount of such compensation
shall be fixed by a court of law in case an agreement cannot be
arrived at.
Patents do not affect arrangements in means of conveyance,
which come but temporarily within the boundaries of the empire.
6. The claim to the grant of a patent and the patent rights
themselves pass to the heirs. The claim and the patent right may
be transferred, wholly or partially, to others by agreement or in
consequence of death.
7. The duration of a patent is 15 years : the term commences
with the day following the day of application. If an invention is
an improvement upon another invention patented in favor of the
applicant, the latter may apply for a patent of addition, which
terminates with the patent for the original invention.
8. For every patent a fee of 30 marks (1 10s.) is to be paid
on the issue of it.
Except in the case of patents of addition ( 7), a further fee
must be paid for each patent at the commencement of the second
and every subsequent year, amounting the first time to 50 marks
(2 10s.), and increasing by 50 marks each succeeding year.
A patentee who proves his poverty, may delay the payment of
the fees for the first and second year until the third year ; and if
the patent lapses in the third year, they are entirely remitted.
9. A patent lapses if the patentee renounces the same, or if
he fails to pay the fees within 3 months at the latest after they
have become due.
10. A patent will be declared void if it turns out :
1. That the invention was not patentable according to 1
and 2 ;
2. That the essential contents of the application were taken
from descriptions, tools, contrivances, drawings, or models, of
another, or from some means of working used by such other,
without his consent.
GERMAN EMPIRE. 207
11. A patent can be declared void after the expiration of
three years :
1. If the patentee fails to work his invention in Germany to an
adequate extent, or at least to do everything that is necessary to
insure its being worked ;
2. Whenever the grant of license to others to use the invention
appears to be demanded in the public interest, and the patentee
nevertheless refuses to grant such license upon adequate compensa-
tion and good security.
12. Persons not residing in the empire can only apply for a
patent and claim the rights resulting therefrom by appointing a
representative resident in Germany. The latter is authorized to act
in all proceedings prescribed by this law, as well as in civil law-suits
concerning the patent. Actions against a patentee must be brought
before the tribunal of the district in which the representative
resides, but if there be no representative, the court of the district
in which the patent-office has its seat is competent for jurisdiction.
SECOND SECTION.
PATENT-OFFICE.
13. The granting, the annulment, and the revocation of patents
is performed by the patent-office.
The patent-office has its seat at Berlin. It consists of at least
three permanent members, including the president, and of non-per-
manent members. The members are appointed by the Emperor ;
the other officials by the Imperial Chancellor. The appointment of
the permanent members is made on the nomination of the Federal
Council, and last, if they hold an office of the Empire or of a State,
during the term of such office, in other cases for life. The appoint-
ment of the non-permanent members will be for five years. Of the
permanent members at least three must be qualified for a judgeship,
or for the higher government service ; the non-permanent members
must be expert in some branch of technical science. The regula-
tions in 16 of the law of May 31, 1873, concerning the legal posi-
tion of Imperial officials do not apply to non-permanent members.
14. The patent-office consists of several divisions. These are
formed in advance for at least one year. A member may belong to
several divisions.
The quorum of any division, when dealing with the grant of a
208 FOREIGN LAWS.
patent, must not be less than three, among whom there must be two
non-permanent members.
For decisions relating to the nullity and the revocation of pat-
ents, a special division shall be formed. For decisions of this
division, a quorum is required of two members, including the
president, who are qualified for a judgeship, or for the higher
government service, and of three other members.
The provisions of the code o civil law with regard to challenge
or refusal of members of the court are applicable.
Experts who are not members, may be summoned to attend the
deliberations, but they are not permitted to take any part in the
voting.
15. The resolutions and decisions of the divisions are issued in
the name of the patent-office ; the grounds of them must be stated;
and office copies must be delivered to each of the interested parties.
Notices by which special terms are fixed, will be sent by post in
registered letters against receipt. If a notice cannot be delivered
within the country, it will be forwarded by the proper official of the
patent-office by post, in accordance with the provisions of 161
and 175 of the civil code.
An appeal lies from the decisions of the patent-office.
1G. If the decision of a division of the patent-office is the
subject of appeal, such appeal shall be heard before another division
or several divisions sitting together.
In such appeal no member must take part who voted in the
decision which is the subject of appeal.
17. The formation of the divisions, the fixing their duties, the
forms of procedure and the order of business of the patent-office, so
far as these points are not regulated by the present law, will be
prescribed by the Emperor, with the consent of the Federal Coun-
cil.
18. The patent-office is bound, on the request of the law courts,
to give opinion in all questions concerning patents. In other cases
it is not authorized, without special leave of the Imperial Chancel-
lor, to pass resolutions or give opinions outside its official sphere.
19. A register will be kept at the patent-office, in which the
subject and duration of patents granted will be entered, together
with the name and address of the patentees and of the representa-
tives, if any, appointed by them at the time of application. The
commencement, the termination, the expiration, the decree of annul-
ment, and the revocation of patents, are to be entered in this
GERMAN EMPIRE. 209
register, and simultaneously published in the Reichsanzeiger
(Gazette).
Should a change take place in the person owning the patent or
his representative, such fact will likewise be entered in the register
and publicly notified by the Rei$hsanzeiyer, when brought to the
knowledge of the patent-office in due form. As long as this is
omitted, the former patentee and his former representative continue
to be entitled to the benefits and subject to the provisions of this
law.
The inspection of the register, and of specifications, drawings,
models and specimens on the basis of which patents have been
granted, is open to everybody, unless the patent has been taken out
in the name of the Imperial Administration for purposes of the
army or navy.
The patent-office will publish the essential parts of specifications
and drawings, so far as their inspection is permitted to the public,
in an official paper. In the same paper will also appear all notices
which must be published by the Reichsanzeiger in accordance with
this law.
THIRD SECTION.
PROCEEDINGS IN PATENT-MATTERS.
20. The application for the grant of a patent for an invention
must be made in writing to the patent-office. For each invention a
separate application is required. The application must contain the
petition for the grant of a patent, and must point out with precision
the object sought to be patented. In a separate document the
invention must be described in such a manner that its practicability
plainly appears to skilled persons. The necessary drawings, fig-
ures, representations, models and samples must be supplied at the
same time.
The patent-office will issue regulations respecting the other
requisites of the application.
Up to the time of publication of the application, alterations in
the descriptions are permitted. With the application a fee of 20
marks (1) must be paid for the costs of the proceeding.
21. If an application does not fulfill all the prescribed require-
ments, the patent-office will point out to the applicant the defects,
and demand of him the amendment within a specified time. Should
this demand not be complied with within the time, the application
will be rejected.
14
210 FOREIGN LAWS.
. 22. If the patent-office finds the application in due form, and
that there is no objection to the granting of a patent, it will order
the application to be published. From the date of publication, the
subject of the application will provisionally have the protection of
a patent in favor of the petitioner ( 4 and 5).
If the patent-office is of opinion that, according to 1 and 2,
the invention is not patentable, the application will be rejected.
23. The publication of the application is made by the name
of the applicant and the chief points of his application being adver-
tised once in the JKeicJisanzeiger. At the same time the applica-
tion and accompanying papers will be laid open at the patent-office
for public inspection, and a notice inserted to the effect that the
subject of the application is provisionally protected against unau-
thorized use.
If the matter relates to a patent applied for in the name of the
Imperial Government, the publication of the application and accom-
panying papers is omitted.
24. After expiration of eight weeks from the day of publica-
tion ( 23) the patent-office will decide as to the granting of the
patent. Until that date objections against the granting can be
lodged with the patent-office. They must be made in writing, giv-
ing the grounds; which can only be the assertion that the invention
is not new, or that it comes under 3, part 2.
Before deciding, the patent-office may summon and hear the
interested parties ; it may also cause the grounds of objection to
be examined by persons skilled in any branch of technical science,
and otherwise take steps for elucidating the matter.
25. From a decision by which an application is rejected, the
applicant and from a decision relating to the granting of the pat-
ent, the petitioner or the opponent may lodge an appeal within
four weeks. On lodging the appeal, 20 marks (1) must be paid
for the cost of the proceeding ; should this payment not be made,
the appeal will be treated as void.
In the proceedings, 24, part 2, applies.
26. If the grant of the patent is decided upon, the patent-office
will cause a notice to that effect to be published in the Reichsan-
zeiger, and issue a document to the patentee.
If the patent is refused, this will also be publicly notified.
Upon the refusal, the provisional protection will be held void.
27. The commencement of proceedings relating to the annul-
ment, or the revocation of a patent is by motion. In cases provided
GERMAN EMPIRE. 211
for by 10, part 2, only the injured party is entitled to make the
motion. The motion must be addressed to the patent-office, and
must set out the facts upon which it is based.
28. After the institution of proceedings, the patent-office, in
communicating to the patentee that such motion has been made,
will invite him to answer the same within four weeks.
If the patentee does not answer within this term, a decision
may follow immediately, according to the motion, without sum-
mons or hearing, and for such decision all the facts asserted by the
person making the motion will be treated as proved.
29. If the patentee answers in due time, or if, in the case of
23, part 2, the motion is not decided upon immediately, the pat-
ent-office will issue the necessary orders for investigating the
matter, and moreover, in the first case, communicate the answer to
the person making the motion. It may also cause witnesses and
experts to be examined. In this respect the regulations of the civil
code will apply. The depositions must be taken down in writing
by a sworn reporter.
The decision will be given after the parties interested have been
summoned and heard.
If the motion made for the revocation of the patent is based on
11, part 2, the determination of the motion must be preceded by
a warning of cancellation, giving the reasons for it, and allowing a
suitable delay.
30. In the decision ( 28 and 29) the patent-office has full
power to determine in what proportions the costs of the proceed-
ings shall be borne by the parties.
31. The law courts are bound to render legal assistance to the
patent-office. The imposition of fines on witnesses and experts
who have failed to appear, or who decline to give evidence, or to
confirm it on oath, and also the attendance of witnesses who have
failed to appear, will be ordered, on application by the courts.
32. An appeal is allowed against the decisions of the patent-
office ( 28 and 29). The appeal is to the Imperial Supreme Court
of Commerce. It must within six weeks after the giving of the
decision be presented in writing to the patent-office, with a state-
ment of the grounds.
The costs of the proceedings will also be determined by the
court in accordance with 30.
In other respects the proceedings in court will be determined by
FOREIGN LAWS.
a regulation which will be drawn up by the court and established
by Imperial ordinance with the assent of the Federal Council.
33. Regarding the official language of the patent-office, the
provisions of the law concerning the organization of the courts, and
the language to be used before them, are to be observed. Appli-
cations which are not made in the German language will not be
considered.
FOURTH SECTION.
FINES AND INDEMNITIES.
34. Whoever knowingly makes use of an invention contrary
to the provisions of 4 and 5, will be punished by fine up to 5,000
marks (250), or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, and is
bound to indemnify the person injured.
Prosecutions are only instituted on motion made to that effect.
35. If judgment is passed in criminal proceedings, the injured
party is entitled to publish the sentence at the cost of the defend-
ant. The manner and time of publication is to be fixed in the
sentence.
36. Instead of an indemnity as provided by this law, the
injured party may, in addition to the fine, demand an amercement
not exceeding 10,000 marks (500). For this amercement all the
persons condemned are liable jointly and severally.
If such amercement is ordered,, all further claims for damages
are excluded.
37. The competency of the Imperial Supreme Court of Com-
merce, as determined by paragraph 12 of the law of June 12th,
1869, concerning the establishment of a supreme court of commer-
cial affairs, is extended to all civil cases in which a claim is advanced
on the basis of the provisions of this law.
38. Actions for infringement of patent right are barred with
regard to each single case at the expiration of three years.
39. Whether damage has been caused, and to what amount,
will be decided by the court according to its conviction after due
consideration of all circumstances.
40. Fines not exceeding 150 marks (7 105,) or a term of
imprisonment will be imposed :
1. On any person placing on articles, or their packing, any mark
calculated to cause the erroneous belief that such articles are pro-
tected by a patent in accordance with this law.
2. On any person who in public advertisements, on sign-boards,.
GERMAN EMPIRE. 213
on business cards, or in similar notifications, employs any mark cal-
culated to cause the erroneous belief that the articles mentioned
thereon are protected by a patent in accordance with this law.
FIFTH SECTION
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS.
41. All patents in force by virtue of State laws* shall until
their expiration remain valid according to such laws, but a prolon-
gation of the term is inadmissible.
42. The owner of an existing patent ( 41) may, in respect of
the invention protected by it apply for the grant of a patent accord-
ing to the provisions of this law. The examination of the invention
in such case is subject to the forms prescribed by this law. The
patent shall be refused, if the holder'of another patent in force for
the same invention (41) claims the grant of a patent or opposes
the grant before such grant has been decided upon. For want of
novelty, the grant of the patent will only be refused if the inven-
tion was not new in the sense of 2 at the time when first patented
in the country.
With the grant of a patent in accordance with this law all pat-
ents in force for the same invention (41) shall become void if they
are in possession of the holder of the new patent. So far as this is
not the case, the legal operation of the new patent will first take
effect in the district in which the existing patent is valid, on the
expiration of the latter.
43. From the duration of a patent granted according to 42
will be deducted the time during which the patent has been pro-
tected in the country by the oldest of the existing patents. The
owner of the patent for the remainder of the duration of the patent
is bound to pay the legal fees. ( 8.) The date of payment and
* The Kingdoms or States which, in posing the empire. See BADEN for some
1871, united in forming the German further details.
Empire, had, previously to that time, For an account of the judicial system
patent laws of their own ; but the new introduced under the constitution of
constitution confided patents to the gen- 1871, see Constitution of Courts in the
eral legislature of the empire. In 1877, German Fmpire, 21 Alb. L. J. 66 ; Id.
the law given in the text was enacted as 167.
a uniform law for the nationalities com-
214 FOREIGN LAWS.
annual amount of the fees shall be fixed according to the time when
the invention was first protected in the country.
44. By the grant of a patent according to the provisions of
42, persons who had been using the invention without infringe-
ment of a patent right at the time a patent for the same was
applied for, or who made the necessary preparations for using the
same, shall not be restrained from such use.
45. This law shall come into force on the 1st of July, 1877.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 208.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
218
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
An act concerning monopolies,* &c. 21 Jac. 1, c. 3, 1623.
Forasmuch as your most excellent Majesty, in your royal judg-
ment, and of your blessed disposition to the weal and quiet of your
* This act, which is fundamental to
the English and American law of patents,
was passed in pursuance of the decision
of the great case of monopolies : Darcy
v. Allen, Moore, 671 ; Noy., 179 ; 11 Co.
86. The origin of the act, briefly stated,
is, that in early times, in England, exclu-
sive rights to manufacture or trade were
freely granted by the crown as a mere
means of raising a revenue from the
license fees exacted. The exercise of
this power was at first believed to be
beneficial, because ingenious foreign
workmen were from time to time drawn
to England by the expectation of sub-
stantial commercial advantages being
secured to them by royal letters patent
(these being, really, grants of monopoly) ;
and enterprising Englishmen were also
induced by the like expectation to travel
abroad, and acquire a practical knowl-
edge of trades and arts. But the crown
experiencing in those days the evils of no
regular taxation, the chief of which was
a perpetually recurring want of money to
conduct the affairs of government, the
prerogative was exposed to, and its exer-
cise soon became affected with, many
abuses, principally of this nature, that
the monopoly was sold at a ruinous price,
usually to the highest bidder, whether or
not he was the true and first inventor of
the process of manufacture, and latterly,
without any regard at all to his capacity
or ability as an inventor or manufacturer,
and frequently, indeed, to courtiers, who
made it a means of gain exclusively, and
did not assist the national industry at all.
But oppressive as it became, the prerog-
ative was freely exercised down to the
accession of the Stuarts, and was carried
to a very oppressive and injurious extent
during the reign of Elizabeth. The
validity of the grants was at length con-
tested in the courts, which adjudged them
to be mischievous to the public for three
reasons: 1. The raising of the price ; 2.
The commodity will not be so good ; 3.
The impoverishing of poor artificers.
This was the gist of the decision in Darcy
v. Allen, supra ; rendered in the 44th
year of Elizabeth, Tr. term ; 1602. The
abrogation of the practice of making
these grants was, from about the same
time, agitated in parliament ; and at
length, in 1623, the statute 21 Jac. 1, c.
3, the portions of which material to the
law of patents are reprinted in the text,
was enacted. As will be seen at a
glance, it declares that all monopolies,
grants, letters patent for sole buying, sell-
ing, and making of goods and manufac-
tures, shall be null and void ; but it ex-
cepts future patents for fourteen years,
for the sole working or making of any new
manufactures within the realm, to the
true and first inventors of such manufac-
tures, not contrary to law, nor mischiev-
ous to the state.
For recent and instructive discussion!
216 FOREIGN LAWS.
subjects, did, in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hun-
dred and ten, publish in print to the whole realm, and to all pos-
terity, That all grants and monopolies, and of the benefit of any
penal laws, or of power to dispense with the law, or to compound
for the forfeiture, are contrary to your Majesty's laws, which your
Majesty's declaration is truly consonant and agreeable to the
ancient and fundamental laws of this your realm : (2) And whereas
your Majesty was further graciously pleased expressly to com-
mand, that no suitor should presume to move your Majesty for
matters of that nature : (3) Yet nevertheless, upon misinformations
and untrue pretences of publiok good, many such grants have been
unduly obtained, and unlawfully put into execution, to the great
grievance and inconvenience of your Majesty's subjects, contrary
to the laws of this your realm, and contrary to your Majesty's most
royal and blessed intention so published as aforesaid : (4) For
avoiding whereof, and preventing of the like in time to come, may
it please your excellent Majesty, at the humble suit of the
Lords spiritual and temporal, and the commons, in this present par-
liament assembled, That it may be declared and enacted : (5) And
be it declared and enacted by authority of this present parliament,
That all monopolies, and all commissions, grants, licences, charters
and letters patent heretofore made or granted, or hereafter to be
made or granted, to any person or persons, bodies politick or corpor-
ate, whatsoever, or for the sole buying, selling, making, working or
using of any thing within this realm or the dominion of Wales, (6)
or of any other monopolies, or of power, liberty or faculty, to dis-
pense with any others, or to give lic.ense or toleration to do, use
or exercise anything against the tenor or purport of any law or
on the influence of the act on the English (See their names, throughout this work.)
and American law of patents, see Curtis As a rule, the application in a colony
Pat. 1-4 ; McKeever v. United States, must be by petition, accompanied by a
14 Ct. of Cl. 396; Op. Bradley, J., Ill specification and drawings ; and nvist be
U. S. 761. made by the inventor, his assignee or at-
Patent laws in the British Colonies, torney. Patents are, in all cases, nssijjn-
Prior to 1852, British letters patent ex- able, and the deeds of assignment must
tended to all Her Majesty's colonies ; but be registered in the respective colonies,
the act of 1852 restricted the rights ob- The patents are usually granted for a
tainable under it to Great Britain and term of fourteen years, and the inventions
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle must not have been used in the colony
of Man ;*soon after which the colonies previous to the date of application. Eiicy
began to enact patent laws of their own. Brit. 9 ed. art. Patents.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 217
statute ; (7) or to give or make any warrant for any such dispen-
sation, licence or toleration to be had or made ; or to agree or com-
pound with any others for any penalty or forfeitures limited by any
statute ; or of any grant or promise of the benefit, profit or commo-
dity of any forfeiture, penalty or sum of money, that is or shall be
due by any statute, before judgment thereupon had; (8) and all
proclamations, inhibitions, restraints, warrants of assistance, and all
other matters and things whatsoever, any way tending to the insti-
tuting, erecting, strengthening, furthering or countenancing of the
same or any of them ; (9) are altogether contrary to the laws of
this realm, and so are and shall be utterly void, and of none effect,
and in no wise to be put in use or execution.
II. And be it further declared and enacted by the authority
aforesaid, that all monopolies, and all such commissions, grants,
licences, charters, letters patents, proclamations, inhibitions,
restraints, warrants of assistance, and all other matters and things
tending as aforesaid, and the force and validity of them and of
every of them, ought to be, and shall be, for ever hereafter exam-
ined, heard, tried and determined by and according to the common
laws of this realm, and not otherwise.
V. Provided, nevertheless, and be it declared and enacted, that
any declaration before mentioned, shall not extend to any letters
patents and grants of privilege for the term of one and twenty
years or under, heretofore made of the sole working or making of
any manner of new manufacture within this realm, to the first and
true inventor or inventors of such manufactures, which others at
the time of the making of such letters patents and grants did not
use, so they be not contrary to the law, nor mischievous to the
state, by raising of the prices of commodities at home, or hurt of
trade, or generally inconvenient, but that the same shall be of such
force as they were or should be, if this act had not been made, and
of none other : (2) And if the same were made for more than one
and twenty years, That then the same for the term of one and
twenty years only, to be accounted from the date of the first letters
patents and grants thereof made, shall be of such force as they
were or should have been, if the same had been made but for terra
of one and twenty years only, and as if this act had never been had
or made, and of none other.
VI. Provided, also, and be it declared and enacted, that any
declaration before mentioned, shall not extend to any letters pat-
218 FOREIGN LAWS.
ents and grants of privilege for the term of fourteen years or
under, hereafter to be made of the sole working or making of any
manner of new manufactures within this realm, to the true and first
inventor and inventors of such manufactures, which others, at the
time of making such letters patents and grants, shall not use, so as
they be not contrary to law, nor mischievous to the State, by rais-
ing prices of commodities at home, or hurt of trade, or generally
inconvenient ; the said fourteen years to be accounted from the
date of the first letters patents, or grant of such privilege hereafter
to be made, but that the same shall be of such force, as they should
be if this act had never been made, and of none other.
From 7 Stat. at L., Pick., 255.
An Act to amend and consolidate the Law relating to
Patents for Inventions, Registration of Designs, and of
Trade Marks.* 1 Stat. 46 and 47" Viet., ,'c. 57. August
25, 1883.
Be it enacted, &c. . . .
PART I.
PRELIMINARY.
1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Patents, Designs,
and Trade Marks Act, 1883.
2. Division of Act into parts. This act is divided into parts,
as follows :
Part I. PRELIMINARY.
Part II. PATENTS.
Part III. DESIGNS.
Part IV. TRADE MARKS.
Part V. GENERAL.
3. Commencement of Act. This act, except where it is other-
wise expressed, shall commence from and immediately after the
thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and
eighty-three.
* Those provisions only of the act are Marks Amendments Act, 1SS5, post,
given, which relate to patents for inven- p. 254, which is amendatory of several of
tions or designs. With it should be com- the provisions of 1883.
pared the Patents, Designs and Trade
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 219
PART II.
PATENTS.
APPLICATION FOR AND GRANT OF PATENT.
4. Persons entitled to apply for patent. ' (1) Any person,
whether a British subject or not, may make an application for a
patent.
(2) Two or more persons may make a joint application for a
patent, and a patent may be granted to them jointly.
5. Application and specification. (1) An application for a
patent must be made in the form set forth in the first schedule to
this Act, or in such other form as may be from time to time pre-
scribed ; and must be left at, or sent by post to, the patent-office
in the prescribed manner.
(2) An application must contain a declaration to the effect that
the applicant is in possession of an invention, whereof he, or in the
case of a joint application, one or more of the applicants, claims or
claim to be the true and first inventor or inventors, and for which
he or they desires or desire to obtain a patent ; and must be accom-
panied by either a provisional or complete specification.
(3) A provisional specification must describe the nature of the
invention, and be accompanied by drawings, if required.
(4) A complete specification, whether left on application or sub-
sequently, must particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the invention, and in what manner it is to be performed, and must
be accompanied by drawings, if required.
(5) A specification, whether provisional or complete, must com-
mence with the title, and, in the case of a complete specification
must end with a distinct statement of the invention claimed.
6. Reference of application to examiner. The comptroller
shall refer every application to an examiner, who shall ascer-
tain and report to the comptroller whether the nature of the
invention has been fairly described, and the application, specifica-
tion and drawings (if any) have been prepared in the prescribed
manner, and the title sufficiently indicates the subject matter of the
invention.
7. Power for comptroller to refuse application or require
amendment. (1) If the examiner reports that the nature of the
invention is not fairly described, or that the application, speci-
fication, or drawings has not or have not been prepared in the
prescribed manner, or that the title does not sufficiently indicate
220 FOREIGN LAWS.
the subject matter of the invention, the comptroller may require
that the application, specification or drawings be amended before
he proceeds with the application.
(2) Where the comptroller requires an amendment, the appli-
cant may appeal from his decision to the law officer.
(3) The law officer shall, if required, hear the applicant and the
comptroller, and may make an order determining whether, and
subject to what conditions, if any, the application shall be accepted.
(4) The comptroller shall, when an application has been
accepted, give notice thereof to the applicant.
(5) If, after an application has been made, but before a patent
has been sealed, an application is made, accompanied by a specifica-
tion bearing the same or a similar title, it shall be the duty of the
examiner to report to the comptroller whether the specification
appears to him to comprise the same invention ; and, if he reports
in the affirmative, the comptroller shall give notice to the appli-
cants that he has so reported.
(6) Where the examiner reports in the affirmative, the comp-
troller may determine, subject to an appeal to the law officer,
whether the invention comprised in both applications is the same,
and if so, he may refuse to seal a patent on the application of the
second applicant.
8. Time for leaving complete specification. (1) If the applicant
does not leave a complete specification with his application, he
may leave it at any subsequent time within nine months from
the date of application.
(2) Unless a complete specification is left within that time, the
application shall be deemed to be abandoned.
9. Comparison of provisional and complete specification. (1)
Where a complete specification is left after a provisional speci-
fication, the comptroller shall refer both specifications to an exami-
ner for the purpose of ascertaining whether the complete specifica-
tion has been prepared in the prescribed manner, and whether the
invention particularly described in the complete specification is
substantially the same as that which is described in the provisional
specification.
(2) If the examiner reports that the conditions herein-before
contained have not been complied with, the comptroller may refuse
to accept the complete specification unless and until the same shall
have been amended to his satisfaction ; but any such refusal shall
be subject to appeal to the law officer.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 221
(3) The law officer shall, if required, hear the applicant and the
comptroller, and may make an order determining whether and sub-
ject to what conditions, if any, the complete specification shall be
accepted.
(4) Unless a complete specification is accepted within twelve
months from the date of application, then (save in the case of an
appeal having been lodged against the refusal to accept) the appli-
cation shall, at the expiration of those twelve months, become void.
(5) Reports of examiners shall not in any case be published or
be open to public inspection, and shall not be liable to production
or inspection in any legal proceeding, other than an appeal to the
law officer under this Act, unless the court or officer having power
to order discovery in such legal proceeding shall certify that such
production or inspection is desirable in the interests of justice, and
ought to be allowed.
10. Advertisement on acceptance of complete specification. On
the acceptance of the complete specification the comptroller shall
advertise the acceptance ; and the application and specification,
or specifications with the drawings (if any) shall be open to public
inspection.
11. Opposition to grant of patent. (1) Any person may at
any time within two months from the date of the advertisement of
the acceptance of a complete specification give notice at the patent
office of opposition to the grant of the patent, on the ground of the
applicant having obtained the invention from him, or from a person
of whom he is the legal representative; or on the ground that the
invention has been patented in this country on an application of
prior date; or on the ground of an examiner having reported to the
comptroller that the specification appears to him to comprise the
same invention as is comprised in a specification bearing the same
or a similar title, and accompanying a previous application, but on
no other ground.
(2) Where such notice is given, the comptroller shall give notice
of the opposition to the applicant, and shail, on the expiration of
those two months, after hearing the applicant and the person so
giving notice, if desirous of being heard, decide on the case, but
subject to appeal to the law officer.
(3) The law officer shall, if required, hear the applicant and any
pei'son so giving notice and being, in the opinion of the law officer,
entitled to be heard in opposition to the grant, and shall determine
whether the grant ought or ought not to be made.
222 FOREIGN LAWS.
(4) The law officer may, if he thinks fit, obtain the assistance of
an expert, who shall be paid such remuneration as the law officer,
with the consent of the treasury, shall appoint.
12. Sealing of patent. (1) If there is no opposition, or, in
case of opposition, if the determination is in favor of the grant of
a patent, the comptroller shall cause a patent to be sealed with the
seal of the patent-office.
(2) A patent so sealed shall have the same effect as if it were
sealed with the great seal of the United Kingdom.
(3) A patent shall be sealed as soon as may be, and not after the
expiration of fifteen months from the date of application, except
in the cases hereinafter mentioned, that is to say
(a) Where the sealing is delayed by an appeal to the law officer,
or by opposition to the grant of the patent, the patent may be
sealed at such time as the law officer may direct.
(ft) If the person making the application dies before the expira-
tion of the fifteen months aforesaid, the patent may be granted to
his legal representative and sealed at any time within twelve
months after the death of the applicant.
13. Date of patent. Every patent shall be dated and sealed
as of the day of the application : Provided that no proceedings
shall be taken in respect of an infringement committed before the
publication of the complete specification : Provided also, that in
case of more than one application for a patent for the same inven-
tion, the sealing of a patent on one of those applications shall not
prevent the sealing of a patent on an earlier application.
14. Provisional protection. Where an application for a pat-
ent in respect of an invention has been accepted, the invention
may during the period between the date of the application and the
date of sealing such patent be used and published without pre-
judice to the patent to be granted for the same ; and such pro-
tection from the consequences of use and publication is in this Act
referred to as provisional protection.
15. Protection by complete specification. Effect of acceptance
of complete specification. After the acceptance of a complete
specification and until the date of sealing a patent in respect
thereof, or the expiration of the time for sealing, the applicant
shall have the like privileges and rights as if a patent for the
invention had been sealed on the date of the acceptance of the
complete specification : Provided that an applicant shall not be
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 223
entitled to- institute any proceeding for infringement, unless and
until a patent for the invention has been granted to him.
16. Extent of patent. Every patent when sealed shall have
effect throughout the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.
17. Term of patent. (1) The term limited in every patent for
the duration thereof shall be fourteen years from its date.
(2) But every patent shall, notwithstanding anything therein or
in this Act, cease if the patentee fails to make the prescribed pay-
ments within the prescribed times.
(3) If, nevertheless, in any case, by accident, mistake, or inad-
vertence, a patentee fails to make any prescribed payment within
the prescribed time, he may apply to the comptroller for an enlarge-
ment of the time for making that payment.
(4) Thereupon the comptroller shall, if satisfied that the failure
has arisen from any of the above-mentioned causes, on receipt of
the prescribed fee for enlargement, not exceeding ten pounds,
enlarge the time accordingly, subject to the following conditions :
(a) The time for making any payment shall not in any case be
enlarged for more than three months.
(b) If any proceeding shall be taken in respect of an infringe-
ment of the patent committed after a failure to make any payment
within the prescribed time, and before the enlargement thereof,
the court before which the proceeding is proposed to be taken may,
if it shall think fit, refuse to award or give any damages in respect
of such infringement.
18. Amendment of specification. (1) An applicant or a patentee
may, from time to time, by request in writing left at the patent-
office, seek leave to amend his specification, including drawings
forming part thereof, by way of disclaimer, correction, or explan-
ation, stating the nature of such amendment and his reasons
for the same.
(2) The request and the nature of such proposed amendment
shall be advertised in the prescribed manner, and at any time
within one month from its first advertisement any person may give
notice at the patent-office of opposition to the amendment.
(3) Where such notice is given the comptroller shall give notice
of the opposition to the person making the request, and shall hear
and decide the case subject to an appeal to the law officer.
(4) The law officer shall, if required, hear the person making the
request and the person so giving notice, and being in the opinion
of the law officer enticled to be heard in opposition to the request,
224 FOREIGN LAWS.
and shall determine whether and subject to what conditions, if any,
the amendment ought to be allowed.
(5) Where no notice of opposition is given, or the person so
giving notice does not appear, the comptroller shall determine
whether and subject to what conditions, if any, the amendment
ought to be allowed.
(6) When leave to amend is refused by the comptroller, the per-
son making the request may appeal from his decision to the law-
officer.
(7) The law-officer shall, if required, hear the person making the
request and the comptroller, and may make an order determining
whether, and subject to what conditions, if any, the amendment
ought to be allowed.
(8) No amendment shall be allowed that would make the specifi-
cation, as amended, claim an invention substantially larger than or
substantially different from the invention claimed by the specifica-
tion as it stood before amendment.
(9) Leave to amend shall be conclusive as to the right of the
party to make the amendment allowed, except in case of fraud ;
and the amendment shall in all courts and for all purposes be
deemed to form part of the specification.
(10) The foregoing* provisions of this section do not apply when
and so long as any action for infringement or other legal proceed-
ing in relation to a patent is pending.
19. Power to disclaim part of invention during action, &c.
(1) In an action for infringement of a patent, and in a proceed-
ing for revocation of a patent, the court or a judge may at any
time order that the patentee shall, subject to such terms as to costs
and otherwise as the court or a judge may impose, be at liberty to
apply at the patent-office for leave to amend his specification by
way of disclaimer, and may direct that in the meantime the trial or
hearing of the action shall be postponed.
20. Restriction on recovery of damages. Where an amend-
ment by way of disclaimer, correction or explanation, has been
allowed under this Act, no damages shall be given in any action
in respect of the use of the invention before the disclaimer, cor-
rection or explanation, unless the patentee establishes to the sat-
isfaction of the court that his original claim was framed in good
faith and with reasonable skill and knowledge.
21. Advertisement of amendment. Every amendment of a
specification shall be advertised in the prescribed manner.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 225
22. Compulsory licenses. If on tlie petition of any person
interested it is proved to the Board of Trade that by reason of the
default of a patentee to grant licenses on reasonable terms
(a) The patent is not being worked in the United Kingdom ; or
(b) The reasonable requirements of the public with respect to
the invention cannot be supplied ; or
(c) Any person is prevented from working or using to the best
advantage an invention of which he is possessed, the board may
order the patentee to grant licenses on such terms as to the amount
of royalties, security for payment, or otherwise, as the board, hav-
ing regard to the nature of the invention and the circumstances of
the case, may deem just, and any such order may be enforced by
mandamus.
23. Register of patents. (1) There shall be kept at the pat-
ent office a book called the Register of Patents, wherein shall be
entered the names and addresses of grantees of patents, notifica-
tions of assignments and of transmissions of patents, of licenses
under patents, and of amendments, extensions, and revocations of
patents and such other matters affecting the validity or proprietor-
ship of patents as may from time to time be prescribed.
(2) The Register of Patents shall be prima facie evidence of any
matters by this Act directed or authorized to be inserted therein.
(3) Copies of deeds, licenses, and any other documents affecting
the proprietorship of any letters patent, or in any license thereunder,
must be supplied to the comptroller in the prescribed manner for
tiling in the patent-office.
24. Fees in schedule. (1) There shall be paid in respect of the
several instruments described in the second schedule to this Act,
the fees in that schedule mentioned, and there shall likewise be
paid, in respect of other matters under this part of the Act, such
fees as may be from time to time, with the sanction of the treasury,
prescribed by the Board of Trade ; and such fees shall be levied
and paid to the account of Her Majesty's Exchequer in such man-
ner as the treasury may from time to time direct.
(2) The Board of Trade may from time to time, if they think
fit, with the consent of the treasury, reduce any of those fees.
25. Extension of term of patent on petition to Queen in coun-
cil. (1) A patentee may, after advertising in manner directed by
any rules made under this section, his intention to do so, present
a petition to Her Majesty in Council, praying that his patent may
be extended for a further term ; but such petition must be pre-
I. 15
226 FOREIGN LAWS.
scnted at least six months before the lime limited for the expiration
of the patent.
(2) Any person may enter a caveat, addressed to the registrar
of the council at the council office, against the extension.
(5) If Her Majesty shall be pleased to refer any such petition to
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the said committee
shall proceed to consider the same, and the petitioner, and any
person who has entered a caveat, shall be entitled to be heard by
himself, or by counsel on the petition.
(4) The judicial committee shall, in considering their decision,
have regard to the nature and merits of the invention in relation to
the public, to the profits made by the patentee as such, and to all
the circumstances of the case.
(5) If the judicial committee report that the patentee has been
inadequately remunerated by his patent, it shall be lawful for Her
Majesty in Council to extend the term of the patent for a further
term not exceeding seven, or, in exceptional cases, fourteen years ;
or to order the grant of a new patent for the term therein men-
tioned, and containing any restrictions, conditions, and provisions
that the judicial committee may think fit.
(6) It shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council to make, from
time to time, rules of procedure and practice for regulating pro-
ceedings on such petitions, and subject thereto such proceedings
shall be regulated according to the existing procedure and practice
in patent matters of the judicial committee.
(7) The costs of all parties of and incident to such proceedings
shall be in the discretion of the judicial committee ; and the orders
of the committee respecting costs shall be enforceable as if they
were orders of a division of the High Court of Justice.
26. Revocation of patent. (1) The proceeding by scirc facias,
to repeal a patent, is hereby abolished.
(2) Revocation of a patent may be obtained on petition to the
Court.
(3) Every ground on which a patent might, at the commence-
ment of this Act, be repealed by scire facias, shall be available by
Avay of defense to an action of infringement, and shall also be a
ground of revocation.
(4) A petition for revocation of a patent may be presented by
(a) The attorney-general in England or Ireland, or the lord
advocate in Scotland :
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 227
(b) Any person authorized by the attorney-general in England
or Ireland, or the Lord Advocate in Scotland :
(c) Any person alleging that the patent was obtained in fraud
of his rights, or of the rights of any person under or through whom
he claims :
(d) Any person alleging that he, or any person under or through
whom he claims, was the true inventor of any invention included
in the claim of the patentee :
(e) Any person alleging that he, or any person under or through
whom he claims an interest in any trade, business, or manufacture,
had publicly manufactured, used, or sold, within this realm, before
the date of the patent, anything claimed by the patentee as his
invention.
(5) The plaintiff must deliver with his petition particulars of
the objections on which he means to rely, and no evidence shall,
except by leave of the court or a judge, be admitted in proof of
any objection of which particulars are not so delivered.
(6) Particulars delivered may be from time to time amended,
by leave of the court or a judge.
(7) The defendant shall be entitled to begin, and give evidence
in support of the patent, and if the plaintiff gives evidence impeach-
ing the validity of the patent, the defendant shall be entitled to
reply.
(8) Where a patent has been revoked on the ground of fraud,
the comptroller may, on the application of the true inventor made
in accordance with the provisions of this Act, grant to him a pat-
ent in lieu of, and bearing the same date as the date of revocation
of the patent so revoked, but the patent so granted shall cease on
the expiration of the term for which the revoked patent was
granted.
27. Patent to bind Crown. (1) A patent shall have to all
intents the like effect as against Her Majesty the Queen, her heirs
and successors, as it has against a subject.
(2) But the officers or authorities administering any department
of the service of the crown may, by themselves, their agents, con-
tractors, or others, at any time after the application, use the inven-
tion for the services of the crown on terms to be before or after the
use thereof agreed on, with the approval of the treasury, between
those officers or authorities and the patentee, or, in default of such
agreement, on such terms as may be settled by the treasury after
hearing all parties interested.
228 % FOREIGN LAWS.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
28. Hearing with Assessor. (1) In an action or proceeding for
infringement or revocation of a patent, the court may, if it thinks
fit, and shall on the request of either of the parties to the proceed-
ing, call in the aid of an assessor specially qualified, and try and
hear the case wholly or partially with his assistance ; the action
shall be tried without a jury unless the court shall otherwise
direct.
(2) The Court of Appeal or the judicial committee of the Privy
Council may, if they see fit, in any proceeding before them respect-
ively, call in the aid of an assessor as aforesaid.
(3) The remuneration, if any, to be paid to an assessor under
this section shall be determined by the court or the Court of Appeal
or judicial committee, as the case may be, and be paid in the same
mariner as the other expenses of the execution of this act.
29. Delivery of particulars. (1) In an action for infringement
of a patent, the plaintiff must deliver with his statement of claim,
or by order of the court or the judge, at any subsequent time, par-
ticulars of the breaches complained of.
(2) The defendant must deliver with his statement of defense,
or, by order of the court or a judge, at any subsequent time,
particulars of any objections on which he relies in support thereof.
(3) If the defendant disputes the validity of the patent, the
particulars delivered by him must state on what grounds he dis-
putes it, and if one of those grounds is want of novelty, must state
the time and place of the previous publication or user alleged by
him.
(4) At the hearing no evidence shall, except by leave of the
court or a judge, be admitted in proof of any alleged infringement
or objection of which particulars are not so delivered.
(5) Particulars delivered may be from time to time amended,
by leave of the court or a judge.
(6) On taxation of costs regard shall be had to the particulars
delivered by the plaintiff and by the defendant ; and they respect-
ively shall not be allowed any costs in respect of any particular
delivered by them unless the same is certified by the court or a
judge to have been proven or to have been reasonable and proper,
without regard to the general costs of the case.
30. Order for inspection, <&c., in action. In an action for
infringement of a patent, the court or a judge may, on the appli-
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 229
cation of either party, make such order for an injunction, inspection
or account, and impose such terms and give such directions respect-
ing the same, and the proceedings thereon as the court or a judge
may see fit.
31. Certificate of validity questioned and costs thereon. In an
action for infringement of a patent, the court or a judge may
certify that the validity of the patent came in question ; and if the
court or a judge so certifies, then in any subsequent action for
infringement, the plaintiff in that action on obtaining a final order
or judgment in his favor shall have his full "costs, charges and
expenses as between solicitor and client, unless the court or judge
trying the action certifies that he ought not to have the same.
32. Remedy in case of groundless threats of legal proceedings.
Where any person claiming to be the patentee of an invention, by
circulars, advertisements or otherwise threatens any other person
with any legal proceedings or liability in respect of any alleged
manufacture, use, sale or purchase of the invention, any person or
persons aggrieved thereby may bring an action against him, and
may obtain an injunction against the continuance of such threats,
and may recover such damage (if any) as may have been sustained
thereby, if the alleged manufacture, use, sale or purchase to which
the threats related was not in fact an infringement of any legal
rights of the person making such threats : Provided that this
section shall not apply if the person making such threats with due
diligence commences and prosecutes an action for infringement of
his patent.
MISCELLANEOUS.
33. Patent for one invention only. Every patent may be in
the form in the first schedule to this act, and shall be granted for
one invention only, but may contain more than one claim ; but it
shall not be competent for any person in an action or other proceed-
ing to take any objection to a patent on the ground that it com-
prises more than one invention.
34. Patent on application of representative of deceased in-
ventor. (1) If a person possessed of an invention dies without
making application for a patent for the invention, application may
be made by, and a patent for the invention granted to, his legal
representative.
(2) Every such application must be made within six months of
the decease of such person, and must contain a declaration by the
230 FOREIGN LAWS.
legal representative that he believes such person to be the true and
first inventor of the invention.
35. Patent to first inventor not invalidated by application in
fraud of him. A patent granted to the true and first inventor shall
not be invalidated by an application in fraud of him, or by provis-
ional protection obtained thereon, or by any use or publication of
the invention subsequent to that fraudulent application during the
period of provisional protection.
36. Assignment for particular places. A patentee may assign
his patent for any place in or part of the United Kingdom, or Isle
of Man, as effectually as if the patent were originally granted to
extend to that place or part only.
37. Loss or destruction of patent. If a patent is lost or
destroyed, or its non-production is accounted for to the satisfaction
of the comptroller, the comptroller may at any time cause a dupli-
cate thereof to be sealed.
38. Proceedings and costs before law officer. The law officers
may examine witnesses on oath and administer oaths for that pur-
pose under this part of this act, and may from time to time make,
alter, and rescind rules regulating references and appeals to the
law officers and the practice and procedure before them under this
part of this act ; and in any proceeding before either of the law
officers under this part of this act, the law officer may order costs
to be paid by either party, and any such order may be made a rule
of the court.
39. Exhibition at industrial or international exhibition not to
prejudice patent rights. The exhibition of an invention at an
industrial or international exhibition, certified as such by the board
of trade, or the publication of any description of the invention
during the period of the holding of the exhibition, or the use of the
invention for the purpose of the exhibition in the place where the
exhibition is held, or the use of the invention during the period of
the holding of the exhibition by any person elsewhere, without the
privity or consent of the inventor, shall not prejudice the right of
the inventor or his legal personal representative to apply for and
obtain provisional protection and a patent in respect of the inven-
tion or the validity of any patent granted on the application,
provided that both the following conditions are complied with,
namely,
(a.) The exhibitor must, before exhibiting the invention, give
the comptroller the prescribed notice of his intention to do so ; and
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 231
(.) The application for a patent must be made before, or
wkhin six months from the date of the opening of the exhibition.
40. Publication of illustrated journal, indexes, &c. (1) The
comptroller shall cause to be issued periodically an illustrated
journal of patented inventions, as well as reports of patent cases
decided by courts of law, and any other information that the
comptroller may deem generally useful or important.
(2) Provision shall be made by the comptroller for keeping on
sale copies of such journal, and also of all complete specifications of
patents for the time being in force, with their accompanying draw-
ings, if any.
(3) The comptroller shall continue, in such form as he may deem
expedient, the indexes and abridgments of specifications hitherto
published, and shall from time to time prepare and publish such
other indexes, abridgments of specifications, catalogues, and other
works relating to inventions, as he may see fit.
41. Patent Museum. The control and management of the
existing patent museum and its contents shall, from and after the
commencement of this Act, be transferred to and vested in the
department of science and art, subject to such directions as Her
Majesty in Council may see fit to give.
42. Power to require models on payment. The depart-
ment of science and art may at any time require a patentee to
furnish them with a model of his invention on payment to the
patentee of the cost of the manufacture of the model ; the amount
to be settled, in case of dispute, by the board of trade.
40. Foreign vessels in British waters. (1) A patent shall
nol prevent the use of an invention for the purposes of the naviga-
tion of a foreign vessel within the jurisdiction of any of Her Maj-
esty's courts in the United Kingdom or Isle of Man, or the use of
an invention in a foreign vessel within that jurisdiction, provided
it is not used therein for or in connection with the manufacture or
preparation of anything intended to be sold in or exported from
the United Kingdom or Isle of Man.
(2) But this section shall not extend to vessels of any foreign
state of which the laws authorize subjects of such foreign state,
having patents or like privileges for the exclusive use or exercise
of inventions within its territories, to prevent or interfere with the
use of such inventions in British vessels while in the ports of such
foreign state, or in the waters within the jurisdiction of its courts,
where such inventions are not so used for the manufacture or prep-
232 FOREIGN LAWS.
aration of anything intended to be sold in or exported from the
territories of such foreign state.
44. Assignment to secretary for war of certain inven-
tions. (1) The inventor of any improvement in instruments or
munitions of war, his executors, administrators, or assigns (who are
in this section comprised in the expression " the inventor ") may
(either for or without valuable consideration) assign to Her Maj-
esty's principal secretary of state for the war department (herein-
after referred to as the secretary of state), on behalf of Her
Majesty, all the benefit of the invention, and of any patent obtained
or to be obtained for the same ; and the secretary of state may be
a party to the assignment.
(2) The assignment shall effectually vest the benefit of the
invention and patent in the secretary -of state for the time being on
behalf of Her Majesty, and all covenants and agreements therein
contained for keeping the invention secret and otherwise shall be
valid and effectual (notwithstanding any want of valuable con-
sideration), and may be enforced accordingly by the secretary of
state for the time being.
(3) Where any such assignment has been made to the secretary
of state, he may at any time before the application for a patent for
the invention, or before publication of the specification or specifica-
tions, certify to the comptroller his opinion that, in the interest of
the public service, the particulars of the invention and of the man-
ner in which it is to be performed should be kept secret.
(4) If the secretary of state so certifies, the application and
specification or specifications, with the drawings (if any), and any
amendment of the specification or specifications, and any copies of
such documents and drawings, shall, instead of being left in the
ordinary manner at the patent-office, be delivered to the comptrol-
ler in a packet sealed by authority of the secretary of state.
(5) Such packet shall, until the expiration of the term or
extended term during which a patent for the invention may be
in force, be kept sealed by the comptroller, and shall not be opened
save under the authority of an order of the secretary of state, or of
the law officers.
(6) Such sealed packet shall be delivered at any time during the
continuance of the patent to any person authorized by writing
under the hand of the secretary of state to receive the same, and
shall if returned to the comptroller be again kept sealed by him.
(7) On the expiration of the term or extended term of the
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 233
patent, such sealed packet shall be delivered to any person author-
ized by writing under the hand of the secretary of state to
receive it.
(8) Where the secretary of state certifies as aforesaid, after an
application for a patent has been left at the patent-office, but
before the publication of the specification or specifications, the
application, specification or specifications, with the drawings (if
any), shall be forthwith placed in a packet, sealed by authority of
the comptroller, and such packet shall be subject to the foregoing
provisions respecting a packet sealed by authority of the secretary
of state.
(9) No proceeding by petition or otherwise shall lie for revoca-
tion of a patent granted for an invention in relation to which the
secretary of state has certified as aforesaid.
(10) No copy of any specification or other document or draw-
ing, by this section required to be placed in a sealed-packet, shall
in any manner whatever be published or open to the inspection of
the public, but, save as in this section otherwise directed, the
provisions of this part of this Act shall apply in respect of any
such invention and patent as aforesaid.
(11) The secretary of state may at any time, by writing under
his hand, waive the benefit of this section with respect to any
particular invention, and the specifications, documents and drawings
shall be thenceforth kept and dealt with in the ordinary way.
(12) The communication of any invention for any improvement
in instruments or munitions of war to the secretary of state, or to
any person or persons authorized by him to investigate the same or
the merits thereof, shall not, nor shall anything done for the pur-
poses of the investigation, be deemed use or publication of such
invention so as to prejudice the grant or validity of any patent for
the same.
EXISTING PATENTS.
45. (1) The provisions of this Act relating to applications for
patents and proceedings thereon shall have effect in respect only of
applications made after the commencement of this Act.
(2) Every patent granted before the commencement of this
Act, or on an application then pending, shall remain unaffected by
the provisions of this Act relating to patents binding the Crown,
and to compulsory licenses.
(3) In all other respects (including the amount and time of
payment of fees) this Act shall extend to all patents granted before
234 FOREIGN LAWS.
the commencement of this Act, or on applications then pending, in
substitution for such enactments as would have applied thereto if
this Act had not been passed.
(4) All instruments relating to patents granted before the com-
mencement of this Act required to be left or filed in the great seal
patent-office shall be deemed to be so left or filed if left or filed
before or after the commencement of this Act in the patent-office.
DEFINITIONS.
46. In and for the purposes of this Act
" Patent " means letters patent for an invention :
" Patentee " means the person for the time being entitled to the
benefit of a patent :
" Invention " means any manner of new manufacture the subject
of letters patent and grant of privilege within section six of the
Statute of Monopolies (that is, the Act of the twenty-first year of
the reign of King James the First, chapter three, intituled " An
Act concerning Monopolies and dispensations with penal laws and
the forfeiture thereof" [see ante, p. 3]), and includes an alleged
invention.
In Scotland "injunction" means "interdict."
PART III.
DESIGNS.
REGISTRATION OF DESIGNS.
47. Application for registration. (1) The comptroller may,
on application by, or on behalf of any person claiming to be the
proprietor of any new or original design not previously published
in the United Kingdom, register the design under this part of this
Act.
(2) The application must be made in the form set forth in the
first schedule to this act, or in such other form as may be from time
to time prescribed, and must be left at, or sent by post to, the
patent-office in the prescribed manner.
(3) The application must contain a statement of the nature of
the design, and the class or classes of goods in which the applicant
desires that the design be registered.
(4) The same design may be registered in more than one class.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 235
(5) In case of doubt as to the class in which a design ought to
be registered, the comptroller may decide the question.
(C) The comptroller may, if he thinks fit, refuse to register any
design presented to him for registration, but any person aggrieved
by any such refusal may appeal therefrom to the board of trade.
(7) The board of trade shall, if required, hear the applicant and
the comptroller, and may make an order determining whether, and
subject to what conditions, if any, registration is to be permitted.
48. Drawings, dbc., to be furnished on application. (1) On
application for registration of a design the applicant shall furnish
to the comptroller the prescribed number of copies of drawings,
photographs or tracings of the design sufficient, in the opinion of
the comptroller, for enabling him to identify the design ; or the
applicant may, instead of such copies, furnish exact representations
or specimens of the design.
(2) The comptroller may, if he thinks fit, refuse any drawing,
photograph, tracing, representation or specimen which is not, in his
opinion, suitable for the official records.
49. Certificate of registration. (1) The comptroller shall grant
a certificate of registration to- the proprietor of the design when
registered.
(2) The comptroller may, in case of loss of the original certifi-
cate, or in any other case in which he deems it expedient, grant a
copy or copies of the certificate.
COPYRIGHT IN REGISTERED DESIGNS.
50. Copyright on registration. (1) When a design is registered,
the registered proprietor of the design shall, subject to the pro-
visions of this act, have copyright in the design during five years
from the date of registration.
(2) Before delivery on sale of any articles to which a registered
design has been applied, the proprietor must (if exact representa-
tions or specimens were not furnished on the application for regis-
tration), furnish to the comptroller the prescribed number of exact
representations or specimens of the design ; and if he fails to do
so, the comptroller may erase his name from the register, and there-
upon his copyright in the design shall cease.
51. Marking registered designs. Before delivery on sale of any
articles to which a registered design has been applied, the proprietor
of the design shall cause each such article to be marked with the
prescribed mark, or with the prescribed word or words or figures,
236 FOREIGN LAWS.
denoting that the design is registered ; and if he fails to do so, the
copyright in the design shall cease, unless the proprietor shows that
he took all proper steps to ensure the markings of the article.
52. Inspection of registered designs. (1) During the existence
of copyright in a design, the design shall not be open to inspection
except by the proprietor, or a person authorized in writing by the
proprietor, or a person authorized by the comptroller or by the
court, and furnishing such information as may enable the comptroller
to identify the design, nor except in the presence of the comptroller,
or an officer acting under him, nor except on payment of the pre-
scribed fee ; and the person making the inspection shall not be
entitled to take any copy of the design, or of any part thereof.
(2) When the copyright in a design has ceased the design shall
be open to inspection, and copies thereof may be taken by any
person on payment of the prescribed fee.
53. Information as to existence of copyright. Oa the request
of any person producing a particular design, together with its mark
of registration, or producing only its mark of registration, or furnish-
ing such information as may enable the comptroller to' identify the
design, and on payment of the prescribed fee, it shall be the duty
of the comptroller to inform such person whether the registration
still exists in respect of such design, and if so, in respect of what
class or classes of goods, and stating also the date of registration,
and the name and address of the registered proprietor.
54. Cesser of copyright in certain events. If a registered
design is used in manufacture in any foreign country and is not used
in this country within six months of its registration in this country,
the copyright in the design shall cease.
REGISTER op DESIGNS.
55. Register to be kept. (1) There shall be kept at the patent-
office a book called the Register of Designs, wherein shall be
entered the names and addresses of proprietors of registered designs,
notifications of assignments and of transmissions of registered
designs, and such other matters as may from time to time be pre-
scribed.
(2) The register of designs shall be prima facie evidence of any
matters by this act directed or authorized to be entered therein.
FEES.
56. There shall be paid in respect of applications and registra-
tion and other matters under this part of this Act such fees as may
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 237
be from time to time, with the sanction of the treasury, prescribed
by the board of trade ; and such fees shall be levied and paid to
the account of Her Majesty's Exchequer in such manner as the
treasury shall from time to time direct.
INDUSTRIAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS.
57- Exhibition at them not to prevent or invalidate registra-
tion. The exhibition at an industrial or international exhibition,
certified as such by the Board of Trade, or the exhibition elsewhere
during the period of the holding of the exhibition, without the
privity or consent of the proprietor, of a design, or of any article to
which a design is applied, or the publication, during the holding of
any such exhibition, of a description of a design, shall not prevent
the design frqm being registered, or invalidate the registration
thereof, provided that both the following conditions are complied
with: namely,
(a) The exhibitor must, before exhibiting the design or pub-
lishing a description, give the comptroller the prescribed notice of
bis intention to do so ; and
(b) The application for registration must be made before or
within six months from the date of the opening of the exhibition.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
58. Penalty on Piracy of registered design. During the
existence of copyright in any design
(a) It shall not be lawful for any person without the license or
written consent of the registered proprietor to apply such design or
any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof, in the class or classes
of goods in which such design is registered, for purposes of sale to
any article of manufacture or to any substance, artificial or natural
or partly artificial and partly natural ; and
(b) It shall not be lawful for any person to publish or expose
for sale any article of manufacture or any substance to which such
design or any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof shall have
been so applied, knowing that the same has been so applied without
the consent of the registered proprietor.
Any person who acts in contravention of this section shall be
liable for every offense to forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty pounds to
the registered proprietor of the design, who may recover such sum
as a simple contract debt by an action in any. court of competent
jurisdiction.
238 FOREIGN LAWS.
59. Action for damages. Notwithstanding the remedy given
by this Act for the recovery of such penalty as aforesaid, the
registered proprietor of any design may (if he elects to do so)
bring an action for the recovery of any damages arising from the
application of any such design, or of any fraudulent or obvious
imitation thereof for the purpose of sale, to any article of manu-
facture or substance, or from the publication, sale or exposure for
sale by any person of any article or substance to which such
design or any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof shall have
been so applied, such person knowing that the proprietor had not
given his consent to such application.
DEFINITIONS.
60. " Design" In and for the purposes of this Act
" Design " means any design applicable to any article of manu-
facture, or to any substance, artificial or natural, or partly artificial
and partly natural, whether the design is applicable for the pattern,
or for the shape or configuration, or for the ornament thereof, or
for any two cr more of such purposes, and by whatever means it
is applicable, whether by printing, painting, embroidering, weaving,
sewing, modelling, casting, embossing, engraving, staining, or any
other means whatever, manual, mechanical, or chemical, separate
or combined, not being a design for a sculpture, or other thing
within the protection of the Sculpture Copyright Act of 1814
(fifty-fourth George the Third, chapter fifty-six).
" Copyright" means the exclusive right to apply a design to
any article of manufacture or to any such substance as aforesaid
in the class or classes in which the design is registered.
61. "Proprietor.' 1 '' The author of any new and original design
shall be considered the proprietor thereof, unless he executed the
work on behalf of another person for a good or valuable consider-
ation, in which case such person shall be considered the proprietor,
and every person acquiring for a good or valuable consideration a
new and original design, or the right to apply the same to any
such article or substance as aforesaid, either exclusively of any
other person, or otherwise, and also every person on whom the
property in such design or such right to the application shall
devolve, shall be considered the proprietor of the design in the
respect in which the same may have been so acquired, and to that
extent, but not otherwise.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. . 239
PART V.*
GENERAL.
PATENT-OFFICE AND PROCEEDINGS THEREAT.
82. Patent-office. (1) The treasury may provide for the pur-
poses of this Act an office with all requisite buildings and con-
veniences, which shall be called, and in this Act is referred to as,
the patent-office.
(2) Until a new patent-office is provided, the offices of the com-
missioners of patents for inventions and for the registration of
designs and trade-marks existing at the commencement of this act
shall be the patent-office within the meaning of this Act.
(3) The patent-office shall be under the immediate control of an
officer called the comptroller-general of patents, designs, and trade-
marks, who shall act under the superintendence and direction of the
board of trade.
(4) Any act or thing directed to be done by or to the comptroller
may, in his absence, be done by or to any officer for the time being
in that behalf authorized by the board of trade.
83. Officers and clerks. (1) The board of trade may at any
time after the passing of this act, and from time to time, subject
to the approval of the treasury, appoint the comptroller-general of
patents, designs, and trade-marks, and so many examiners and other
officers and clerks, with such designations arid duties as the board
of trade think fit, and may from time to time remove any of those
officers and clerks.
(2) The salaries of those officers and clerks shall be appointed by
the board of trade, with the concurrence of the treasury, and the
same and the other expenses of the execution of this Act shall be
paid out of money provided by parliament.
84:. Seal of patent-office. There shall be a seal for the patent-
office, and impressions thereof shall be judicially noticed and
admitted in evidence.
85. Trusts not to be entered in registers. There shall not be
entered in any register kept under this Act, or be receivable by the
* Fart IV. is omitted because relating to designs and trade-marks, which are
to trade-marks only. Sections 87, 91, 92, omitted ; but are in general germane to
101, in Part V. contain clauses relating the provisions relative to patents.
240 FOREIGN LAWS.
comptroller, any notice of any trust expressed, implied or construc-
tive.
86. Refusal to grant patent in certain cases. The comptroller
may refuse to grant a patent for an invention, design, &c., of which
the use would, in his opinion, be contrary to law or morality.
87. Entry of assignments and transmissions, in registers.
Where a person becomes entitled by assignment, transmission, or
other operation of law to a patent, the comptroller shall on request,
and on proof of title to his satisfaction, cause the name of such
person to be entered as proprietor of the patent, in the register of
patents. The person for the time being entered in the register of
patents as proprietor of a patent shall, subject to any rights appear-
ing from such register to be vested in any other person, have power
absolutely to assign, grant licenses as to, or otherwise deal with the
Bame, and to give effectual receipts for any consideration for such
assignment, license, or dealing : Provided that any equities in
respect of such patent may be enforced in like manner as in respect
of any other personal property. [The like as to designs, &c.~\
88. Inspection of and extracts from registers. Every register
kept under this Act shall at all convenient times be open to the
inspection of the public, subject to such regulations as may be
pn-scribed ; and certified copies, sealed with the seal of the patent-
oflice, of any entry iu any such register shall be given to any person
requiring the same on payment of the prescribed fee.
89. Sealed copies to be received in evidence. Printed or written
copies or extracts, purporting to be certified by the comptroller and
sealed with the seal of the patent-office, of or from patents, specifi-
cations, disclaimers and other documents in the patent-office, and of
or from registers and other books kept there, shall be admitted in
evidence in all courts in Her Majesty's dominions, and in all pro-
ceedings, without further proof or production of the originals.
90. Rectification of registers by court. ( n ) The court may, on
the application of any person aggrieved by the omission without
sufficient cause of the name of any person from any register kept
under this Act, or by any entry made without sufficient cause in any
such register, make such order for making, expunging or varying
the entry as the court thinks fit ; or the court may refuse the applica-
tion ; and in either case may make such order with respect to the
costs of the proceedings as the court thinks fit.
(2) The court may in any proceeding under this section decide
any question that it may be necessary or expedient to decide for
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 241
the rectification of a register, and may direct an issue to be tried
for the decision of any question of fact, and may award damages
to the party aggrieved.
(3) Any order of the court rectifying a register shall direct
that due notice of the rectification be given to the comptroller.
91. Power for comptroller to correct clerical errors. The
comptroller may, on request in writing accompanied by the pre-
scribed fee,
(a.) Correct any clerical error in or in connection with an
application for a patent ; or
(b.) Correct any clerical error in the name, style, or address of
the registered proprietor of a patent.
93. falsification of entries in registers. If any person makes
or causes to be made a false entry in any register kept under this
Act, or a writing falsely purporting to be a copy of an entry in
any such register, or produces or tenders, or causes to be produced
or tendered in evidence any such writing, knowing the entry or
writing to be false, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
94:. Exercise of discretionary power by comptroller. Where
any discretionary power is by this Act given to the comptroller, he
shall not exercise that power adversely to the applicant for a
patent, or for amendment of a specification, without (if so required
within the prescribed time by the applicant) giving the applicant
an opportunity of being heard personally or by his agent.
95. Power of comptroller to take directions of law officers. The
comptroller may, in any case of doubt or difficulty arising in the
administration of any of the provisions of this Act, apply to either
of the law officers for directions in the matter.
96. Certificate of comptroller to be evidence. A certificate
purporting to be under the hand of the comptroller as to any entry,
matter, or thing which he is authorized by this Act, or any general
rules made thereunder, to make or do, shall be prima facu
evidence of the entry having been made, and of the contents
thereof, and of the matter or thing having been done or left
undone.
97. (1) Applications and notices by post. Any application,
notice, or other document authorized or required to be left, made or
given at the patent-office or to the comptroller, or to any other
person under this Act, may be sent by a prepaid letter through the
post ; and if so sent shall be deemed to have been left, made, or
I. 16
242 FOREIGN LAWS.
given respectively at the time when the letter containing the same
would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.
(2) In proving such service or sending, it shall be sufficient to
prove that the letter was properly addressed and put into the post.
98. Provision as to days for leaving documents at office.
Whenever the last day fixed by this Act, or by any rule for the
time being in force, for leaving any document or paying any fee at
the patent-office shall fall on Christmas Day, Good Friday, or on a
Saturday or Sunday, or any day observed as a holiday at the Bank
of England, or any day observed as a day of public fast or thanks-
giving, herein referred to as excluded days, it shall be lawful to
leave such document or to pay such fee on the day next following
such excluded day, or days if two or more of them occur con-
secutively.
99. Declaration by infant, lunatic, &c. If any person is, by
reason of infancy, lunacy, or other inability, incapable of making
any declaration or doing anything required or permitted by this
Act, or by any rules made under the authority of this Act, then
the guardian or committee (if any) of such incapable person, or if
there be none, any person appointed by any court or judge pos-
sessing jurisdiction in respect of the property of incapable persons,
upon the petition of any person on behalf of such incapable person,
or of any other person interested in the making such declaration or
doing such thing, may make such declaration or a declaration as
nearly corresponding thereto as circumstances permit, and do such
thing in the name and on behalf of such incapable person, and all
acts done by such substitute shall for the purposes of this Act be
as effectual as if done by the person for whom he is substituted.
100. Transmission of certified printed copies of specifications,
eCc. Copies of all specifications, drawings and amendments left at
the patent-office after the commencement of the Act, printed for
and sealed with the seal of the patent-office, shall be transmitted to
the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, and to the enrollments
office of the chancery division in Ireland, and to the rolls office
in the Isle of Man, within twenty-one days after the same shall
respectively have been accepted or allowed at the patent-office ; and
certified copies of or extracts from any such documents shall be
given to any person requiring the same on payment of the pre-
scribed fee ; and any such copy or extract shall be admitted in evi-
dence in all courts in Scotland and Ireland, and in the Isle of Man
without further proof or production of the originals.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 243
101. Power for board of trade to make general rules for regu-
lating business of patent-office. (1) The board of trade may, from
time to time, make such general rules and do such things as they
think expedient, subject to the provisions of this Act
(c) For making or requiring duplicates of specifications, amend-
ment, drawings, and other documents :
(d) For securing and regulating the publishing and selling of
copies, at such prices and in such manner as the board of trade
think fit, of specifications, drawings, amendments, and other docu-
ments.
(e) For securing and regulating the making, printing, publish-
ing, and selling of indexes to, and abridgments of, specifications and
other documents in the patent-office ; and providing for the inspec-
tion of indexes and abridgments and other documents :
(f) For regulating (with the approval of the treasury) the pres-
entation of copies of patent-office publications to patentees and to
public authorities, bodies and institutions at home and abroad :
(g) Generally for regulating the business of the patent-office,
and all things by this Act placed under the direction or control of
the comptroller, or of the board of trade.
(2) Any of the forms in the first schedule to this Act may be
altered or amended by rules made by the board as aforesaid.
(3) General rules may be made under this section at any time
after the passing of this Act, but not so as to take effect before the
commencement of this Act, and shall (subject as hereinafter men-
tioned) be of the same effect as if they were contained in this Act,
and shall be judicially noticed.
(4) Any rules made in pursuance of this section shall be laid
before both houses of Parliament, if Parliament be in session at the
time of making thereof, or, if not, then as soon as practicable after
the beginning of the next session of Parliament, and they shall also
be advertised twice in the official journal to be issued by the comp-
troller.
(5) If either house of Parliament, within the next forty days
after any rules have been so laid before such house, resolve that
such rules, or any of them, ought to be annulled, the same shall after
the date of such resolution be of no effect, without prejudice to the
validity of anything donQ,in the meantime under such rules or rule
or to the making of any new rules or rule.
102. Annual reports of comptroller. The comptroller shall
before the first day of June in every year, cause a report respecting
244 FOREIGN LAWS.
the execution by or under Lira of this Act to be laid before both
houses of Parliament, and therein shall include for the year to
which each report relates all general rules made in that year under
or for the purposes of this Act, and an account of all fees, salaries,
and allowances, and other money received and paid under this act.
INTERNATIONAL AND COLONIAL ARRANGEMENTS.
103. For protection of inventions, &c. (1) If Her Majesty is
pleased to make any arrangement with the government or govern-
ments of any foreign State or States for mutual protection of inven-
tions, designs, and trade-marks, or any of them, then any person
who has applied for protection for any invention, design or trade-
mark, in any such State, shall be entitled to a patent for his inven-
tion or to registration of his design or trade-mark (as the case may
be) under this Act, in priority to other applicants ; and such
patent or registration shall have the same date as the date of the
protection obtained in such foreign State.
Provided that his application is made in the case of a patent
within seven months and in the case of a design or trade-mark
within four months, from his applying for protection in the for-
eign State with which the arrangement is in force.
Provided that nothing in this section contained shall entitle
the patentee or proprietor of the design or trade-mark to recover
damages for infringements happening prior to the date of the
actual acceptance of his complete specification, or the actual regis-
tration of his design or trade-mark in this country, as the case
may be.
(2) The publication in the United Kingdom, or the Isle of Man
during the respective periods aforesaid of any description of the
invention, or the use therein, during such periods, of the invention
or the exhibition or use therein, during such periods, of the design,
or the publication therein during such periods of a description or
representation of the design or the use therein during such periods,
of the trade-mark, shall not invalidate the patent which may be
granted for the invention, or the registration of the design or trade-
mark.
(3) The application for the grant of a patent or the registration
of a design or the registration of a trade-mark under this section,
must be made in the same manner as an ordinary application under
this act. [Proviso as to trade-marks.]
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 245
(4) The provisions of this section shall apply only in the case
of those foreign States with respect to which Her Majesty shall
from time to time by order in council declare them to be applicable,
and so long only in the case of each State as the order in council
shall continue in force with respect to that State.
104. Provision for colonies and India. (1) Where it is made
to appear to Her Majesty that the legislature of any British posses-
sion has made satisfactory provision for the protection of inven-
tions designs and trade-marks patented or registered in this coun-
try, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty from time to time, by order
in council, to apply the provisions of the last preceding section,
with such variations or additions, if any, as to Her Majesty in
council may seem fit, to such British possession.
(2) An order in council under this Act shall, from a date to be
mentioned for the purpose in the order, take effect as if its pro-
visions had been contained in this act ; but it shall be lawful for
Her Majesty in Council to revoke any order in council made under
this Act.
OFFENSES.
105. Penalty on falsely representing articles to be patented.
(1) Any person who represents that any article sold by him is a
patented article, when no patent has been granted for the same,
or describes any design or trade-mark applied to any article sold by
him as registered which is not so, shall be liable for every offense
on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(2) A person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this enactment,
to represent that an article is patented or a design or a trade-mark
is registered, if he sells the article with the word "patent,"
" patented," " registered," or any word or words expressing or
implying that a patent or registration has been obtained for the
article stamped, engraved, or impressed on, or otherwise applied to,
the article.
10G. Penalty on unauthorized assumption of royal arms. Any
person who, without the authority of Her Majesty, or any of the
royal family, or of any government department, assumes or uses
in connection with any trade, business, calling, or profession, the
royal arms, or arms so nearly resembling the same as to be calcu-
lated to deceive, in such a manner as to be calculated to lead other
persons to believe that he is carrying on his trade, business, calling,
or profession by or under such authority as aforesaid, shall be
246 FOREIGN LAWS.
liable on summary conviction to a line not exceeding twenty
pounds.
SCOTLAND, IRELAKD, ETC.
107. Saving for courts in Scotland. In any action for infringe-
ment of a patent in Scotland the provisions of this Act, with respect
to calling in the aid of an assessor, shall apply, and the action shall
be tried without a jury, unless the court shall otherwise direct,
but otherwise nothing shall affect the jurisdiction and forms of
process of the courts in Scotland in such an action or in any action
or proceeding respecting a patent hitherto competent to those
courts.
For the purposes of this section " court of appeal " shall mean
any court to which such action is appealed.
108- Summary proceedings in Scotland. In Scotland any
offense under this Act declared to be punishable on summary con-
viction may be prosecuted in the sheriff court.
109. Proceedings for revocation of patent in Scotland* (1)
Proceedings in Scotland for revocation of a patent shall be in the
form of an action of reduction at the instance of the Lord Advocate,
or at the instance of a party having interest with his concurrence,
which concurrence may be given on just cause shown only.
(2) Service of all writs and summonses in that action shall be
made according to the forms and practice existing at the commence-
ment of this Act.
110. ^Reservation of remedies in Ireland. All parties shall,
notwithstanding anything in this Act, have in Ireland their reme-
dies under or in respect of a patent as if the same had been granted
to extend to Ireland only.
111. General saving for jurisdiction of courts. (1) The
provisions of this Act conferring a special jurisdiction on the court
as defined by this Act, shall not, except so far as the jurisdiction
extends, affect the jurisdiction of any court in Scotland or Ireland
in any proceedings relating to patents or to designs or trade-marks ;
and with reference to any such proceedings in Scotland, the term
"the court" shall mean any Lord Ordinary of the Court of Ses-
sion, and the term " Court of Appeal " shall mean either division
of the said court ; and with reference to any such proceedings in
Ireland, the terms " the court " and " The court of Appeal " respec-
tively mean the High Court of Justice in Ireland and Her
Majesty's Court of Appeal in Ireland.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 247
(2) If any rectification of a register under this Act is required
in pursuance of any proceeding in a court in Scotland or Ireland,
a copy of the order, decree, or other authority for the rectification,
shall be served on the comptroller, and he shall rectify the register
accordingly.
112. Isle of Man. This Act shall extend to the Isle of Man,
and
(1) Nothing in this Act shall affect the jurisdiction of the
courts in the Isle of Man, in proceedings for infringement or in
any action or proceeding respecting a patent design or trade-mark
competent to those courts ;
[(2) (3) The punishment for offenses under this Act committed
in the Isle of Man, prescribed.]
REPEAT, ; TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS ; SAVINGS.
113. Repeal, and saving for past operation of repealed enact-
ments, &c. The enactments described in the third schedule to
this act are hereby repealed. But this repeal of enactments shall
not
(a) Affect the past operation of any of those enactments, or any
patent, &c., granted or acquired, or application pending, or appoint-
ment made, or compensation granted, or order or direction made or
given, or right, privilege, obligation, or liability acquired, accrued,
or incurred, or anything duly done or suffered under or by any of
those enactments before or at the commencement of this Act ; or
(b) Interfere with the institution or prosecution of any action
or proceeding, civil or criminal, in respect thereof, and any such
proceeding may be carried on as if this Act had not been passed ; or
(c) Take away or abridge any protection or benefit in relation
to any such action or proceeding.
114. Former registers to be deemed continued. (1) The registers
of patents and of proprietors kept under any enactment repealed by
this Act shall respectively be deemed parts of the same book as the
register of patents kept under this Act. (2) [The like as to
designs, &c.]
115. Saving for existing rules. All general rules made by the
Lord Chancellor or by any other authority under any enactment
repealed by this Act, and in force at the commencement of this
Act, may at any time after the passing of this Act be repealed,
altered or amended by the board of trade, as if they had been
made by the board under this Act, but so that no such repeat,
248 FOREIGN LAWS.
alteration or amendment shall take effect before the commencement
of this Act ; and subject as aforesaid, such general rules shall, so
far as they are consistent with and are not superseded by this Act,
continue in force as if they had been made by the board of trade
under this Act.
116. Saving for prerogative. Nothing in this Act shall take
away, abridge, or prejudicially affect the prerogative of the Crown
in relation to the granting of any letters patent or to the withhold-
ing of a grant thereof.
GENERAL DEFINITIONS.
117. (1) In and for the purposes of this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires,
" Person n includes a body corporate ;
"The court" means (subject to the provisions for Scotland,
Ireland, and the Isle of Man) Her Majesty's High Court of Justice
in England;
"Law officer" means Her Majesty's attorney-general or soli-
citor-General for England ;
" The Treasury " means the commissioner of Her Majesty's
treasury.
" Comptroller " means the comptroller general of patents,
designs, and trade-marks ;
" Prescribed " means prescribed by any of the Schedules to
this Act, or by general rules under or within the meaning of
this Act ;
"British possession" means any territory or place situate
within Her Majesty's dominions, and not being or forming part of
the United Kingdom, or of the Channel Islands, or of the Isle of
Man ; and all territories and places under one legislature, as herein-
after defined, are deemed to be one British possession for the pur-
poses of this Act ;
" Legislature " includes any person or persons who exercise
legislative authority in the British possession ; and where there
are local legislatures as well as a central legislature, means the
central legislature only.
In the application of this Act to Ireland, " summary conviction "
means a conviction under the summary Jurisdiction Acts, &c.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 249
THE FIRST SCHEDULE.
FORMS OP APPLICATION, &c.
[1 Stamp.] FORM A.
Form of Application for Patent.
I [here insert name, address, and calling of inventor], do solemnly and sincerely
declare that I am in possession of an invention for [here insert title of invention] ; that
I am the true and first inventor thereof ; and that the same is not in use by any other
person or persons to the best of my knowledge and belief ; and I humbly pray that a
patent may be granted to me for the said invention.
And I make the above solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to
be true, and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act, 1835.
[Signature of inventor.]
Declared at , in the County of , this day of , 18 .
Before me,
[Signature and title of the officer before whom
the Declaration is made.]
NOTE. Wliere the above declaration is made out of the United Kingdom, the words
" and by virtue of the Statutory Declarations Act, 1835," must be omitted; and the
declaration must be made before a British consular officer, or where it is not reasonably
practicable to make it before such officer, then before a public officer duly authorized in
that behalf.
[NOTE. The following Form A 1 was added by the rules.]
[1 Stamp.] FORM A 1.
Application for Patent for Inventions communicated from abroad.
I [here insert name, full address, and calling of applicant], do solemnly and sin-
cerely declare that I am in possession of an invention for [here insert title of inven-
tion], which invention has been communicated to me from abroad by [here insert
name, address, and calling of communicant] ; that I claim to be the true and first
inventor thereof ; and that the same is not in use within this realm by any other per-
son or persons to the best of my knowledge and belief ; and I humbly pray that a
patent may be granted to me for the said invention.
And I make the above solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to
be true, and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act, 1835.
[Signature of applicant.]
Declared at , in the County of , this day of , 18
Before me,
[Signature and title cf the officer before whom
the declaration is made.]
NOTE. Where the above declaration is made out of the United Kingdom, the words,
" and by virtue of the Statutory Declarations Act, 1835," must be omitted, and the
declaration must be made before a British consular officer, or, where it is not reasonably
practicable to make it before such officer, then, before a public officer duly authorized in
that behalf.
250 FOREIGN LAWS.
FORM B.
form of Provisional Specification,
[Here insert title as in declaration.]
I [here insert name, address, and calling of inventor as in declaration], do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for [here insert title as in declaration] to be a3
follows : [here insert short description of invention.']
[Signature of inventor.]
Dated this day of , 18 .
NOTE. A r o stamp is required on this document.
[3 Stamp.] FORM C.
form of Complete Specification.
[Here insert title as in declaration,]
1 [here insert name, address, and calling of inventor as in declaration], do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for [here insert title as in declaration], and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement: [here insert full description of invention.']
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
is:
1. [Here state distinctly the features of novelty claimed.]
2.
3. &c.
[Signature of inventor.]
Dated this day of , 18 .
FORM D.
form of Patent.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith : To all to whom these presents shall come,
greeting :
Whereas , hath, by his solemn declaration, represented unto us that he is in
possession of an invention for ; that he is the true and first inventor thereof ;
and that the same is not in use by any other person, to the best of his knowledge and
belief :
And whereas the said inventor hath humbly prayed that we would be graciously
pleased to grant unto him (herein-after together with his executors, administrators,
and assigns, or any of them, referred to as the said patentee), our royal letters pat-
ent for the sole use and advantage of his said invention :
And whereas the said inventor hath, by and in his complete specification, particu-
larly described the nature of his invention :
And whereas we being willing to encourage all inventions which may be for the
public good, are graciously pleased to condescend to his request :
Know ye, therefore, that we, of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere
motion, do by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant unto the
said patentee our especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that the
said patentee by himself, hia agents, or licensees, and no others, may at all times
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 251
hereafter during the term of years herein mentioned, make, use, exercise, and vend
the said invention within our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Isle
of Man, in such manner as to him or them may seem meet, and that the said patentee
shall have and enjoy the whole profit and advantage from time to time accruing by
reason of the said invention, during the term of fourteen years from the date here-
under written of these presents : And to the end that the said patentee may have and
enjoy the sole use and exercise, and the full benefit of the said invention, we do by
these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, strictly command all our subjects
whatsoever within our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Isle of
Han, that they do not at any time during the continuance of the said term of fourteen
years, either directly or indirectly make use of or put in practice the said invention,
or any part of the same, nor in any wise imitate the same, nor make or cause to be
made any addition thereto or subtraction therefrom, whereby to pretend themselves
the inventors thereof, without the consent license or agreement of the said patentee
in writing under his hand and seal, on pain of incurring such penalties as may be
justly inflicted on such offenders for their contempt of this our Royal command, and
of being answerable to the patentee according to law, for his damages thereby occa-
sioned : Provided that these our letters patent are on this condition, that, if at any
time during the said term it be made to appear to us, our heirs or successors, or any
six or more of our Privy Council, that this our grant is contrary to law, or prejudicial
or inconvenient to our subjects in general, or that the said invention is not a new
invention as to the public use and exercise thereof within our United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, and Isle of Man, or that the said patentee is not the first
and true inventor thereof within this realm as aforesaid, these our tetters patent,
shall forthwith determine, and be void to all intents and purposes, notwithstanding
anything hereinbefore contained : Provided also, that if the said patentee shall not
pay all fees bj law required to be paid in respect of the grant of these letters patent,
or in respect of any matter relating thereto atf the time or times, and in manner for
the time being by law provided ; and also, if the said patentee shall not supply or
cause to be supplied, for our service, all such articles of the said invention as may be
required by the officers or commissioners administering any department of our service
in such mariner, at such times, and at and upon such reasonable prices and terms as
shall be settled in manner for the time being by law provided ; then, and in any of
the said cases, these our letters patent, and all privileges and advantages whatever
hereby granted, shall determine and become void, notwithstanding anything herein-
before contained : Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall prevent the
granting of licenses in such manner and for such considerations as they may by law
be granted : And lastly, we do by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors,
grant unto the said patentee that these our letters patent, shall be construed in the
most beneficial sense for the advantage of the said patentee. In witness whereof we
have caused these our letters to be made patent this one thousand eight
hundred and , and to be sealed as of the one thousand eight hundred
and [Seal of patent-office.]
252 FOREIGN LAWS.
THE SECOND SCHEDULE.
Fees on Instruments for Obtaining Patents and Renewal.
(a) Up to sealing.
. <1. s. d.
On application for provisional protection 1
On filing complete specification 3
400
On filing complete specification with first application 4
(6) Further before end of four years from date of patent.
On certificate of renewal 60
(c) Further before end of seven years, or in the case of patents granted after the com-
mencement of this Act, before the end of eight years from date of patent.
s. d.
On certificate of renewal 100
Or in lieu of the fees of 50 and 100 the following annual fees :
Before the expiration of the fourth year from the date of the patent. 10
" " fifth " " 10
" " sixth " " 10
" " seventh " " 10
" " eighth " " 15
" " ninth " " 15
" " tenth " " 20
u " eleventh " " 20
M " twelfth " " 20
* " thirteenth " " 20
THE THIRD SCHEDULE.
Enactments repealed [omitting trade-marks laws}.
21 James I. c. 3.
[1623.]
5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 62.
[1835.]
In part.
5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 83.
[1335.]
2 & 3 Viet. c. 67.
The Statute of Monopolies.
In p,1rt ; namely,
Sections ten, eleven, and twelve.
The Statutory Declarations Act, 1835.
In part ; namely,
Section eleven.
An Act to amend the law touching letters-patent for inven-
tions.
An Act to amend an Act of the fifth and sixth years of the
1-1030 , reign of King William the Fourth, intituled "An Act to
amend the law touching letters-patent for inventions."
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
253
6 & 6 Viet. c. 100.
[1842.]
6 & 7 Viet. c. 66.
[1843.]
7 & 8 Viet. c. 69.
[1844.]
In part.
13 & 14 Viet. c. 104.
[1850.]
16 & 16 Viet. c. 83.
[1852.]
16 & 17 Viet. c. 5.
[1853.]
16&17 Viet. c. 115.
[1863.]
21 & 22 Viet. c. 70.
[1858.]
22 Viet. c. 13.
[1859.]
24 & 25 Viet. c. 73.
[1861.]
28 & 29 Viet. c. 3.
[1865.]
83 & 84 Viet. c. 27.
[1870.]
33: & 34 Viet. c. 97.
[1870.]
An Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the
copyright of designs for ornamenting articles of manufac-
ture.
An Act to amend the laws relating to the copyright of de-
An Act for amending an Act passed in the fourth year of
the reign of His late Majesty, intituled : " An Act for the
better administration of justice in His Majesty's Privy
Council, and to extend its jurisdiction and powers."
In part ; namely,
Sections two to five, both included.
NOTE. Sections six and seven of this Act are repealed by
the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act, 1874.
An Act to extend and amend the Acts relating to the copy-
right of designs.
The Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
An Act to substitute stamp duties for fees on passing let-
ters-patent for inventions, and to provide for the pur-
chase for the public use of certain indexes of specifica
tious.
An Act to amend certain provisions of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852, in respect of the transmission of
certified copies of letters patent and specifications to cer-
tain offices in Edinburgh and Dublin, and otherwise to
amend the said Act.
An Act to amend the Act of the fifth and sixth years of Her
present Majesty, to consolidate and amend the laws
relating to the copyright of designs for ornamenting
articles of manufacture.
An Act to amend the law concerning patents for inventions
with respect to inventions for improvements in instru-
ments and munitions of war.
An Act to amend the law relating to the copyright of de-
signs.
The Industrial Exhibitions Act, 1865.
The Protection of Inventions Act, 1 870.
The Stamp Act, 1870,
In part ; namely,
Section sixty-five, and in the schedule the words and
figures :
" Certificate of the registration of a design 5
And see section 65."
254 FOREIGN LAWS.
88 & 39 Viet. c. 93. j The Copyright of Designs Act, 1875.
[1876.]
43 & 44 Viet. c. 10.
[1880.J
The Great Seal Act, 1880.
In part ; namely,
Section five.
From 123 Pub. Gen. Stat. 370.
An Act to amend the Patents, Designs, and Trade-Marks
Act, 1883. August 14, 1885, Stat. 48 and 49 Viet. c. 63.*
Be it enacted, &c.
1. This Act shall be construed as one with the Patents, Designs,
and Trade-Marks Act, 1883, (in this Act referred to as the principal
Act.)
This Act may be cited as the "Patents, Designs, and Trade-
Marks (Amendment) Act, 1885," and this Act and the principal Act
may be cited together as the " Patents, Designs and Trade-Marks
Acts, 1883 and 1885."
2. Whereas, subsection 2 of section 5 of the principal Act requires
a declaration to be made by an applicant for a patent to the effect
in that subsection mentioned, and doubts have arisen as to the nature
of that declaration, and it is expedient to remove such doubts : Be
it therefore enacted that the declaration mentioned in subsection 2
of section 5 of the principal Act may be either a statutory declara-
tion under the Statutory Declarations Act, 1835, or not, as may be
from time to time prescribed.
3. Whereas, under the principal Act a complete specification ig
required (by section 8) to be left within nine months, and (by sec-
tion 9) to be accepted within twelve months from the date of appli-
* Territorial application of the Acts of Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Chan-
Parliament of the United Kingdom. The nel Islands). Most of the colonies have
Act of 1883 is, by its terms, extended and patent-laws of their own, which are given
made applicable to the Isle of Man ; and in this work, under their several names,
the Act of 1885, of course, has the same Arrangements for extending the Act to
operation. It is understood that the Act the Channel Islands are said to have been
of 1883 was not applicable to the Channel under consideration during 1884, but no
Islands nor to the " British possessions," final agreement was reached. 2nd Rep.
(meaning places within Her Majesty's of Compt. Gen. of Pat., in Off. J. Pat.
dominions, but not within the United Off. No. 160, July, 1885.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 255
cation, and a patent is required by section 12 to be sealed within
fifteen months from the date of application, and it is expedient to
empower the comptroller to extend in certain cases the said times :
Be it therefore enacted as follows :
A complete specification may be left and accepted within such
extended times, not exceeding one month and three months, respec-
tively, after the said nine and twelve months, respectively, as the
comptroller may on payment of the prescribed fee allow, and
where such extension of time has been allowed a further extension
of four months after the said fifteen months shall be allowed
for the sealing of the patent ; and the principal Act shall have
effect as if any time so allowed were added to the said periods
specified in the principal Act.
4r. Where an application for a patent has been abandoned, or
become void, the specification or specifications and drawings (if any)
accompanying or left in connection with such application shall not
at any time be open to public inspection or be published by the
comptroller.
5. Whereas, doubts have arisen whether under the principal Act
a patent may lawfully be granted to several persons jointly, some
or one of whom only are or is the true and first inventors or inven-
tor : Be it therefore enacted and declared that it has been and is
lawful \inder the principal Act to grant such a patent.
6t In subsection 1 of section 103 of the principal Act the words
"date of the application" shall be substituted for the words " date
of the protection obtained."
From 125 Pub. Gen. Stat. 334.
256 FOREIGN LAWS.
GREECE.
According to a report by Mr. William A. C. Barrington, of the
British Legation, published October 7, 1873, 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 371,
there was not, at the time of his writing, any special law in Greece
affecting patents for inventions. He states that " the practice of
the country places all inventors on the same footing as a person
seeking a monopoly ; and in either case a special Act is required to
secure the individual in the possession of the rights which he claims.
A bill for the purpose may be introduced in the chamber by any
deputy, and is treated like any other bill ; and, if it passes, it
defines, according to the circumstances of the case, the limits both
as to time and place within which exclusive privileges are accorded
to the party on whose behalf the motion is made."
GUADELOUPE.
See FBANCE.
GUATEMALA. 2*7
GUATEMALA.
Decree No. US of (May 21), 1880.
The Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Guatemala having
considered the necessity of developing the interests of the country
in an efficient manner and in harmony with the liberal principles
laid down in the twentieth section of the constitution, which, in
one of its clauses, secures the full rights to an author or inventor,
and at the same time to regulate and define in a clear and precise
manner the power, functions and extent of authority which the
said section concedes to the executive, do hereby decree, as fol-
lows :
SEC. 1. Any discovery or invention in whatsoever branch of
industry gives its originator an exclusive right to avail himself of
his invention or improvement for the term and under the conditions
established by this law.
SEC. 2. Every citizen of Guatemala, or foreigner domiciliated in
Guatemala, who invents or improves some machine, instrument or
mechanical apparatus, manufacture of whatsoever description, or
process of useful application in the arts and sciences, may obtain
from the Executive power a " patent for invention," or a " patent
for improvement," which secures to him, for a term of from five to
fifteen years, the right to his invention or improvement.
SEC. 3. To obtain a patent the interested party shall apply in
his own name, or through his representative at the ministry of the
interior, setting forth with precision the character of his invention,
and soliciting the privilege.
SEC. 4. If the patent is granted, the favored party shall be
under the obligation to present within a term of forty days an
exact design of the respective machine, mechanical apparatus, or a
detailed description of the new process, to which should be added
if practicable, a specimen of the manufacture or product, which, if
it can be preserved, shall be deposited in the bureau of the legisla-
tive chamber, under the responsibility of the officer who has charge
of it, for the purpose of serving as evidence incase any controversy
should arise respecting the privilege.
SEC. 5. Letters patent can be obtained for an invention that has
been patented abroad, when it does not already appear to be a pub-
lic property, and if there subsists an agreement between the gov-
L 17
258 FOREIGN LAWS.
eminent of the nation from which it proceeds, and the government
of Guatemala.
Patents of this character expire at the date indicated in the
foreign letters patent. Should however, the term extend beyond
fifteen years, the concession granted shall not, exceed this period of
time.
SEC. 6. The privilege granted shall be recorded in a special book
kept in the bureau of the secretary.
SKC. 7. In the letters patent granted shall be inserted the decis-
ion relating to the concession, *ith references to the present law,
the nature or character of the invention or improvement, the term
of the patent, and the declaration of the right to the privilege. The
letters patent shall be stamped with the seal of the ministry of the
interior.
SEC. 8. The executive, in granting a patent, shall not declare
either that the discovery or invention is the property of the person
who appears as the inventor or author ; or that it is of any utility,
or founded on fact. An interested party is at liberty to prove
before the law, the contrary.
SEC. 9. All applications for patents shall be published four
times in the course of one month in the official journal ; and the
patents granted shall be published at the least twice in the same
periodical.
SEC. 10. Besides the case referred to in section 4, patents
become void under the following circumstances, viz.:
1. When patents have been issued to the prejudice of the
rights of a third party (tercero), in accordance with the decision of
a competent court of justice.
2. When the patentee has allowed one year to elapse without
having put into practice the industry or improvement for which the
concession was made.
3. When the patentee, after he has brought the industry or
improvement into practice, abandons it for more than a year.
4. When the products manufactured are inferior to the speci-
mens presented, in consequence of adulteration or admixture of
baser materials.
SEC. 11. Patents shall not be granted in the following cases, viz.:
1. When the invention or improvement is contrary to prior
rights, to public health and safety, and to good customs.
2. When the conditions established by this law have not been
properly complied with.
GUATEMALA. 259
SEC. 12. The privilege granted applies only to the modus oper-
andi or means of execution and of procedure, and not to products
which can be manufactured by another method, and therefore may
be freely elaborated and brought upon the market.
SEC. 13. Any person has right to improve the invention of
another, but not to make use of the principal invention, without
the permission of the inventor ; the inventor in his turn can as lit-
tle avail himself of the improvements made by another person
without his consent.
SEC. 14. For each patent granted a duty or tax varying from
five to fifty pesos shall be paid annually in advance by the paten-
tee to the national treasury during the term for which the privilege
Las been granted.
SEC. 15. When the term for a patent expires, the descriptions
of the author or inventor shall be published, and copies of the
drawings or models may be furnished to persons who apply for
them, at their own cost. From that time forward the respective
process or method shall be considered as public property.
SEC. 16. Violation of the privileges of the patentee through
falsification, imitation, etc., of the articles patented, shall be pun-
ished in conformity with the directions contained in the Penal
Code.
SEC. 17. The executive has right to make concessions in favor
of undertakings (empresas) of a useful public character, or of such
undertakings as have for object the introduction of new industries
or improvements in those which are already practiced.
SEC. 18. These concessions can be of the following description :
Exemption from, or reduction in, payment of duty for the intro-
duction of machinery or material ; free use of buildings or public
land during the term of the concession ; exemption from the mili-
tary service for operatives engaged in industries to which the con-
cession refers ; subventions and bounties in money, when the cir-
cumstances of the treasury may permit.
In case of immunity from or reduction in the duties, the direct-
ors or managers of the favored undertaking, in order to obtain the
despatch of the commodities, shall present an application to the
respective custom-house containing the following points of facts :
1. That the undertaking belongs to the distinct class for which
concessions have been made.
2. That the articles for the despatch of which application is
made, do not exceed in quantity the requirements or conditions of
the undertaking itself.
260 FOREIGN LAWS.
3. To state the name of the vessel that carries the commodities,
and to indicate the marks and number of the packages.
4. To present a list of the merchandise laid up in their maga-
zines, stating also what has been previously introduced and depos-
ited.
[The residue of section 18 and the whole of section 19 prescribe
the methods and proceedings by which such concessions as are
mentioned in sections 17 and 18 may be obtained ; but do not
affect the law of patents.]
SEC. 20. Special concessions cannot be granted for the intro-
duction of machines for domestic use (itso dottiest ico), and other
common commercial articles.
SEC. 21. The concession granted in favor of a certain under-
taking shall be annulled if it becomes known that commerce is
carried on with the raw material introduced.
SEC. 22. In the case provided against in the preceding section
the interested party, besides the loss of the concession, shall pay
the duty corresponding to all the commodities imported and 40
per cent, on the total amount.
SEC. 23. Concessions become also void in the following cases :
1. When the term has expired within which the directors of
the undertaking had bound themselves to establish the proposed
industry or improvement and to put it in operation.
2. When, after having been established, an undertaking is aban-
doned for more than a year.
SEC. 24. Sections 436 and 437 of the chapter 2, title X, of the
Fiscal Code, book 1 are abolished.
This law shall be transmitted to the executive for publication
and execution.
Done in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly at Guatemala,
May 21, 1886.
Furnished for this work from the collection of Patent Laws, of
Mr. W. M fiichards.
HAWAIIAN KINGDOM. 201
HAWAIIAN KINGDOM.
Civil Code.*
SECTION 255. The minister of the interior may, with the approval
of the King, issue a patent to the inventor or improver of any
machine, manufacture, or other work of art calculated to promote
the interests of science, agriculture, or manufactures, and may
therein grant to such inventor or improver the exclusive use and
benefit of his invention or improvement for any term of years, not
exceeding ten, that may be specified in such patent.
SEC. 256. Every such inventor or improver shall, before receiv-
ing a patent, deliver to the minister of tlu interior a full and clear
description in writing of his invention or improvement, together
with the mode of using or applying the same to the purpose for
which it is intended, and the manner and process of making, con-
structing, or compounding the same, and in case of any machine
he shall also furnish, in addition to the written description, accurate
drawings and a complete model thereof.
Act to regulate the Issuing of Patents. August 29, 1884.
Be it enacted by the King and the Legislative Assembly of the
Hawaiian Islands, in the Legislature of the Kingdom assembled :
SECTION 1. All patents shall be issued in the name of his Majesty
the King, under the seal of the interior department, and shall be
signed by the minister of the interior and countersigned by the
commissioner of patents, and they shall be recorded, together with
the specifications, in the office of the interior department in books
kept for that purpose.
SEC. 2. Every patent shall contain a short title or description of
the invention or discovery, correctly indicating its nature and
design, and a grant to the patentee, his heirs or assigns for the
* The exhibit of the Hawaiian Patent the amendatory legislation ; the effect of
Laws given in Carpmacls" Patent Laws which repeal obviously is, to restore sec-
of the World, presents only sections 255, tions 255 and 256 in their original form,
256, and 25C, of the Civil Code, as so that these sections, with the act of
amended (or added), by subsequent legis- 1884, constituted, after the passage of the
lation. But section 9 of the act of 1884, latter act, the patent law of the king-
given in the text, as will be seen, repeals dom.
262 PATENT LAWS.
term of ten years, of the exclusive right to make, use, and vend the
invention or discovery throughout tne Hawaiian Islands, referring
to the specification for particulars thereof. A copy of the speci-
fications and drawings shall be annexed to the patent and be a part
thereof.
SEC. 3. Any person who has invented or discovered any new
and useful art, machine, manufacture, process, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof not known or
used by others in this country, and not patanted (or described in
any printed publication) in this or any foreign country before his
invention or discovery thereof, may, upon payment of the fees
required by law and other due proceedings had, obtain a patent
therefor : Provided, however, That any person who has invented or
discovered any new and useful art, machine, manufacture, process,
or composition of matter, or ,any new and useful improvement
thereof, and has received a patent or patents therefor from any
foreign government, may also obtain a patent therefor in this
country as provided above, unless the thing patented has been
introduced into public use in the Hawaiian Islands for more than
one year prior to the application for a patent. But every patent
granted for an invention which has been previously patented in
a foreign country shall be so limited that it shall not continue
longer than the time of the expiration of such foreign patent, or if
there are several foreign patents it shall not continue longer than
the time of the expiration of the one with the shortest unexpired
terra, and in no case shall it be in force more than ten years.
SEC. 4. Before any inventor or discoverer shall receive a patent
for his invention or discovery he shall apply therefor in writing to
the minister of the interior, and shall file in the office of the interior
department a written description of the same and of the manner
and process of making, compounding, and using it, in clear, concise,
and exact terms, and in case of a machine he shall explain the
principle thereof and of the manner in which he has applied that
principle so as to distinguish it from other inventions, and he shall
particularly point out and distinctly claim the part, improvement,
or combination which he claims as his invention or discovery.
When the nature of the case admits of-drawings, the applicant shall
furnish them, as set forth in section 2. When the invention or dis-
covery is of composition of matter, the applicant shall furnish a
specimen of ingredients and of the composition, sufficient in quan-
tity for the purpose of experiment. In all cases which admit of
HAWAIIAN KINGDOM. 263
representation by model the applicant shall, if required, furnisn a
model of convenient size to exhibit advantageously the several parts
of his invention.
SEC. 5. The applicant shall make oath that he believes himself
to be the original and first inventor or discoverer of the art,
machine, manufacture, composition, or improvement for which he
solicits a patent, and that he does not know or believe that the same
was ever before known or used, and shall state of what country he
is a citizen.
SEC. 6. On filing of any such application and the payment of the
fees required by law, the commissioner of patents shall examine
the alleged new invention or discovery, and if upon such exami-
nation it shall appear that the claimant is justly entitled to a patent
under the law, and that the same is sufficiently useful and import-
ant, he shall report accordingly to the minister of the interior, who
shall cause a patent to be issued therefor.
SEC. 7. Any person who makes any new invention or discovery
and desires further time to mature the same, may on payment of
the fee required by law file in the interior department a caveat
setting forth the design thereof and its distinguishing character-
istics, and praying protection of his right until he shall have
matured the invention. Such caveat shall be preserved in secrecy
and shall be operative for the term of one year from the filing
thereof.
SEC. 8. The commissioner of patents shall be appointed by the
minister of the interior, and shall examine and report on all
applications for patents, and shall receive for such services a fee of
twenty dollars for each application examined and reported by him,
which fee shall be paid by the applicant in advance. In addition to
this fee the following fees shall be charged all applicants for patents ;
upon filing each original application for a patent, five dollars ; and
upon issuing a patent, five dollars ; and five dollars shall be
charged for the filing of a caveat.
SEC. 9. This Act shall take effect and become a law from and
after its publication, and " An Act to amend sections 255 and 250
of the Civil Code, and add a new section to the Civil Code to be
numbered Section 25G A," approved the 22d day of June, A. I).
1868, is hereby repealed.
Approved this 29th day of August, A. D. 1884.
KALAKAUA REX.
From 32 Pat. Off. Gaz. 771.
264 PATENT LAWS.
HAYTI.
According to a report of Mr. St. John, of the British Legation,
published October 7, 1873, in 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 373, the Republic of
Hayti had not, at the time of his writing, any law or practice in
regard to granting patents for inventions.
HERZEGOYINA.
See AUSTRIA-IIUNGABY.
HOLLAND.
See NETHERLANDS.
HONGKONG. 265
HONGKONG.
Ordinance No. 14 of 1862.
Title. An ordinance for granting patents for inventions within
this colony.
Preamble. Whereas patents for inventions granted in England
are not usually extended to the colonies, and it is expedient that
power should be vested in his Excellency the Governor, with the
advice of the Executive Council to grant letters patent for the
exclusive use of inventions within this colony, for which letters
.patent have already been granted in England. Be it therefore
enacted by his Excellency the Governor of Hongkong, with the
advice of the Legislative Codicil thereof, as follows :
I. Authority to owners of inventions to petition for letters
patent. It shall be lawful for the inventor, or for the owner by
assignment or otherwise, from any inventor of any invention or of
the exclusive right thereto within this colony, to petition His
Excellency the Governor for letters patent for any invention for
which letters patent have already been granted in England ; and
such petition may be in the form set forth in schedule A, hereto.
Every such petition shall be accompanied by a specification of the
said invention, identical as far as practicable with the specification
filed on the petition for letters patent for the said invention in
England, and by a declaration which may be in the form set forth
in schedule 13, or in such other form not being less specific as to the
governor shall appear proper.
II. Petition, specification and declaration to be filed in office
of colonial secretary, and to be advertised. Such petition, specifi-
cation and declaration shall be filed in the office of the colonial
secretary, and notice thereof, and of any intention to apply for
such letters patent, and of the time of the sitting of the Executive
Council before which the matter of the petition will come for decis-
ion, together with such other particulars as the governor shall
require, shall be inserted twice in the Hongkong Government
Gazette, and shall be otherwise advertised as the governor shall
direct.
III. Governor in council to grant letters patent. His Excel*
iency the Governor, v;ith the advice of the said Executive Council,
266 FOREIGN LAWS.
shall, at the sitting to be so appointed for deciding on such petition
for letters patent as aforesaid, or at any adjournment thereof,
determine on such application for letters patent, and grant or refuse
the prayer of the said petition as shall appear expedient, and for
such time or times not exceeding the then duration of the letters
patent for the said invention, or for any less period, and subject to
such conditions in all respects as to His Excellency the Governor,
with the advice of the said Executive Council shall seem fit. The
said letters patent may be in such form as is prescribed by the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852, of the Imperial Parliament, or
as near thereto as circumstances will permit.
IV. Effect of such grant. Letters patent to be granted under
this ordinance shall confer all the rights and privileges, and shall
subject the grantees thereof to all the provisions affecting letters
patent in England, as fully as if the same had been granted with an
extension thereof to this colony by Her Majesty, under the provis-
ions of the statutes now in force in England, or as near thereto as
the circumstances of this colony will admit of.
V. When and how letters patent may be granted for an extended
period. In case Her Majesty shall, by the advice of the judicial
committee of Her Majesty's Privy Council, extend the privileges
of any letters patent in England for any invention for any period,
it shall be lawful for His Excellency the Governor, with the advice
of the Executive Council, to extend in like manner such letters
patent, if already granted for this colony, or otherwise to grant
original letters patent for a like extended period for the same
invention.
SCHEDULE A.
FORM OF PETITION.
The humble petition of A. B. [or, as the case may be, of C. D., as agent for A. R],
That your petitioner [or, a* the case may be, that A. B., of whom your petitioner is
the agent, assignee, executor or administrator], has obtained Iler Majesty's letters pat-
ent, dated the day of , 18 , for [slate the title of tJie invention as
granted], and that such letters patent are to continue in force for years from
the day of , 18 .
That your petitioner believes that the said invention is not now, and has not
hitherto been publicly used in this colony.
That the following is the description of the said invention [here state the particu-
HONGKONG. 267
ars shortly in accordance with the specification on which the letters patent in England
were granted.]
Your petioner therefore prays for leave to file a specification of the said invention
pursuant to the provisions of Ordinance No. 14 of 1862.
And your petitioner will ever pray, &c.
' SCHEDULE B.
I [here insert name, condition, and place of residence] do solemnly and sincerely
declare that I am [or if made by an agent, that A. B., of is] in possession abso-
lutely [or if made in respsct of a locally confined interest, then within the colony of
Hongkong, or according to fact] of an invention for [state the nature of the invention
in terms of the English patent], and which invention I believe will, in all probability,
be of great public utility within Hongkong ; and that the same is not publicly used
within the said colony ; and that to the best of my knowledge and belief, the instru-
ment in writing under my hand hereunto annexed, particularly describes and ascer-
tains the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed.
Dated the day of , 18 .
(Signed)
From Carpm. fat. L. of World, p. 264.
HUNGARY.
See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
268 FOREIGN LAWS
INDIA.
Act No. 15 of (May 17,) 1850.
It is enacted, &c.
I. Inventor may petition for leave to file specification, form,
&c. y of petition. The inventor of any new manufacture may
petition the Governor General of India in council, for leave to file a
specification thereof. Every such petition shall be in writing in the
form or to the effect mentioned in the schedule hereunto annexed,
and shall be signed by the petitioner or (in case the petitioner shall
be absent from India), by an authorized agent, and shall state the
name, addition, and place of residence of the petitioner, and the
nature of the invention.
la. For the purposes of this act, a new manufacture shall be
deemed to include.any new and original pattern or design, or appli-
cation of such pattern or design to any substance or article of
manufacture.
.[NOTE.* This clause was introduced by Act No. 13 of 1872.]
II. Order to file specification. Upon such petition the Governor
General of India in council may make an order authorizing the
petitioner to file a specification of the invention.
III. Power to refer petition for inquiry and report. Before
making such order, the Governor General of India in council, may
refer the petition to any person or persons for inquiry and report,
and such person or persons shall be entitled to a reasonable fee for
such inquiry and report, to be paid by the petitioner, the amount
of such fee, in case of dispute, to be settled by a judge of one of
Her Majesty's courts of judicature in a summary manner.
IV: Petitioner entitled to exclusioe privilege for fourteen
years from filing specification. Extension of term. If, within
the space of six calendar months from the date of such order the
petitioner cause a specification of his invention to be filed in manner
hereinafter mentioned, the petitioner, his executors, administrators,
or assigns, shall be entitled to the sole and exclusive privilege of
making, selling, and using the said invention in India, and of
authorizing others so to do, for the term of fourteen years from the
time of filing such specification, and for such further term (if any)
* The notes thus printed are from Carpmaels' edition.
INDIA. 269
not exceeding fourteen years from the expiration of the first four-
teen years, as the Governor General of India in Council may think
fit to direct, upon petition to be presented by such inventor, at any
period not more than one year, and not less than six calendar
months, before the expiration of the exclusive privilege hereby
granted.
4a. Provided that in the case of patterns and designs, or the
application thereof to any substances or articles of manufacture,
such privilege shall be granted for the term of three years and no
more.
[NOTE. This clause was introduced by Act No. 13 of 1872.]
V. Order to file specification may be conditional. An order
authorizing the filing of a specification, or for extending the term
of such exclusive privilege as aforesaid, may be made subject to
any such conditions and restrictions as the Governor General of
India in council may think expedient.
VI. Specification to be in writing and to describe the inten-
tion. Every specification of an invention filed under this Act shall
be in writing, and shall be signed by the petitioner, and shall par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed.
VII. Petition and specification to be left with secretary. To
be accompanied by declaration. Date of delivery to be indorsed.
Every petition for leave to file a specification and every specification
filed under this act shall be left with the secretary to the govern-
ment of India in the home department, and every petition and speci-
fication shall be accompanied by a declaration in writing, signed by
the petitioner, in the form or to the effect mentioned in the schedule
hereunto annexed, marked A and B respectively ; and if the inven-
tor be absent from India, the petition and specification shall also be
accompanied by a declaration signed by the agent who shall present
or file the same, to the efrect that he verily believes that the declara-
tion, purporting to be the declaration of the inventor, was signed
by him, and that the contents thereof are true, which declaration
shall be in the form, or to the effect mentioned in the said schedule.
The date of the delivery of every such petition and specification
shall be indorsed on the same respectively, and shall also be recorded
at the office of the said secretary.
VIII. False statement in declaration, punishable as perjury. If
any person who shall make a declaration under this act shall will-
fully and corruptly make any false statement therein, he shall be
270 FOREIGN LAWS.
deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be proceeded against, and upon
conviction punished accordingly.
IX. Specification not to be filed before payment of fees. No
specification shall be filed until the petitioner shall have paid all fees
payable under this Act, including the fees (if any) of the person or
persons to whom the petition shall have been referred for inquiry
and report.
X. Copies of specification to be delivered and distributed. To
be open to inspection. At the time of delivering the specification
for the purpose of being filed, the petitioner shall caused to be
delivered to the said secretary five copies thereof, of which,
One shall be sent to and filed by one of the secretaries to the
government of Bengal;
One shall be sent to and filed by one of the secretaries to the
government of Fort St. George;
One shall be sent to and filed by one of the secretaries to the
government of Bombay; and
One shall be sent to and filed by one of the secretaries to the
government of the North- Western Provinces.
A copy of such specification shall be open at all reasonable
times at the office of each of the said secretaries to public inspec-
tion upon payment of a fee of one rupee.
XI. Hook for the registry of petitions, specifications, &c.
A book shall be kept in the office of the said secretary to the gov-
ernment of India, wherein shall be entered and recorded every such
petition and specification, and every order made upon such petition
or relating to the invention therein mentioned. Every specification
shall be numbered according to the order in which it is entered in
such book; and a reference shall be made in such book, in the margin
of the entry of each specification, to every order relating to the inven-
tion, and to every petition, memorandum, or amended specification,
which shall be filed under the provisions of section 14.
XII. Inspection of registry book. Certified copy of entry to
be given. Such book, or a copy thereof, shall be open at all con-
venient times for the inspection of any person upon payment of one
rupee; and the said secretary shall cause a copy of any entry therein,
certified under his hand, to be given to any person requiring the
same on payment of the expense of copying.
XIII. [Repealed by Act No. 12 of 1876.J
XIV. In what cases petitioner may apply to file amended
specifications. Effect. If after the filing of the specification the
INDIA. 271
petitioner shall have reason to believe that, through mistake or
inadvertence he has erroneously made any mis-statement in his peti-
tion or specification, or included therein something which at the
date of his petition was not new or whereof he was not the inventor,
or that such specification is in any particular defective or insufficient
he may petition the Governor General in Council for leave to file a
memorandum, pointing out such error, defect, or insufficiency, and
disclaiming any part of the alleged invention, or in case of any
defect or insufficiency of the specification for leave to file an
amended specification. The petition shall state how the error,
defect or insufficiency occurred, and that it was not fraudulently
intended, and shall be accompanied by a declaration in writing
signed by the petitioner, and if he be absent from India, by his
agent, stating that the contents of such petition are true, to the best
of his knowledge and belief. Upon such petition the Governor
General in Council may make an order allowing such memorandum
or amended specification to be filed. All the provisions of sections
X., XL, XII., and XIII., applicable to the specifications, shall be
applicable to the petitions, orders, and memoranda or amended speci-
fications referred to in this section. An amended specification
filed under the provisions of this Act shall, except as to suits
or proceedings relating to the exclusive privilege which shall be
pending at the time of the filing of such amended specification, have
the same effect as if it had been the specification first filed ; pro-
vided that nothing contained in an amended specification shall
extend or enlarge any exclusive privilege before acquired.
XV. No person entitled to exclusive privilege, when. No per-
son shall be entitled to any exclusive privilege under the provisions
of this Act
If the invention is of no utility, or
If the invention, at the time of presenting the petition for leave
to file the specification, was not a new invention, or within the
meaning of this Act, or
If the petitioner is not the inventor thereof, or
If the specification filed or the amended specification (if any)
does not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, or
If the original or any subsequent petition relating to the inven-
tion or the original or any amended specification contain a willful or
fraudulent mis-statement.
XVI. Exclusive privilege to cease if government declare that it is
272 FOREIGN LAWS.
mischievous, <&c., or (upon breach of condition) that it shall cease.
Every exclusive privilege under this Act shall cease if the Governor
General of India in Council shall declare that the same, or the mode
in which it is exercised, is mischievous to the State, or generally
prejudicial to the public; or if a breach of any special condition on
which the petitioner shall be authorized to file a specification, or upon
which the term of the exclusive privilege shall be extended, shall be
proved to the satisfaction of any of Her Majesty's courts of judic-
ature, and if the Governor General of India in Council shall there-
upon declare that such exclusive privilege shall cease.
XVII. Importer not inventor. The importer into India of a
new invention shall not be deemed an inventor within the meaning
of this Act, unless he be the actual inventor.
XVIII. Foreign inventor. A foreigner, whether resident abroad
or not, may petition for leave to file a specification under this Act.
XIX. An invention not publicly used or known deemed a new
invention. Knowledge of invention fraudulently acquired. Pro-
viso. Public use by actual inventor. An invention shall be
deemed a new invention within the meaning of this Act, if it shall
not, before the time of applying for leave to file the specification,
have been publicly used in India or in any part of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, or been made publicly known in
any part of India or of the United Kingdom by means of a publica-
tion, either printed or written, or partly printed and partly written.
The public use or knowledge of an invention, prior to the applica-
tion for leave to file a specification, shall not be deemed a public
use or knowledge within the meaning of this section, if the knowl-
edge shall have been obtained surreptitiously or in fraud of the
inventor, or shall have been communicated to the public in fraud of
the inventor or in breach of confidence: provided the inventor shall
within six calendar months after the commencement of such public
use, apply for leave to file his specification, and shall not previously
have acquiesced in such public use; provided also, that the use of an
invention in public by the inventor thereof, or by his servants or
agents, or by any other person by his license in writing, for a period
not exceeding one year prior to the date of his petition, shall not
be deemed a public use thereof within the meaning of this Act.
XX. Inventor having obtained English letters patent to peti-
tion within twelve months. Invention, not publicly known, or used
to be deemed new. What to be stated in such petition. ^Duration
of exclusive privilege. If an inventor who, prior to the time of
INDIA. 273
applying for leave to file a specification of an invention under this
Act, shall have obtained Her Majesty's letters patent for the
exclusive use of such invention in the United Kingdom, or any part
thereof, shall, within twelve calendar months from the passing of
this Act, or within twelve calendar months from the date of such
letters patent, petition the Governor General of India in Council
for leave to file specification of such invention (which petition shall
be in writing, in the form or to the effect mentioned in the sched-
ule), the invention shall be deemed a new invention within the
meaning of this Act, if it was not publicly known or used in India at
or before the date of the petition for such letters patent, notwith-
standing it may have been publicly known or used in some part of
the United Kingdom or in India before the time of his petitioning,
under this Act, for leave to file the specification: Provided the peti-
tion for leave to file the specification shall state that such letters
patent have been granted, and shall also state the date thereof and
the term during which the same are to continue in force : Provided
also, that an exclusive privilege obtained under the provisions- of
this Act by an inventor who has obtained Her Majesty's letters
patent for the exclusive use of such invention, shall cease to have
effect, if such letters patent be revoked or canceled; and that no
such exclusive privilege shall extend beyond the term granted by
such letters patent unless the same shall be renewed, in which case
the exclusive privilege may be renewed under this Act for the
extended term or any part thereof.
XXI. Saving of rights, before 1855. No exclusive privilege
obtained under this Act shall entitle the owner of such privilege to
exclude any person from using the invention, who, prior to the 7th
day of July, 1855, used the same in India..
XXII. Action for infringement . An action may be maintained
by an inventor against any person who, during the continuance of
an exclusive privilege granted by this Act, shall, without the
license of the said inventor, make, use, sell, or put in practice the
said invention, or who shall counterfeit or imitate the same. Pro-
vided that no such action shall be maintained in any court other
than the principal court of original jurisdiction in civil cases within
the local limits of whose jurisdiction the cause of action shall accrue
or the defendant shall reside as a fixed inhabitant.
XXIII. Defect in specification or petition, or want of novelty
in invention, <&c., no defense to action for infringement. Actual
use of before petition, a defense. No such action shall be defended
L 18
274 FOREIGN LAWS.
upon the ground of any defect or insufficiency of the specification
of the invention, nor upon the ground that the original or any sub-
sequent petition relating to the invention, or the original or any
amended specification, contains a willful or fraudulent mis-state-
ment ; nor upon the ground that the invention is not useful; nor shall
any such action be defended upon the ground that the plaintiff was
not the inventor, unless the defendant shall show that he is the act-
ual inventor, or has obtained a right from him to use the invention
either wholly or in part. Any such action may be defended upon
the ground that the invention was not new if the person making the
defense, or some person through whom he claims shall before the
date of the petition for leave to file the specification, have publicly
or actually used in India or in some part of the United Kingdom,
the invention, or that part of it of which the infringement shall be
proved, but not otherwise.
XXIV. Application to courts to annul exclusive privilege
because invention of no utility; or not new; or petitioner not the
inventor; or invention not described in specification; or fraud,
<c., in petition or specification ; or insufficient description of
part, of invention in specification. It shall be lawful for any
person to apply by motion to any of Her Majesty's courts of judic-
ature for a rule to show cause why the court should not declare that
an exclusive privilege in respect of an invention has not been
acquired under the provisions of this Act by reason of all or any of
the objections following (to be specified in the rule) ; that is to
say :
That the said invention is of no utility, or,
That the said invention was not, at the time of presenting the
petition for leave to file the specification a new invention within the
meaning of this Act, or,
That the petitioner was not the inventor thereof, or,
That the specification filed, or the amended specification (if any)
does not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
invention, or in wha manner the same is to be performed, or,
That the petitioner has knowingly or fraudulently included in
the petition or specification, or amended specification, as part of his
invention, something which was not new or whereof he was not the
inventor, or,
That the original or any subsequent petition relating to the
invention, or the original or any amended specification, contains a
willful or fraudulent mis-statement, or,
INDIA. 275
That some part of the invention, or the manner in which that
part is to be performed, as described in the specification filed, or the
amended specification, is not thereby sufficiently described and
ascertained, and that such defect or insufficiency was fraudulent
and is injurious to the public.
XXV. Like application as to part of an invention. Any
person may, in like manner, apply to any of Her Majesty's courts
of judicature for a rule to show cause why the court should not
declare that an exclusive privilege has not been acquired under the
provisions of this Act in respect of any part of the invention to be
specified in the rule by reason of all or any of the objections follow-
ing (to be specified in the rule), that is to say,
That such part of the invention is wholly distinct from the other
part thereof, and is of no utility, or
That such part of the invention was not, at the date of the peti-
tion for leave to file the specification, a new invention within the
meaning of this act, or
That the petitioner was not the inventor of that part of the
invention, or
That that part of the invention, and the manner in which it is
to be performed, is not sufficiently described and ascertained in the
specification filed or the amended specification, and that such defect
or insufficiency is injurious to the public.
XXVI. Application by advocate general on breach of special
condition. It shall be lawful for the advocate general at any of the
Presidencies of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St. George, and Bom-
bay, or any other person, by order of the Governor General in coun-
cil, to apply to any of the said courts of judicature for a rule calling
upon the petitioner, his executors, administrators, or assigns, to show
cause why the question of the breach of any special condition upon
which the leave to file a specification has been granted, or any other
question of fact on which the revocation of theexclusive privilege by
the Governor General in council under the power hereinbefore
reserved may, in the judgment of the said Governor General in
council, depend, should not be tried in the form of an issue directed
by the said court; and if the rule be made absolute, the court, unless
the breach or other matter of fact be admitted, may thereupon,
direct such issue to be tried, and certify the result of such trial to
the Governor General in council ; the costs of such trial, and also
the costs of any proceedings in any of the said courts of judicature
276 FOREIGN LAWS.
under the provisions of this Act, shall be in the discretion of the
court.
XXVII. Service of proceedings on all persons interested. Notice
of any rule obtained or proceeding taken under cither of the last
three preceding sections shall be served on all persons appearing to
be proprietors or to have shares or interests in the exclusive privilege
under the provisions of section XXXV. of this act, and it shall not
be necessary to serve such notice on any other persons.
XXVIII. Supreme court may direct issue for trial to other
courts. New trial. Any of the said courts of judicature, if it think
fit, may direct an issue for the trial, before the same court or any
other court of judicature, or any principal court of original jurisdic-
tion in civil cases of any question of fact arising upon an applica-
tion under sections XXIV., XXV., or XXVL, of this act, and such
issue shall be tried accordingly in a summary manner, and if the
issue be directed to another court, the finding shall be certified by
the court before which the same was tried, to the court directing
the issue. If the issue be directed to any courts of judicature, the
court by which the issue is tried may, before the finding is certi-
fied, direct a new trial of such issue according to the usual course
and practice of such court. If the issue be directed to any court
other than a court of judicature, the finding shall not be subject to
appeal, but the evidence taken upon the trial shall be recorded, and
a copy thereof, certified by the judge, shall be transmitted, together
with any remarks he may think fit to make thereon, to the court
by which the issue was directed; and such .court may either act
upon the decision of the court which tried the issue, or direct a new
trial if it should appear necessary.
XXIX. Judgment. Costs. If it shall appear to any of the
said courts of judicature at the hearing of any application under
the provisions of sections XXIV. or XXV. of this act that, by
reason of any of the objections therein mentioned, the said exclu-
sive privilege in the invention or in any part thereof has not been
acquired, the court shall give judgment accordingly, and shall make
such order as to the costs of and consequent upon the application as it
may think just; and thereupon the petitioner, his executors, admin-
istrators, and assigns shall, so long as the judgment continues in
force, cease to be entitled to such exclusive privilege.
XXX. Amendment of specification by court. Proviso. If the
court, at the hearing of any such application as last aforesaid, shall
think that the petitioner has, in the description of his invention in
INDIA. 277
the petition or specification, or amended specification (if any)
included something which at the date of the petition was not new
or whereof he was not the inventor, or that the specification is in
any particular defective or insufficient, but that the error, defect, or
insufficiency was not fraudulently intended, the court may adjudge
the said exclusive privilege to have been acquired and to be valid,
save as to part thereof affected by such error, defect or insufficiency,
or if the court shall think that the error, defect, or insufficiency can
be amended without injury to the public, they may adjudge the
exclusive privilege in the whole of the invention to be valid, and
may, upon such terms as shall appear reasonable, order the specifi-
cation to be amended in any of the said particulars; and thereupon
the petitioner, his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall, within
the time limited by the said court for the purpose, file a specifica-
tion amended according to such order : Provided that no such
amended specification shall have the effect of extending or enlarging
the exclusive privilege before acquired.
XXXI. Mis-statement in the petition, if not fraudulent, not to
defeat the privilege. An exclusive privilege shall not be defeated
upon the ground that the petition contains a mis-statement, unless
such mis-statement was willful or fraudulent.
XXXII. Entry in Registry Book, of judgment, &c., declaring
privilege not to have been acquired. Whenever it shall be adjudged
byany of the said courts or judicature that an exclusive privilege as
to the whole or any part of an invention has not been acquired, the
said secretary to the government of India shall, upon the produc-
tion of the judgment or order, cause an entry thereof to be made in
the said book hereinbefore directed to be kept, and shall cause a
reference to such entry to be made in the margin of the entry of the
specification contained in such book.
XXXIII. In what case actual inventor entitled to assignment of
an exclusive privilege fraudulently obtained. If, upon proceedings
instituted within two years from the date of a petition to file a
specification the actual inventor shall prove to the satisfaction of
the principal court having jurisdiction in civil cases, within the local
limits of whose jurisdiction the defendant shall reside as a fixed
inhabitant, that the petitioner was not the actual inventor, and that
at the time of the petition he knew or had good reason to believe that
the knowledge of the invention was obtained by himself or by some
other person, surreptitiously or in fraud of the actual inventor, or by
means of a communication made in confidence by the actual inveu-
278 FOREIGN LAWS.
tor to Lira, or to any person through whom he derived snch knowl-
edge, the court may compel the petitioner to assign to the actual
inventor any exclusive privilege obtained under this Act, and to
account for and pay over the profits thereof.
XXXIV. Particulars to be delivered. In any action for the
inf ringem?nt of such exclusive privilege the plaintiff shall deliver with
his plaint particulars of the breaches complained of in the said action;
and the defendant shall deliver a written statement of the particu-
lars of the grounds (if any) upon which he means to contend that
the plaintiff is not entitled to an exclusive privilege in the inven-
tion. In like manner, upon any application to any of the said
courts of judicature under sections XXIV., XXV., or XXVI. of
this Act, the applicant shall deliver particulars of the objections on
which he means to rely. At the trial of any such action or issue,
no evidence shall be allowed to be given in support of any alleged
infringement, or of any objection impeaching the validity of such
exclusive privilege which shall not be contained in the particulars
delivered as aforesaid. If it be alleged that the invention was pub-
licly known or used prior to the date of the petition for leave to file
such specification, the places where and the manner in which the
invention was so publicly known or used shall be stated in such par-
ticulars. Provided always that it shall be lawful for any court in
which the action or proceeding is pending or in which the issue is
tried to allow the plaintiff or defendant respectively to amend the
particulars delivered as aforesaid upon such terms as shall seem fit.
XXXV. Service of proceedings. A book shall be kept in the
office of the secretary to the government of India in the home
department (such book to be open to inspection without fee)
wherein every person filing a specification under this Act, or any
person to whom the exclusive privilege may be assigned, shall cause
to be stated some place in India where service of any rule or pro-
ceedings for the purpose of cancelling or revoking his exclusive
privilege may be made, and shall cause a reference to such entry to
be made in the margin of the entry of the specification; and may
from time to time cause any other place in India to be substituted
by similar entry and reference. All such rules and proceedings as
aforesaid shall be deemed sufficiently served if a copy thereof be
left at the place entered in such book or (if any other place be sub-
stituted for the same by entry in the said book) at the place last sub-
stituted, by delivering the same to any person resident at, or in
charge of, such place: or, if there be no person resident at, or in
INDIA. 279
charge of, such place, or if such place be not within the local limits
of the jurisdiction of the court, by causing such rule or proceeding
to be sent by post, by a registered letter, directed to such person, at
such place; and if any such person shall neglect to make or cause
to be made such entry, then service of such rule or proceeding may
be affected by affixing a copy thereof to some conspicuous part of
the court house, or in such other manner as the court may direct.
XXXVI. What effect Act VI. of 1856 to have. Act VI. of
1856 shall be of the same force and effect in respect to every peti-
tion and specification filed under the provisions thereof before the
Act was repealed, and in regard to all proceedings consequent
thereon or in relation thereto, and for the purpose of everything
done under that Act while it continued in force, as if previously to
the passing of the said Act the sanction of Her Majesty to the pass-
ing thereof had been obtained and signified in pursuance of the
statute passed in the seventeenth year of the reign of Her Majesty,
entitled " An Act to provide for the Government of India," and as
if the said Act had not been repealed, and the term of every exclu-
sive privilege obtained under the said Act is hereby extended, and
shall continue until the expiration of fourteen years from the time
of the passing of this Act. No exclusive privilege obtained under
the said Act by an importer, not being the actual inventor, shall
cease to have effect by virtue of the provisions of section XVI. of
the said Act, if the invention be put in practice in India within the
period of two years from the time of the passing of this Act.
XXXVII. Stamp on petition. Every petition for leave to file
a specification under the provisions of this Act, or for the extension
of the term of an exclusive privilege, shall be written or printed on
stamped paper of the value of one hundred rupees.
37a. Whenever by any law for the time being in force in the
United Kingdom, any person shall be entitled in the United King-
dom to an exclusive right in any pattern or design or the application
of such pattern or design to any substance or article of manufac-
ture, such person shall be entitled in British India to the sole and
exclusive right in such pattern or design or in such application
thereof, and shall be entitled in British India to the same civil reme-
dies in respect of infringement thereof in British India as those to
which he would be entitled in the United Kingdom in respect of the
infringement thereof in the United Kingdom.
[NOTE. This clause was introduced by Act No. 13 of 1872.]
XXXVIII. Interpretation. In the construction of this Act,
280 FOREIGN LAWS.
the following words and expressions shall have the meanings hereby
assigned to them, unless there be something iu the subject or con-
text repugnant to such construction. Number. Words importing
the singular number shall include the plural number, and words
importing the plural number shall include the singular number.
Gender. Words importing the masculine gender shall include
females. " Invention" The word "invention" shall include an
improvement. " Manufacture." The word " manufacture " shall
be deemed to include any art, process, or manner of producing,
preparing, or making an article, and also any article prepared or
produced by manufacture. "Printed" The word " printed " shall
include "lithographed." "Inventor" and " Actual inventor"
The words "inventor" and "actual inventor" shall include the
executors, administrators, or assigns of an inventor or actual
inventor, as the case may be. " Assigns" The word " assigns "
shall include grantees of the sole use or benefit in India of an inven-
tion, or of the sole use of an exclusive privilege for a limited time.
" India" The word " India" sball mean the territories which are
or may become vested in Her Majesty by the statute 21 and 22
Viet. c. 106, entitled "An Act for the better Government of
India." " Governor General in Council" The words " Gover-
nor General in Council " shall include the " President in Council."
" Secretary to the Government of India." The words " Secretary
to the -Government of India" shall include any under secretary to
the said Government. " Her Majesty's Courts of Judicature."
" Courts of Judicature" The expressions " Her Majesty's Courts
of Judicature " and " Courts of Judicature " shall mean the courts
established by Royal Charter.
SCHEDULE OF FORMS.
FORM OF PETITION.
(See Section 1.)
To the Governor General of India in Council.
The petition of [here insert name, addition, and place of residence] for leave to file
a specification under Act No.
Sheweth,
That your petitioner is in possession of an invention for [state tJie title of the
invention], which invention he believes will be of public utility ; that he is the inven-
tor thereof [or, at the case may be, the assignee or executor or administrator of the
INDIA. 281
inventor]; and that the same is not publicly known or used in India or in any part of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to the best of his knowledge and
belief.
The following is a description of the invention [here describe if],
Your petitioner therefore prays for leave to file a specification of the said inven-
tion pursuant to the provisions of Act No.
And your petitioner, &c.
The day of q
(Signed)
FORM OF DECLARATION TO ACCOMPANY PETITION.
(See Section 7.)
I [here insert name, addition, and place of residence] do solemnly and sincerely
declare that I am in possession of an invention for [state the title of the invention as
in the petition'] ; that I believe the said invention will be of public utility ; that I am
the inventor thereof [or, as the case may be, the assignee or executor or administrator
of the inventor} ; and that the same is not publicly known or used iti India or in any
part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the best of my knowledge
and belief ; and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my said invention ia
truly described in my petition for leave to file a specification thereof.
The day of
(Signed)
FORM OF DECLARATION TO ACCOMPANY SPECIFICATION.
(See Section 7.)
I \Jiere insert name, addition, and place of residence] do solemnly and. sincerely
declare that I am in possession of an invention for [xtatc the nature of the invention],
which invention I believe will be of public utility ; that I am the inventor thereof [or,
as the aise may be, the assignee, or executor or administrator of the inventor] ; nnd that
the same is not publicly known or used in India or in any part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, to the best of my knowledge and belief ; and that, to the
best of my belief, the instrument in writing under my hand hereunto 'annexed par-
ticularly describes and ascertains the nature of the said invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed.
The day of
(Signed)
FORM OF DECLARATION BY AGENT, WHERE AN INVENTOR is ABSENT FROM INDIA.
(See Section 7.)
I , of , do solemnly and sinccrdy declare that I have been appointed
by the said , his agent for the purpose of ; and I verily believe that the
declaration purporting to be the declaration of the said , marked ( ), was
signed by him, and that the contents thereof are true.
The day of
(Signed)
282 FOREIGN LAWS.
FORM or PETITION.
(See Section 20.)
That your petitioner [or, as the case may be, that A. B., of to/torn your petitioner is
the assignee or executor or administrator] has obtained Her Majesty's letters patent
dated the day of , for [state the title of the invention], and that such let-
ters patent are to continue in force for years, that your petitioner believes that
the said invention is not now and has not hitherto been publicly known or used in
India.
The following is a description of the invention [here describe it].
Your petitioner therefore prays for leave to file a specification of the said inven-
tion, pursuant to the provisions of Act No.
And your petitioner, &c.
The day of
(Signed)
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 267.
INTERNATIONAL CONTENTION.
!
See close- of Vol. II.
IRELAND.
See GREAT BBITAIN AND IBELAND.
ISLE OF MAN.
See GEEAT BEITAIN AND IRELAND.
ITALY. 283
ITALY.
[NOTE.* The Italian Law and Regulations of the Z\st of January, 1864, extended
the Sardinian Law of the 30th October, 1859, to the whole Kingdom of Italy. Cer-
tain sections were repealed, and all matters concerning patents were placed under tha
direction of the minister of agriculture, industry and commerce. The following is the
law thus amended, transitory provisions being omitted.]
PART I.
RIGHTS DERIVED FROM INVENTIONS on INDUSTRIAL DISCOVERIES,
AND TITLE TUERETO.
CHAPTER I.
Rights of Inventors.
ART. 1. The author of a new invention or discovery in industry
has the exclusive right of working the same for his own profit dur-
ing the time, within the limits, and under the condition, prescribed
by the present decree.
This exclusive right constitutes a patent privilege.
ART. 2. An invention or discovery is said to belong to industry
whenever the immediate object is,
1. A product or result relating to industrial pursuits;
2. An instrument, machine, tool, engine, or any mechanical
arrangement;
3. A process or method of manufacture;
4. A motor, or the application of any known power to industrial
purposes;
5. Finally, the technical application of a scientific principle, pro-
vided immediate results in industry are obtained thereby.
In the latter case the patent is limited solely to those results
which are expressly pointed out by the inventor.
ART. 3. An invention or discovery in industry shall be consid-
ered as new when not before known; or even when a general notion
of it existed, without the particulars necessary for putting it into
practice.
* Notes thus printed are from Carpmael's edition.
284 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. 4. A new invention or discovery in industry already pat-
ented abroad, although it may have been published pursuant to the
provisions of foreign legislation, confers on its author, or on his
assigns, the right of obtaining a patent in the kingdom, provided
such patent be applied for before the expiration of the term of the
foreign patent, and before other parties have freely imported and
worked the same invention or discovery in the kingdom.
ART. 5. Any modification of a patented invention or discovery
gives the right to a further patent, but without prejudice to the
patent which already exists for the original invention.
ART. 6. The following are not patentable:
1. Inventions or discoveries relating to trades which are con-
trary to law, morals, or public safety;
2. Inventions or discoveries not relating to the manufacture of
material objects;
3. Inventions or discoveries of a mere theoretical nature;
4. All kinds of medicines.
CHAPTER II.
Patents, their Force and Duration, and the Fees to be paid.
ART. 7. The legal title to the exclusive use of an invention is
contained in a certificate [patent] delivered by the government.
The patent does not guarantee the utility or reality of the
invention or discovery as claimed by the petitioner, nor docs it
prove the existence of those properties which, according to law, an
invention or discovery must possess in order to render the patent
valid.
ART. 8. Patents granted for new articles comprise the exclu-*
sive right of manufacturing and selling such articles.
Patents obtained for the application to any breach of industry
of a chemical agent, process, method, instrument, machine, tool,
apparatus, or mechanical arrangement of any kind which has been
invented or discovered, confer on their holders the right of prevent-
ing others from making a like application.
But whenever the patentee himself has supplied to others the
preparations or mechanical means whose exclusive use forms the
subject of his patent, it is to be presumed that he has at the same
time given to them the permission to use them, provided there
exists no agreement to the contrary.
AST. 9. The patentee, and those interested through him, may
ITALY. 285
obtain a certificate of addition for any modification made by them
in the original discovery or invention. Such certificate extends the
effect of the patent to the modification for the whole term of the
patent.
ART. ,10. Patents take effect with respect to third parties from
the date and in the order of application.
The duration of a patent can never exceed fifteen years, nor be
less than one year, always reckoning from the last day of one of the
months of March, June, September, or December, whichever next
follows the day whereon the application is made, no account being
taken of any fraction of a year.
AET. 11. The duration of a patent for an invention or discovery
already patented abroad shall not exceed that of the foreign pat-
ent having the longest term, nor in any case shall the duration
exceed fifteen years.
AET. 12. Patents granted for less than fifteen years may be
prolonged for one or more years; the duration, however, of the
prolongation added to the duration of the original patent shall in
no case exceed fifteen years.
AET. 13. The prolongation of a patent includes the certificates
of addition.
AET. 14. Patents granted in respect of applications made after
the publication of the present decree, shall take effect in the whole
territory of the kingdom, and be subject to a proportional tax,
payable at the time of the application, and to an annual tax.
The proportional tax shall consist of as many times ten lire as
there are years in the duration of the patent applied for.
The annual tax shall be 40 lire for the first three years, 65 lire
for the following three years, 90 lire for the seventh, eighth, and
ninth years, 115 lire for the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth years, and
140 lire for the remaining three years.
AKT. 15. The first annuity and the proportional tax are to be
paid at the time of the application for a patent.
The other annuities are to be paid in advance on the first day of
each year of the duration of the patent, and shall likewise be sub-
ject to the triennial increase in the case of a prolongation of the
patent.
AET. 16. The delivery of a certificate of addition shall be sub-
ject only to the payment in advance of twenty lire.
AET. 17. Certificates of prolongation shall be subject to the
payment of 40 lire, besides the proportional tax and annuities. The
286 FOREIGN LAWS.
annuity corresponding to the first year of the prolongation shall be
paid at the time of application, and the subsequent annuities shall
be paid in advance, conformably to article 15.
ART. 18. In cases of patents of importation, whose term ends
with that of the foreign patent, every fraction of a year is to be
considered as an entire year with respect to the payment of the
tax.
PART II.
CONDITIONS AND FORMALITIES ATTENDANT ON APPLICATIONS FOR
PATENTS.
CHAPTER I.
77ie Application and its Conditions.
ART. 19. All matters concerning patents are placed under the
direction of the minister of agriculture, industry and commerce.
ART. 20. All applications for patents must be made to the min-
ister of agriculture, industry and commerce, through the local pre-
fecture or subprefecture.
The application must be made by the inventor or his attorney }
and must contain,
1. The name and Christian name, as well as the birth-place and
residence of the applicant, and of his attorney, if there be one ;
2. A statement of the discovery or invention in the form of a
title which expresses shortly, but with precision, its characteristics
and scope.
3. A statement of the duration which the applicant desires to be
assigned to his patent within the limits fixed by law.
An application must be limited to one patent, and to one inven-
tion or discovery.
ART. 21. Every application must be accompanied by,
1. The description of the invention or discovery ;
2. The drawings, if any can be made, as well as the models,
which the inventor may deem useful for the comprehension of his
invention or discovery ;
3. The receipt for the payment into the public treasury of the
fees due for the required patent ;
4. In cases of patents of importation, the original foreign pat- ;
ent, or a legalized copy of the same ;
ITALY. 287
5. If there be an attorney, the power in public or private form;
provided that in the latter case the signature of the principal is
certified by a public notary, or by the syndic of his place of resi-
dence;
6. A memorandum of the documents and objects delivered.
ART. 22. The description mentioned in the foregoing article is
to be written in the Italian or French language, and must contain
a clear and complete account of the details necessary for enabling
a competent person to put the invention or discovery into opera-
tion.
The application must be accompanied by three copies of the
description and drawings, the applicant alone being responsible for
the conformity of these copies.
Whenever the description is accompanied by a model, the appli-
cant is not exempt from annexing to the application, a drawing, or
drawings, in duplicate of the entire model, or at least of those parts
which constitute the invention.
ART. 23. During the first six months of the duration of a pat-
ent, reckoning from the last day of the March, June, September, or
December next after the date of application, proprietors of patents
may require the same to be reduced to part of the invention form-
ing the subject of the description annexed to the original applica-
tion, distinctly pointing out those parts they intend to disclaim.
The parts disclaimed shall be considered as having never been
comprehended in the patent.
ART. 24. Applications for disclaimers must .be accompanied
by-
1. The receipt for the payment of 40 lire ;
The description in triplicate to be substituted for that previously
filed;
3. The drawings in triplicate which it may be necessary to sub-
stitute for those previously filed.
ART. 25. The certificate delivered on such applications shall be
called certificates of reduction [disclaimers], and their duration
shall be that of the original patent.
ART. 26. During the six months mentioned in article 23, a pat-
ent for a modification shall only be granted to the author of the
patented invention or discovery, or to those interested through him.
The applications of other persons for such certificates and the
accompanying documents are to be delivered under sealed covers,
and deposited as hereinafter stated.
288 FOREIGN LAWS.
At the expiration of the six months the seal shall be broken,
and the patent shall be delivered, unless the interested party notifies
his intention to withdraw the application, in which case the fees
paid shall be returned to him.
The patent thus granted shall take effect relatively to patents
of addition, from the day after the expiration of the six months;
but with respect to persons not interested in the original patent and
applications founded thereon they shall take effect from the date of
application.
ABT. 27. An application for a certificate of addition shall not
mention any term for its duration.
In other respects the provisions of the twentieth and following
articles shall be observed.
ART. 28. Applications for prolongations must be accompanied
by-
1. The deed proving the ownership of the patent sought to be
prolonged;
2. The receipt for the payment of the fees mentioned in
article 17.
3. The power of attorney and memorandum mentioned in para-
graphs 5 and 6 of article 21.
CHAPTER II.
Delivery of the Application and accompanying Documents.
ART. 29. Applications of all sorts, with the documents and
objects which may or ought to accompany the same, must be deliv-
ered, in Turin, at the office appointed by the minister, elsewhere at
the prefecture.
ART. 30. The public officer appointed to receive the application
shall draw up a report, stating the day and hour of the delivery,
and the object of the application.
The official report must show the real or elected domicile of the
applicant or his attorney in the town where the delivery takes place,
otherwise the municipality shall be legally considered as the elected
domicile.
ART. 31. With regard to the applications mentioned in article
26, the official report must contain the statement of the applicant,
that he wishes to obtain in due time a patent for a modification in
an original invention or discovery, as described in the specification
ITALY. 289
under sealed cover, the title of which original invention shall be
mentioned in the official report..
AKT. 32. Each such official report sha'.l be recorded in a special
register and be signed by the applicant or his attorney.
A copy of such official report shall be delivered to the applicant
without charge, except for the stamp on the paper on which it is
written.
ART. 33. Within the five days following, the documents and
objects left at the provincial offices, shall be transmitted to the min-
istry of agriculture, industry and commerce, at the same time there
shall be sent an unstamped copy of the official report.
ART. 34. All official reports from the provinces shall be copied
into the registers of the Ministry.
ART. 35. If the legal formalities have been fulfilled, the applica-
tions shall be registered with the date of presentation, and the
patents shall be granted.
ART. 36. Each patent shall be recorded in the register and
signed by the chief of the office.
A copy, signed as aforesaid, shall be delivered to the interested
party, together with one of the originals of the drawings, descrip-
tion and memorandum, initialled on each sheet by the said officer.
This first copy of the patent shall be delivered free of cost; a'll
other copies shall bear the consecutive number of the delivery, and
for each 15 lire shall be paid.
ART. 37. With regard to inventions and discoveries relating to
all kinds of beverages or eatables, the said office, shall transmit the
description and other related documents to the superior board of
health, to obtain its advice before delivering a patent.
ART. 38. If the board of health advise that the invention or
discovery is injurious to health, or if there be the least doubt about
it, the application for a patent shall be rejected.
If the advice be favorable, the following clause shall be inserted
in the patent: "The superior board of health having been con-
sulted."
Such patents do not exempt their holders who but practice the
invention from fulfilling all other provisions of the sanitary laws.
ART. 39. Patents shall be refused:
1. If the invention or discovery belong to one of the four classes
mentioned in article 6;
2. If there is no written application, or if, in the application, the
title of the invention or discovery is wanting;
I.-19
290 FOREIGN LAWS.
3. If there be no description ;
4. If a single patent is demanded for different inventions or dis-
coveries, or if several patents of the same nature or of different
kinds are demanded in the same application ;
5. If the fees paid do not correspond with the kind of patent
applied for.
ART. 40. The grant of the patent shall be suspended in default
of the fulfillment of any of the other conditions prescribed by the
present decree, or when the description does not present the required
features.
ART. 41. The refusal or suspension, and the reasons which have
determined the same, shall be communicated to the applicant or his
attorney, through one of the government officers, and by a notice
left at his elected or real domicile, mentioned in the official report
of the deposit.
ART. 42. Within fifteen days after such notice, the applicant
or his attorney, may supply the deficiencies or appeal against the
refusal or suspension.
The documents intended to supply such deficiencies, or the notices
of appeal, shall be left at the provincial, or chief office. An official
report of the same shall be drawn up, and a stamped copy thereof
be delivered to the* interested party without any other charge than
the stamp duty.
If within this term of fifteen days no documents have been
deposited, and no appeal been lodged, the application shall be con-
sidered as not having taken place, the inventor preserving the right
to renew his application.
ART. 43. The minister shall submit these appeals to a commis-
sion composed of fifteen members, three of whom shall be magis-
trates for life, or members of the faculty of law at the Royal
University of Turin, and the remaining twelve chosen from:
1. The members of the section of physical and mathematical
sciences at the Royal Academy of Sciences ;
2. The professors and doctors of the faculty of said sciences at
the Royal University ;
3. The professors at the Polytechnic schools.
The members of the said commission shall be nominated every
year by the minister.
The commission shall be divided into three sections (mechanics,
physics, and chemistry), each of which sections shall be composed
of one k-cral member and four technical members.
ITALY. 291
Each appeal shall be heard by that section which corresponds
with the nature of the patent applied for.
If the verdict of the section is not obtained unanimously, it shall
be revised by the whole commission.
If it relates to an invention deemed contrary to law, morals or
public safety, the public prosecutor shall be consulted, and his epin-
ion shall be submitted to the commission which hears the appeal.
ABT. 44. Appeals shall be considered as null and void unless
they be accompanied by the deposit of 50 lire.
ART. 45. If the verdict mentioned in article 43 is in favor of the
applicant, the appointed officer shall deliver the patent and return
the deposit mentioned in the foregoing article.
In the contrary case the patent shall be positively refused, and
the deposit shall be paid into the treasury.
PART III.
ASSIGNMENTS OF PATENTS.
ART. 46. Assignments of patents must be registered at the min-
istry, and published in the Official Gazette of the kingdom at the
expense of the applicant.
Assignments take effect with respect to third parties only from
the date of registration.
To effect this registration, the person in whose favor the assign-
ment has b'een made must produce the deed and two memoranda on
stamped paper, containing
1. The name, Christian name, and domicile of both the assignor
and assignee;
2. The date and nature of the deed presented, and the name of
the notary who received it, in case of its being a public act;
3. The date of registry, if any;
4. An exact statement of the rights assigned ;
5. The date of delivery of these notes, which shall be that of
the registration.
ART. 48. Such deliveries may be made either at a provincial
office or at the chief office.
In either case the deed shall be returned to its owner after hav-
ing been vise for registration and signed by the secretary or head
of the office.
At the provincial office, where delivery takes place, there shall
292 FOREIGN LAWS.
be transcribed in a special register, the contents of the memoranda
mentioned in the preceding article and one memorandum shall be
returned and the other shall be transmitted immediately to the chief
office.
At the latter office all these memoranda, whether received
directly or transmitted from the provinces, shall be recorded and
kept.
ART. 49. The total assignment of patent rights to a single person
obliges the latter to pay the fees; if the assignment is made to
several persons collectively, they are conjointly bound to make that
payment. In case of a partial assignment to several distinct per-
sons, or a partial alienation of the rights, the deed relating thereto
cannot be registered unless it be accompanied by a receipt, proving
the payment of the annuities due for the whole duration of the
patent.
PART IV.
PRESERVATION AND PUBLICATION OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO
PATENTS.
ART. 50. The registers for recording patents, their progressive
stages, annulments, disclaimers, forfeitures, and expirations ; and
the registers in which are inscribed assignments of patent rights, are
public registers.
ART. 51. Whoever requires extracts therefrom must make an
application on stamped paper ; and the extracts shall be written ou
stamped paper at the expense of the applicant.
ART. 52. A copy of the specification and drawings shall be
deposited at the chief office, but no person shall be allowed to
inspect the same before the expiration of three months from the
delivery of the patent.
Any person may, after the lapse of three months, inspect the
description, drawings, and models, and make, at his own expense,
one or several copies, in the manner and under the conditions deter-
mined by regulations.
ART. 53. Every three months a list of the patents delivered
during the preceding quarter shall be published in the Official
Gazette.
ART. 54. Every six months the specifications and drawings
ITALY. 293
relating to inventions and discoveries patented during the preceding
half-year shall be published in full.
The head of the office may, nevertheless, order that certain
specifications shall be published -only in the form of extracts, exam-
ined and deemed sufficient by him for the comprehension of the
invention to which they relate. The drawings, likewise, may be
reduced to tbeir essential parts.
ART. 55. A copy of the subject-matter, indexes, descriptions
and drawings published, shall be transmitted to each provincial
office and chamber of commerce for public inspection.
PART V.
NULLITY AND ANNULMENT OF PATENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Causes of Nullity and Annulment.
ART. 56. The preliminary examination and adjudication does
not guarantee validity.
ART. 57. Patents are null and void,
1. If they i-efer to inventions or discoveries mentioned in arti-
cle 6.
2. If they relate to one of the inventions or discoveries men-
tioned in article 37, and the patent has by mistake been delivered
against the advice of the sanitary authority. If granted in error
without consulting the aforesaid authority, the patent will become
void when the advice on being taken is adverse.
3. If by the fraud of the applicant the title of the invention or
discovery indicates other than its real object.
4 If the description annexed to the application is insufficient, or
conceals some of the means necessary for working the patent inven-
tion or discovery.
5. If the invention or discovery is not new, or does not relate
to industrial pursuits.
0. If a patent is granted to a third party for a modification in
an invention within the six months allowed to the original inventor,
and persons interested through him.
7. A certificate of addition is also null and void whenever the
modification is not connected with the original invention.
8. A prolongation is likewise null and void whenever it has been
294 FOREIGN LAWS.
applied for after the expiration of the patent, or after its absolute
annulment has been pronounced.
ART. 58. A patent ceases to be valid,
1. If in a single instance the annual tax is not paid within the
term of three months from the date of expiration.
2. If in the case of a patent granted for five years or less, the
invention or discovery has not been worked within the first year of
the grant, or has ceased to be worked during a whole year.
3. If in the case of a patent granted for more than five years, it
has not been worked before the expiration of the second year, or if
the working has been discontinued for two years.
In either case the patentee shall not forfeit his rights if his
inaction arose from causes beyond his control. The want of pecu-
niary means is not included in these causes.
CHAPTER II.
Actions for Nullity and Annulment.
ART. 59. The action to obtain a declaration of nullity or to annul
a patent is brought before the provincial tribunal.
The cause is to be proceeded with and decided by summary
process.
The documents are to be communicated to the public prose-
cutor.
ART. 60. If at the instance of interested parties the partial nul-
lity or annulment of a patent has been twice pronounced, the pub-
lic prosecutor of the place, or one of the places where the invention
cr discovery is worked, may demand, ex officio y the absolute and
peremptory annulment of the patent.
The same power belongs to him without any civil action having
been brought in all cases coming under the provisions of paragraphs
1, 2, 3, and 8 of articles 57 and 58.
In the two annulments mentioned in the first paragraph of the
present article there shall not be reckoned any that apply to those
parts of the invention or discovery which have been cut out by dis-
claimer within the term of six months accorded by the present
law.
ART. 61. In each of the two cases mentioned all persons are to
be summoned who have a legal interest in the patent, and who arc
entered in the register of the chief office.
ART. 62. Except the case mentioned in paragraph 8 of article
ITALY. 295
57, the court, before pronouncing the annulment, must, on the
demand of one of the parties, take the advice of three experts; and
in case of appeal, the revision of such an opinion must be ordered
whenever one of the parties demands it.
In all cases however the tribunal or court of appeal may order
ex efficio an examination, or the revision of an examination.
ART. 63. The public prosecutor is to transmit to the minister of
agriculture, industry, and commerce, through the minister of jus-
tice, an extract on unstamped paper of judgments declaring nullity
or pronouncing absolute annulment. The operative part of these
judgments shall be entered in a special register, and be published
in the Official Gazette.
PART VI.
Infringement of Patent Rights and Actions relating thereto.
ART. 04. Whoever fraudulently and in contravention to a pat-
ent right, manufactures products, uses a machine or any other
industrial means, trades in, sells, exposes for sale, or imports into
the kingdom infringing articles, commits an offense, which offense
shall be published with a fine not exceeding 500 lire.
ART. 65. Besides in cases where a civil action is carried on con-
jointly with a penal action, or where it is carried on separately, all
machines and other industrial objects used contrary to the patent
right, all infringing objects, and the instruments for producing them,
shall be seized, to the loss of the infringing party, and given over
to the patentee.
The same shall take place with respect to dealers, traders, sell-
ers or importers of infringing articles.
ART. 66. The injured party shall, besides, be entitled to claim
damages.
If the owner of the objects mentioned in the preceding article
acted with honesty of purpose, he shall only be subject to the loss
of these objects to the profit of the injured party.
ART. 67. Civil action shall be carried on in the form prescribed
for summary process.
Correctional actions against the offenders mentioned in article
64 can only be carried on at the complaint of the injured party.
ART. 68. The president of the provincial tribunal may, on thft
demand of the patentee, order the seizure or inventory of the-
296 FOREIGN LAWS.
objects supposed to be infringements, or used contrary to the pat-
ent right, provided they be not destined for mere personal use.
By the same order the president shall delegate an officer to exe-
cute it, and, if required, can nominate one or more experts to assist
the officers in drawing up the inventory.
He, moreover, shall cause the plaintiff to give security before
proceeding to seizure.
ART. 69. The plaintiff may, if authorized by the president of
tribunal, be present at the seizure or at the drawing up of the inven-
tory. In all cases he may convert the seizure into the taking of an
inventory, on condition that he expresses his wish to that effect,
either in the official report of the seizure, or in a separate document,
notified through a public officer both to the adverse party, and to
the executive officer.
ART. 70. A copy of the order of the president, of the deed
proving the deposit of the security and of the official report of
the seizure or inventory, shall be left with the holder of the objects
seized or inventoried.
ART. 71. In default of the plaintiff pursuing his action within a
week the seizure or inventory shall be null and void, and the party
against whom the proceeding was brought shall be entitled to
damages.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 286.
See also INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
JAMAICA. 297
JAMAICA.
An Act for amending the Law for granting Patents for
Inventions. 1857. Stat. 21 Viet. c. xxx.
Preamble. Whereas it is expedient to amend the law concern-
ing letters patent for inventions :
Be it enacted by the Governor, Legislative Council and
Assembly of this Island, &c.
I. As TO THE MANNER or APPLYING FOR AND OBTAINING LETTERS
PATENT.
First. Patents for invention may be granted by the Governor on
Petition. Proviso. From and after the publication of this Act,
whenever any person whosoever shall, by himself, or if he be an
absentee, by his attorney, apply to the Governor, by way of peti-
tion, to be lodged at the office of the Executive Committee, and
alleging that he hath invented or discovered some new and useful
art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, riot thereto-
fore known or used within this island, or some improvement in any
such invention or discovery, and praying to obtain an exclusive
property in such new invention and discovery or improvement, and
that letters patent be granted for the same, it shall be lawful for
the Governor, in the name, and on behalf, of Her Majesty, her
heirs and successors, by and with the advice and consent of the
Executive Committee, to direct letters patent, under the broad
seal of this island, to be issued, which letters patent shall recite the
allegations and suggestions of the said petition, so to be referred as
aforesaid, and shall therein give a short description of the said in-
vention or discovery or improvement, and thereupon shall grant to
such person so applying for the same, his executors, administrators
or assigns, for a term not exceeding fourteen years, the full and
exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing and using, and
vending to others to be used, the said new invention or discovery
or improvement; and such letters patent shall be signed by the
Governor, and shall be good and available to the grantee therein
named by force of this Act ; provided that it shall be lawful for the
Governor in Executive Committee, if they should deem it expedient,
298 FOREIGN LAWS.
to insert in any such letters patent a provision extending the opera-
tion thereof for a further terra of seven years.
Second. Petition to be first referred to the Attorney- General,
who shall grant his fiat, or certify his refusal. Before any letters
patent shall be signed and issued, the petition, specification, and
declaration delivered therewith shall be referred to Her Majesty's
attorney-general of this Island, who shall examine the same, and
shall be at liberty to call to his aid such scientific or other person
as he may think fit, and to cause to be paid to such person, by the
applicant, such remuneration as the attorney-general shall appoint,
not exceeding five pounds ; and if the attorney-general shall be
satisfied that the application is such as may properly be granted
under the provisions of this Act, and that the specification describes
the nature of the invention, discovery, or improvement, he shall
allow the same, and give a certificate of his allowance, and return
the same petition, specification, and declaration, together with his
certificate, into the oftice of the Executive Committee ; and if the
attorney-general shall not allow such application, he shall certify to
the Governor his reasons for not so doing.
Third. Petitioner to make declaration that he is the true inves-
tor, &c. Before any person shall obtain or receive any letters patent
under this Act, such person, or if he be an absentee, his attorney,
shall make solemn declaration, in writing, before a justice of the
peace in this island, that the doth verily believe that he is the true
inventor or discoverer of the art, machine, composition of matter,
or improvement for which he solicits letters patent, and that such
invention or discovery, or improvement hath not, to the best of his
knowledge or belief, been known or used in this island, which
declaration shall be delivered, together with the petition for such
letters patent.
Fourth. And deliver specification of invention, &c. Proviso.
Before any person shall receive or obtain any letters patent as
aforesaid, such person, or his attorney, shall also deliver, together
with such petition and declaration as aforesaid, a written descrip-
tion or specification of his invention, and of the manner of using,
or process, or compounding the same, in such full, clear, and exact
terms as to distinguish the same from all other things before known
or used in this island, and to enable any person skilled in the art or
science of which it is a branch, or with which it is most nearly con-
nected, to make, compound, and use the same, and in case of any
machine shall deliver a model thereof, and shall explain the prin-
JAMAICA. 299
eiple and the several modes in which such person hath contemplated
the application of that principle, or character, by which it may be
distinguished from other inventions, and shall accompany the whole
with drawings and written references where the nature of the case
admits of drawings, or with specimens of the ingredients, and of the
composition of matter, sufficient in quantity for the purpose of
experiment, where the invention is of a composition of matter,
Avhich description or specification shall be signed by such person, or
his attorney, as aforesaid, so applying for such letters patent, and
attested by two witnesses : Provided that, where from the com-
plicated nature of any machinery the cost of a model thereof may
be so great as to prevent any ingenious but poor persons from
obtaining patents for their useful inventions, it shall and may be
lawful for the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the
Executive Committee, if they shall sec fit and proper under all the
circumstances so to do, to dispense with the delivery of such model
previous to the granting any such patent ; and in such case, the
requisitions of this Act being in all other respects complied with,
the person applying for any patent shall be entitled thereto in the
same manner as if such model had been so lodged as aforesaid.
Fifth. Five pounds to be deposited by petitioner. That
together with the said petition, the applicant for such letters pat-
ent shall pay and deposit a sum of five pounds, to be paid by way
of fee to the attorney-general, on such reference of such petition as
aforesaid.
Sixth. Notice to be given of application, in Gazette. No letters
patent shall be granted under or by virtue of this Act until notice
shall be published in the Jamaica Gazette by authority, and one
other of the newspapers of this colony, for at least four weeks, of
the intention of the applicant to apply for such letters patent; and
such notice shall contain, in general terms, the description of inven-
tion or improvement for which such letters patent shall be desired.
II. LIMITATION OF TIME FOE BRINGING LETTERS PATENT INTO
OPERATION.
Seventh. Patent must be brought into operation within two
years. If any letters patent, which may be taken out under or by
virtue of this Act, shall not have been brought into operation
within two years next ensuing from and after the date thereof, such
300 FOREIGN LAWS.
letters patent shall, at the expiration of the said period of two years,
be deemed to be forfeited, and shall thence be and become void and
of no effect.
III. As TO THE SEALING, DATE, TIME OF ISSUE, AND RENEWAL OP
LETTEKS PATENT.
Eighth. Patents to be sealed and dated as of the day of appli-
cation. It shall be lawful to cause any letters patent to be issued,
under this Act, to be sealed, and bear date, as of the day of the
application for the same, or where the attorney-general, or the
governor in executive committee may think fit, any such letters
patent as aforesaid may be sealed and bear date as of the day of
the sealing thereof, or of any other day, between the day of such
application and the day of such sealing.
Ninth. And be of legal force. Any letters patent issued under
this Act, sealed and bearing date as of any day prior to the day of
the actual sealing thereof, shall be of the same force and validity as
if they had been sealed on the day as of which the same are
expressed to be sealed and bear date.
Tenth. They must be applied for within three months after fil-
ing of petition. Provided that no letters patent, save in the case
of letters patent destroyed or lost, shall issue, unless the same shall
be applied for within three months after the date of the filing of
the applicant's petition.
Eleventh. And in case of death of applicant, within three
months after his death. Provided that, where the applicant for
letters patent dies during the pendency of his application, such let-
ters patent may be granted to the executors or administrators of
such applicant at any time within three months after his death, and
the letters patent so granted shall be of the like force and effect as
if they had been granted to such applicant during his life-time.
Twelfth. Patents lost or mislaid may be reneiced. Provided
that in case any letters patent to be issued under this Act shall be
destroyed or lost, other letters patent, of the like tenor and effect,
and sealed and dated as of the same day, may, subject to such regu-
lations as the governor in executive committee may direct to be
issued, under the authority of the grant in pursuance of which the
original letters patent were issued.
Thirteenth. Patents obtained by fraud not to invalidate that of
true inventor. In case of any letters patent for any invention being
JAMAICA. 301
obtained in fraud of the true and first inventor, any letters patent
granted to the true and first inventor of such invention shall not be
invalidated by reason of such other letters patent as aforesaid, or
of any use or publication of the invention, subsequent to the grant-
ing of such other letters patent as last mentioned.
IV. MUTUAL RIGHTS IN INVENTION, AND IN ANT IMPROVEMENT
THEREIN.
Fourteenth. Patents granted for improvements; how mutual
rights to be regulated. Where any letters patent shall be obtained
by any person under this Act for any new and useful invention or
discovery in any art, machine, or composition of matter, and there-
after any other person shall discover or make any improvement in
the principle or process of any such art, machine, or composition of
matter for which such patent hath been granted, and shall make
application for and obtain letters patent under this Act for the
exclusive right of such improvement, it shall not be lawful for the
person who shall obtain and procure letters patent for any such
improvement to make, use, or vend the original invention or discov-
ery, nor for the person who shall have procured letters patent for
the original invention or discovery to make, use, or vend any such
improvement; provided that simply changing the form or the pro-
portions of any machine or composition of matter, in any degree,
shall not be deemed a discovery or improvement within the mean-
in a: of this Act.
V. RIGHT OF PATENTEE ELSEWHERE TO PROCEED UNDER THIS
ACT FOR LETTERS PATENT.
Fifteenth. Applicant may receive a patent in this island although
he may possess a patent elsetchere. Proviso. No applicant shall be
deprived of his right to a patent in this colony, upon the like pro-
ceedings being had in all respects as in case of an original application
for his invention, by reason of his having previously taken out let-
ters patent therefor in any other country : Provided that such inven-
tion shall not have been introduced into public and common use in
this colony prior to the application for a patent therein, and that the
patent granted in this colony shall not contipue in force after tho
expiration of the patent granted elsewhere, and that where more
than one such patent or like privilege is obtained abroad, then,
302 FOREIGN LAWS.
immediately upon the expiration or determination of the term which
shall first expire or be determined of such several patents or like
privileges, the patents granted in this colony shall cease to be in
force : Provided further, that no letters patent for or in any respect
of any invention for which any such patent or like privilege as afore-
said shall have been obtained elsewhere, and which shall be granted
in this colony after the expiration of the term for which such patent
or privilege was granted, or was in force, shall be of any validity.
VI. POWER OF ASSIGNMENT.
Sixteenth. Patentees may assign their rights. Any patentee
under letters patent issued under this Act, his executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, may assign and transfer [the whole or] any part
of his right, title and interest in the said invention and discovery in
the letters patent to him granted, to any person whomsoever, and the
assignee thereof, having recorded the said assignment in the office
of the island secretary, shall thereafter stand in the place and stead
of the original patentee, as well as to all or the part assigned of the
right, privilege, and advantage, as also in respect of all or propor-
tionate liability or responsibility as to the said letters patent, and
the invention and discovery thereby secured; and in like manner
shall the assignees of any such assignee stand, and be considered to
be in the place and stead of the original patentee or inventor.
VII. RIGHT OP ASSIGNEE OP PATENTEE ELSEWHERE TO APPLY
UNDER THIS ACT FOR LETTERS PATENT.
Seventeenth. Rights of assignees. Proviso. Letters patent may,
upon the like proceedings being had in all respects as in the case of
an original application, be issued by the Governor in Executive
Committee to the assignee of any person who may have taken out
letters patent for his invention or discovery in any other country,
but not for any invention or discovery made abroad for which no
letters patent have been there obtained: Provided, that the inven-
tion or discovery so assigned shall not have been introduced into
public and common use into this colony prior to the application for
a patent; and that the assignee of such foreign patent shall file with
his application the assignment duly proved, under which he claims
a patent in this colony, and an affidavit setting forth the date of the
JAMAICA. 303
patent abroad, that the article thereby patented has not been in
public and common use in this colony, and that he is the assignee
for a good consideration.
VIII. As TO CLAIM FOB LARGER INVENTION THAN ACTUALLY
INVENTED, OR DEFECTIVE OR INSUFFICIENT SPECIFICATION.
Eighteenth. Patents to be valid in law only for so much as shall
be proved to be of new invention. If in any suit or action it shall be
proved, or specially found by the verdict of a jury, that by mistake,,
accident, or inadvertence, and without any willful default or intent
to defraud or mislead the public, a patentee under this Act shall in
his specification have claimed to be the original and first inventor
or discoverer of any material or substantial part of the thing pat-
ented, but of which part he was not the original or first inventor,
and shall have no just or legal right to claim the same, his patent
in such case shall be deemed good and valid for so much of the
invention or discovery or improvement as shall be actually his own,
provided it is a material and substantial part of the thing patented,
and be plainly distinguishable from other parts patented without
right; and every such patentee, and his legal representatives or
assignees, whether holding the whole or a particular interest in the
patent, may maintain suits at law or in equity for any infringement
of such part of the same as is actually the invention or discovery of
such patentee, although his specification may embrace more than he
has a legal right to claim; but if in such case the plaintiff shall
obtain a verdict or judgment, he shall not be entitled to costs, unless
before the commencement of the suit he shall have filed in the
office of the island secretary a disclaimer, attested by one or more
than one witness, of that part of the thing patented which was
claimed without right: Provided, that no person bringing a suit
shall be entitled to the benefits of this section, if he shall, in the
opinion of the court before which any such matter shall be tried,
have unreasonably neglected or delayed to record his disclaimer.
Nineteenth. Patents void by defective description, arising from
error, may be renewed. If any patent shall become inoperative or
invalid by reason of a defective or insufficient description, or speci-
fication, or by reason of the patentee claiming in his specification as
his own invention more than he had a right to claim; and the error
has arisen from inadvertence, accident, or mistake, and without
any fraudulent or deceptive intention, it shall be lawful for the
304 FOREIGN LAWS.
Governor in Executive Committee, upon the surrender of such pat-
ent, and upon petition therefor, cause a new patent to be issued to
the patentee for the residue of the term mentioned in the first pat-
ent, in accordance with the patentee's amended description and
specification; in case of his death, or the assignment by him of the
original patent, or any fractional interest therein, the right shall
vest in his legal representatives to the extent of their respective
interests in such patent; and the patent so reissued, together with
the amended deecription and specification, shall have the same effect
and operation in law as though the same had been originally filed
in such amended form before the the issuing of the original patent.
IX. As TO MODE OF ENTERING DISCLAIMERS AND ALTERATIONS
OR ADDING TO SPECIFICATIONS.
Twentieth. Disclaimers of any part of patents may be recorded.
Proviso. Every patentee under this Act, or his legal represent-
ative or assignee, whether holding the whole or any particular
interest, may conjointly or separately, as the case may require, enter
and record at the island secretary's ofiice, having first obtained the
leave of Her Majesty's attorney's general, certified by his fiat and
signature, a disclaimer of any part of either the title of the inven-
tion or improvement, or of the specification, stating the reason for
such disclaimer, or may, with such leave as aforesaid, enter
and record at the said office a memorandum of any alteration in
the said title or specification, not being such disclaimer or such
alteration as shall extend the exclusive right granted by the said
letters patent; and such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration
being recorded by the said island secretary, shall be deemed and
taken to be part of such letters patent or such specification in all
courts whatever: Provided, that any person may enter a caveat at
the said office of the island secretary against such disclaimer or
alteration, which caveat being so entered, and a copy thereof being
left with the attorney-general, shall give the party entering the
same right to have notice of the application being heard by the
attorney-general: Provided also, that no such disclaimer or altera-
tion shall be receivable in evidence in any action or suit (save and
except in any proceeding by scire facias) pending at the time when
such disclaimer or alteration was entered; but in every such action
or suit the original title and specification alone shall be given in
evidence, and deemed and taken to be the title and specification of
JAMAICA. 305
the invention for which the letters patent have been or shall have
been granted: Provided also that it shall be lawful for the attorney-
general, before granting such fiat, to require the party applying for
the same to advertise his disclaimer or alteration in such manner as
to such attorney-general shall seem right, and shall, if he so require
such advertisement, certify in his fiat that the same has been duly
made.
Twenty-first. How costs on alteration or disclaimer to be paid.
It shall be lawful for the attorney-general, if he see fit, by certificate
under his hand, to order by or to whom the costs of any hearing or
inquiry for any such alteration or disclaimer shall be paid, and in
what manner and by whom such costs are to be ascertained ; and if
any costs so ordered to be paid, be not paid within four days after
the amount thereof shall be so ascertained, it shall be lawful for
the attorney-general to make an order for the payment of the same,
and every such order may be made a rule of the supreme court of
this island.
Twenty-second. Additions may be made to specification. If an
original patentee shall be desirous of adding a description and
specification of an improvement upon his original invention or dis-
covery, made or discovered by him subsequent to the date of his
patent, he may upon the like proceedings being had in all respects
[as] in the case of an original application, have the same annexed
to his original description and specification ; and the island secretary
shall certify, upon such annexed description and specification, the
time of its being annexed and recorded, and thereafter it shall have
the same effect in law as if it had been embraced in the original
description and specification, and had been recorded therewith.
X. As TO FILING AND RECORDING PROCEEDINGS, OFFICE COPIES,
DRAWINGS, &c.
Twenty-third. How petitions, to be presented and filed. Pro-
ceedings thereon to be recorded. Every petition for the grant of
letters patent under this Act, and the declaration and specification
required to accompany such petition, and every certificate or warrant
thereon, shall be left at the office of the Executive Committee, and
the day of the delivery of every such petition, declaration, and
specification, certificate, or warrant, and the date of every reference,
L 20
306 FOREIGN LAWS.
shall be indorsed or written thereon respectively Ijy the secretary
of the Executive Committee, and an acknowledgment of receipt
therefor, either separately or together, as the same may be delivered,
shall be given to the petitioner or person delivering the same respect-
ively, or his agent ; and all such petitions, declarations, and speci-
fications, references, certificates, or warrants, when letters patent
shall be granted, and all letters patent, disclaimer, and memoranda
of alteration and assignments, shall be lodged, filed, and preserved
in the office of the secretary of this island, and shall be there
recorded in or in continuation of the books of records of patents
hitherto kept at such office, and a receipt therefor shall be given by
the island secretary, and a registry of such petitions, declarations,
specifications, references, certificates, warrants, letters patent, dis-
claimers, and memoranda of alteration, and of all proceedings
thereon, shall be kept at such office ; and for recording every such
petition, declaration, specification, reference, certificate, or warrant,
letters patent, disclaimer, and memorandum of alteration, and for
every receipt granted therefor, as aforesaid, there shall be paid to
the island secretary, by the person lodging the same, the like respec-
tive fee, or at the like rate, as is payable in the case of every deed
recorded in the said office, and as is payable for every receipt
granted by the island secretary for every deed there recorded.
Twenty- fourth. Office copies may be obtained from island
secretary. It shall and may be lawful for any person to obtain and
receive from the office of the island secretary, any copy or copies,
certified by him, of any such letters patent, or of the petition,
declaration, specification, reference, certificate, or warrant, wherever
the same were granted or issued, or of any disclaimer, memorandum,
document, or paper connected therewith, or any drawing relating
to the same, on payment for such copy or copies of the like fees as
are now payable at the office of the island secretary for copies of
other documents, and every such certified copy shall be evidence in
all courts.
Twenty-fifth. Drawings connected with specifications to be
furnished and bound tip. In case reference is made to drawings in
any specification deposited or filed under this Act, an extra copy of
such drawings shall be left with such specification, and the same
shall be bound up in a suitable book, to be kept for such purpose,
and plain, accurate, and sufficient notes of reference to the specifica-
tion wherewith such drawing shall have been been deposited shall
be made on or annexed to such drawings, and bound up with the
JAMAICA. 307
same, in such manner as that such reference may be easily seen and
understood.
Twenty-sixth. Island secretary to supply indexes to the records
of patents, &c. The island secretary shall cause indexes to all
petitions, declarations, specifications, letters patent, disclaimers, and
memoranda of alterations enrolled or recorded as aforesaid, to be
prepared in the form of the indexes now used in the said office ;
and such indexes and the books of record of such documents
respectively shall be open to the inspection of the public at the
usual times, and on payment of the usual fees, in cases of searches
or reference to other records at the said island secretary's office.
XI. As TO PLEADINGS AND COSTS IN ACTIONS.
Twenty-seventh. In action for infringement, particulars of
breaches to be delivered. Particulars of objections on scire facias
to repeal. Proviso. In any action for the infringement of letters
patent, the plaintiff shall deliver with his declaration, concise
particulars of the breaches complained of in the said action, and
the defendant on pleading thereto shall deliver with his plea, and
the prosecutor in any proceedings by scire facias to repeal letters
patent, shall deliver with his declaration, concise particulars of any
objections on which he means to rely at the trial in support of the
pleas in the said action, or of the suggestions of the said declaration
in the proceedings by scire facias, and at the trial of such action or
proceeding by scire facias, no evidence shall be allowed to be given
in support of any alleged infringement, or of any objection
impeaching the validity of such letters patent, which shall not be
contained in the particulars delivered as aforesaid : Provided that
the place or places at or in which and in what manner the invention
is alleged to have been used or published prior to the date of the
letters patent shall be stated in such particulars : Provided also,
that it shall and may be lawful for any judge at chambers to allow
such plaintiff, or defendant, or prosecutor respectively to amend
the particulars delivered as aforesaid upon such terms as to such
judge shall seem fit ; Provided also, that at the trial of any pro-
ceeding by scire facias to repeal letters patent, the defendant shall
be entitled to begin and to give evidence in support of such letters
patent; and in case evidence shall be adduced on the part of the
prosecutor, impeaching the validity of such letters patent, the
defendant shall be entitled to the reply.
SOS FOREIGN LAWS.
Twenty- eighth. General issue to be pleaded. Proviso. In any
action for the infringement of letters patent, the defendant shall
not plead any other plea than the general issue, which shall put the
plaintiff to such proof in support of his action, and let in such evi-
dence for the defendant, as in any action under such plea the
defendant may, or the plaintiff at present is required to adduce ;
nevertheless the defendant shall be at liberty, along with such plea,
to give notice by indorsement thereon or annexed to such plea of
any special defense which he might by the present practice offer
under a special plea, and for which he would be required to plead
specially : Provided, that the defendant shall at the trial be bound
by such notice, and not be at liberty to go into evidence of any
other defense which by the present rules of pleading he would be
restricted from giving, except under some plea for that purpose
specially pleaded ; and if the plaintiff would under the present
rules of pleading be entitled to set up one of two answers to such
special defense, he shall be required to indorse upon his similiter to
the defendant's plea the nature of such answer, and shall at the
trial be precluded from entering into evidence in support of any
other answer : Provided further, that nothing herein contained
shall be construed to prevent any party to an action or suit from
filing a general or a special demurrer.
Twenty-ninth. The court or a judge in chambers may grant
injunctions, &c. In any action in any' of Her Majesty's courts of
record in this island for the infringement of letters patent, it shall
be lawful for the court in which such action is pending, if the court
be then sitting, or if the court be not sitting, then for a judge of
such court, on the application of the plaintiff or defendant respect-
ively to make such order for an injunction, inspection, or account,
and to give such direction respecting such action, injunction,
inspection, and account, and the proceedings therein respectively,
as to such court or judge may seem fit.
Thirtieth. As to costs in actions for infringement of patent
rights. In taxing the costs in any action, in any of Her Majesty's
courts of record in this island, commenced after the passing of this
Act, for infringing letters patent, regard shall be had to the
particulars delivered in such action, and the plaintiff and defendant
respectively shall not be allowed any costs in respect of any
particulars, unless certified by the judge before whom the trial was
had, to have been proved by such plaintiff or defendant respectively
without regard to the general costs of the cause ; and it shall be
JAMAICA. 309
lawful for the judge before whom any such action shall be tried, to
certify on the record that the validity of the letters patent in the
declaration mentioned came in question, and the record with such
certificate being given in evidence in any suit or action for infringing
the said letters patent, or in any proceeding by scire facias to repeal
the letters patent, shall entitle the plaintiff in any such suit or action,
or the defendant in such proceeding by scire facias, on obtaining a
decree, decretal order, or final judgment; to his full costs, charges
and expenses, taxed as between attorney and client, unless the
judge, making such decree or order, or the judge trying such
action or proceeding, shall certify that the plaintiff or defendant
respectively ought not to have such full costs.
XII. PENALTY FOR USER OR FOR IMITATION OR COUNTERFEIT
WITHOUT CONSENT.
Thirty-first. Treble damages to be paid to patentee for the un-
lawful use of his patented invention. Whenever in any case any
letters patent shall be, or shall or may have been granted to any
person under and by virtue of this Act, and any person without the
consent of the patentee, his executors, administrators, or assigns,
first had and obtained in writing, shall make, devise, use, or sell the
thing, invention, or discovery whereof the exclusive right is
secured to the said patentee by such letters patent, such persons so
offending shall forfeit and pay to the said patentee, his executors,
administrators, or assigns, a sum equal to three times the actual
damage sustained by such patentee, his executors, administrators,
or assigns, from or by reason of such offense, which sum shall and
may be recoverable, together with costs of suit, by action on the
case founded on this Act in the Supreme Court of this island.
Thirty-second. Using the name of a patentee for the sale of an
unpatented invention, declared subject to a penalty. If any person
shall write, paint, or print, or mould, cast, or carve, or engrave or
stamp upon any thing made, used, or sold by him, for the sole
making or selling of which he hath not or shall not have obtained
letters patent, the name, or any imitation of the name, of any other
person who hath or shall have obtained letters patent for the sole,
making and vending of such thing, without leave in writing of such
patentee, or his assigns ; or if any person shall, upon such thing not
having been purchased from the patentee, or some person who pur-
310 FOREIGN LAWS.
chased it from or under such patentee, or not having had the license
or consent in writing of such patentee, or his assigns, write,
paint, print, mould, cast, carve, engrave, stamp or otherwise mark
the words " patent," the words " Letters Patent," or the words " By
the Queen's Patent," or any words of the like kind, meaning, or
import, with a view of imitating or counterfeiting the stamp, mark,
or other device of the patentee or shall in any other manner imitate
or counterfeit the stamp, or mark, or other device of the patentee,
he shall for every such offense be liable to a penalty of fifty pounds,
to be recovered by action of debt, bill, plaint, process or informa-
tion in Her Majesty's Supreme Court of this island, one half to
Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, and the other to any person
who shall sue for the same ; provided that nothing herein contained
shall be construed to extend to subject any person to any penalty
in respect of stamping, or in any way marking, the words " Patent "
upon any thing made for the sole making or vending of which a
patent before obtained shall have expired.
XIII. As TO FORMS AND STAMPS.
Thirty-third. The forms of this Act may be varied. The sev-
eral forms in the schedule to this Act may be used for and in
respect of the several matters therein mentioned, and the same may
be varied as occasion may require.
Thirty-fourth. Stamps stated in schedule to be impressed. The
respective stamp duties set forth in the schedule hereunto annexed,
shall be charged on letters patent, and the other instruments
therein stated under this Act respectively, and no other stamp
duties shall be chargeable thereon respectively.
XIV. As TO THE WEIT OF SCIKE FACIAS.
Thirty-fifth. Scire facias for the repeal of patents. Provided
that the writ of scire facias shall lie for the repeal of any letters
patent issued under this Act, in the like cases as the same would
lie for the repeal of letters patent which may now be issued under
the Great Seal in England.
JAMAICA. 311
XV. CONSTRUCTION OF ACT.
Thirty-sixth. Doubts as to construction to be construed by
analogy. If any doubt should arise in the construction of this Act,
the same may be construed by analogy to the laws now or hereaf-
ter to be in force in England relating to the granting of letters
patent for inventions, so far as the provisions of such laws shall be
applicable
XVI. COMMISSIONERS TO BE ASSOCIATED.
Thirty-seventh. The governor to appoint commissioners under
this Act. It shall be lawful for the Governor from time to time,
by warrant under his sign manual, which shall be free from stamp
duty, to appoint such persons as he may think fit to be commis-
sioners under this Act ; and every person so appointed shall con-
tinue such commissioner during the Governor's pleasure, and may
be summoned to attend any meeting, and take part in any proceed-
ings of the Governor in executive committee in any matter or
proceeding arising under this Act.
XVII. MISCELLANEOUS CLAUSES.
Thirty-eighth. Interpretation ofioords. In the construction of
this Act the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby
assigned to them, unless such meanings be repugnant to or incon-
sistent with the context ; that is to say, " the expression, invention,
discovery, and improvement " respectively, shall mean any manner
of new manufacture or new mode of manufacture, the subject of
letters patent and grant of privilege within the meaning of the Act
of the twenty-first year of the reign of King James the First,
chapter three ; the expressions " petition," " declaration," " refer-
ence," "certificate," or " warrant," and " letters patent" respect-
ively, shall mean instruments in the form and to the effect in the
schedule hereto annexed, subject to such alterations as may from
time to time be made therein, under the powers and provisions of
this Act.
Thirty-ninth. Short title of Act. In citing this Act in otbjen
Acts, instruments, and proceedings, it shall be sufficient to use
expressions "The Patent Law Amendment Act, 1857."
Fortieth. \Mh Viet. cap. 12, repealed. A certain Act of
312 FOREIGN LAWS.
legislature of this island, made and passed in the sixteenth year of
the reign of Her present Majesty, for ascertaining and declaring
the law with regard to patents, of exclusive privileges in trade,
manufacture, and inventions in connection therewith, is hereby
repealed.
Forty-first. Patents granted in Great Britain to trade in this
Island, unless granted in pursuance of this Act. No letters patent
heretofore obtained, or hereafter to be obtained, in Great Britain,
or elsewhere, for the exclusive privilege of trade or manufacture,
or any invention in connection therewith, shall be of any validity
or effect in this island, unless letters patent for the privilege or
invention, in respect of which such foreign letters patent may have
been obtained, shall be granted and issued in pursuance of this
Act, nor until all the provisions and requirements of this Act shall
have been complied with in respect to letters patent.
SCHEDULE OF STAMP DUTIES.
*. &
Letters patent 5
Petition 1 6
Declaration 1 6
Specification 5
Reference
Certificate or warrant of attorney-general
Disclaimer or memorandum of alteration 1 6
Assignment.., 10
FORMS.
Petition.
To his Excellency, &c., &c. [here insert name and title of Governor.]
The humble petition of [here insert name and address of petitioner], for, &c.
Showeth,
That your petitioner is in possession of an invention for [the tille of the invention],
which invention lie believes will be of great public utility ; that he is the true and
first inventor thereof ; and that the same is not in use by any other person or persons
to the best of his knowledge and belief.
Your petitioner, therefore, humbly prays that your Excellency will be pleased, in
the name and on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, to grunt unto him, his executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Majesty's letters patent for this island, for the term
of fourteen years, pursuant to the statute in that case made and provided.
And your petitioner will ever pray, &c.
JAMAICA. 313
Declaration.
I , of , in the county of , do solemnly and sincerely declare
that I am in possession of an invention for, &c., &c. [the title as in petition], which
invention I believe will be of great public utility ; that 1 am the true and first inventor
thereof ; and that the Siime is not in use by any other person or persons to the best
of my knowledge and belief ; and that the instrument in writing, under my hand and
seal, hereunto annexed, particularly describes and ascertains the nature of the said
invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed ; and I make this
declaration, conscientiously believing the same to .be true, and by virtue of the provis-
ions of an act made and passed.
A. B.
Declared at , this day of , A. D., before me, ,
Justice of the Peace.
Specification.
To all to whom these presents shall come, I , of , send greeting :
Know ye, that I, the said , do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for [insert title as in petition], and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement ; (that is to
say)
[Here describe tJie invention.]
In witness whereof I, the said A. B., have hereunto set my hand this day
, A. D.
We attest :
C. D.,of , &c.
K F., of , &c.
Reference.
(To be indorsed on the petition.;
His Excellency is pleased to refer this petition to Her Majesty's Attorney-General,
to consider what may be properly done therein.
Secretary to the Executive Committee.
Warrant.
In obedience to his Excellency's command, referring to me the petition of ,
of , to consider what may be properly done therein, I do hereby certify as fol-
lows, that the said petition sets forth that the petitioner,
[Allegations of the petition.]
And the petitioner most humbly prays
[Prayer of the petition. ]
That in support of the allegations contained in the said petition, the declaration of
the petitioner has been laid before me, whereby he solemnly declares that,
[Allegations of the declaration.]
That there has also been laid before me a specification signed , and attested
by two witnesses, and also a certificate of the filing thereof.
That it appears that the said application was duly advertised. Upon considera-
tion of all the matters aforesaid, and as it is entirely at the hazard of the said peti-
tioner whether the said invention is new, or will have the desired success, and as it
may be reasonable for his Excellency to encourage all arts and inventions which may
be for the public good, I am of opinion that his Excellency may grant letters patent
314 FOREIGN LAWS.
unto the petitioner, hia executors, administrators, and assigns, for his said invention
within this island, for the term of fourteen years, according to the statute in that
case made and provided, if his Excellency shall be graciously pleased so to do, to the
tenor and effect following :
(See Forms, Letters Patent.)
Given under my hand this day of , A. D,
Attorney-General, Jamaica.
Letters Patent.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land, Queen, and of Jamaica, Lady, Defender of the Faith : to all to whom these
presents shall come, greeting :
Whereas hath, by his petition, humbly represented unto Our Captain-Gen-
eral and Governor-in-Chief of our Island of Jamaica that he is in possession of an
invention for [insert title of invention], which the petitioner conceives will be of great
public utility ; that he is the true and first inventor thereof ; and that the same is not
in use by any other person or persons to the best of his knowledge and belief. The
petitioner, therefore, most humbly prayed that We would be graciously pleased to
grant unto him, his executors, administrators, and assigns, Our Royal letters patent
for the sole use, benefit, and advantage of his said invention within Our said Island
of Jamaica for the term of fourteen year, pursuant to the statute in that case made
and provided :
And whereas the said hath particularly described and ascertained the nature
of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under his hand, and has caused the same to be duly filed in the
office of the Island secretary :
And We, being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which
may be for the public good, are graciously pteased to condescend to the request :
Know ye, therefore, that We, of Our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere
motion, have given and granted, and by these presents, for Us, Our heirs and succes-
sors, do give and grant unto the said , his executors, administrators, and
assigns, Our especial license, full power, sole privilege, and authority that he, the
said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by himself
and themselves, or by his and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such
others as he, the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, shall at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and r.t all times hereafter during
the term of years herein expressed, shall and lawfully may make, use, exercise, and
vend his said invention within Our said island of Jamaica, in such manner as to him,
the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, or any of them, shall in
his or their discretion seem meet, and that he, the said , his executors, admin-
istrators, and assigns, shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit,
commodity, and advantage, and enjoy from time to time coming, growing, accruing
and arising by reason of the said invention, for and during the term of years herein
mentioned, to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licenses, powers, privileges, and
advantages herein-before granted or mentioned to be granted unto the said , his
executors, administrators, and assigns, for and during and unto the full end and term
of fourteen years from the day of , A. D. next and immediately
ensuing, and according to the statute in such case made and provided, and to the
end thai he, the said , his executors, administrators and assigns, and every of
JAMAICA. 315
them, may have and enjoy the full benefit, and the sole use and exercise of the said
invention, according to our gracious intention herein-before declared, We do by these
presents, for Us, Our heirs and successors require and strictly command all and
every person and persons, bodies politic and corporate, and all other Our subjects
whatsoever, of what estate, quality, degree, name, or condition soever they be,
within Our said island of Jamaica, that neither thay nor any of them, at any time
during the continuance of the said term of fourteen years hereby granted, either
directly or indirectly, do make, use, or put in practice the said invention, or any part
of the same, so attained unto by the said , as aforesaid, nor in anywise counter-
feit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor shall make or cause to be made any addition
thereto or subtraction from the same, whereby to pretend himself or themselves the
inventor or inventors, devisor or devisors thereof, without the consent, license, or agree-
ment of the said , his executors, administrators, or assigns, in writing under his
or their hands and seals, first had and obtained in that behalf, upon such pains and
penalties as can or may be justly inflicted on such offenders for their contempt of this
Our Royal command ; and further, to be answerable to the said , his executors,
administrators, and assigns, according to law, for his and their damages thereby occa-
sioned ; and moreover, we do by these presents, for Us, Our heirs and successors, will
and command all and singular the justices of the peace, constables, and all other officers
and ministers whatsoever, Our heirs and successors for the the time being, that they, or
any of them, do not nor shall at any time during the said term hereby granted, in any-
wise molest, trouble, or hinder the said , his executors, administrators, or assigns, or
any of them, or his or their deputies, servants, or agents, in or about the due and lawful
use or exercise of the aforesaid invention, or anything relating thereto : Provided
always, and these Our letters patent are, and shall be upon this condition, that if, at
any time during the said term hereby granted, it shall be made appear to Us, Our heirs
or successors, or any six or more of Our, or their, Privy Council of Our said island of
Jamaica, that this Our grant is contrary to law, or prejudicial or inconvenient to Our
subjects in general, or that the said invention is not a new invention as to the public
use and exercise thereof, or that the said is not the true and first inventor
thereof within this island as aforesaid, these Our letters patent shall forthwith cease,
determine, and be utterly void, to all intents and purposes, anything hereinbefore con-
tained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding : Provided also, that these
Our letters patent, or anything herein contained, shall not extend, or be construed to
extend, to give privilege unto the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns,
or any of them, to use or imitate any invention or work whatsoever which hath hereto-
fore been found out or invented by any other of Our subjects whatsoever, and publicly
used or exercised, unto whom Our letters patent or privileges have been already granted
for the sole use, exercise, and benefit thereof ; it being Our will and pleasure that the
said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, and all and every other per-
son and persons to whom like letters patent or privileges have been already granted as
aforesaid, shall distinctly use and practice their several inventions by them invented
and found out, according to the true intent and meaning of the same respective letters
patent, and of these presents : Provided likewise, nevertheless, and these Our letters
patent are upon this express condition, that if the said instrument in writing, filed as
aforesaid, does net particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same ia to be performed, and also, if the said , his
executors, administrators, or assigns, shall not supply, or cause to be supplied, for Our
316 FOREIGN LAWS.
service, all such articles of the said invention as he or they shall be required to supply
by the officers or commissioners administering the department of Our service for the
use of which the same shall be required, in such manner, at such times, and at and
upon such reasonable prices and terms as shall be settled for that purpose by the said
officers or commissioners requiring the same, that then, and in any of the said cases,
these Our letters patent, aud all liberties and advantages hereby granted, shall utterly
cease, determine, and become void, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary
thereof in anywise notwithstanding: Provided that nothing herein contained shall pre-
vent the granting of licenses in such manner and for such considerations as they may
by law be granted ; and lastly, We do, by these presents, for Us, Our heirs and suc-
cessors, grant unto the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, that
these Our letters patent, on the filing thereof, shall be, in and by all things good, firm,
valid, sufficient, and effectual in the law according to the true intent and meaning
thereof, and shall be taken, construed, and adjudged in the most favorable and bene-
ficial sense for the best advantage of the said , his executors, administrators,
and assigns, as well as in all Our courts of record as elsewhere, and by all and singular
the officers and ministers whatsoever of Us, Our heirs and successors, in Our said
island of Jamaica, and amongst all and every the subjects of Us, Our heirs and suc-
cessors, within Our said island of Jamaica, notwithstanding the not full and certain
describing the nature and quality of the said invention, or of the materials thereunto
conducing and belonging : Provided further, that if the said , his heirs, admin-
istrators, or assigns, shall, upon petition, presented to Our Captain-General and Gover-
nor-in-Chief, or officer administering the government of Our said island, before the
expiration of the term of years hereby granted, show that he or they has or hath been
unable to obtain a due remuneration for his or their expense or labor in perfecting the
aforesaid invention, aud Our Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief, or officer admin-
istering the government as aforesaid, in Executive Committee, shall be of opinion that
an extension of the term of years aforesaid should be granted, it shall be lawful for
Our Captain-General and Governor-in-chief, or officer administering the government
as aforesaid, to extend the term of years aforesaid for any further period not exceed-
ing seven years, and to sign and issue in the name and on the behalf of Us, Our heirs
or successors, new letters patent, in the form or of the tenor or effect aforesaid, unto
the said , his executors, administrators, or assigns, for the aforesaid invention
for any such further period not exceeding seven years as aforesaid accordingly ; and
to the end aforesaid, We have caused these, Our letters patent to be sealed with the
broad seal of Our said island of Jamaica.
(Seal.) Witness, his Excellency, &c., &c., &c., Captain-General and Governor-in-
Chief [or administering the government] of Our said island of Jamaica,
and the territories thereon depending, Chancellor and Yice-Admiral of
the same, at Saint Jago de la Vega, this day of annoque
domini, and in the year of Our reign.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 304.
JAPAN.
JAPAN.
Imperial Proclamation No. 7 of (April 18,) 1884; and
Appendix.
It is hereby notified that the following regulations as to patents
have been published and will be enforced on and after July 1, 1885.
N. B. The rules respecting patents published on April 7, 1871,
and Imperial Proclamation No. 105, published in March, 1872, have
been repealed.
By order of H. I. M. the MIKADO.
Prince SANJO SANEYOSIII,
Prime Minister of State.
Count MATSUKATA MASATOSUI,
Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.
April 18, 1885.
ARTICLE 1. Inventors of useful articles desirous of having the
exclusive sale of the same shall apply to the minister of agriculture
and commerce, and obtain his special permission. The minister of
agriculture and commerce shall, if advisable, deliver certificates of
special permission for their exclusive sale.
AET. 2. In applying for a patent a detailed statement of the
invention and the necessary diagrams will be affixed to the written
application. The invented article or a specimen, shall, if necessary,
be ordered to be submitted.
ART. 3. The terms of a patent right may not exceed fifteen years,
reckoning from the date of its certificate.
ART. 4. Patents cannot be applied for in the case of articles of
the nature specified below:
(1.) Articles that have previously been invented by others.
N. B. This provision does not extend to patents that have
been transferred by their owners.
(2.) Articles that have been publicly used or known before the
patents have been applied for.
(3.) Articles that tend to disturb social tranquillity or demoralize
customs and fashions, or are injurious to health.
(4.) Medicines.
ART. 5. For inventions deemed necessary for war purposes or
those the general use of which is deemed important, the minister of
318 FOREIGN LAWS.
agriculture and commerce will not grant patents, and in the case of
those for which patents have previously been granted he may can-
cel the same. In the case of inventions described above, the minister
of agriculture and commerce will grant appropriate sums of money
to the inventors by way of compensation.
AET. 6. Privileges by securing patents, as well as the patents,
may be hereditary. When a successor has inherited a patent he
shall report the fact to the minister of agriculture and commerce
within three months.
ART. 7. Persons desirous of transferring to or acquiring from
another person, patents, must apply for the permission of the minis-
ter of agriculture and commerce.
ART. 8. When a patentee effects improvements upon his inven-
tion he may apply for a fresh patent.
N. B. The effect of additional patents may not exceed that of
the original patents.
ART. 9. Persons desirous of obtaining patents for articles that
are improvements upon other patented inventions must secure
the consent of the original patentees. If the original patentee
should refuse his consent and the minister of agriculture and com-
merce deem the refusal obstructive to the improvement of the
invention, he may grant the improver special permission to use the
original invention together with the improved part. In such cases
as have been mentioned above the minister of agriculture and com-
merce shall cause the improvers to give appropriate sums of money
to the original inventors by way of compensation.
ART. 10. Patentees must indicate on their inventions the date
and term of the patents. In the case of articles, the nature of
which precludes such indication, the date and term must be marked
on the cover or otherwise.
ART. 11. The register of patentees, with other details, shall be
submitted for public inspection by the minister of agriculture and
commerce.
ART. 12. When patentees change the places of their registration
or their residences or names, they must report the fact to the depart-
ment of agriculture and commerce within three months.
ART. 13. When certificates of patents have been lost or damaged,
the patentees must apply to the minister of agriculture and com-
merce for the delivery of fresh certificates.
ABT. 14. In cases mentioned below, patents shall be declared
void and the return of the certificates of the patents shall be ordered:
JAPAN. 319
(1.) When any contravention of the provisions of article 4 has
been discovered.
(2.) When any misrepresentation of facts has been discovered in
the written applications and details of the inventions.
AKT. 15. Patents will become void in the following cases :
(1.) When the inventions have not. been practically publicly
applied within two years after the date of the certificates of the
patents, or when their execution has been suspended for two years
without any representation of the circumstances of the case to the
authorities.
(2.) When patented inventions have been imported from abroad
and sold.
ART. 16. When certificates of patents are granted or canceled,
or when any loss of patent right has occurred, the department of
agriculture and commerce will publicly notify the fact.
ART. 17. Persons applying for patents shall pay the undermen-
tioned fees.
N. B. Should the written applications be dismissed, the fees
shall be returned.
(1.) For persons applying for patents lasting for five years, 10
yen.
(2.) For persons applying for patents lasting for ten years, 15
yen.
(3.) For persons applying for patents lasting for fifteen years,
20 yen.
(4.) For persons applying for the transfer of patents, 5 yen.
(5.) For persons applying for additional patents, 5 yen.
(6.) For persons applying for fresh certificates of patents, 1 yen.
ART. 18. Officials concerned in the granting of patents may not
apply for patents.
ART. 19. If the marks described in article 10 are not made, no
appeal for any claim of damage may be made.
ART. 20. Persons who have counterfeited patented inventions,
or imported them from abroad, or clandestinely used any patent,
shall be liable to imprisonment with labor for a period not less than
one month and not exceeding one year and a fine of not less than 4
yen and not exceeding 40 yen.
ABT. 21. Persons who have applied to articles of the same kind
as others manufactured under patents, marks that bear a close resem-
blance to those used by the owners of such patents, shall be liable
to imprisonment with labor for a period of not less than fifteen days
320 FOREIGN LAWS.
and not exceeding six months, and a fine not less than 2 yen and not
exceeding 20 yen.
ART. 22. Persons who have sold articles in contravention of
articles 20 and 21, with previous knowledge of the fact, shall be
liable to a fine not less than 4 yen and not exceeding 40 yen.
ART. 23. In the cases mentioned in articles 20, 21 and 22, the
infringing articles and the apparatus used for the perpetration of
the offenses shall be confiscated and handed over to the patentees,
and in the case of articles previously sold, their price shall be exacted
from the offender and also given to the patentees.
ART. 24. Persons who have obtained rights by fraudulent means
or sham patents shall be liable to imprisonment for a period not less
than fifteen days and not exceeding six months, and a penalty of
not less than 2 yen and not exceeding 20 yen.
ART. 25. Persons who have failed to make the reports mentioned
in the second clause of article 6 and article 12 within the prescribed
periods shall be liable to a penalty of not less than 1 yen and not
exceeding 1.95 yen.
ART. 26. To contraventions of these regulations the provisions
in the criminal code for the simultaneous commission of several
crimes shall not be applied.
ART. 27. The offenses mentioned in articles 20, 21, and 22 shall
be dealt with at the instance of the patentees.
ART. 28. When patentees have made appeals, judges may tem-
porarily suspend the sale of the articles to which such appeals
relate.
Appendix.
Persons desirous of obtaining the exclusive sale of articles
invented after the publication of the patent rules of April 7, 1871,
and before the publication of these regulations, and which were
reported to the authorities according to the additional provisions of
notification No. 105, published in March, 1872, may apply to the
minister of agriculture and commerce for their patents within six
mouths after the date of the enforcement of these regulations,
even though they be such as are generally used or known.
Persons who have made use of the inventions described above
before the publication of these regulations may apply to the minis-
ter of agriculture and commerce for special permission for their use
within one year after the date of the enforcement of these regula-
JAPAN. 321
tions. In such cases they shall pay fees to the same araonnt as
those, for the granting of patents mentioned in article 17.
From 81 Pat. Off. Gaz. 1445.
Notification No. 5 Council of State.
It is hereby notified, that, the Patent Regulations having been
published, the following Regulations are issued as to the mode of
procedure to obtain patents.
Prince SANJO SANEYOSHI,
Prime Minister.
Count MATSTJKATA MASAYOSHI,
Acting Minister of the Agricultural and Commercial Department.
April 18, 1885.
AKTICLE 1. Applications and reports in connection with patents
shall be sent to the agricultural and commercial department through
the prefectural authorities.
ART. 2. When application is made for a patent, there must be
two letters of application and three statements of details and dia-
grams sent in, together with the patent fee. When more than one
person is connected with the invention, they shall all sign the doc-
uments sent to the department.
AKT. 3. Written statements, details, and diagrams are to be sent
to the prefectural authorities in a sealed form, and in that form,
they will be forwarded to the minister of the agricultural and com-
mercial department.
ART. 4. The following must be stated in all applications for
patents :
(1.) The name of the invention.
(2.) The duration of the patent applied for.
(3.) A declaration that it is not contravening the regulations.
(4.) A declaration that there are no misrepresentations of facts
made in the written application and statement.
ART. 5. In the details the following must appear :
(1.) The object of the invention and explanation of its nature.
(2.) An explanation of the diagrams, when such are submitted.
(3.) A detailed description of the manufacture, structure, com-
position and the way of employing the invention.
(4.) The uses to which the invention may be applied.
(5.) The social rank, name and address of the inventor.
ART. 6. The diagram must be numbered, and their respective
I. 21
322 FOREIGN LAWS.
parts shall be marked with letters or numerical figures to correspond
with the explanations.
ART. 7. Any one applying for the transfer of the whole or part
of the patent, in accordance with the 7th article of the regulations,
must send in two letters of application, a copy of the agreement
between the parties, and the certificate of patent, together with the
fee.
ART. 8. Any person applying for additional patent rights should
do so as provided in articles 2 and 3.
ART. 9. Any person desirous of obtaining the special permission
stated in the second part of article 9 of the regulations, shall sena
in two applications, stating the circumstances of the case.
ART. 10. When it is reported, as stated in articles 6 and 12. of
the regulations, that the name of the patentee is altered, the .min-
ister of the agricultural and commercial department shall indorse
the fact on the certificate of patent.
ART. 11. When any one applies for a fresh certificate, a detailed
account of the circumstances of the case must be sent in.
ART. 12. In a case where a patentee has discovered omissions or
mis-statements in the letters of applications and diagrams, he shall
send in two applications with a detailed account of the circum-
stances of the case. But when by addition to or alteration of some
important part the invention is completely changed, no application
will be received.
ART. 13. When patentees allow others by mutual consent to use
the invention, the fact should be reported and the document signed
by both parties.
ART. 14. When, after a patent has been declared void through
a contravention of the provisions of the first part of article 4 of the
regulations, and the original inventor applies again for the patent,
its term shall not exceed that granted to the original patent.
ART. 15. Any person who desires to obtain permission to use
articles, as provided for in the second clause of the regulations,
shall send in two applications containing a detailed account of their
previous employment.
From 31 Pat. Off. Gaz. 1445.
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 323
LEEWARD ISLANDS.
An Act for amending the Law for granting Patents for
Inventions. No. 12 of 1876.
Whereas it is expedient to amend the law concerning letters
patent for inventions,
Be it enacted by the Governor and General Legislative Council
of the Leeward Islands, as follows :
[Section 1, relating to commissioners of patents, has been
repealed. See, sections 1 & 5 of Act No. 16, 1878, post.]
2. Seal of the commissioners. It shall be lawful for the com-
missioners to cause a seal to be made for the purposes of this Act,
and from time to time to vary such seal, and to cause to be
sealed therewith all the warrants for letters patent under this Act,
and all instruments and copies proceeding from the office of the
commissioners, and all courts, judges and other persons whomsoever,
shall take notice of such seal, and receive impressions .thereof in
evidence, in like manner as impressions of the Great Seal of the
Colony are received in evidence, and shall also take notice of and
receive in evidence, without further proof or production of the
originals, all copies or extracts certified under the seal of the said
office, of or from documents deposited in such office.
3. Power of commissioners to make rules and regulations to be
approved by governor in council. It shall be lawful for the com-
missioners from time to time to make such rules and regulations
(not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act) respecting the
business of their office, and all matters and things which under the
provisions herein contained are to be under their control and direc-
tion, as may appear to them necessary and expedient for the pur-
poses of this Act, and all such rules when approved by the Governor
in Council shall have the force and effect of law.
4. Office of the commissioners. It shall be lawful for the Gov-
ernor to provide and appoint from time to time a proper place for an
office for the purposes of this Act.
5. Commissioners, with consent of Governor, to appoint clerk.
It shall be lawful for the commissioners, with the consent and
approval of the Governor, from time to time to appoint a clerk for
the purposes of this Act, and it shall be lawful for the commission-
324 FOREIGN LAWS.
era from time to time, with the approval of the Governor, to
remove such clerk so appointed.
6. Petition, &c. to be accompanied by a provisional specification.
Every petition for the grant of letters patent for an invention, and
the declaration required to accompany such petition, shall be left at
the office of the commissioners; and there shall be left there, with it,
a statement in writing, hereinafter called the provisional specifica-
tion, signed by or on behalf of the applicant for letters patent, describ-
ing the nature of the said invention; and the day of the delivery of
every such petition, declaration, and provisional specification shall
be recorded at the said office, and indorsed on such petition, declar-
ation, and provisional specification, and a certificate thereof given
to such applicant or his agent ; and all such petitions, declarations,
and provisional specifications shall be preserved in such manner as
the commissioners may direct, and a registry thereof, and of all
proceedings thereon, kept at the office of the commissioners.
7. Every application to be referred to attorney -general. Every
applicant for letters patent made under this Act shall be referred
by the commissioners according to such regulations as they may
think fit to make, to the attorney-general.'
8. Provisional specification to be referred to attorney-general,
who may give certificate of allowance. The provisional specifica-
tion shall be referred to the attorney-general, who shall be at liberty
to call to his aid such scientific, or other person as he may think fit,
and to cause to be paid to such person by the applicant, such remun-
eration as the attorney-general shall appoint ; and if the attorney-
general be satisfied that the provisional specification describes the
nature of the invention, he shall allow the same, and give a certifi-
cate of his allowance, and such certificate shall be filed in the office
of the commissioners, and thereupon the invention therein referred
to may, during the term of six months from the date of the appli-
cation for letters patent for the said invention be used and published
without prejudice to any letters patent to be granted for the same,
and such protection from the consequences of use and publication
is hereinafter referred to as provisional protection. Provided
always that in case the title of the invention or the provisional
specification be too large or insufficient, it shall be lawful for the
attorney-general to allow or require the same to be amended.
9. Inventor may deposit a complete specification, to confer for
a limited time the like rights as letters patent. The applicant for
letters patent for an invention instead of leaving with the petition
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 325
and declaration a provisional specification as aforesaid, may, if he
think fit, file with the said petition and declaration an instrument
in writing under his hand and seal (hereinafter called a complete
specification) particularly describing and ascertaining the nature of
the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
which complete specification shall be mentioned in such declaration,
and the day of the delivery of every such petition, declaration and
complete specification shall be recorded at the office of the commis-
sioners, and indorsed on such petition, declaration, and specification,
and a certificate thereof given to such applicant or his agent, and
thereupon subject and without prejudice to the provisions herein-
after contained, the invention shall be protected under this Act for
the term of six months from the date of the application, and the
applicant shall have during such term of six months the like powers,
rights, and privileges, as might have been conferred upon him by
letters patent for such invention issued under this Act, and duly
sealed as of the day of the date of such application, and during
the continuance of such powers, rights, and privileges under this
provision, such invention may be used and published without
prejudice to any letters patent to be granted for the same ; and
where letters patent are granted in respect of such invention, then
in lieu of a condition for making void such letters patent in case
such invention be not described and ascertained by a subsequent
specification, such letters patent shall be conditioned to become
void, if such complete specification filed as aforesaid, does not par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed ; and a copy of
every such complete specification shall be open to the inspection of
the public as hereinafter provided, from the time of depositing the
same, subject to such regulations as the commissioners may make.
10. Tetters patent granted to first inventor not invalidated by
protection obtained in fraud. In case of any application for letters
patent for any invention, and the obtaining upon such application
of provisional protection for such invention, or of protection for
the same, by reason of the deposit of a complete specification, as
aforesaid, in fraud of the true and first inventor, any letters patent
granted to the true and first inventor of such invention shall not be
invalidated by reason of such application or of such provisional or
other protection as aforesaid, or of any use or publication of the
invention, subsequent to such application, and before the expiration
of the term of such provisional or other protection.
326 FOREIGN LAWS.
11. Commissioners to cause protection to be advertised. Where
any invention is provisionally protected under this Act, or protected
by reason of the deposit of such complete specification as aforesaid,
the commissioners shall cause such provisional protection, or such
other protection, as aforesaid, to be advertised in such manner as
they may see fit.
12. Application for letters patent to be advertised ; also opposi-
tions. The applicant for letters patent, so soon as he may think fit
after the invention shall have been provisionally protected under
this Act, or where a complete specification has been deposited with
his petition and declaration, then so soon as he may think fit after
such deposit, may give notice at the office of the commissioners of
his intention of proceeding with his application for letters patent
for the said invention, and thereupon the said commissioners shall
cause his said application to be advertised in such manner as they
may see fit, and any person having an interest in opposing the
grant of letters patent for the said invention, shall be at liberty to
leave particulars in writing of their objections to the said applica-
tion at such place, and within such time, and subject to such regu-
lations as the commissioners may direct.
13. Specification and objections to be referred to attorney-gen-
eral. So soon as the time for the delivery of such objections shall
have expired, the provisional specification or complete specification
(as the case may be), and particulars of objection (if any) shall be
referred to the attorney-general.
14:. Power to attorney-general to order costs paid. It shall be
lawful for the attorney-general, if he see fit, by certificate under his
band, to order by or to whom the cost of any hearing or inquiry upon
any objection or otherwise, in relation to the grant of such letters
patent, or in relation to provisional (or other) protection acquired by
the applicant under this Act shall be paid, and in what manner, and
by whom such costs are to be ascertained, and if any costs so ordered
to be paid be not paid within four days after the amount thereof
shall be so ascertained, it shall be lawful for the attorney-general
to make an order for the payment of the same, and every such
order may be iua<>. a rule of the supreme court to the effect that
execution may pass thereupon in common foim.
15. Attorney-general to cause warrant for sealing letters patent.
It shall be lawful for the attorney-general after such hearing, if
any, as he may think fit, to cause a warrant to be made for the
sealing of letters patent for the said invention, and such warrant
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 327
shall be sealed with the seal of the commissioners, and shall set forth
the tenor and effect of the letters patent thereby authorized to be
granted, and the attorney-general shall direct the insertion in such
letters patent of all such restrictions, conditions, and provisos as he
may deem usual and expedient in such grants, or necessary in pursu-
ance of the provisions of this Act ; and the said warrant shall be the
warrant for making and sealing of letters patent under this Act
according to the tenor of said warrant.
16. Nothing to affect the prerogative of the Crown. Provided
always that nothing herein contained shall extend to abridge or
affect the prerogative of the Crown in relation to the granting or
withholding the grant of any letters patent, and it shall be lawful for
the Governor by warrant under his hand, to direct the attorney-gen-
eral to withhold such warrant as aforesaid, or that any letters patent
for the issuing whereof he may have issued a warrant as aforesaid
shall not issue, or to direct the insertion in any letters patent to be
issued in manner herein provided of any restrictions, conditions, or
provisos, which he may think fit, in addition to, or in substitution
for, any restrictions, conditions or provisos which would otherwise
be inserted therein under this Act, and it shall also be lawful for
the Governor by like warrant to direct any complete specification,
which may have been filed under the provision hereinbefore con-
tained, and in respect of the invention described, in which no let-
ters patent may have been granted, to be canceled, and thereupon
the protection obtained by the filing of such complete specification '
shall cease.
17. Letters patent to be for 14 years, subject to conditions. All
letters patent for inventions granted under the provisions hereinbe-
fore contained shall be for fourteen years, and shall be made sub
ject to the condition, that the same shall be void, and that the powers
and privileges thereby granted shall cease and determine at the
expiration of three years and seven years respectively from the date-
thereof, unless there be paid before the expiration of the said three
and seven years respectively, the sum or sums of money in the sched-
ule to this Act annexed; and the payment of the said sums of money
shall be indorsed on the warrant for the said letters patent, and the
clerks of the commissioners shall issue under the seal of the commis
sioners a certificate of such payment, and shall indorse a receipt for
the same on any letters patent issued under tho authority of the said
warrant; and such certificate duly stamped, shall be evidence of the
payment of the several suras respectively.
328 FOREIGN LAWS.
18. Letters patent to be sealed with the Great Seal of the Col-
ony. The commissioners so soon after the sealing of the said war-
rant as required by the applicant for the letters patent, shall cause
to be prepared letters patent for the invention according to the
tenor of the said warrant, and it shall be lawful for the Governor
to cause such letters patent to be sealed with the Great Seal of the
Colony.
19. ATo letters after three months from warrant. Provided
always that no letters patent, save as hereinafter mentioned in tho
case of letters patent destroyed or lost, shall issue on any warrant
granted as aforesaid, unless application be made to seal such
letters patent within three months after the date of the said war-
rant.
20. No letters (except, <&c.,) to be issued after expiration of
protection. Provided also that no letters patent (save letters pat-
ent issued in lieu of others destroyed or lost) shall be issued or be
of any force or effect, unless the same be granted during the con-
tinuance of the provisional protection under this Act, or where a
complete specification has been deposited under this Act, nor then
unless such letters patent be granted during the continuance of the
protection conferred under this Act by reason of such deposit ;
save that where the application to seal such letters patent has been
made during the continuance of such provisional or other protection
as aforesaid, and the sealing of such letters patent has been delayed
by reason of a caveat or an application to the Governor against or
in relation to the sealing of such letters patent, then such letters
patent may be sealed at such time as the Governor shall direct.
21. Letters patent may be granted to personal representatives.
Provided also that where the applicant for such letters patent dies
during the continuance of the provisional protection, or the protec-
tion by reason of the deposit of a complete specification (as the case
may be), such letters patent may be granted to the executors or
administrators of such applicant during the continuance of such
provisional or other protection, or at any time within three months
after the death of such applicant, notwithstanding the expiration of
the term of such provisional or other protection, and the letters pat-
ent so granted shall be of the like force and effect as if they had
been granted to such applicant during the continuance of such
provisional or other protection.
22. If letters be destroyed or lost, others may be issued. Pro-
vided also that in case any such letters patent shall be destroyed
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 329
or lost, other letters patent of the like tenor and effect, and sealed
and dated as of the same day, may, subject to such regulations as
the commissioners may direct, be issued under the authority of the
warrant in pursuance of which the original letters patent were issued.
23. Letters patent may be dated as of the day of the application.
It shall be lawful to cause any letters patent to be issued in pursu-
ance of this Act to be sealed and bear date as of the day of the
application for the same, or where the attorney-general or the
Governor thinks fit and directs, any such letters patent as aforesaid
may be sealed and bear date as of the day of the sealing of such
letters patent or of any other day between the day of such applica-
tion for provisional registration and the day of such sealing.
24. Letters patent antedated to be of the same validity. Any
letters patent issued under this Act, sealed and bearing date as of
any day prior to the day of the actual sealing thereof shall be of
the same force and validity as if they had been sealed on the day
as of which the same are expressed to be sealed and bear date.
Provided always that save where such letters patent are granted
for any invention in respect whereof a complete specification has
been deposited upon the application for the same under this Act,
no proceeding at law or in equity shall be had upon such letters
patent in respect of any infringement committed before the same
were actually granted.
25. Letters for foreign inventions not in force after expira-
tion of foreign patent. Where upon any application made after
the passing of this Act, letters patent are granted in this colony
for or in respect of any invention first invented in any foreign
country, or by the subject of any foreign power or State, and a
patent or like privilege for the monopoly or exclusive use or exer-
cise of such invention in any foreign country is there obtained
before the grant of such letters patent in this colony, all rights and
privileges under such letters patent shall (notwithstanding any term
in such letters patent limited) cease and be void immediately upon
the expiration or other determination of the term during which the
patent or like privilege obtained in such foreign country shall con-
tinue in force, or where more than one such patent or like privilege
is obtained abroad immediately upon the expiration or other deter-
mination of the term which shall first expire or be determined of
such several patents or like privileges, provided always that 110
letters patent for or in respect of any invention for which any such
patent or like privilege as aforesaid shall have been obtained in any
330 FOREIGN LAWS.
foreign country, and which shall be granted in this colony after the
expiration of the term for which such patent or privilege was
granted or was in force, shall be of any validity.
26. Ufa of inventions in foreign ships, <&c. No letters patent for
any invention (granted after the passing of this Act) shall extend
to prevent the use of such invention in any foreign ship or vessel,
or for the navigation of any foreign ship or vessel, which may be
in any port of this colony, where such invention is not so used for
the manufacture of any goods or commodities to be vended within
or exported from this colony, provided always that this enactment
shall not extend to the ships or vessels of any foreign State of which
the laws authorize subjects of such foreign State, having patents or
like privileges for the exclusive use or exercise of inventions within
its territories to prevent or interfere with the use of such inventions
in British ships or vessels while in the ports of such foreign State
or in the waters within the jurisdiction of its courts, where such
inventions are not so used for the manufacture of goods or com-
modities to be vended within or exported from the territories of
such foreign State.
27. Requirement that specifications be filed. All letters patent
to be granted under this Act (save only letters patent granted after
the filing of a complete specification) shall require the specification
thereunder to be filed in the office of the commissioners.
28. Filing. Every specification to be filed in pursuance of the
condition of any letters patent shall be filed in the office of the com-
missioners.
29. Copies of specifications to be open to inspection. The com-
missioners shall cause true copies of all specifications (other than
provisional specifications), disclaimers and memoranda of alterations
filed under or in pursuance of this Act, and all provisional specifi-
cations after the term of the provisional protection of the invention
has expired, to be open to the inspection of the public at the office
of the commissioners at all reasonable times, subject to such reg-
ulations as the commissioners may direct.
30. Specification and other documents to be printed, &c. The
commissioners shall cause to be printed, published, and sold at such
prices and in such manner as they may think fit, all specifications,
disclaimers and memoranda of alterations deposited or filed under
this Act, and such specifications (not being provisional specifica-
tions), disclaimers and memoranda respectively shall be so printed
and published as soon as conveniently may be after the filing thereof
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 331
respectively, and all such provisional specifications shall be so printed
and published as soon as conveniently may be after the expiration
of the provisional protection obtained in respect thereof, and it
shall be lawful for the commissioners to present copies of all such
publications to such public libraries and museums as they may
think fit, and to allow the person depositing or filing any such speci-
fication, disclaimer or memoranda of alteration to have such num-
ber, not exceeding twenty-five, of the copies thereof so printed and
published, without any payment for the same, as they may think fit.
31. Copies of specifications, &c., to be evidence. Printed copies,
certified by the commissioners or one of them, of specifications, dis-
claimers, and memoranda of alterations shall be admissible in evi-
dence and deemed and taken to be primd facie evidence of the
existence and contents of the documents to which they purport to
relate, in all courts and in all proceedings relating to letters patent.
32. Register of patents to be kept. There shall be kept at the
office of the commissioners under this Act a book or books to be
called " The Register of Patents," wherein shall be entered and
recorded in chronological order all letters patent granted under this
Act, the deposit of filing of specifications, disclaimers and memo-
randa of alterations, filed in respect of such letters patent, all
amendments in such letters patent and specifications, all confirma-
tions and extensions of such letters patent, the expiry, vacating, or
canceling such letters patent, with the dates thereof respectively,
and all other matters and things affecting the validity of such let-
ters patent, as the commissioners may direct, and such register or a
copy thereof shall be open at all convenient times to the inspection
of the public, subject to such regulations as the commissioners may
make.
33. Registers of proprietors to be kept. There shall be kept at
the office of the commissioners a book or books entitled " The Reg-
ister of Proprietors," wherein shall be entered in such manner as
the commissioners shall direct the assignment of any letters patent,
or of any share or interest therein, any license under letters patent,
and the district to which such license relates, with the name or
names of any person having any share or interest in such letters
patent or license, the date of his or their acquiring such letters pat-
ent, share and interest, and any other matter or thing relating to or
affecting the proprietorship in such letters patent or license, and a
copy of any entry in such book, certified under the seal of the com-
ixiissioners, shall be given to any person requiring the same on pay-
332 FOREIGN LAWS.
mcnt of the fees hereinafter provided, and such copies so certified
shall be received in evidence in all courts and in all proceedings,
and shall be primd facie proof of the assignment of such letters
patent or share or interest therein or of the license of the proprie-
torship, as therein expressed, provided always that until such entry
shall have been made the grantee or grantees of the letters patent
shall be deemed and taken to be the sole and exclusive proprietor or
proprietors of such letters patent and of all the licenses and privi-
leges thereby given and granted, and any writ of scire facias to
repeal such letters patent may be issued to the provost marshal of
the presidency in which the grantee or grantees resided at the
time when the said letters patent were granted, and in case such
grantee or grantees do not reside in the Leeward Islands, it shall be
sufficient to file such writ in the usual manner in which writs are
filed, and serve notice thereof in writing at the last known residence
or place of business of such grantee or grantees, and such register
or a copy shall be open to the inspection of the public at the office
of the commissioners, subject to such regulations as the commission-
ers may make.
34. Falsification or forgery of entries a misdemeanor. If any
person shall willfully make or cause to be made any false entry in
the said Register of Proprietors, or shall willfully make or forge or
cause to be made or forged any writing falsely purporting to be a
copy of any entry in the said book, or shall produce or tender or
cause to be produced or tendered in evidence any such writing
knowing the same to be false or forged, he shall be guilty of mis-
demeanor, and shall be punished by fine and imprisonment accord-
ingly.
35. Entries may be expunged. If any person shall deem him-
self aggrieved by any entry made under color of this Act in the
said Register of Proprietors, it shall be lawful for such person to
apply by motion to the Supreme Court or any judge thereof for an
order that such entry may be expunged, vacated or varied, and
upon any such application the said court or judge may make such
order for expunging, vacating or varying such entry, and as to the
costs of such application as to the said court or judge may seem fit,
and the officer having the care and custody of such register, on the
production to him of any such order for expunging, vacating or
varying any such entry, shall expunge, vacate or vary the same,
according to the requisitions of such order.
36. Provisions of 5 <fe 6 W. 4, c. 83, and of 7 <& 8 Viet. c. 69,
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 333
as to disclaimers and memoranda of alterations, to apply. Appli-
cation for disclaimers and caveats, All the provisions of the
Imperial Acts of the session holden in the fifth and sixth years of
King William the Fourth, chapter eighty-three, and of the session
holden in the seventh and eighth years of Her Majesty, chapter
sixty-nine, respectively relating to disclaimers and memoranda of
alterations in letters patent and specifications, except as hereinafter
provided, shall be applicable and apply to any letters patent granted
and to any specification filed under the provisions of this Act, pro-
vided always that all applications for leave to enter a disclaimer or
memorandum of alteration shall be made, and all caveats relating
thereto, shall be lodged at the office of the commissioners, and shall
be referred to the attorney-general, provided that every such dis-
claimer or memorandum of alteration shall be filed in the office of
the commissioners with the specifications to which the same relates,
provided also that such filing of any disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration in pursuance of the leave of the law officer in the first
recited Act mentioned certified as therein mentioned shall, except
in cases of fraud, be conclusive as to the right of the party to enter
such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration under the Acts afore-
said and this Act, and no objection shall be allowed to be made in
any proceeding upon or touching such letters patent, specification,
disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, on the ground that the
party entering such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration had
not sufficient authority in that behalf, provided also that no action
shall be brought upon any letters patent in which or on the specifi-
cation of which any disclaimer or memorandum of alteration shall
have been filed in respect of any infringement committed prior to
the filing of such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, unless
the attorney-general shall certify in his fiat that any such action
may be brought, notwithstanding the entry or filing of such dis-
claimer or memorandum of alteration.
37. Provisions of 5 & 6 W. 4, c. 83, 2 & 3 Viet. c. 67, and 7
& 8 Viet. c. 69, as to confirmation and prolongation, to apply. All
the provisions of the said Act of the fiith and sixth years of King
William the Fourth for the confirmation of any letters patent and
the grant of new letters patent, and all the provisions of the said
Act, and of the Acts of the session holden in the second and third
years of Her Majesty, chapter sixty-seven, and of the session
holden in the seventh and eighth years of Her Majesty, chapter
sixty-nine, respectively relating to the prolongation of the term of
334 FOREIGN LAWS.
letters patent and to the grant of new letters patent for a further
term, shall extend and apply to any letters patent granted under
the provisions of this Act, and it shall be lawful to grant new let-
ters patent as in the said Acts mentioned, provided always that
such new letters patent shall be sealed and bear date as of the day
after the expiration of the term of the original letters patent which
may first expire.
38. Actions for infringement to be regulated by " Code of Civil
Procedure" All actions for the infringement of letters patent
granted under the authority of this Act shall be regulated by the
provisions of " The Code of Civil Procedure."
39. Supreme Court may grant injunctions, &c. In any action
in the Supreme Court for the infringement of letters patent, it shall
be lawful for the court if it be then sitting, or, if the court be not
sitting, for a judge of such court, on the application of the plaintiff
or defendant respectively, to make such order for an injunction,
inspection or account, and to give such direction respecting such
action, injunction, inspection, and account, and the proceedings
therein respectively, as to such court or judge may seem fit.
40. Fees on letters patent to be as in schedule. There shall be
paid to the clerk of the commissioners in respect of letters patent
applied for or issued, as herein mentioned, the filing of specifications
and disclaimers, certificates, entries and searches, and all other
matters and things mentioned in the schedule to this Act, such fees
as are mentioned in the said schedule, and such fees shall be pay-
able into the public treasury of the presidency where such letters
patent shall be applied for or issued, save and except such portions
thereof as may be allotted under section 42 of this Act.
41. Fees to attorney-general, in cases of opposition, &c. In
cases of opposition to the granting of letters patent, and in case of
disclaimers and memoranda of alterations, such fees shall be paid
to the attorney-general as may be appointed by the commissioners
as the fee to be paid on the hearing of such oppositions, and in the
case of disclaimers and memoranda of alterations respectively, and
such reasonable sums for office or other copies of documents in the
office of the commissioners, as the commissioners may from time to
time appoint to be paid for such copies, and the commissioners are
hereby authorized and empowered to appoint the fees to be so
paid in respect of such oppositions, disclaimers and memoranda of
alterations respectively, and for such office and other copies.
42. Fees of clerk. It shall be lawful for the commissioners to
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 335
allot to the clerk such portions of the fees received by them as they
may deem right.
43. Forms in schedule may be used. The several forms in the
schedule to this Act may be used for and in respect of the several
matters therein mentioned, and the commissioners may where they
think fit vary such forms as occasion may require, and cause to be
printed and circulated such other forms as they may think fit to be
used for the purposes of this Act.
44. Interpretation of terms. In the construction of this Act
the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned
to them, unless such meanings be repugnant to or inconsistent with
the context. That is to say ^ The expression " Governor " shall
mean the officer administering the general government of the
colony ; the expression " the commissioners " shall mean the com-
missioners for the time being acting in execution of this Act ; the
expression " invention " shall mean any manner of new manufact-
ure, the subject of letters patent and grant of privilege within the
meaning of the existing law of England governing this subject ;
the expressions " petition/' " declaration/' " provisional specifica-
tion," " warrant," and " letters patent," respectively, shall mean
instruments in the form and to the effect in the schedule hereto
annexed, subject to such alterations as may from time to time be
made therein under the powers and provisions of this Act.
45. Short title. This Act may be cited as the " Patent Law
Act, 1876."
46. Commencement of Act. This Act shall commence and take
effect on such day as shall hereafter be fixed by proclamation under
the hand of the Governor, to be published in the Gazette.
THE SCHEDULE TO WHICH THIS ACT REFERS.
fees to be paid.
. d.
On leaving petition for grant of letters patent 2 10
On notice of intention to proceed with the application 2 10
On sealing of letters patent 5
On filing specification 5
At or before the expiration of the third year . 10
At or before the expiration of the seventh year 20
336 FOREIGN LAWS.
t. d.
On leaving notice of objections 2
Every search and inspection 010
Entry of assignment or license 5
Certificate of assignment or license 5
Filing application for disclaimer 300
Caveat against disclaimer 100
The following fees shall be paid to the attorney-general :
On every application for letters patent referred to attorney-general under
section 7 300
Examining provisional specification under section 8 5
" amended " " 100
" complete specification under sections 9 and 13 5
Perusing particulars of objections under section 13 2
Certificate of allowance 3
Every fertificate under section 14 1
" order for costs " 1
" warrant for the sealing of letters patent under section 16 5
Considering application for disclaimer or memorandum of alteration under
section 36 200
Every certificate or fiat that action may be brought under section 36 3
FORMS.
Petition.
No.
To
The humble petition of [here insert name and address of petitioner] for, &c.
SHOWETH,
That your petitioner is in possession of an invention for [title of the invention],
which invention he believes will be of great public utility ; that he is the true and first
inventor thereof, and that the same is not in use by any other person or persons, to
the best of his knowledge and belief.
Your petitioner therefore humbly prays that will be pleased to grant unto
him, his executors, administrators, and assigns, letters patent for the Leeward Islands
for the term of fourteen years, pursuant to the statute in that case made and pro-
vided.
And your petitioner will ever pray, &c.
Declaration.
No.
I of , do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am in possession of an
invention for, &c. [the title as in petition] which invention 1 believe will be of great
public utility ; that I am the true and first inventor thereof ; and that the same is not
in use by any other person or persons, to the best of my knowledge and belief [where
a complete specification is to be filed with the petition and declaration, insert these words:
" and that the instrument in writing under my hand and seal hereunto annexed, par.
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 337
ticularly describes and ascertains the nature of the said invention, and the manner in
vvhich the same is to be performed "], and I make this declaration, conscientiously
believing the same to be true.
A. JB.
Declared at this day of A. D. before me,
Provisional specification.
No.
I do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for [insert title as in
petition] to be as follows [here insert description],
Dated this day of A. D.
[To be signed by applicant or his agent.]
Reference.
(To be indorsed on the petition.)
The governor is pleased to refer this petition to the attorney- general, to consider
what may be properly done therein.
Clerk of the commissioners.
Warrant.
In humble obedience to command referring to me the petition of of
, to consider what may be properly done therein ; I do hereby certify as fol-
lows : that the said petition sets forth that the petitioner [allegations of the petition]
And the petitioner most humbly prays [prayer of the petition],
That in support of the allegations contained in the said petition, the declaration
of the petitioner has been laid before me, whereby he solemnly declares, that [allega-
tions of the declaration],
That there has also been laid before me [a provisional specification signed
and also a certificate ] or [a complete specification, and a certificate of the filing
thereof] whereby it appears that the said invention was provisionally protected [or
protected] from the day of A. D. in pursuance of the statute.
That it appears that the said application was duly advertised :
Upon consideration of all the matters aforesaid, and as it is entirely at the hazard
of the said petitioner whether the said invention is new, or will have the desired suc-
cess, and as it may be reasonable for Her Majesty to encourage all arts and inventions
which may be for the public good, I am of opinion that the Governor may grant let-
ters patent unto the petitioner, his executors, administrators and assigns, for his said
invention within the Leeward Islands, for the term of fourteen years, according to the
statute in that case made and provided, if his Excellency shall be graciously pleased
so to do, to the tenor and effect following [see next form],
Given under my hand and seal this day of A. D.
[Seal of the commissioners.]
Letters patent.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land, Queen, Defender of the Faith ;
To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting :
Whereas hath, by his petition, humbly represented to Us that he is in
possession of an invention for
I. 22 2
333 FOREIGN LAWS.
which the petitioner conceives will be of great public utility ; that he is the true and
first inventor thereof ; and that the same is not in use by any other person or persons,
to the best of his knowledge and belief ; the petitioner therefore most humbly prayed
that We would be graciously pleased to grunt unto him, his executors, administrators,
and assigns, Our royal letters patent for the sole use, benefit, and advantage of his
said invention within Our Leeward Islands, for the term of fourteen years, pursuant
to the statutes in that case made and provided :
[And whereas the said hath particularly described and ascertained the nature
of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under hit hand and seal, and has caused tlte same to be duly filed
in ].
And We, being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which
may be for the public good, are graciously pleased to condescend to the petitioner's
request : Know ye, therefore, that We, of Our especial grace, certain knowledge, and
mere motion, have given and granted and by these presents, for Us, Our heirs and
successors, do give and grant unto the said his executors, administrators, and
assigns, Our especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that he, the
said his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them by himself
nnd themselves, or by his and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such
others as he the said his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall at any time
agree with and no others from time to time, and at all times hereafter during the
term of years herein expressed, shall and lawfully may, make, use, exercise, and vend,
his said invention within Our said Leeward Islands, in such manner as to him the
said his executors, administrators, and assigns, or any of them, shall in his or
their discretion seem meet, and that he the said his executors, administrators,
nnd assigns, shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commo-
dity and advantage from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising, by
reason of the said invention for and during the term of years herein mentioned ; to
have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licenses, powers, privileges and advantages
hereinbefore granted or mentioned to be granted unto the said his executors,
administrators, and assigns, for and during, and unto the full end and term of four-
teen years from the day of A. D. next, and immediately ensuing according
to the statute in such case made and provided ; and to the end, that he the said
his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, may have and enjoy
the full benefit and the sole use and exercise of the said invention according to Our
gracious intention hereinbefore declared. We do by these prerents, for Us, Our heirs
and successors, require and strictly command all and every person and persons,
bodies politic and corporate, and all other Our subjects whatsoever, of what estate,
quality, degree, name, or condition soever they be, within Our said Leeward Islands,
that neither they nor any of them, at any time during the continuance of the said
term of fourteen years hereby granted, either directly or indirectly to make, use, or
put in practice the said invention, or any part of the same so attained unto by the
said as aforesaid, nor in anywise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor
shall make or cause to be made any addition thereunto or subtraction from the same,
whereby to pretend himself or themselves the inventor or inventors, devisor or
devisors thereof, without the consent, license, or agreement of the said his
executor*, administrators, or assigns, in writing under his or their hands and seals
first had and obtained in that behalf, upon such pains and penalties as can or may be
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 339
justly inflicted on such offenders, for their contempt of this Our Royal command, and
further to be answerable to the said his executors, administrators and assigns,
according to law for his and their damages thereby occasioned : and, moreover, We
do by these presents for Us, Our heirs and successors, will and command all and sin-
gular the magistrates, justices of the peace, and all other officers and ministers what-
soever of Us, Our heirs, and successors, for the time being, that they or any of them
do not nor shall at any time during the said term hereby granted, in anywise molest,
trouble, or hinder the said his executors, administrators, or assigns, or any of
them, or his or their deputies, servants, or agents, in or about the due and lawful use
or exercise of the aforesaid invention, or anything relating thereto : Provided always
and these Our letters patent are and shall be upon this condition, that if at any time
daring the said term hereby granted, it shall be made to appear to Our governor of
Our said Leeward Islands in council that this our grant is contrary to law, or preju-
dicial or inconvenient to our subjects in general, or that the said invention is not a
new invention as to the public use and exercise thereof, or that the said is not
the true and first inventor thereof within the Leeward Islands as aforesaid, these Our
letters patent shall forthwith cease, determine, and be utterly void to all intents and
purposes, anything herein contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstand-
ing ; Provided also that these our letters patent, or anything herein contained, shall
not extend, or be construed to extend, to give privilege unto the said his execu-
tors, administrators, or assigns, or any of them, to use or imitate any invention or
work whatsoever which hath heretofore been found out or invented by any other of
Our subjects whatsoever and publicly used or exercised unto whom Our like letters
patent or privileges have been already granted for the sole use, exercise and benefit
thereof : It being Our will and pleasure that the said his executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and all and every other person and persons to whom the like
letters patent and privileges have been already granted as aforesaid, shall distinctly
use and practice their several inventions, by them invented and found out, according
to the true intent and meaning of the same respective letters patent, and of these
presents, provided likewise nevertheless, and these our letters patent are upon this
express condition, that if the said shall not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of his said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed by
an instrument in writing under his hand and seal, and cause the same to be filed in
within calendar months next and immediately after the date of these Our
letters patent [and also of the said instrument in writing filed as aforesaid does not
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention and in what man-
ner the same is to be performed], and also if the said his executors, administra-
tors, or assigns, shall not pay, or cause to be paid, at the office of Our commissioners
of patents for inventions the sums following, that is to say, the sum of
pounds on or before the day of A. D. , and the sum of
pounds on or before the day of A. D. ; and also if the said his
executors, administrators, or assigns, shall not supply, or cause to be supplied for
Our service, all such articles of the said invention as he or they shall be required to
supply by the officers or commissioners administering the department of Our service
for the use of which the same shall be required in such manner, at such times, and
at and upon such reasonable prices and terms as shall be settled for that purpose by
the said officers or commissioners requiring the same ; that then and in any of the
said cases these Our letters patent and all liberties and advantages whatsoever
340 FOREIGN LAWS.
hereby granted shall utterly cense, determine, and become void, anything hereinbefore
continued to the contrary thereof notwithstanding, Provided that nothing herein con-
tained shall prevent the granting of licenses in such manner and for all such consid-
erations as thev may by law be granted ; and lastly, We do by these presents for Us,
Our heirs and successors, grant unto the said his executors, administrators,
and assigns, that these Our letters patent on the filing thereof shall be in and by all
tilings good, firm, valid, sufficient, and effectual in the law according to the true
intent and meaning thereof ; and shall be taken, construed, and adjudged in the most
favorable and beneficial sense for the best advantage of the said his executors,
administrators, and assigns, as well in all Our courts of record as elsewhere, and by
all and singular the officers and ministers whatsoever of Us, Our heirs and successors
in Our said Leeward Islands, and amongst all and every the subjects of Us, Our heirs
and successors whatsoever and wheresoever, notwithstanding the not full and certain
describing the nature or quality of the said invention, or of the materials thereunto
conducing and belonging.
In witness whereof We have caused these Our letters to be made patent this
day of A. D. , and to be sealed and bear date as of the said
day of A. D. in the year of Our reign.
Specification.
To all to whom these presents shall come, I , of , send greeting.
Whereas His Excellency , Governor of the Leeward Islands, by letters pat-
ent bearing date the day of A. D. in the year of Her Majesty's
reign, did for Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
, his special license that I the said my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I the said my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with and no others, from time to time, and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, sTiould, and lawfully might make, use,
exercise and vend, within the colony of the Leeward Islands, an invention for [insert
title as in letters patent] upon the condition (amongst others) that I the said
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in within calendar months
next, and immediately after the date of the said letters patent : Now know ye that I,
the said , do hereby declare the nature of my said invention, and in what man-
ner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say) [describe the invention],
In witness whereof I, the said A. 11., have hereto set my hand and seal this
day of A. D A. B,
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 330 : condensing some lengthy
section captions.
LEEWARD ISLANDS. 341
An Act to amend the Act No. 12 of 1876, entitled " An
Act for Amending the Law for Granting Patents for
Inventions." No. 16 of 1878.
Whereas it is expedient to amend the law concerning letters
patent for inventions.
Be it enacted by the Governor and General Legislative Council
of the Colony of the Leeward Islands as follows :
1. Certain persons constituted commissioners of patents for
inventions, three of whom may act, the attorney-general being one.
Her Majesty's attorney-general, the ajiclitor-general, and the treas-
urer of the presidency of Antigua for the time being respectively,
together with such other person or persons as may be from time to
time appointed by the Governor, shall be commissioners of patents
for inventions, and every person so appointed shall continue to hold
office during Her Majesty's pleasure ; and all the powers vested in
the commissioners by the Act No. 12 of 1876 may be executed by
any three or more of them, of whom the attorney-general shall be
one.
2. Applications for letters patent, &c., to be advertised. Every
provisional protection, every protection on deposit of a complete
specification, and every application for letters patent, shall be
advertised in the Royal Gazette and in one of the public newspapers
in each presidency of the Colony, or where there shall be no such
newspaper, then by being attached to the door of the court-house
in the principal town of the presidency.
3. Copies of specifications, <&c., to be enrolled in each presidency.
In addition to the copies prescribed by the above recited Act to be
kept at the office of the commissioners, true copies of all specifica-
tions (other than provisional specifications), disclaimers, and mem-
oranda of alterations filed in pursuance of the said Act, and of all
provisional specifications after the expiration of the term of protec-
tion, shall be enrolled in the registrar's office in every presidency of
the Colony (Antigua excepted), and shall be open to the inspection
of the public at all reasonable times, subject to such regulations as
the commissioners may think necessary.
4. Registers of patents and proprietors to be kept in each presi-
dency. A true copy of the " Register of Patents " arid of the
" Register of Proprietors " prescribed by sections 32 and 33 of the
above recited Act, shall be kept at the registrar's office in each
342
FOREIGN LAWS.
presidency of the Colony, and shall be open to the inspection of the
public at all reasonable times, subject to such regulations as the
commissioners may think necessary.
5. Section 1 of Act 12, 1876, repealed. The first section of
the Act No. 12 of 1876 is hereby repealed.
From Carpmaels 1 Pat. L. of World, 351.
Tiie act for the federation and general
Government of the Leeward Islands, 21
August, 1871, Stat. 34 & 85 Viet. c.
107, recites that the several legislative
bodies of these islands have, by certain
resolutions, signified their desire for a
union of the islands under one Govern-
ment ; and it enacts that they shall form
one colony consisting of six presidencies,
namely : the several islands of Antigua,
Montserrat, Saint Christopher, Nevis and
Dominica, with their respective dependen-
cies, and the Virgin Islands. The Act
authorizes the Governor, with the consent
of the General Legislative Council (sub-
ject to provisions making the Royal
assent necessary to the validity of such
laws), to make laws for the Leeward
Islands or any part thereof, upon many
subjects specified, among which are : " 1C.
Copyrights and Patents.' 1
LIBERIA. 343
LIBERIA.
An Act to Promote the Progress of the Arts, Manufac-
tures, Agriculture, and Commerce, December 23, 1864.
It is enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Republic of Liberia in Legislature assembled :
SECTION 1. That there shall be established an office to be termed
the patent-office, which shall be under the control of the secretary
of state, whose duty it shall be to superintend, execute, and per-
form all such acts and things touching and respecting the granting
and issuing of letters patent for new and useful discoveries, inven-
tions, and improvements, as are hereby provided for, or shall
hereafter be by law directed to be done and performed, and shall
have charge and authority of all books, records, papers, and all
other things belonging to the said office.
SEC. 2. It is further enacted that all patents, issuing from the
said office shall be issued in the name and under the seal of the-
Republic of Liberia, and be signed by the President of the Repub
lie, and countersigned by the secretary of state, and shall be-
recorded, together with descriptions, specifications, and drawing:;
in the said office, in books to be kept for that purpose. Every such
patent shall contain a short title of the invention or discovery, cor-
rectly indicating its nature and design, and its terms, grant to the
applicant or applicants, his or their heirs, administrators, executors,,
or assigns, for a term not exceeding twenty years, the full and
exclusive right and liberty of making, using, and vending to others,
to be used, the said invention or discovery, referring to the specifi-
cations for the particulars thereof, a copy of which specifications*
with the illustrative drawings shall be annexed to the patent speci-
fying what the patentee claims as his invention or discovery.
SEC. 3. It is further enacted that any citizen or citizens having
discovered or invented any new and useful art, machine, manufac-
ture, process, composition of matter, or any new and useful
improvement in any art, machine, manufacture, process or compo-
sition of matter, or having invented or discovered anew and useful
application of any known substance or matter, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful application of any known article of
manufacture, device, or apparatus, to any art, manufacture
344 FOREIGN LAWS.
machine, process, or composition of matter, such invention or dis-
covery, or such application not being known or used by others
within the limits of this republic, and not being described in any
book or other publication in this country, before his or their dis-
covery thereof, may make application in writing to the secretary
of state, expressing such desire, and the secretary of state may on
due proceedings had, grant a patent therefor ; but before any
inventor shall receive a patent for any such invention, discovery or
new application, he shall deliver a written description thereof, and
of the manner and process of making, constructing, using, apply-
ing, and compounding the same, in such full, clear, and exact
terms as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which
it appertains or with which it is most nearly connected to make,
construct, apply, compound, and use the same, and shall pariicu-
larly specify and point out the part, improvement, or combination
which he claims as his own invention or discovery. He shall
furthermore accompany the whole with a drawing or drawings and
written references, where the nature of the case admits of drawings.
The applicant shall furthermore make oath or affirmation that he
does verily believe that he is the original and first inventor or dis-
coverer of the art, machine, composition, application, or improve-
ment for which he solicits a patent, and that the same was not
known or used within the limits of the Republic of Liberia pi'ior
to his said invention, and that he is a citizen of this republic, ihe
said oath or affirmation to be taken before any person authorized
by law to administer oaths.
SEC. 4. It is further enacted that on filing such application,
description, and specifications, and the payment of the fees herein-
after provided, the secretary of state shall make or cause to be
made an examination of the alleged new invention or discovery,
and if it should appear to the secretary 01 state that the same had
not been invented or discovered, or known by any other person in
this country, and had not been described in any book or other pub-
lication in this country prior to the discovery thereof of the appli-
cant, theu 11 shall be Jie duty of the secretary of state to issue a
patent therefor ; but whenever it shall appear to the secretary of
state that the appllcai.t was not the first inventor or discoverer
thereof, or that what is claimed as new had been known to otheis
in this country, or had been described in some publication in this
country prior to the time of the alleged invention or discovery of
LIBERIA. 345
the applicant, then it shall be the duty of the secretary of state to
refuse the grant of letters patent to the applicant therefor.
SEC. 5. It is further enacted that if any alien or aliens shall have
invented or discovered any new art, machine, manufacture, pro-
cess, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improve-
ment of any art, machine, manufacture, process, or composition
of matter, or has invented or discovered a new and useful appli-
cation of any known substance or 'machine or composition of mat-
ter, or any new and useful application of any known article of
manufacture, device, or apparatus to any art, manufacture, ma-
chine, process, or composition of matter, such invention or dis-
covery, or such application, not having been known or used by
others within the limits if this republic, or if any alien or aliens
shall be the legal owner or owners of such invention or discovery,
on application, and shall express a desire to introduce the same
and put it into active operation in this country, then it shall be the
duty of the secretary of state, on due proceedings held, as pro-
vided for in third section of this act, to issue letters patent there-
for ; but before letters patent can be granted to such applicant he
shall deliver, with the description of the invention or discovery
claimed, a certificate signed and sealed by the mayor or governor
of the city or state in which he resides, or by a duly authorized
notary public, which certificate shall set forth that the applicant
is the original and first discoverer of the thing claimed, or that
he has purchased the right, title, and interest in this country to
the said invention or discovery.
SEC. 6. It is further enacted that when any alien or aliens shall
have obtained letters patent for any invention or discovery it shall
be his^ or their duty to put the same in active operation in this
republic within three years from the date of the said patent, and
any refusal or neglect on the part of the patentee to do this shall
be considered as an abandonment by him of his patent to the
public.
SEC. 7. It is further enacted that before any application for a
patent shall be considered by the secretary of state the applicant
shall pay into the treasury or into the office of the secretary of
state, to the credit of the treasury, if he be a citizen of this re-
public, the sum of twenty-five dollars ; if he be an alien, the sum
of fifty dollars ; and the moneys received under this act shall con-
stitute a fund for the payment of salaries of such assistants as the
346 FOREIGN LAWS.
secretary of state may deem necessary for carrying this act into
effect.
SEC. 8. It is further enacted that every patent shall be assign-
able in law, either as to the whole interest or any individual part
thereof, by any instrument of writing, which assignment, and also
every grant and conveyance of the exclusive right under any pat-
ent to make and use, and to grant to others to make and use the
thing patented, within and throughout the whole or any specified
portion of the Republic of Liberia, shall be recorded in the office
of the secretary of state within one year from the execution
thereof.
SEC. 9. It is further enacted that all actions for damages for
making, using, or selling the thing whereof the exclusive right is
secured by any patent, and all suits, controversies, and cases aris-
ing under this act shall be cognizable, as well in equity as at law,
by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia.
SEC. 10. It is further enacted that it shall be the duty of the sec-
retary of state to make, or cause to be made, exact copies of all
patents issued, and also of all drawings appertaining to the said
patents, which copies shall be properly classified and shall be re-
tained as permanent records in the office of the secretary of state,
and the said copies shall be open for inspection at reasonable
hours to all who may desire to peruse the same. And it shall fur-
thermore be the duty of the secretary of state to furnish, on rea-
sonable terms, certified copies of any patents or documents relat-
ing thereto.
From 31 Pat. Off. Gaz. 1446.
L1CHTENSTEIN.
See AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
LOYALTY ISLANDS.
See FRANCE.
LUXEMBURG. 347
LUXEMBURG.
Law of June 30, 1881.*
We, William the 3d, by the grace of God, King of the Low
Countries, Prince of Orange, Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxemburg,
&e.
Our Council of State heard, &c., &c., have ordered and do
order :
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL DISPOSITIONS.
ARTICLE 1. Patents for new inventions susceptible of being
worked industrially shall be granted, with the following exceptions:
First. Inventions the working of which would be contrary to the
law or good morals. Second. Those inventions which have for
their object food or other objects of consumption, pharmaceutical
products, or substances obtained by chemical means. Nevertheless
this exception does not apply to any special process for manufact-
uring these objects.
AST. 2. An invention is not considered new when at the moment
the declaration is made under the present law (date of application
for a patent) it is found to be already so clearly described in any
printed matter open to the public, or so openly worked in either the
Grand Duchy or any of the States of the German custom-house
union, as to render it possible for execution by other persons expert
in the trade to which it refers.
ART. 3. The right of obtaining a patent appertains to the one
who first declares to the invention in accordance with the present
law, subject, however, to what is enacted herein, article 16, No. 2.
ART. 4. The effect of a patent shall be that without the author-
ity of the patentee or owner no one shall be allowed industrially to
make, put into commerce, or expose for sale the object of the inven-
tion. If the object of the invention be a process, a machine, or any
industrial engine, a tool or other instrument of -labor, the effect of
the patent will be, further, that without authorization of the patentee
* A slightly differing translation of the same law may be found in Carpm. Pat.
L. of World, 841.
348 FOREIGN LAWS.
or owner no one can industrially apply the process or make use of
the object of the invention.
AET. 5. The effect of the patent does not apply to any one who
at the moment when the applicant made his declaration had already
worked the invention in the Grand Duchy, or who had already
made the necessary arrangements to this end. The effect of the
patent does not extend to locomotive rolling-stock which only enter
to pass through the Grand Duchy. A patent will cease to be
effective as soon as a royal Grand Ducal decree, upon the advice of
the Council of State, shall have declared that it is to the public
interest that the patent shall be worked. In this case the pat-
entee has a right, at the expense of the state, to an indemnity which,
in default of agreement, shall be fixed judicially.
AET. 6. The right of obtaining a patent like the rights to the
patent itself, shall extend to the heirs or legal representatives of the
person having such right. These rights can be transferred in whole
or in part by deed or by will. The act of transmission by will is
free of all duty. Deeds of assignment are registered at a fixed tax
of 1 franc 70 centimes.
AET. 7. The duration of the patent is fifteen years. This period
runs from the morrow of the day on which the invention has been
declared, conformably to article 10 of the present law. If the
invention consists in an improvement on another invention, for
which latter the applicant has already protection in the Grand
Duchy, he can apply for the grant of a certificate of addition which
expires with the principal patent. The certificates of addition taken
by one of the persons interested in the principal patent profit all the
others.* It will be open to the patentee to take a principal patent
for the changes or improvements in his invention. The third party
who shall have taken a principal patent for an invention or an
application relating to the object of another patent, shall not have
the right to exploit the invention already patented ; and, on the
other hand, the patentee or owner of the primary patent shall not
work the invention, the object of the new patent, except by their
mutual consent.
AET. 8. An annual and progressive tax, as follows, shall be paid
for each patent : First year, 10 francs ; second year, 20 francs ;
third year, 30 francs ; and so on till the fifteenth year, for which the
* This has been held to mean that all have an exactly corresponding interest
those interested in the principal patent in the patent of improvement.
LUXEMBURG. 349
tax will be 150 francs. The tax will be paid in advance to the
receiver at the registry. It will not in any case be reimbursed.*
For certificates of addition one tax only of 10 francs will be
required.
ART. 9. No one can obtain a patent or exercise the rights of the
patent if he have not chosen a domicile in the Grand Duchy. If he
be a foreigner, he must choose as his domicile the house of a proxy,
who will represent him, and to whom all communications will
legally be made. Whatever domicile be chosen will be subject to
jurisdiction, and will be a valid one as long as it is not replaced by a
new election of domicile, according to article 13.
CHAPTER II.
ON THE DELIVERY or PATENTS.
ART. 10. Whoever would secure a patent must file his declara-
tion in writing with the functionary, who will be appointed for this
purpose by the government. A special declaration is required for
each invention. The declaration must contain the full name,
address, calling, and chosen domicile of the declarant, and also
of his representative, if the case requires such. It must give a title
containing a summary and precise description of the object of the
invention. The declaration must be accompanied by, first, a
description, in the French or German language, of the object
invented ; second, drawings, models, or samples that may be neces-
sary for the comprehension of the description. The description
and the drawings must be in duplicate. The description should be
written without alteration or addition ; words struck out or erased
must be counted and certified, the pages and the references initialed.
It should describe the invention in a clear and complete manner,
and end with a precise statement of its characteristics. The draw-
ings must be traced with ink to a metrical scale. All the papers
must be signed by the declarant, or by his representative, whose
power of attorney must be annexed to the declaration.
ART. 11. An application will only be received on the production
of the- receipt of the payment of the first annual tax. An official
statement made without charge, on a register for this purpose,
and signed by the declarant, shall authenticate the application
while stating the day and the hour of filing of the papers. A
* In the case of two owners of one patent each paying the tax, both pay-
meats are retained.
350 FOREIGN LAWS.
duplicate of the official statement will be transmitted without charge
to the deponent.
ART. 12. The patents whose application shall have been in regu-
lar form will be delivered, without preliminary examination, at the
risk and peril of the applicants, and without guarantee either of
the reality of the novelty, or of the meritoriousness of the inven-
tion, or of the fidelity or exactness of the description. A certificate
of the government official who has charge of the department of
commerce and industry certifying the regularity of the application
will be delivered without charge to the applicant, and will consti-
tute the patent of invention. To this notice will be added the cer-
tified duplicate of the description and of the drawings mentioned in
article 10. The same certificate will be inserted in abstract form
in the memorial. The refusal of the government to deliver a patent
may be appealed against to the litigation committee of the State
Council, who will decide on the matter.
ART. 13. Any changes that occur in the ownership of the patent
or in the representative or chosen domicile of the patentee, as well
as any partial assignment of the patent, should be brought in an
authentic form to the notice of the government official who has
charge of the department of commerce and of industry, and will bo
published in the memorial. As long as these formalities are not
fullfilled, the person who has been previously designated as the pat-
entee or his representative remains invested with the rights and
subservient to the obligations of the present law, and all notifica-
tions and announcements will be validly sent to the previously-
chosen domicile.
ART. 14. The public will be allowed to inspect in the govern-
ment bureaus descriptions of granted patents, and copies may be
obtained on payment of fees.
CHAPTER III.
EXPIRATION OF PATENTS, NULLITY, AND FORFEITURE.
ART. 15. The patent becomes extinct, first, by the expiration of
the time for which it has been allowed ; second, by the renunciation
of the titulary owner ; third, by a single failure of payment of the
annual tax within the three months from when it becomes due ;
fourth, if a patent for the same object be not applied for within the
space of three months after the application in Luxemburg in the
States with which the Grand Duchy may be allied by a custom-house
LUXEMBURG. 351
union, or if, being applied for within this space, the patent bo
refused, or if, having been allowed, it be revoked, annulled or
becomes extinct in any other manner. Nevertheless, in the case
where the forfeiture of the patent may be decreed in a country in
this union by reason of the patent not being worked, it will be law-
ful for the government to maintain the patent in the Grand Duchy.
AET. 16. The patent will be null and of no effect if it be proved,
first, that according to the terms of articles 1 and 2 the invention
was not susceptible of being patented ; second, that the essential
contents of the declaration were derived from the descriptions,
designs, models, instruments, tools, or processes of another party
without his consent ; third, if the title under which the patent is
applied for indicates fraudulently an object other than the veritable
object of the invention ; fourth, if the description annexed to the
patent be not sufficient for the carrying out of the invention,
or if it does not show in a loyal and complete manner the true
means employed by the inventor.
ART. 17. An action for annulment may be instituted by any
interested person. This action, as well as all litigations relative to
the property of the patent, will be heard before the civil tribunal
of the arrondissement. If the action be directed simultaneously
against the titulary owner of the patent and against one or more
partial assignees, it will be heard before the tribunal for the
domicile chosen by the titulary owner of the patent. Patent cases
will be heard and judged in accordance with the form prescribed
for summary proceedings by the article 405 et seq. of the Code of
Civil Procedure. Notice of the case is to be given to the public
minister. The public minister can interfere in the action and take
steps to effect a complete declaration of nullity of the patent.
He himself may for the same purposes institute an action. In
the cases provided for by the two preceding paragraphs all those
having a pecuniary interest in the patent whose titles have been
registered at the government in conformity with article 13 should
be sued. The charges for the interference of the public minister
and the proceedings of the office will be taxed, discharged, and col-
lected as in the case of fines. When the absolute nullity of a patent
shall have been pronounced by a judicial decree or sentence, notice
thereof shall be given to the government, in view of the publication
prescribed by article li).
AET. 18. The patent can be revoked after three years by a royal
Grand Ducal decree, subject to an appeal to the litigation commit-
352 FOREIGN LAWS.
tee of the Council of State, if the patentee neglect to put his
invention into operation in the Grand Duchy to a suitable extent,
or at least to do everything necessary to insure this working. Like-
wise, after three years a royal Grand Ducal decree may declare, on
the advice of the Council of State, that the public interest requires
that the right to work a patented invention may also be conceded
to one or several others who have made application therefor. In
this case the indemnity and the guarantees due to the patentee by
the new claimants will be, in case of non-accord, settled by judicial
decision.
ART. 19. The expiration of patents, their annulments, or revoca-
tion will be brought to the knowledge of the public by an insertion
in the Memorial.
CHAPTER IV.
INFRINGEMENT, PROSECUTION, AND PENALTIES.
ART. 20. Whosoever shall have knowingly made use of an
invention contrary to the provisions of the articles 4 and 5 shall be
punished by a fine of one hundred francs to two thousand francs
without prejudice to the damages that may be obtainable by a civil
action. In the case of the repetition of the offense an imprison-
ment, in addition to the fine, of one month to six months shall be
pronounced. A repetition of the offense exists when a first con-
demnation for the same offense has been given within the five
previous years against the defendant. The prosecution shall only
be entered on the plaint of the injured party. The tribunal can
order the publication of the judgment at the cost of the condemned.
The judgment shall direct the mode and the length of time of the
publication. The sentence can direct either the destruction or the
confiscation, for the profit of the State or for the profit of the
injured party, on assessment of damages, of the objects which have
been used in, or were destined for, the committal of the offense, and
objects which have been produced thereby.
ART. 21. The court for the trial of misdemeanors, before which
the action is brought, shall refer the parties to the proper civil
judge to decide upon the pleas that shall be advanced by the defen-
dant, either concerning the expiration, the nullity, or the forfeiture
of the patent, or concerning any questions relative to the ownership
of the patent.
ART. 22. Any person, without having a valid patent, who shall
have applied to objects or their packing a notification to the pur-
LUXEMBURG. 353
port that these objects have been patented in conformance with the
present law, or who shall have made use of a similar notification
in announcements, placards, advertisements, prospectus or signs
shall be punished with a fine of from twenty-six francs to two hun-
dred francs.
ART. 23. The penalties established by the present law shall not
be cumulative. The highest penalty will only be pronounced for
the entire set of infringements made prior to the action.
ART. 24. The provisions in vigor relative to extenuating circum-
stances can be applied to offenses coming within the preceding
provisions.
ART. 25. Civil actions on account of the violation of the patent
rights must be commenced within three years from the date of the
infringements on which the actions are founded.
CHAPTER. V.
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS.
ART. 26. The law of January 25, 1817, and all provisions ante-
rior to the present law relative to patents of invention, of importa-
tion, and of improvements are abrogated. Nevertheless, the pat-
ents actually in force will continue to be governed by the provisions
in vigor at the moment of their delivery, unless their holders con-
form to the provisions that follow.
ART. 27. The holders of patents actually in force shall be
allowed to convert them into patents governed by the present law,
if they, within three months from the publication of the present law,
make their declaration to this effect in conformance with what is
prescribed by article 10, saving that it will suffice for them to join
thereto the original patent and its annexes. The term of fifteen
years, fixed by article 7, shall run from the date of the original pat-
ent. The annual taxes will be counted as due on the same date, on
which date also the annual expirations (in default of payment) will
be regulated. The tax paid for the original patent shall be placed
to the account of the annuities already due or to become due. If it
be not sufficient to cover the annuities already due, the difference
must be paid before the deposit of the declaration.
ART. 28. The applications for patents filed previous to the pres-
ent law, and about which we have not yet decided, must be changed
by their inventors within three months from the publication of the
present law into applications, according to the provisions of the
J. 23
354 FOREIGN LAWS.
foregoing chapter II., under pain of forfeiture of the original appli-
cation. The patents whose delivery is to take place shall be gov-
erned by the present law, still the time elapsed since the original
application will be deducted from the term of fifteen years fixed by
article 7.
ART. 29. The publication of descriptions and the open working
mentioned in article 2 can only be urged against those to whom
patents have been delivered in accordance with the preceding arti-
cles 27 and 28, if the publication of such descriptions or such work-
ing was anterior to the date of the original patent, and if at the
date of the deposit of the (renewed) application the matter had
not previously been adjudicated upon.
ART. 30. A Royal Grand Ducal decree, issued in due order by
the administration, will fix the provisions that the execution of the
present law will render necessary.
Commanded and ordained that the present law be inserted in the
" Memorial," to enable it to be carried out and observed by all
those whom it may concern.
Signed at Loo, June 30, 1881.* WILLIAM.
F. DE BLOCHAUSEN,
The Minister of State, President of the Government.
PAUL EYSCHEN,
The Director- General of Justice.
From 34 Pat. Off. Gaz. 341.
MANITOBA.
See CANADA.
MARQUESAS ISLAND.
See FRANCE.
MARTINIQUE.
See FRANCE.
Messrs. Carpmael give the date of this law as June 30, .1880.
MAURITIUS. 305
MAURITIUS.
Ordinance No. 16 of 1875.
Whereas it is expedient that certain privileges be granted to
inventors, and that the same be regulated and protected : Be it
enacted by his Excellency the Governor [of Mauritius and its
Dependencies] with the advice and consent of the Council of Gov
eminent, as follows :
1. Privilege granted to inventors. Every inventor of any
manufacture shall be entitled, under the conditions and restrictions
hereinafter enacted, to the sole exclusive right of and in such new
invention.
2. Definitions of words. Within the meaning of the word
"invention" are included discoveries, and also the invention of
new chemical products ; also every new mode of application of
known processes or forces whereby a new product or preparation is
obtained or made ; and also every new process or force whereby an
old product or preparation is obtained or made.
Improvements are also included within the word " invention."
The word "manufacture" shall be deemed to include any art,
process, or manner of producing, preparing, or making an article ;
and also any article prepared or produced by manufacture.
The words " inventor " and " actual inventor " shall include the
heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns of an inventor or actual
inventor, as the case may be.
The word " assigns " shall include grantees of the sole use or
benefit in Mauritius of an invention, or of the sole use of an exclu-
sive privilege for a limited period.
3. Financial schemes not entitled to privileges. Financial
schemes and operations of credit, whether commercial or industrial,
shall not entitle the inventors or promoters thereof, or parties inter-
ested therein, to obtain any exclusive right or privilege.
4. Patents may be granted, and extended, when. The right and
privilege granted to inventors shall be conferred by a patent under
the seal of the colony, whereby the inventor shall be entitled to the
sole and exclusive privilege of making, selling, and using his said
invention in the Colony of Mauritius, and of authorizing others so
to do, for the term of fourteen years from the date of the patent,
306 FOREIGN LAWS.
and for such further term, if any, not exceeding fourteen years from
the expiration of the first fourteen years, as the Governor in Exec-
utive Council may think fit to direct, upon petition to be presented
by such inventor, at any period not more than one year and not less
than six calendar months before the expiration of the exclusive
privilege first granted.
5. Petition and specification to be filed. Every inventor desir-
ous of obtaining a patent as aforesaid shall file in the office of the
colonial secretary a petition signed by him, or, if he be absent from
this Colony, by an authorized agent ; such petition shall state the
names, additions, place of abode of the petitioner, and the nature
of the invention. To the petition shall be annexed a specification
in writing ; such specification shall be signed by the petitioner or
authorized agent as aforesaid, and shall particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed. With the specification shall be filed all
diagrams, plans, and drawings whereby the nature of and the mode
of working the invention can be best described and ascertained.
6. Declaration to accompany petition. Every petition or speci-
fication shall be accompanied by a declaration in writing, signed by
the petitioner or authorized agent as aforesaid, in the form and to
the effect mentioned in schedule A. hereunto annexed.
7. Consequences of willfully false statements. If any person
who shall make a declaration under this ordinance shall will-
fully and corruptly make any false statement, he shall be deemed
guilty of perjury, and upon conviction be liable to imprisonment
not exceeding two years, without prejudice to any action or suit
which the injured party or parties may bring against him.
8. Procureur general's certificate and interim protection.
When any applicant has filed his petition and specification with
the view of obtaining a patent, the same shall be referred to the
procureur general, and if he approve of them z&primd facie enti-
tled to protection, he shall issue his certificate to that effect, and
the inventor shall be provisionally protected.
Provided that, should the procureur general refuse to issue his
certificate, the party aggrieved may apply to the Governor in Exec-
utive Council, who shall have the power to decree that the certifi-
cate do issue ; and it shall then be issued by the secretary of the
Executive Council.
It shall then be the duty of the applicant to cause, within two
months of the certificate, the application to be advertised in the
MAURITIUS. 357
government Gazette, with a view of giving persons who have an
opposite interest the opportunity of objecting to the patent being
granted. If no opposition be made within one calendar month of
the advertisement, the patent shall issue ; if there be opposition
made, the matter will be referred to the procureur general, who, if
the applicant and opposing party or parties are satisfied that his
decision shall guide them, shall decide finally ; but who shall other-
wise refer the matter to the Supreme Court for decision.
The Supreme Court may hear and determine the case upon a
motion to show cause why the patent applied for should not issue.
Upon the fiat of the procureur general, or, as the case may be,
the rule of the Supreme Court, the patent shall issue, or the interim
protection cease and determine.
9. Opposition how lodged ; grounds of objection. Any party or
parties intending to oppose the issuing of the patent shall be bound
within the above mentioned delay to notify his or their opposition
to the colonial secretary. The opposition shall contain the grounds
of objection, and no other objections than those specified in the
opposition shall be taken notice of either by the procureur general
or the Supreme Court, as the case may be.
10. Form and cost of certificate. The certificate of the procur-
eur general to entitle the applicant to interim protection shall be in
the form in schedule B. hereunto annexed. When from any cause
prevented from acting, the procureur general may delegate the
substitute procureur general to act in his stead.
Every certificate shall issue upon payment of a fee of ten pounds
sterling to be paid to the receiver general.
11. Government gives no warranty; seal. Every patent shall
as heretofore be granted without any warranty of any kind or
nature whatsoever on the part of the government; and every per-
son entitled to a patent shall, before his patent is sealed, pay the
sum of two pounds sterling to the receiver general.
12. Printed copies to be filed, and a book to be kept. Before the
patent is sealed, the person entitled to the patent shall deposit in
the office of the colonial secretary a printed copy of every such
petition and specification.
A book shall also be kept in the office of the said colonial secre-
tary wherein. shall be filed and recorded every such original peti-
tion and specification, and every order made upon such petition or
relating to the invention therein related. Every specification shall
be numbered according to the order in which it is entered in such
338 FOREIGN LAWS.
book, and a reference shall be made in such book, in the margin of
the entry of such specification, to every order relating to the inven-
tion, and to every petition, memorandum, or amended specification
which shall be filed under the provisions of article 15.
13. Hook open to all persons. Such book or printed copy as
aforesaid shall be open at all convenient times for the inspection of
any person, upon payment of a fee of four shillings, and the said
colonial secretary shall cause a copy of any entry therein, certified
imder his hand, or the hand of the assistant colonial secretary, to
be an examined copy, to be given to any person requiring the same,
on payment of the expense of copying, at the rate of fourpence
sterling per folio of ninety words.
14. Copies to be evidence. Printed or manuscript copies, certi-
fied to be examined copies by the colonial secretary or assistant
colonial secretary, of letters patent, specifications, disclaimers,
memoranda of alterations, and all other documents filed in the
colonial secretary's office, shall be received in evidence, in all pro-
ceedings relating to letters patent, in all courts whatever in the col-
ony of Mauritius, without further proof or production of the orig-
inals.
15. Amended specification to be filed, when and how. If after
the filing of the specification the petitioner shall have reason to
believe that through mistake or inadvertence he has erroneously
made any mis-statement in his petition or specification, or included
therein something which at the date of his petition was not new or
whereof he was not the inventor, or that such specification is in any
particular defective or insufficient, he may petition the Governor in
Executive Council for leave to file a memorandum pointing out
such error, defect or insufficiency, or disclaiming any part of the
alleged invention ; or, in case of any defect or insufficiency in the
specification, for leave to file an amended specification. The peti-
tion shall state how the error, defect, or insufficiency occurred, and
that it was not fraudulently intended, and shall be accompanied by
a declaration in writing, signed by the petitioner or authorized
agent as aforesaid, stating that the contents of such petition are
true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Upon such petition
the Governor in Executive Council may make an order allowing
such memorandum or amended specification to be filed. All the
provisions of article 7, 8, 12, 13, and 14, shall be applicable to peti-
tions, memoranda, amended specifications, or orders referred to in
this article. An amended specification under the provisions of this
MAURITIUS. 359
ordinance shall, except as to suits and proceedings relative to the
exclusive privilege which shall be pending at the time of such
amended specification, have the same effect as if it had been the
specification first filed ; provided that nothing in an amended speci-
fication shall extend or enlarge any exclusive privilege before
acquired.
16. Patents not to be granted, in what cases. No person shall
be entitled to a patent under this ordinance,
(a) If the invention is of no utility ;
(b) If the invention at the time of presenting the petition was
not a new invention within the meaning of this ordinance ;
(c) If the petitioner is not the inventor thereof ;
(d) If the specification filed, or the amended specification if
any, does not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed ;
() If the original or any subsequent petition relating to the
invention, or the original or amended specification, contain a will-
fully fraudulent statement.
17. Patents, if prejudicial to the public, to be withdrawn. Every
patent for an exclusive privilege under this ordinance shall In-
invalid and of no effect if it be proved to the satisfaction of tin-
Governor in Executive Council that the same or the mode in whicli
it is exercised is mischievous to the Colony or generally prejudicial
to the public ; or if the patentee shall to the satisfaction of thu
Governor in Executive Council be proved guilty of the breach of
any special condition under which the patent originally issued or
was extended. Notice of the withdrawal of the patent, and the-
cause thereof, shall be inserted in the government Gazette.
18. N~o patent when foreign patent has expired. No patent
shall be granted for an invention in respect whereof a patent has
been granted out of this Colony and has expired.
19. Assignments to be registered and transcribed. No patent
shall be held as to third parties to have been duly assigned unless
the assignment be registered and transcribed at the mortgage office.
20. Patents in joint names of several inventors. When mon?
persons than one have been concerned in making an invention tho
patent must be taken out in their joint names.
21. Patents, what they may include. No patent will be allowed
to include several distinct and separate inventions, but where one
invention is applicable to the improvement of several manufactures,
or where several inventions are applicable to the improvement of
360 FOREIGN LAWS.
one and the same manufacture, the whole may be included in one
patent.
22. No patent except to actual inventor for imported inventions.
The importer into Mauritius of a new invention shall not be deemed
an inventor within the meaning of this ordinance, unless he be the
actual inventor.
23. Foreigners entitled to patents. A foreigner, whether resi-
dent abroad or not, may obtain a patent under this ordinance,
provided he comply with the provisions of this ordinance.
24. Inventions deemed new inventions, when. An invention
shall be deemed a new invention within the meaning of this ordi-
nance, if it shall not, before the time of filing the petition as afore-
said, have been publicly used in Mauritius or in any part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or been made pub-
licly known in Mauritius or the United Kingdom by means of a
publication either printed or written, or partly printed and partly
written.
The public use or knowledge of an invention prior to the filing
of the petition as aforesaid shall not be deemed a public use or
knowledge within the meaning of this article if the knowledge shall
have been obtained surreptitiously or in fraud of the inventor, or
shall have been communicated to the public in fraud of the inventor,
or in breach of confidence ; provided the inventor shall, within six
calendar months after the commencement of such public use, file
his petition for a patent, and shall not previously have acquiesced
in such public use.
Provided also, that the use of an invention in public by the
inventor thereof, or by his servants or agents, or by any other per-
son with his license in writing, for a period not exceeding one year
prior to the date of the petition, shall not be deemed a public use
thereof within the meaning of this ordinance.
25. Holders of letters patent to take a patent, when and how. If
an inventor has obtained Her Majesty's letters patent for the
exclusive use of an invention in the United Kingdom, he may
obtain a patent in Mauritius under this ordinance for such inven-
tion, provided the application be made within twelve calendar
months from the passing of this ordinance, or within twelve calen-
dar months from the date of the letters patent, although previous
to the time of his petitioning, such invention may have been publicly
known or used in Mauritius ; provided such invention was not
publicly known or used in Mauritius before the date of the letters
MAURITIUS. 361
patent, and provided the patent obtained in Mauritius shall cease
to have effect if the letters patent are revoked or canceled, and
provided the privilege obtained in Mauritius shall not extend
beyond the period assigned to the letters patent in the United
Kingdom.
26. Who can use the invention nevertheless. No privilege
obtained under this ordinance shall entitle the owner of such priv-
ilege to exclude any person from using the invention who prior to
the passing of this ordinance used the same in this Colony.
27. Actions for infringement ; writ of injunction. An action
may be maintained by an inventor against any person who, during
the continuance of any exclusive privilege granted under this ordi-
nance, shall without the license of such inventor, make, use, sell, or
put in practice the said invention, or who shall counterfeit or imitate
the same ; provided such action be brought before the Supreme
Court, and provided the said Supreme Court or a judge in chambers
shall have the right, before action brought or pending the action,
to issue a writ of injunction restraining the defendant from making
use of, selling or putting in practice, the said invention, for such
time and under such conditions as to the said court or judge shall
seem fit.
28. Actions ; how they may not be defended. No such action
shall be defended upon the ground of any defect or insufficiency of
the invention ; nor upon the ground that the original petition, or
any subsequent petition relating to the invention, or the original or
any amended specification, contains willful mis-statements ; nor
upon the ground that the invention is not useful ; nor shall any
such action be defended upon the ground that the plaintiff was not
the inventor, unless the defendant shall show that he is the actual
inventor, or has obtained the right from him to use the said inven-
tion wholly or in part.
But any such action may be defended upon the ground that the
invention was not new.
29. Motion to be made before infringement to cancel patent,
It shall, however, be lawful for any person to apply by motion to
the Supreme Court for a rule to show cause why the court should
not declare that an exclusive privilege in respect to an invention
shall be canceled or revoked under the provisions of this article,
by reason of all or any of the objections following, to be specified
in the rule ; that is to say,
1. That the said invention is of no utility ;
362 FOREIGN LAWS.
(2.) That the said invention was not, at the time of filing the
petition, a new invention within the meaning of this ordinance ;
(3.) That the patentee was not the inventor thereof ;
(4.) That the patentee did not, in his petition and specification,
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the invention, or
in what manner the same is to be performed ;
(5.) That the petitioner has in the petition or specification or
amended specification made willful or fraudulent mis-statements ;
(6.) That some part of the invention, or the manner in which that
part is to be performed, as described in the specification filed or
the amended specification, is not thereby sufficiently described or
ascertained, and that such defect or insufficiency was fraudulent
or is injurious to the public ;
(7.) That some part of the invention is wholly distinct from the
other part, and is of no utility or is not new as aforesaid, or that
the petitioner was not the inventor of such part.
30. Procureur-general may move. It shall be lawful for the
procuretir-general to make or direct to be made the application in
article 29 mentioned, whenever he shall think it necessary on behalf
of the public.
31. Notice, how served. Notice of any rule obtained or pro-
ceeding taken under articles 29 and 30 shall be served on the pat-
entee ; or, if the patent have been assigned, upon all persons appear-
ing to be proprietors or to have shares or interests in the exclusive
privilege conferred by the patent ; and it shall not be necessary to
serve such notice on any other person.
32. What the Supreme Court may not take cognizance of. It
shall not be lawful for the Supreme Court to take cognizance,
either in actions for infringement or in motions made to cancel
and revoke a patent, of any breaches or grounds of defense but
those specified in the declaration and plea, or of any objections but
those specified in the rule to show cause.
33. Supreme Court to hear and determine. If it shall appear
to the Supreme Court that by any of the objections in article 29
mentioned the said exclusive privilege in the invention, or any part
thereof, ought to be canceled, the court shall make the rule absolute,
with such order as to costs of and consequent upon the application
as it may think just ; and thereupon the patentee, his heirs, execu-
tors, administrators, or assigns, shall, so long as the judgment con-
tinues in force, cease to be entitled to the said exclusive privilege.
A copy of the rule certified by the registrar of the Supreme Court
MAURITIUS. 363
shall be forwarded to the colonial secretary, and annexed to the
original petition and specification.
34. Supreme Court may allow amendments, when and how. It
shall be lawful for the court to adjudge that the exclusive privilege
shall not be canceled, save as to the part thereof affected by error,
defect, or insufficiency ; and also if satisfied that no fraudulent
practices were intended, and that the error, defect, or insufficiency
can be amended without injury to the public, to order, upon such
terms as to the court may appear reasonable, the specification or
amended specification to be amended in any particular ; and the
patentee, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, shall, within
the time limited by the said court for the purpose, file a specifica-
tion amended according to such order ; provided that no such
amended specification shall have the effect of extending or enlarg-
ing the exclusive privilege before acquired.
35. Short title. This ordinance may be cited as " the Patents
Ordinance."
36. Repeal clause. Ordinance No. 11 of 1835 is hereby repealed.
SCHEDULE A.
I of in the district of do solemnly and sincerely declare
that I am in possession of an invention for, &c. [the title as in petition], which
invention I believe will be of great public untility ; that I am true and first inventor
thereof ; and that the same is not in use by any other person or persons, to the best of
my knowledge and belief [where a complete specification is to be filed with the petition
and declaration, insert these words: "and that the instrument in writing under my
hand, hereunto annexed, particularly describes and ascertains the nature of the said
invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed.'']
SCHEDULE B.
In humble obedience to his Excellency's commands referring to me the petition of
of , to consider what may be properly done therein, I do hereby
certify as follows : That the said petition sets forth that the petitioner [state briefly
the allegations of the petition].
And the petitioner most humbly prays [state briefly the prayer of tJie petition~\.
That in support of the aJlegations contained in the said petition the declaration of the
petitioner has been laid before me, whereby he solemnly declares that [state briefly the
allegations of the declaration],
That there has also been laid before me (a provisional specification signed
and also a certificate ), or (a complete specification, and a certificate of the
Iling thereof), whereby it appears that the sid invention may be provisionally pro-
364 FOREIGN LAWS.
tccted (or protected) from the day of A. n. in pursuance of
the ordinance :
I hereby certify that the petitioner is entitled to interim protection on account of
his said invention, provided the said application for letters patent be duly advertised
according to the ordinance, and that the petitioner do otherwise comply with the
enactments of ordinance No. 16 of 1875.
Given under my hand, this day of A. D. ,
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 364.
MEXICO. 365
MEXICO.
Law of May 7, 1832.
ARTICLE 1. To protect the right of property of inventors or
improvers of any branch of industry, an exclusive right shall be
given them, to use the invention or improvement in all the states of
the federation for the time and under the conditions that are
expressed in this law.
ART. 2. The inventor or improver of any industry in the Mexi-
can Republic who wishes the government to secure to him the
possession thereof, shall present to it or to the city council of the
place in which he desires to establish his project, or to that of his
residence, or to the governor of the state or territory, to which that
place pertains, an exact description,* accompanied by drawings,
models, and as much more as is judged necessary for the explana-
tion of the proposed object, and the above named authorities shall
give him a legal instrument according to form number one.
ART. 3. The local authority, in case the applicant does not pre-
sent himself directly to the governor of the state, shall remit to the
latter the papers in the case with all the documents, and the gover-
nor shall decide ; and in case the applicant has not done so himself,
shall forward the application by the first regular mail to the
minister of the interior.
ART. 4. The government, on receiving a petition to obtain a
patent, shall publish it three times in the newspapers, and a term of
two months (counting from the day of publication) shall be allowed
for opposition to be entered by any who claim priority.
ART. 5. The government, through the secretary of the interior,
shall issue to the improver or inventor a patent according to form
number two.
ART. 6. In granting the patent mentioned in the previous article,
the government is not to examine whether or not the inventions or
improvements are useful, but only if they are contrary to public
safety or health, to good morals, or to law, or to the orders and
regulations, and if it is not so, they cannot refuse the protection
solicited.
* The documents must be in Spanish. Pat. Off. Gaz. April 10, 1383, p. 1448.
366 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. 7. Patents of invention shall remain in force for ten years,
and those of improvement for six, counting from the date when
the privileged project is established in the Republic.
ART. 8. A project of invention or improvement is understood
to be established from the day the patent is issued.
ART. 9. When an inventor or improver desires that his privi-
lege should be limited to one State only, he must apply for the
concession to the authorities of that State.
ART. 10. When any one has obtained a privilege for an inven-
tion or improvement already established without patent by another,
the privilege shall be void, even if it be not claimed by that party
as his invention or improvement.
ART. 11. When the invention or improvement is of such nature
that it may be worked in secret, and the inventor or improver
obtains a patent, when the term of the patent has expired, he must
make the invention or improvement public.
ART. 12. A patent having been issued for an invention, if a
privilege for an improvement is solicited, the privilege granted to
the improver shall not affect the rights of the original inventor.
ART. 13. When the inventor or improver desires the privilege
for a longer time than that expressed in article 7, he must apply to
the government, which shall report to Congress.
ART. 14. An inventor or improver shall not use his industry as
patented until he has obtained from the government the patent
which establishes his title.
ART. 15. In case of dispute as to the possession of an invention
or improvement, it shall be decided by the common laws.
ABT. 16. When it is proved that a privilege has been obtained
by fraud, the applicant representing as an invention or improve-
ment that which is no more than an introduction, the patent which
has been obtained shall be void.
ART. 17. The government shall publish in the Gazette the grant
of each patent immediately it is issued, and shall designate a con-
venient place where the designs, plans, and models named in arti-
cle 2 may be open to public inspection.
ART. 18. When the invention or improvement is to remain
secret, the designs, plans, &c., shall not be published until the
expiration of the term of privilege.
ART. 19. The fees for a patent will be from 10 to 300 dollars
(pesos).
ART. 20. At least one half of the persons employed in mechani-
MEXICO. 367
cal labor by the workers of a patent, must if possible be actually
natives of the United Mexican States.
ART. 21. The introducer of any branch of industry that in the
judgment of the government is of great importance, may obtain an
exclusive privilege by applying through the government to the Gen-
eral Congress.
FORM No. I.
Certificate delivered by the Local A uthority or Governor of a Province.
I, N., mayor or governor of , certify herewith that this day, month, and year,
N. N. has [or have] delivered to me a closed and sealed packet, which he [or they]
declare to contain all the descriptive documents [insert the precise object in view], and
for that purpose the packet has been labeled with the number of the inventor or
improver, and the day and hour of its delivery. Having declared that he [or they] is
[or are] the inventor [or inventors], improver [or improvers], he has [or they have]
signed the present in duplicate with me, keeping one for himself [or themselves],
and leaving the other at this office.
[Certificates may also be delivered by the secretaries of governors, if the latter
should find it convenient.]
FORM No. II.
Letters Patent.
The President of the United States of Mexico informs all those present that hav-
ing found N. [or N. N.] to be an inventor [or inventors], or an improver [or
improvers], according to the documents, plans, drawings, descriptions, or models
delivered, he by these presents secures his [or their] right of property of his [or
their] invention [or improvement], according to the terms and for the time prescribed
by law, the present decree establishing his [or their] title.
Dated
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 375.
Decree of September 28, 184:3.
In every patent which is issued, a prudent term shall be fixed,
within which the use of the privileged object shall be commenced,
and if not accomplished in said time, the privilege will be held to
have expired, and free action granted to any other individual to
apply for it again.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 380.
388 FOREIGN LAWS.
Regulation of July 12, 1852, for the Better Observance of
the Law of May 7, 1832.
ARTICLE 1. The inventor or perfecter of any industry, to make
use of the right given by article 2 of the law of May 7, 1832, shall
present to any of the authorities named by the said article his peti-
tion (solicitud), accompanied by duplicates of his designs (or
models), and what is judged necessary for explanation of what is
proposed.
ART. 2. Every petition made according to the previous article
shall pass immediately after its first publication for the information
of the directing committee of industry, which shall extend that
which it may deem proper within the term specified by article 4 of
said law.
ART. 3. The directory shall give information upon those points
which are comprehended under article 6 of said law.
ART. 4. If before the term specified in article 4 of said law
expires there shall be any opposition, the directing committee shall
hear verbally the interested parties, and consult with experts on
doubtful points according to right, and shall obtain an agreement
between the parties, provided that it does not prejudice the public
interests nor conflict with the laws. If the parties should agree,
an act shall be made, signed by the president and seci-etary of the
committee, showing the agreement made. The directive committee
shall send it to the government with the proper information.
ART. 5. If no agreement be arrived at, the directive committee
shall send the papers in the case to the government, giving its
opinion upon the controverted point.
ART. 6. Providing that the opposer shall found his objection
upon an alleged better right to the privilege which is asked, because
personally it may have been conceded to him and guaranteed by
the issue of the respective patent, the government shall examine
the opposition, and within thirty days grant or deny the patent
which is solicited, the rights of the party who considers himself
injured remaining in full force in order that he may use them before
the competent federal courts, according to law.
ART. 7. Should the dispute turn upon the possession or owner-
ship of the privilege, or this should be impugned for the reasons
expressed in the 16th article of said law, the judicial notice shall be
MEXICO. 369
passed to the competent federal tribunal in order that, the parties
being heard according to law, it may decide the contest. The party
gaining the case shall present testimony of the sentence given, that
it may, passing to the directing committee of industry, inform it
with reference to the concession of the decision, if the judicial
decision shall have been favorable to him who asks it.
ART. 8. If the opposition should be founded in that the privilege
cannot be conceded according to what is provided in article 6, or
that the innovation or perfection is not a matter of privilege on
account of being comprehended in article 10 of said law, the gov-
ernment shall decide upon the concession, and from the decision
made there shall be no opportunity for judicial recourse, provided
that the opposition is founded upon .the mentioned article 6 ; but if
it should turn upon the application of article 10, and the govern-
ment decision should concede the patent, there will remain in force
the judicial recourse to him who may consider himself pre-
judiced.
ART. 9. The competent federal tribunals, upon the petition of
the attorney-general, in default of a party who should make the
decision, shall declare the nullity of the privileges comprehended in
articles 10 and 16 of the Law of May 7, 1832. The attorney-gen-
eral cannot take this public action unless directed by the govern-
ment.
ART. 10. The government, upon issuing the patent mentioned
in article 5 of said law, shall return one exemplar of the designs,
models, and descriptions, which, according to article 1 of this law,
must accompany the petition in duplicate. This exemplar, if it be
design or description, will go signed by the chief clerk of the min-
istry of relations. If it be a model which cannot be written upon,
there shall be placed a suitable mark or sign, making written note
of this fact on the patent, as also of the return of the duplicates.
In the cases comprehended in the article 18 of the law of May 7,
1832, the signatures and signs shall be placed on the cover of the box
that contains the designs, plans, &c.
ART. 11. The patent of which the previous article of the said
law speaks forms the title of privilege, and, when produced to
establish or define a right, there shall be exhibited therewith the
designs, descriptions, or models authorized in the form provided in
the preceding article.
ART. 12. The concession of a patent does not guarantee the
I. 24
370 FOREIGN LAWS.
utility of the invention or perfection nor prejudge (prejuzgd) the
questions relating to it which may arise.
ART. 13. A copy of this law shall accompany every patent issued
hereafter, under seal of the ministry of relations stamped over
wafer.
From 23 Pat. Off. Gaz. 1447
MICQUELON.
See FRANCE.
MONTSERRAT.
See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
NATAL. ,371
NATAL.
An Act "to provide for the granting in this Colony, of Pat-
ents for Inventions." No. 4 O/18TO.
Preamble. Whereas it is expedient that the making of new and
useful inventions should be encouraged by securing to their inven-
tors, for a limited time, the exclusive enjoyment thereof :
Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant Governor of Natal,
with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as
follows :
1. Interpretation clause. In the interpretation of this law the
term " invention " shall bear and have the same meaning as the
term " invention " bears and has in the Act of the Imperial Parlia-
ment, the 15th and 16th of Her Majesty, c. 83, entitled " An Act for
Amending the Law for Granting Patents for Inventions ;" and the
term " letters patent " shall mean authorizations granted by the
Lieutenant Governor, under the public seal of the colony ; and the
term "proceedings in the nature of a scire facias" shall mean and
have a like signification with, or as nearly as may be, what the same
term would mean if used in an Act of the Imperial Parliament.
2. Issue of letters patent authorized. It shall be lawful for the
Lieutenant Governor, to make and issue, in manner hereinafter men-
tioned, letters patent, granting to the true and first inventor of any
invention the privilege of tbjs sole and exclusive working, making,
and enjoyment of such invention within this colony, for any term
not exceeding fourteen yeai-s from the date of such letters patent.
3. Mules and regulations for carrying out this law. It shall be
lawful for the Lieutenant Governor, with the advice of his Execu-
tive Council, from time to time, to make such rules and regula-
tions, not inconsistent with the provisions hereof, as may appear to
be necessary and expedient for the purposes of this law ; and all
such rules and regulations shall be laid before the Legislative
Council within fourteen days after the making thereof, if the Leg-
islative Council be sitting, and if the Legislative Council be not
sitting, then within fourteen days after the next meeting thereof.
4. Application deposit of provisional specification ; fee /
term of protection amendment. All applications under this law,
for the grant of letters patent, shall be made, as near as may be, as
372 FOREIGN LAWS.
follows, that is to say : The applicant shall deposit in the office of
the attorney-general, an instrument in writing, under his signature,
describing the nature of his invention ; and the day of the deposit
of every such specification shall 1t>e recorded at the said office, and
indorsed upon such specification, and a certificate thereof given to
such applicant or his agent, who shall thereupon deposit and pay a
fee as per schedule 8 hereunto annexed ; and thereupon, subject and
without prejudice to the provisions hereinafter contained, the said
invention shall be protected under this law for the term of six
months next after the said deposit ; and the applicant shall have,
during such term, the like powers, rights, and privileges as might
have been conferred upon him by letters patent issued under this
law, and duly sealed as of the day of the date of such deposit ; and
during the continuance of such powers, rights, and privileges, such
invention may be used and published, without prejudice to any
letters patent to be granted for the same ; and the contents of such
specifications shall not be inspected by any person but the attorney-
general, or such person as he may appoint in that behalf, and its
contents shall not be published until after the expiration of the
said six months: Provided that in case the title of the invention or
the said specification be too large or insufficient, it shall be lawful
for the attorney-general, during the said term, and before the grant
of letters patent, to allow or require such specification to be
amended. Such amended specification shall be considered a com-
plete specification, and shall be liable to the conditions imposed
upon complete specification by this law.
5. Complete specification / fee ; protection / insufficient descrip-
tion. The applicant for an invention, instead of depositing a
" provisional specification," as aforesaid, may, if he think fit, deposit
an instrument in writing under his hand and seal (hereinafter called
a complete specification), particularly describing and ascertaining
the nature of the said invention, in what manner the same is to be
performed, and also such drawings as may be required to explain
the same, and the day of the deposit of every such specification
shall be recorded at the aforesaid office and indorsed upon such
specification, and a certificate thereof given to such applicant, or
his agent, who shall thereupon deposit and pay a fee as provided in
schedule 8 of this law ; and thereupon, subject and without preju-
dice to the provisions hereinafter contained, the said invention shall
be protected under this law for the term of six months next after
the said deposit, and the applicant shall have during such term the
NATAL. 373
like powers, rights, and privileges ; such invention may be used and
published without prejudice to any letters patent to be granted for
the same, and where letters patent are granted in respect of such
invention, such letters shall be conditioned to become void if such
specification does not sufficiently describe and ascertain the nature
of the said invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, arid in case the invention is an improvement on any exist-
ing invention, if such specification does not sufficiently show in
what the improvement consists.
6. Deposit of specification in fraud of true inventor, not to
invalidate. In case of the depositing of any such specification as
aforesaid, in fraud of the true and first inventor, any letters patent
granted to the true and first inventor of any such invention shall
not be invalidated by reason of such deposit, or of any use or pub-
lication of the invention subsequent to such deposit, and before the
expiration of the said term of protection.
l.,J\fode of proceeding notice to attorney-general ; appoint-
ment / publication / filing objections. The applicant, as soon as he
shall think fit after the deposit of such specification as aforesaid,
and of the drawings accompanying the same, if any, may give
notice in writing, at the office of the attorney-general, of his inten-
tion to proceed w r ith his application for letters patent for the said
invention, stating in such notice the title of the said invention, and
the day on which the specification thereof was deposited at the
office of the attorney-general, and at the time of giving such notice
shall produce the said certificate of deposit and receipt for the said
fee or fees, and thereupon the said attorney-general, shall deliver to
the applicant, or his agent, an appointment in the form contained
in the second schedule to this law, or to the like effect ; and such
applicant or agent shall cause the said appointment to be published
once in the Government Gazette, once in some newspaper published
in the city of Pietermaritzburg, and twice in some newspaper pub-
lished in the town or place at or near which the applicant uses or
exercises the said invention, or (in case he does not use or exercise
the same) in or near to which he resides ; or if there shall be no
newspaper published in such town or place, then twice in some
newspaper circulating in the neighborhood where he uses or exer-
cises the said invention, or (in case he does not exercise or use the
same) where he resides ; and any person having an interest in
opposing the grant of letters patent for the said invention, shall be
at liberty, upon payment therefor of a fee as provided by schedule
374 FOREIGN LAWS.
8, to leave particulars in writing of the objections to the said appli-
cation at the office of the attorney-general within such time, not
less than one month, as the attorney-general by such appointment
may direct.
8. Hearing of application and objections ; costs. At the time
and place named in the said appointment, the applicant shall pro-
duce the newspapers containing the same, and the attornby-general
shall thereupon hear and consider the said application, and all
objections to the same mentioned in the said particulars, if any,
and may call to his aid scientific or other person or persons, as he
may think fit, and the Lieutenant Governor therefor appoint, and
may, by writing, under his hand, order to be paid to such person
or persons, by the said applicant or objector, some remuneration for
his or their attendance, and may also in like manner order that the
costs of any hearing upon any objection or otherwise in relation to
the grant of such letters patent, or the protection acquired by the
applicant under this law, shall be paid, and in and by such writing
shall fix the amount of such remuneration or costs, and by or to
whom the same respectively sliall be paid ; and every such order shall
be in the form contained in the third schedule to this law, or to the
like effect, and may be made a rule of the Supreme Court ; pro-
vided that the applicant, the objectors, and their respective wit-
nesses and evidence, shall be respectively heard, examined, and
considered separately and apart from, and in the absence of, the
other, and his witnesses and evidence.
9. Issue of warrant for granting letters patent. The attorney-
general, if no objections have been made, or after such hearing and
consideration as the case may be, may issue a warrant under his
hand for the granting of letters patent for the said invention, and
by such warrant shall direct the insertion in such letters patent of
all such restrictions, conditions, and provisos as he may deem usual
and expedient in such grants, or necessary in pursuance of this law,
and the said warrant shall be the warrant for the making and seal-
ing of letters patent under this law, according to the tenor of the
said warrant, and every such warrant shall be in the form contained
in the fourth schedule to this law, or to the like effect, and for the
granting thereof the applicant shall pay to the colonial treasurer,
and produce his receipt therefor, a fee as in schedule No. 8 here-
unto annexed.
10. Scire facias for repeal of patent ; Governor may order to
withhold warrant. A writ of the Supreme Court of the nature of
NATAL. 375
a writ of scire facias in England shall lie for the repeal of any let-
ters patent granted under this law, and it shall be lawful for the
Lieutenant Governor, with the advice aforesaid, to order such
attorney-general to withhold such warrant as aforesaid, or that any
letters patent, for the granting whereof he has issued a warrant,
shall not issue ; or to order the insertion in any such letters patent
of any restrictions, conditions, and provisos in addition to, or in
substitution for, any restrictions, conditions, or provisos which
would otherwise be inserted therein under this law ; and it shall
also be lawful for the Lieutenant Governor, with the advice afore-
said, to order any specification in respect of the invention described,
in which no letters patent may have been granted, to be canceled,
and thereupon the protection obtained by the deposit of such speci-
fication shall cease.
11. Form and condition* of letters patent. All letters patent
granted under this law shall be in the form contained in the fifth
schedule to this law, or to the like effect, and be made subject to
the condition that the same shall be void, and that the powers and
privileges thereby granted shall cease and determine at the expira-
tion of three years and seven years respectively from the date
thereof, unless there be paid to the colonial treasurer within the
said three and seven years respectively, the sum or sums of money
in that behalf hereby required to be paid, and the colonial treasurer
shall issue under his hand a certificate of such payment, and shall
indorse a receipt for the same on the letters patent.
12. Preparation of letters patent ; sealing same. The attor-
ney-general, so soon after the issue by him of the warrant aforesaid
as required by the applicant, shall cause to be prepared letters
patent of the invention, according to the tenor of the said warrant ;
and it shall be lawful for the Lieutenant Governor, with the advice
of the Executive Council, to cause letters patent to be sealed with
the public seal of the colony, and such letters patent shall be made
applicable to the said colony, and shall be valid and effectual as to
the whole of the same ; but, except as hereinafter mentioned, no
letters patent shall issue on any warrant granted as aforesaid, unless
application be made to seal such letters patent within three months
after the date of the said warrant, nor unless such letters patent be
granted during the continuance of the protection conferred under
this law by reason of such deposit as aforesaid.
13. Delay in sealing ; death of applicant ; destruction or loss of
patent. Where the application to seal such letters patent has been
376 FOREIGN LAWS.
made during the continuance of such protection as aforesaid, and
the sealing of such letters patent has been delayed from accident,
and not from the neglect or willful default of the applicant, then
such letters patent may be sealed at such time, not being more than
one month after the expiration of such protection as the Lieutenant
Governor, with the advice aforesaid, shall direct ; and where the
applicant for such letters patent dies during the continuance of such
protection as aforesaid, such letters patent may be granted to the
executors testamentary or dative of such applicant during the con-
tinuance of such protection, or at any time within three months
after the death of such applicant, notwithstanding the expiration of
the term of such protection ; and the letters patent, so granted shall
be of the like force and effect as if they had been granted to such
applicant during the continuance of such protection ; and in case any
letters patent shall be destroyed or lost, other letters patent, of the
like tenor and effect, and sealed and dated as of the same day, may,
subject to such regulations as the Lieutenant Governor, with the
advice aforesaid, may direct, be issued under the authority of the
warrant in pursuance of which the original letters patent were
issued.
14. Date of patent; after issue appointment not to be ques-
tioned. All letters patent to be issued ia pursuance of this law,
shall be sealed and bear date as of the day of the deposit of any
such specification as aforesaid, and shall be of the same force and
validity as if they had been sealed on the day as of which the
same are expressed to be sealed and bear date ; and after any let-
ters patent shall have been granted or issued under this law, it shall
not be necessary or admissible to inquire or ascertain whether such
appointment as aforesaid has or has not been delivered and pub-
lished in the manner hereinbefore mentioned and directed.
15. Extension to colony of patent granted elsewhere. Where,
upon any application made under this law, letters patent are granted
for or in respect of any invention, first invented in parts out of this
colony, and a patent or like privilege for the monopoly or exclu-
sive use or exercise of such invention in any parts out of this colony
is obtained before the grant of such letters patent in this colony, all
rights and privileges under such letters patent shall, notwithstand-
ing any term in such letters patent limited, cease and be void
immediately upon the expiration or other determination of the term
during which the patent or like privilege obtained in such part out
of such colony shall continue in force, or where more than one such
NATAL. 377
patent or like privilege is obtained abroad, immediately upon the
expiration or determination of the term which shall first expire or
be determined of such several patents or like privileges : Provided
always, that no letters patent for or in respect of any invention, for
which any such patent or like privilege as aforesaid, shall have been
obtained abroad, granted in this colony after the expiration or
determination of the term for which such patent or privilege was
granted or was in force, shall be of any validity.
16. Patent not to apply to foreign ships. No letters patent for
any invention, granted after the passing of this law, shall extend to
prevent the use of such invention in any foreign ship or vessel,* or
for the navigation of any foreign ship or vessel which may be in any
port of Natal, in case such invention is not so used for the manu-
facture of any goods or commodities to be vended within or
exported from the same.
17. Specifications and drawings, whereto be kept. Every spec-
ification deposited at the office of the attorney general, as aforesaid,
and the drawings accompanying the same, if any, shall forthwith,
after the grant of the letters patent, or if no letters patent be granted,
then immediately on the expiration of six months from the time of
such deposit, be transferred to and kept in such office as the Lieu-
tenant Governor with the advice aforesaid, shall from time to time
appoint for that purpose.
18. Disclaimer. Appointment; publication; objections. Any
person who shall obtain letters patent under this law, or in case
such person shall part with the whole or any part of his interest by
assignment, such person, together with the assignee (if part only
hath been assigned), or the assignee alone (if the whole hath been
assigned), may apply to the attorney-general for leave to enter a
disclaimer of any part of either the title of the invention or of the
specification, or a memorandum of any alteration in the said title or
specification, not being such disclaimer or such alteration, as shall
extend to the exclusive right granted by the said letters patent ; and
thereupon the attorney-general shall deliver to such patentee and
assignee, or either of them, or to their or either of their agents, an
appointment in the form contained in the sixth schedule to this law,
or to the like effect, and such patentee or assignee shall thereupon
* By Law No. 5 of 1871, Carpm. Pat. used in navigation not propelled by oars,
L. of World, 404, the terms " foreign ship not being registered in or hailing from
or vessel " in section 16 in the text are this Colony."
declared to " include all ships and vessels
378 FOREIGN LAWS.
cause such disclaimer (stating the reason for the same), or such
memorandum or alteration to be written at the foot of such appoint-
ment, and shall cause the same respectively to be published in the
manner hereinbefore required, with respect to the said first men-
tioned appointment, and any person having an interest in opposing
the said application shall be at liberty to leave particulars, in writ-
ing, of their objections to the same, at the office of the attorney-
general, within such time, not being less than one month, as the
said attorney-general by such appointment may direct : Provided
that where such application as aforesaid shall be for leave to enter
a disclaimer of any part of the title of the said invention, or a mem-
orandum of any alteration in such title, the attorney-general may
dispense with such appointment and publication, and in that case
shall certify, in the fiat hereinafter mentioned, that he has dispensed
with the same.
19. Hearing application and objections. At the time and place
named in such appointment, the said patentee and assignee, or one
of them, shall produce the newspapers containing the same, and the
said disclaimer or memorandum of alteration at the foot thereof ;
and the attorney-general shall thereupon hear and consider the said
application, and all objections to the same, mentioned in the said
particulars, if any, and all such power and authority shall and may
be exercised on such occasion by the attorney-general, as by virtue
of the provisions hereinbefore contained, can and may be exercised
in relation to the hearing and considering any application for letters
patent, and objections to the same, and shall and may be enforced
in the same manner.
20. Entry of disclaimer ; attorney -general's fiat. After such
hearing and consideration, or without such hearing and considera-
tion, where the said appointment and publication shall have been
dispensed with, as aforesaid, such patentee and assignee, or either
of them, may, by leave of the attorney-general, to be certified by a
fiat under his hand (to be written at the foot of the same parchment
with the said disclaimer or memorandum), enter such disclaimer,
stating the reason for the same, or such memorandum of alteration ;
and at the time of entering such disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration, shall deposit a copy thereof in the office next hereinbefore
mentioned ; and such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration being
filed in such office as the Lieutenant Governor, with the advice
aforesaid, shall from time to time appoint for that purpose, shall
be deemed and taken to be part of such letters patent, or such
NATAL. 379
specification, and subject to the several incidents thereof in all
courts of this Colony, and shall be valid and effectual in favor of
any person in whom the rights under the said letters patent may
then be, or hereafter become legally vested ; and no objection shall
be allowed to be made in any proceeding upon, or touching such
letters patent, specification, disclaimer, or memorandum of altera-
tion, on the ground that the person entering such disclaimer or
memorandum of alteration had not sufficient authority in that
behalf : Provided always, that no action shall be brought upon any
letters patent in which, or on the specification of which, any dis-
claimer or memorandum of alteration shall have been filed in respect
of any infringement committed prior to the filing of such disclaimer
or memorandum of alteration (unless the attorney-general shall
certify in his said fiat that any such action may be brought), not-
withstanding the entry or filing of such disclaimer or memorandum
of alteration ; and no such disclaimer or alteration shall be receiv-
able as evidence in any action or suit (save and except in any
proceeding as aforesaid, in the nature of a scire facias), pending at
the time when such disclaimer or alteration was filed as aforesaid,
but in every such last mentioned action or suit the original title
and specification alone shall be given in evidence, and be deemed
and taken to be the title and specification of the invention for which
the letters patent have been or shall have been granted : Provided
also, that when any such fiat shall have been granted or issued
under this law, it shall not be necessary or material to inquire or
ascertain whether such appointment as last aforesaid has or has not
been delivered and published or dispensed with in accordance with
this law : and such filing of any disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration, in pursuance of the leave of the attorney-general, certi-
fied as aforesaid, shall, except in cases of fraud, be conclusive as to
the right of the party to enter such disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration under this law.
21. /Specifications, drawings, &c,; public, after issue of patent.
The copies of all specifications, and the drawings accompanying the
same, if any, and of all disclaimers and memoranda of alterations,
respectively deposited under or in pursuance of this law, shall be
open to the inspection of the public at all reasonable times after
the grant of letters patent, or if no letters patent be granted, then
immediately on the expiration of six months from the time of such
deposit, but subject to such regulations as the Lieutenant Governor,
with the advice aforesaid, may make in that behalf.
380 FOREIGN LAWS.
22. Petition to Governor for extension of patent. If any person
having obtained letters patent under ibis law, or in case such per-
son shall have parted with his whole or any part of his interest by
assignment, if such person, together with the assignee (where part
only hath been assigned), or if the assignee alone (where the whole
hath been assigned), shall, six months before the expiration or other
termination of such letters patent, present to the Lieutenant Gover-
nor a petition for the extension of the term in such letters patent
mentioned, and shall set forth in such petition that he or they has
or have been unable to obtain a due remuneration for his or their
expense or labor in perfecting such invention, and that an exclusive
right of using and vending the same for some further period to be
named in such petition, in addition to the said term, is necessary
for his or their reimbursement and remuneration, it shall be lawful
for the Lieutenant Governor, with the advice aforesaid, to refer the
consideration of the said petition to the Supreme Court.
23. Petition for confirmation or renewal of patent. If in any
suit or action it shall be proved or specially found by the verdict of
a jury or by the court, that any person who shall have obtained let-
ters patent for any invention or supposed invention was not the first
inventor thereof, or of some part thereof, by reason of some other
person having invented or used the same, or some part thereof,
before the date of such letters patent, or if such patentee or his
assigns shall discover that some other person had, unknown to such
patentee, invented or used the same or some part thereof before the
date of such letters patent, such patentee or his assigns may peti-
tion the Lieutenant Governor to confirm the said letters patent, or to
grant new letters patent, and it shall be lawful for the Lieutenant
Governor, with the advice aforesaid, to refer the consideration of
the said petition to the Supreme Court.
24. Petition to be advertised ; entering caveat. Two months
at least before the time named for tbe consideration of any such peti-
tion as aforesaid, the petitioner shall cause to be published, in the
same manner as is hereinbefore required with respect to the first-
mentioned appointment, an advertisement of the contents of the said
petition in the form contained in the seventh schedule to this law,
or to the like effect ; and any person having an interest in opposing
the said petition shall be at liberty to enter a caveat against the
same at the office of the attorney-general, at any time, not being
less than one week before the time named for the consideration of
the said petition.
NATAL. 381
25. Hearing petition ; court to report to Lieutenant Governor on
prayer for extension ; on prayer for confirmation or renewal, to
decide. The petitioner shall be heard by his counsel and witnesses,
to prove his case as stated in such petition, and the publication of
the said last-mentioned advertisement as required by this law ; and
the persons entering caveats shall likewise be heard by their coun-
sel and witnesses ; and all such witnesses shall be examined upon
oath or affirmation, and thereupon, and upon hearing and inquiry
of the whole matter, in case such petitioner shall have prayed
for an extension as aforesaid, the said court may report whether
any, and, if any, what further extension of the said term should
be granted ; and the Lieutenant Governor is hereby author-
ized and empowered, if he, with the advice aforesaid, shall think
fit, to grant to the petitioner new letters patent for the said
invention, for a term not exceeding fourteen years after the expira-
tion of the first term, anything hereinbefore contained to the con-
trary thereof notwithstanding ; and such new letters patent shall
be sealed and bear date as of the day after the expiration of the
term of the first letters patent ; or, in case such petitioner shall
have prayed for a confirmation or grant as aforesaid, the court,
upon examining the said matter, and being satisfied that such pat-
entee, as aforesaid, believed himself to be the first and original
inventor, and being satisfied that such invention, or part thereof,
had not been publicly and generally used before the date of such
first letters patent, shall decide whether the prayer of such petition
ought to be complied with, whereupon the Lieutenant Governor
may, if he, with the advice aforesaid, shall think fit, grant such
prayer ; and the said letters patent shall be available at law and in
equity to give such petitioner the sole right of using, making, and
vending such invention, as against all persons whatsoever, anything
hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof notwithstanding :
Provided that any person, party to any former action or suit touch-
ing such first letters patent as last aforesaid, shall be entitled to have
notice in writing from the petitioner or his attorney of the time and
place fixed for the hearing of the said petition ; and after any such
decision and order shall have been made, it shall not be material to
inquire or ascertain whether any such advertisement as last afore-
said has or has not been published, or whether acy such notice as
last aforesaid has or has not been given in the manner hereinbefore
directed in that behalf. The expenses of such hearing and all costs
connected therewith, shall be paid as the court may direct.
382 FOREIGN LAWS.
26. Indices of specifications, cfec. The Lieutenant Governor,
with the advice aforesaid, may cause indices to all specifications,
disclaimers and memoranda of alterations heretofore or to be here-
after enrolled or deposited as aforesaid, to be prepared in any such
form as may be thought fit, and such indices shall be open to the
inspection of the public at such places as the Lieutenant Governor
with the advice aforesaid, shall appoint, and subject to the regula-
tions to be made as hereinbefore provided.
27. The Register of Patents. There shall be kept at the
office to be appointed, as aforesaid, a book or books to be called
The Register of Patents, wherein shall be entered and recorded in
chronological order all letters patent granted under this law, the
deposit and filing of specifications, disclaimers and memoranda of
alterations filed in respect of such letters patent, all amendments in
such letters patent and specifications, all confirmations and exten-
sions of such letters patent, the expiry, determination, vacating, or
canceling such letters patent, with the dates thereof respectively,
and all other matters and things affecting the validity of such let-
ters patent as the Lieutenant Governor, with the advice aforesaid,
may direct, and such register, or a copy thereof, shall be open at all
convenient times to the inspection of the public, subject to such reg-
ulations as the Lieutenant Governor, with the advice aforesaid, may
make in that behalf.
28. Register of Proprietors. There shall be kept at the same
office a book or books entitled the Register of Proprietors,
wherein shall be entered, in such manner as the Lieutenant Gover-
nor, with the advice aforesaid, shall direct, the assignment of any
letters patent, or of any share or interest therein, any license under
letters patent, and the district to which such license relates, with
the name or names of any person having any share or interest in
such letters patent or license, the date of his or their acquiring such
letters patent, share and interest, and any other matter or thing relat-
ing to or affecting the proprietorship in such letters patent or license,
and a copy of any entry in such book, certified as hereinafter men-
tioned, shall be given to any person requiring the same on pay-
ment of the fee provided in schedule 8, and shall be primd facie
proof of the assignment of such letters patent or share or interest
therein, or of the license or proprietorship as therein expressed, pro-
vided always that, until such entry shall have been made, the
grantee or grantees of the letters patent shall be deemed and taken
to be the sole and exclusive proprietor or proprietors of such letters
NATAL. 383
patent, and of all the licenses and privileges thereby given and
granted, and such register or a copy shall be open to public inspec-
tion, subject to such regulations as the Lieutenant Governor, with
the advice aforesaid, may make.
29. Punishment for making false or forged entries. If any
person shall willfully make, or cause to be made, any false entry in
the said register, or shall willfully make or forge, or cause to be
made or forged, any writing falsely purporting to be a copy of any
entry in the said book, or shall produce or tender, or cause or suffer
to be produced or tendered, in evidence, any such writing, knowing
the same to be false or forged, he shall be guilty of the crime of
contravening this section of this law, and shall upon conviction be
liable to imprisonment, with or without hard labor, for any period
not exceeding live years.
30. Entries in registers how expunged, vacated or varied. If
any person shall deem himself aggrieved by any entry made under
color of this law in the said register, it shall be lawful for such
person to apply by motion to the Supreme Court for an order that
such entry may be expunged, vacated, or varied, and upon any such
application such court may make such order for expunging, vacating
or varying such entry, arid as to the costs of such application as to
such court may seem fit, and the officer having the care and cus-
tody of such register, on the production to him of any such order,
shall expunge, vacate or vary the said entry according to such
order.
31. Punishment for imitating apatentee's marks or device. If
any person shall write, paint, print, mould, cast, carve, engrave,
stamp, or otherwise mark, upon anything made, used, or sold by
him, for the sole making or selling of which he hath not, or shall
not, have obtained letters patent, the name or any imitation of the
name of any other person who hath or shall have obtained letters
patent for the sole making or vending of such thing, without leave
in writing of such patentee or his heirs or assigns, or if any person
shall, upon such thing not having been purchased from the patentee
or some person who purchased it from or under such patentee, or
not having had the license or consent in writing of such patentee
or his assigns, write, paint, print, mould, cast, carve, engrave, stamp,
or otherwise mark the word " Patent," the words " Letters Patent,"
or the words " By the Queen's Patent," or any words of the like
kind, meaning, or import, with a view of imitating or counterfeit-
ing the stamp, mark, or other device of the patentee, he shall for
384 FOREIGN LAWS.
every suchoff ense forfeit and pay the sum of fifty pounds, one half
to the colonial government, and the other half, with full costs of
suit, to any person who shall sue for the said penalty by action of
debt.
32. Inventor's action for infringement of patent. An action
may be maintained in the Supreme .Court by an inventor against
any person who, during the continuance of the letters patent granted
under this law, shall, without the license of said inventor, make,
use, sell, or put in practice the said invention, or who shall counter-
feit or imitate the same.
33. Grounds of defense to any such action. No such action
shall be defended upon the ground of any defect or insufficiency of
the specification of the invention, nor shall any such action be
defended upon the ground of a misdescription of the invention in
the petition, nor upon the ground that the plaintiff was not the
inventor, unless the defendant shall show that he is the actual
inventor or derives title from him. Any such action may be
defended upon the ground that the invention was not new, if the
person making the defense, or some person through whom he
claims, shall, before the date of the petition for leave to file any
such specification, have publicly or actually used in Natal the
invention or that part of it, of which the infringement shall be
proved, but not otherwise.
34. Court may allow amendment of specification. If the court
at the hearing of the cause shall think the patentee has in the
description of his invention in the petition or specifications
included something which at the date of the petition was not new,
or whereof he was not the inventor, or that the complete specifica-
tion is in any particular defective or insufficient, but that the error,
defect, or insufficiency was not fraudulently intended, the court
may adjudge the said exclusive privilege to have been acquired and
the letters patent to be valid, save as to the part thereof affected
by such error, defect, or insufficiency, or if the court shall think
that the error, defect, or insufficiency can be amended without
injury to the public, they may adjudge the exclusive privilege and
letters patent in the whole of the invention to be valid, and may,
upon such terms as shall appear reasonable, order the specification
to be amended in any of the said particulars, and adjudge and
make such further order as to costs or otherwise as may be neces-
sary and expedient, and thereupon the patentee, his executors,
administrators, or assigns, shall, within the time limited by said
NATAL. 385
court for the purpose, file a specification amended according to such
order.
35. Action for infringement; pleadings; proceedings for
repeal. In any action for the infringement of letters patent, the
plaintiff shall deliver with his declaration particulars of the breaches
complained of in the said action, and the defendant on pleading
thereto, shall deliver with his pleas, and the prosecutor in any
proceedings in the nature of scire facias to repeal letters patent,
shall deliver with his declaration particulars of any objections on
which he means to rely at the trial in support of the pleas in the
said action, or of the suggestions of the said declaration respectively,
and at the trial of such action or proceedings no evidence shall be
allowed to be given in support of any alleged infringement, or of
any objection impeaching the validity of such letters patent which
shall not be contained in the particulars delivered as aforesaid,
provided always that the place or places at, or in which, and in
what manner, the invention is alleged to have been used or pub-
lished prior to the date of the letters patent, shall be stated in such
particulars, provided also that it shall and may be lawful for any
judge at chambers to allow such plaintiff or defendant, or prosecu-
tor respectively, to amend the particulars delivered as aforesaid,
upon such terms as to such judge may seem fit, provided also th'at
at the trial of any proceeding to repeal letters patent, the defendant
shall be entitled to begin and give evidence in support of such
letters patent, and in case evidence shall be adduced on the part of
the prosecutor, impeaching the validity of such letters patent, the
defendant shall be entitled to the reply.
36. Costs in such action or proceedings. In taxing the costs in
any action for infringing letters patent, regard shall be had to the
particulars delivered in such action, and the plaintiff and defendant
respectively shall not be allowed any costs in respect of any par-
ticular unless certified by the court before which the trial was had
to have been proved by such plaintiff or defendant respectively,
and it shall be lawful for the court before which any such action
shall be tried to certify on the record that the validity of the letters
patent in the declaration mentioned came in question, and the record
with such certificate being given in evidence in any suit or action
for infringing the said letters patent, or in any proceeding in the
nature of scire facias, to repeal the letters patent, shall entitle the
plaintiff in any such suit or action, or the defendant in any suet
proceeding, on obtaining a decree or judgment, to his full costs
I. 25
386 FOREIGN LAWS.
charges and expenses, to be taxed as between attorney and client,
unless the court making such judgment, decree or order, shall certify
that the plaintiff or defendant respectively ought not to have such
full costs.
37. Payment of fees specified in schedule. There shall be paid
in respect of letters patent applied for or issued as herein mentioned,
the depositing of specifications, disclaimers and memoranda of
alterations, warrants, certificates, entries, searches, and other matters
and things respectively mentioned in the eighth schedule to this
Jaw, such fees as are enumerated in such schedule, and such of the
said fees as are thereby made payable shall be payable to the per-
sons and in the manner provided in such schedule, and shall form
part of the colonial revenue.
38. Patent granted in United Kingdom after 1870, not to extend
to Natal. All letters patent which shall be granted in the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland^ after the first day of Janu-
ary, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-one, for any invention shall, so far as the same relate to
this colony, be utterly void and of none effect, and in no wise be
put in execution, but all such letters patent granted in the said
United Kingdom on or before that day, and which, if this law had
not been passed, would have been valid in this colony, shall be
deemed and taken to have been granted under this law, and may be
dealt with accordingly.
39. Effect from promulgation. This law shall take effect
from the promulgation thereof in the Government Gazette.
-SCHEDULE 1.
To all to whom these presents shall coine, I, of [engineer, etc., as the
case may be], send greeting : Whereas I am desirous of obtaining letters patent for
securing unto me Her Majesty's special license that I, my executors, and assigns, and
such others as I or they should at any time agree with, and no others, should and
lawfully might, from time to time, and at all times during the term of fourteen yeara
> be computed from the day on which this instrument shall be left at the office of
tho attorney- general), make, use, exercise, and vend, within the colony of Natal, an
invention for [insert the title of the invention] ; and in order to obtain the said letters
[latent, I must, by an instrument in writing under my hand, particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, and must also enter into the covenant hereinafter contained : Now know ye,
.hat the nature of the said invention, and the manner in which the same is to be per-.
NATAL. 387
formed, are particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
that is to say [describe the invention]. And I do hereby, for myself, my heirs and
executors, covenant with Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, that I believe the
said invention to be a new invention as to the public use and exercise thereof, and
that I do not know or believe that any person other than myself is the true and first
inventor of the said invention, and that I will not deposit these presents at the office
of the attorney-eeneral with any such knowledge or belief as last aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at , this * day of
18 .
SCHEDULE 2.
Patent for [insert the title as in the specification],
This is to notify that , of &c., did, on the day of instant [or
last], deposit at the office of the attorney-general, Pietermaritzburg, a specification or
instrument in writing under his hand, particularly describing and ascertaining the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
that by reason of such deposit the>said invention is protected and secured to him
exclusively for the terra of six months thence next ensuing. And I do further notify
that the said has given notice in writing, at my office, of his intention to pro-
ceed with his application for letters patent for the said invention, and that I have
appointed day the day of next, at o'clock in the noon,
at my office, to hear and consider the said application, and all objections thereto : and
I do hereby require all persons having an interest in opposing the grant of such
letters patent, to leave before that day, at my office in Pietermaritzburg, particulars
in writing of their objections to the said application, otherwise they will be precluded
from urging the same.
Given under my hand, this day of 18 .
Attorney-General.
SCHEDULE 8.
Upon hearing the objection of A. B. to the grant to , of letters patent for
[insert the title ax in the specification], I do by this writing under my hand, order that
the said A. B. shall pay to the said , the sum of for the costs of such
hearing [or to E. F. the sum of as a remuneration for his attendance at such
hearing].
Given under my hand, this day of 18 .
Attorney-General.
SCHEDULE 4.
I have heard and considered the application of , for letters patent for
[insert the title as in the specification] \ and also all objections to the same, and, having
perused the specification and the usual and necessary advertisements, am of opinion
that, as it is entirely at the hazard of the said applicant whether the said invention
is new and will have the desired success, Her Majesty's royal letters patent may be
388 FOREIGN LAWS.
issued in the form contained in the fifth schedule of the patent law, with the follow-
ing additional clauses, that is to say [here set them out, if any].
Given under my hand, this day of 18 .
Attorney-General.
SCHEDULE 6.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land, Queen, Defender of the Faith, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting :
Whereas , of , in the county of [engineer, &c., as the case may be],
hath represented that he is desirous of obtaining our royal letters patents, for secur-
ing unto him our special license that he, his executors and assigns, and such others
as he or they should agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might, make, use,
vend, and exercise within our Colony of Natal, an invention for [insert the title of the
invention], and by an instrument in writing under his hand, deposited in the office of
the attorney-general, the said hath particularly described and ascertained the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed : And
we, being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which may be for
the public good, are graciously pleased to confer upon the said the privileges
hereinafter mentioned ; Know ye, therefore, that we of our especial grace, certain
knowledge, and mere motion, have given and granted, and by these presents, for us
our heirs and successors, do give and grant unto the said , his executors,
and assigns, our especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
he, the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them,
by himself and themselves, or his and their deputy or deputies, servants or
agents, or such others as he or they shall at any time agree with, and no
others, during the term herein expressed, shall and lawfully may make use of,
exercise, and vend his said invention within our said colony, in such manner as to
him, his executors and assigns, or any of them, shall seem meet ; and that he, his
executors and assigns, shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit,
commodity, and advantage, from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising
by reason of the said invention, during the said term ; to have, hold, exercise, and
enjoy the said licenses, powers, privileges, and advantages, unto and by the said ,
his executors and assigns, for and during, and unto the full end and term of
years, now next ensuing. And to the end that he, his executors and assigns, and every
of them, may have and enjoy the full benefit and the sole use and exercise of the
said invention, according to our gracious intention, we do by these presents, for us,
our heirs and successors, require und strictly command all and every person and per-
sons whatsoever, of what estate, quality, degree, name, or condition soever they be,
within our said colony, that neither they, nor any of them, at any time during the
said term, either directly or indirectly, do make, use, or put in practice the said inven-
tion, or any part of the same, so attained unto by the said as aforesaid, nor in
anywise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor shall make or cause to be
made any addition thereunto, or subtraction from the same, whereby to pretend him-
self or themselves the inventor or inventors, devisor or devisors thereof, without the
consent, license, or agreement of the said , his executors or assigns, in writing
under his or their hands first had and obtained in that behalf, upon such pains and
penalties as can or may be justly inflicted on such offenders for their contempt of this
NATAL. 389
our royal command ; and further, to be answerable to the said. , his executors
and assigns, according to law, for his and their damage thereby occasioned ; provided
always, and these our letters patent are and shall be upon this condition, that if at
any time during the said term hereby granted, it shall appear that this our grant is
contrary to law, or prejudicial or inconvenient to our subjects in general, or that the
said invention is not a new invention as to the public use and exercise thereof, or that
the said is not the first and true inventor thereof within this colony, these our
letters patent shall forthwith cease, determine, and be utterly void to all intents and
purposes, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwith-
standing ; provided also, that these our letters patent or anything herein contained,
shall not extend, or be construed to extend, to give privilege unto the said , his
executors and assigns, or any of them, to use or imitate any invention or work what-
soever which hath heretofore been found out or invented by any other of our subjects
whatsoever, and publicly used or exercised, unto whom our like letters patent or
privileges have been already granted for the sole use and exercise and b enefit thereof
within our said colony ; it being our will and pleasure that the said , his execu-
tors and assigns, and all and every person and persons to whom like letters patent or
privileges have been already granted as aforesaid, shall distinctly use and practice
their several inventions by them invented and found out, according to the true intent
and meaning of the same respective letters patent, and of these presents ; provided
likewise, nevertheless, and these our letters patent are upon this express condition,
that if the said instrument in writing does not particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
also if the said , his executors or assigns, shall not pay at the office of the
colonial treasurer of our said colony the sum of pounds within three years next
after the date of these presents, and the sum of pounds within seven years next
after such date, then, and in any of the said cases, these our letters patent, and all
liberties and advantages whatsoever hereby granted, snail utterly cease, determine,
and become void, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in anywise
notwithstanding : provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the granting
of licenses in such manner and for such considerations as may by law be granted :
And, lastly, we do by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant unto the
said , his executors and assigns, that these our letters patent shall be in and by
all things good, firm, valid, sufficient, and effectual in the law, according to the true
intent and meaning thereof, and shall be taken, construed, and adjudged in the most
favorable and beneficial sense, for the best advantage of the said , his executors
and assigns.
In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent, and to be
sealed and bear date as of the day of 18 .
SCHEDULE 6.
Patent for [here insert the title"].
This is to notify to all whom it may concern, that of, &c., has applied to me
for leave to enter a disclaimer of part [or memorandum of alteration, as the case may
be] of the said invention, the particulars whereof are stated below ; I do therefore
390 FOREIGN LAWS.
appoint day the day of next, at o'clock in the noon,
to hear and consider the said application and all objections to the same. And I do
hereby require all persons having an interest in opposing the said application, to
leave, before that day, at my office in Pietermaritzburg, particulars in writing of their
objection to the same, otherwise they will be precluded from urging such objections.
Given under my hand this day of 18 .
Attorney-General.
The following is the disclaimer [or eu the case may be] which I desire to make in,
tic. \The applicant must here set forth w/uit he wishes to enter, and sign il.]
SCHEDULE 7.
Patent for [insert the title].
Notice is hereby given that I have presented a petition to his Excellency the
Lieutenant Governor, praying for the confirmation of [or extension of the term in]
the said patent, and that the said petition has been referred to the supreme court for
consideration and decision ; and that on the day of next, at
o'clock in the noon, or so soon thereafter as counsel can be heard, the said court
will be moved thereon. All persons objecting to the said confirmation [or extension]
must enter a caveat against the same at the office of the attorney-general in Pieter-
maritzburg, otherwise they will be precluded from objecting to it.
Dated this day of 18 .
SCHEDULE 8.
fees to be paid to Treasurer on account of general revenue.
s. d.
On depositing provisional specification 1 1
Notice to proceed 050
Alteration of specification 10 6
For any appointment 1 1
Fee for warrant (in terms of clause 9) 1 1
Complete specification 1 1
Particulars of objection 1 1
On presenting petition for extension of confirmation 1 1
Every search and inspection 1
Entry of assignment or license 5
Certificate of assignment or license 5
Filing memorandum of alteration or disclaimer 1 1
Entering caveat 1 1
Copy, or extract of any writing, per common law folio 1
NATAL. 391
s. d.
Sealing letters patent - l IQ ( *
At or before the expiration of three years
At or before the expiration of seven years lo
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 381 ; shortening some lengthy
section captious.
See APPENDIX OF RECENT LAWS, near end of Vol. II.
892 FOREIGN LAWS.
NETHERLANDS.
According to a report by Mr. J. Walsham, of the British Lega-
tion, published October 7, 1873, 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 373, the law of Jan-
uary 25, 1817, which allowed issue of patents for terms not
exceeding fifteen years, was repealed by a law taking effect July
18, 1869, which prohibited issue of patents except upon applications
made prior to that date. He also says : " It may be as well to correct
a somewhat prevalent idea that the Crown, notwithstanding the law
for the abolition of patents, has still the power ra special cases of
conferring exclusive rights upon inventors. No such royal preroga-
tive, however, exists ; and no exceptions whatever are or can be
made, beyond those specified in the abolition law." [Referring to
provisions allowing patents granted under the former law for five
or ten years to be extended not exceeding fifteen years in all, and
allowing applications made before the abolition to be granted.] It
follows that no patents for the Netherlands are obtainable, and none
are existing. Mr. Walsham's report explains the effect of this
legislation ; and publishes the Act of January 25, 1817, and the
regulations for carrying it out. 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 374, 375.
NEVIS.
See LEEWARD ISLANDS.
NEW BRUNSWICK.
See CANADA.
NEW CALEDONIA.
See FRANCE.
NEWFOUNDLAND. 393
NEWFOUNDLAND.
The Consolidated Statutes, Title XV., Ch. 54, Sec. 1,
entitled " of Patents."
I. Patents to be granted in certain cases. Whenever any per-
son shall apply to the Governor, alleging that he hath invented and
discovered any new and useful art, machine, manufacture, or com-
position of matter not theretofore known or used, and shall, by /? j ,
petition to the Governor, signify his desire to obtain an exclusive
property in such new invention and discovery, and shall pray that
a patent be granted for the same, the Governor in Council may
direct letters patent, under the Great Seal of this Island, to be
issued, which letters patent shall recite the allegations and sugges-
tions of the said petition and shall therein give a short description
of the said invention and discovery, and thereupon shall grant to
such person, his executors, administrators, or assigns, for a term
not exceeding fourteen years, the full and exclusive right and lib-
erty of making, constructing, and using, and vending to others to
be used, the said new invention or discovery ; which letters patent
shall be good and available to the grantee therein named, by force
of this chapter, and shall be recorded in the office of the colonial
secretary in a book to be kept for that purpose, and shall be deliv-
ered to the patentee : and the Governor in Council may insert in ^t4: tt
any such letters patent a provision extending the operation thereof
for a further term of seven years. Before the Great Seal of this
Island shall be affixed to any such letters patent, or the same shall
be issued and signed as aforesaid, such letters patent shall be deliv-
ered to Her Majesty's attorney-general, who shall examine the
same, and shall, if he finds the same conformable to this chapter,
certify accordingly, and return the same within fifteen days into
the office of the colonial secretary, to be issued and signed.
II. Improvement on patented invention. Where any such let-
ters patent shall be obtained by any person, and thereafter any
other person shall discover or make any improvement in the princi-
ple or process of any such art, machine, or composition of matter,
for which such patent hath been granted, and shall make applica-
tion for and obtain letters patent under this chapter for the exclu-
sive right of such improvement, the person who shall obtain and
394 FOREIGN LAWS.
procure letters patent for any such improvement, shall not make
use, or vend the original invention or discovery, nor shall the per-
son who shall have procured letters patent for the original invention
or discovery, make, use, or vend any such improvement : Provided,
that simply changing the form or the proportions of any machine
? r composition of matter, in any degree, shall not be deemed a dis-
covery or improvement within the meaning of this chapter.
III. Right to copies. Any person may obtain from the office of
the colonial secretary a copy of any such letters patent, or of the
petition whereon the same were issued, or of any paper connected
therewith, or any drawing relating to the same, on payment, for
such copy, of such fees as are now payable at the office of the col-
onial secretary for copies of other documents.
IV. Oath required. Before any person shall receive any letters
patent under this chapter, such person shall make oath, in writ-
ing, before one of the justices of Supreme Court, a stipendiary
magistrate, or commissioner of affidavits, that he doth verily believe
that he is the inventor or discoverer of the art, machine, composi-
tion of matter, or improvement for which he solicits letters patent,
and that such invention or discovery hath not, to the best of his
knowledge or belief, been known or used in this island or in any
other country, which oath shall be delivered with the petition for
such letters patent.
V. Description, model, and drawing to be filed. Together with
guch petition and oath, before any person shall obtain any letters
patent as aforesaid, such person shall also deliver into the office of
the colonial secretary a written description of his invention, and of
the manner of using or process of compounding the same in such
full, clear, and exact terms as to distinguish the same from all other
things before known, and to enable any person skilled in the art or
science of which it is a branch, or with which it is most nearly con-
nected to make, compound, and use the same, and in case of any
machine, shall deliver a model thereof into the office of the colon-
ial secretary, and shall explain the principle and the several modes
in which such person hath contemplated the application of that
principle or character by which it may be distinguished from other
inventions, and shall accompany the whole with drawings and
written references, where the nature of the case admits of drawings,
or with specimens of the ingredients, and of the composition of
matter, sufficient in quantity for the purpose of experiment, where
the invention is of a composition of matter ; which description,
NEWFOUNDLAND. 395
signed by such person, and attested by two witnesses, shall be filed
in the office of the colonial secretary, and copies thereof, certified
under his hand, shall be evidence in all courts where any matter or
thing, touching or concerning the said letters patent, shall come
into question : Provided, that where, from the complicated nature
of any machinery, the cost of a model thereof may be so great as to
prevent any ingenious but poor person from obtaining patents for
his useful inventions, the Governor in Council may dispense with
the delivery of such model into the office of the colonial secretary
previous to the granting of any such patent ; and the requisitions
of this chapter being in all other respects complied with, such per-
son shall be entitled to such patent as if such model had been so
lodged.
VI. Patentee may assign. Any patentee, his executors or
administrators, may assign all his right, title, and interest in the
said invention and discovery in the letters patent to him granted,
to any person ; and the assignee thereof, having recorded the said
assignment in the office of the colonial secretary, shall thereafter
stand in the place and stead of the original patentee, as well as to
all right, privilege, and advantage, as also in respect of all liability
and responsibility as to the said letters patent, and the invention and
discovery thereby secured ; and in like manner shall the assignees
of any such assignee stand in the place and stead of the original
patentee or inventor.
VII. Forfeiture in case of infringement. Whenever, in any
case, any letters patent, shall be, or shall or may have been, granted
to any person under and by virtue of this chapter, and any person,
without the consent of the patentee, his executors, administrators,
or assigns, first had and obtained in writing, shall make, devise,
use, or sell the thing, invention, or discovery, whereof the exclusive
right is secured to the said patentee by such letters patent, such
person so offending shall forfeit and pay to the said patentee, his
executors, administrators, or assigns, a sum equal to three times the
actual damage sustained by such patentee, his executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns from or by reason of such offense, which sum
may be recovered, together with costs, by action on the case,
founded on this chapter, in the Supreme Court.
VIII. Pleading. The defendant in such action may plead the
general issue, and give this chapter, and any special matter in evi-
dence, tending to prove that the specification filed by the plaintiff
does not contain the whole truth relative to the invention or discov-
396 FOREIGN LAWS.
ery therein alleged to have been made by the said plaintiff, or that
it contains more than is necessary to produce the described effect
(which concealment or addition shall fully appear to have been
made for the purpose of deceiving the public), or that the thing,
invention, or discovery, thus secured by letters patent, as aforesaid,
was not originally discovered by the patentee, but had been in use,
or had been described in some public work, anterior to the supposed
invention or discovery of the said patentee, or that he had surrepti-
tiously obtained letters patent as aforesaid, for the invention or dis-
covery of some other person ; in either of which cases, upon proof
thereof, a verdict shall be returned and a judgment shall be entered
for the said defendant with costs, and the said letters patent shall
thereupon be and shall by the said court be adjudged void.
IX. Applicant not deprived of right by having obtained patent
elsewhere. !No applicant shall be deprived of his right to a patent
, in this colony for his invention, by reason of his having previously
taken out letters patent therefor in any other country : Provided,
that such invention shall not have been introduced into public and
common use in this colony prior to the application for a patent
: therein, and the patent granted in this colony shall not continue in
i force after the expiration of the patent granted elsewhere, and
where more than one such patent or like privilege is obtained
abroad, then immediately upon the expiration or determination of
the term which shall first expire or be determined of such sevei-al
patents or like privileges, the patent granted in this colony shall
cease to be in force : and no letters patent for or in respect of any
invention for which any such patent or like privilege as aforesaid
shall have been obtained elsewhere, and which shall be granted in
this colony, after the expiration of the term for which such patent
or privilege was granted or was in force, shall be of any validity.
X. Letters issuable to assignee. Letters patent may be issued
by the Governor in Council to the assignee of any person who may
have taken out letters patent for his invention or discovery in any
other country, but not for any invention or discovery made abroad
for which no letters patent have been there obtained : Provided,
that the invention or discovery so assigned shall not have been
introduced into public and common use in this colony prior to the
application for a patent ; and that the assignee of such foreign
patent shall file, with his application, the assignment duly proved
under which he claims a patent in this colony, and an affidavit,
setting forth the date of the patent abroad, that the article thereby
NEWFOUNDLAND. 397
patented has not been in public and common use in this colony, and
that he is the assignee for a good consideration.
XI. Forfeiture for failure to operate. Any letters patent
which may be taken out under or by virtue of this chapter, and
which shall not have been brought into operation within two years
next ensuing from and after the date thereof, such letters patent
shall, at the expiration of the said period of two years, be void.
XII. Notices. No letters patent shall be granted under or by
virtue of this chapter until notice shall have been published in the
Royal Gazette and one other of the newspapers of this colony, for
at least four weeks, of the intention of the applicant to apply for
such letters patent ; and such notice shall contain, in general terms,
the description of invention for which such letters patent shall be
desired.
XIII. Remedy ichere patentee takes larger interest than enti-
tled to. If by mistake, accident, or inadvertence, and without
any willful default, or intent to defraud or mislead the public, a
patentee shall in his specification have claimed to be the original
and first inventor or discoverer of any material or substantial part
of the thing patented, but of which he was not the original or first
inventor, and shall have no just or legal right to claim the same,
his patent in such case shall be valid for so much of the invention
or discovery as shall be actually his own, provided it is a material
and substantial part of the thing patented, and be plainly distin-
guishable from other parts patented without right ; and every such
patentee and his legal representatives, whether holding the whole
or a particular interest in the patent, may maintain suits at law or
in equity, for any infringement of such part of the same as is act-
ually the invention or discovery of the patentee, although his
specification may embrace more than he has a legal right to claim ;
but if in such case the plaintiff shall obtain a verdict or judgment,
he shall not be entitled to costs, unless before the commencement
of the suit he shall have filed in the office of the colonial secretary
a disclaimer, attested by a witness, of that part of the thing
patented which was claimed without right ; and no person bringing
a suit shall be entitled to the benefits of this section, if he shall
have unreasonably neglected or delayed to record bis disclaimer.
XIV. Disclaimer of surplus when specification too broad. If
through inadvertence, accident, or mistake, a patentee shall have
made his specification too broad by claiming more than that of
which he was the original or first inventor (some material and sub-
398 FOREIGN LAWS.
stantial part of the thing patented being justly and truly his own),
the disclaimer shall be in writing, and shall state the extent of
interest in the patent held by the party making the same ; it shall
be attested 'by a witness, and be recorded in the office of the colo-
nial secretary ; thereafter, such disclaimer shall be considered as
part of the original specification, to the extent of the interest
possessed by the party making the same, or by those claiming under
him ; but no such disclaimer shall affect any action or suit pending
at the time of its being recorded, except so far as may relate to the
question of unreasonable neglect or delay in recording the same.
XV. Reissue for want in the description, &c. If any patent shall
become inoperative or invalid by reason of a defective or insufficient
description or specification, or by reason of the patentee claim-
ing in his specification, as his own invention, more than he bad a
right to claim, and the error has arisen from inadvertence, accident,
or mistake, and without any fraudulent or deceptive intention, the
Governor in Council, upon the surrender of such patent, and upon
petition therefor, may cause a new patent to be issued to the p ( at-
entee, for the residue of the term mentioned in the first patent in
accordance with the patentee's amended description and specifica-
tion : in case of his death, or the assignment by him of the original
patent or any fractional interest therein, the right shall vest in his
legal representatives to the extent of their respective interests in
such patent ; and the patent so re-issued, together with the
amended description and specification, shall have the same effect
and operation in law as though the same had been originally filed
in such amended form before the issuing of the original patent.
XVI. Right of patentee to patent improvements. If an original
patentee shall be desirous of adding a description and specification
of an improvement upon his original invention or discovery, made
or discovered by him subsequent to the date of his patent, he may,
upon the like proceedings being had in all respects as in the case of
an original application, have the same annexed to his original
description and specification ; and the colonial secretary shall cer-
tify upon such annexed description and specification the time of its
being annexed and recorded, and thereafter it shall have the same
effect in law as if it had been embraced in the original description
and specification, and had been recorded therewith.
XVII. No patent granted elsewhere, valid in Newfoundland
until, &c. No patent for any invention or discovery, granted in
England or elsewhere out of the colony, and extending to the col-
NEWFOUNDLAND. 399
onies, shall be of force and effect in this colony, until copies of the
original specification and drawings filed, or duplicates of the models
lodged, in England or elsewhere out of the colony, upon which such
patent was there obtained, shall be filed or lodged in the office of
the colonial secretary, who shall grant a certificate of the lodging
or filing of the same.
XVIII. Affirmations and oaths. All oaths required by this
chapter, unless otherwise directed, may be taken in this colony
before a judge of the Supreme Court, or a commissioner for taking
affidavits in the same ; or in Great Britain or Ireland, before the / ' /.
mayor of a city or borough, and shall be certified under the corpor-
ate seal ; or, in a foreign country, before a British consul or vice-
consul, and shall be certified under his seal of office.
XIX. Patentee to pay fees of office and twenty -five dollars. Any
person who may take out letters patent under this chapter shall pay
for the same such fees as are charged on documents issued under
the Great Seal of this Island, and shall, in addition, deposit with
the colonial secretary the sum of twenty-five dollars, to be by him
paid to the receiver-general for the use of the colony.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 405.
400 FOREIGN LAWS.
NEW SOUTH WALES.
An Act to authorize the Governor General, with the advice
of the Executive Council, to grant letters of registration
for all Inventions and Improvements in the Arts or Manu-
factures, to have the same effect as Letters Patent in Eng-
land, so far as regards this Colony. No. XXIV., Decem-
ber 6, 1852.
Preamble. Whereas it is expedient that the exclusive benefit
of inventions and improvements in the arts or manufactures should
be secured for limited periods to the author or authors, or designer
or designers thereof, or to his or their agents or assignees : And
whereas it is doubtful whether the laws of the United Kingdom
respecting patents extend to or have effect in the Colony of New
South Wales : Be it therefore enacted by His Excellency the Gov-
ernor of New South Wales, with the advice and consent of the
Legislative Council thereof, as follows :
I. Governor may grant letters of registration for improve-
ments in arts or manufactures. From and after the passing of
this Act it shall and may.be lawful for His Excellency the Gover-
nor of the said colony, with the advice of his Executive Council,
to grant letters of registration under his sign manual and the seal
of the colony for the exclusive enjoyment and- advantage, for a
period of not less than seven nor more than fourteen years, for all
inventions or improvements in the arts or manufactures, to the
author or authors, or designer or designers thereof, or to his or
their agents or assignees, as soon as such proceedings shall have
been taken by such author or authors, or designer or designers
respectively as are in that behalf hereinafter mentioned.
II. Deposit to be paid to colonial treasurer. Every person who
upon claiming to be the author or designer, by his agent or assignee,
of any invention in or improvement to the arts or manufactures
shall be desirous of obtaining such a letter of registration as is here-
inbefore mentioned shall deposit with the colonial treasurer the sum
of twenty pounds sterling, and shall, after such deposit, present a
petition to His Excellency the Governor, setting forth that he is
the author or designer, or the agent or assignee of such author
or designer, as the case may be, of a certain invention in or
improvement to the arts or manufactures, and specifying the par-
ticulars of such invention or improvement, and that he Las
NEW SOUTH WALES. 401
deposited with the colouial treasurer the sum of twenty pounds for
defraying the expense of granting the letters of registration
required by this Act, it shall be lawful for the said Governor for
the time being to refer the said petition to one or more competent
person or persons, to be appointed by the said Governor, to examine
and consider the matters stated in such petition, and to report
thereon for the information of his Excellency ; and if the report of
the person or persons to whom the said petition shall have been
referred by the Governor shall be favorable to its prayer, it shall be
lawful for his Excellency with the advice of his Executive Council,
to grant the letters of registration hereinbefore mentioned, and
such letters of registration shall, within three days after the grant-
ing thereof, be registered in the proper office in the Supreme Court,
otherwise such letter of registration shall be void and of no effect.
III. Grantee of any such letter may assign the same. Every
grantee of such letter of registration shall be at liberty to assign
the same, and all the benefits and advantages derivable therefrom,
to any person or persons, by an instrument in writing under his
hand and seal, to be registered in the Supreme Court in the same
manner and within the same period after the execution thereof as
the original letters of registration are hereinbefore directed to be
registered.
IV. Limit as to grantees liability. No grantee of any such
letter of registration shall be liable in respect thereof for any higher
charge than the said sum of twenty pounds, except for such costs
and charges as he shall voluntarily incur, after the deposit of the
said sum of twenty pounds with the colonial treasurer, as herein-
before mentioned.
V. Any such letter may be repealed for certain causes. Any
letter of registration granted by virtue of this Act shall be liable
to be repealed by writ of scire facias for the same causes and in the
same manner as other grants of the Crown are liable to be repealed.
VI. Commencement of Act. That this Act shall come into
operation so soon as and not until the same shall have received the
royal approbation, and the notification of such approbation shall
have been made by order of His Excellency the Governor General
in the New South Wales Government Gazette, and that such noti-
fication shall be sufficient evidence of such approbation.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 413.
See also, AUSTRALASIA.
I. 26 6
402 FOREIGN LAWS.
NEW ZEALAND.
Act to consolidate the Law relating to Letters Patent for
Inventions. September 8, 1883.
1. Short title. The short title of this Act is " The Patents Act,
1883."
It shall come into operation on the first day of January, one
thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.
2. Division of Act. This Act is divided into Parts as fol-
lows :
Part I. Mode of obtaining Letters Patent.
Part II. Disclaimers and Alterations.
Part III. Extension of Term and Confirmation of Invalid Pat-
ents.
Part IV. Miscellaneous Provisions.
3. Interpretation. In this Act
" Invention " means and includes any manner of new manufac-
ture the subject of letters patent and grants of privilege within the
meaning of the fourth section hereof.
" Patent-Office " means the patent-oifice appointed under this
Act, but does not include any local patent-office ;
"Patent- Officer" means the person appointed to be patent-
officer under this Act ;
" Regulations " means regulations made under this Act.
PART I.
MODE OF OBTAINING LETTERS PATENT.
1. FOR WHAT, PATENT MAY ISSUE.
4. Power to grant patents. Monopolies forbidden. It shall be
lawful to make and issue, in the manner hereinafter mentioned,
letters patent and grants of privilege, for any term not exceeding
fourteen years from the date thereof, of the sole working or making
of any manner of new manufactures within New Zealand, to the
true and first inventor of su*ch manufactures, which others, at the
time of making such letters patent and grants, shall not use, so as
NEW ZEALAND. 403
also they be not contrary to the law nor mischievous to the State,
by raising prices of commodities or hurt of trade, or generally
inconvenient.
And all other monopolies, commissions, grants, licenses, charters,
and letters patent hereafter to be made or granted to any person of
or for the sole buying, selling, making, working, or using of any-
thing within New Zealand or of any other monopolies or of power,
liberty or faculty to dispense with any others, and all matters and
things whatsoever in anywise tending to the instituting, erecting or
countenancing of the same or any of them, shall be utterly void
and of none effect, and in no wise to be put in execution.
2. REGULATIONS.
5. Governor in Council to make regulations. The Governor in
Council from time to time may make such regulations not incon-
sistent with the provisions hereof, as may appear to be necessary
and expedient for the purposes of this Act, and all such regulations
shall be gazetted.
All regulations in force under any Act hereby repealed shall
remain in force as if made under this Act until other regulations
are made as hereinbefore provided.
6. Patent-officer ; patent-office. The Governor may from time
to time appoint such person as he thinks fit to.be patent-officer, and
in like manner may appoint a place to be the " patent-office."
The person who, at the commencement of this Act, holds the
office of patent-officer under the Acts hereby repealed, shall be the
patent-officer under this Act, without any further appointment.
The place at the commencement of this Act used as the patent-
office shall be deemed to have been appointed under this Act.
7. Deputy patent-officer. The Governor at any time may
appoint a fit and proper person to be deputy patent-officer, to act
in case of the death, illness, or unavoidable absence of the patent-
officer, and such deputy shall, during the time he shall so act, have
all the powers and privileges, and shall perform all the duties, and
be subject to the responsibilities of the patent-officer.
Whenever the patent-officer shall die, the deputy patent-officer
shall act as such from the day of such death, and, in the case of
illness or absence, shall act as such from such day as the patent
officer shall certify under his hand to the deputy patent-officer that
he is ill and unable to peform his duties, or that he is about to be
absent ; and such deputy patent-officer shall cease to act as such on
404 FOREIGN LAWS.
the day on which he shall receive from the patent-officer a certifi-
cate under his hand to the effect that he has resumed his duties.
3. PROCEDURE TO OBTAIN PATENT.
8. Appointment of local offices and officers ; saving of existing
appointments. The Governor may, for all such purposes as he may
deem necessary for the public convenience, appoint local patent-
offices, and patent-office agents in the various centers of population
throughout the colony, and from time to time alter or revoke the
appointment of such offices and agents respectively.
The local patent-offices and the patent-office agents appointed
under " The Patents Act Amendment Act, 1882," shall be deemed
to have been appointed under this Act without further appoint-
ment.
Such agents shall not demand or receive from the applicant, or
any one on his behalf, any fees or charges whatever other than
such as are payable under this Act.
9. Mode of application' first schedule; receipt. Every appli-
cation under this Act for the grant of letters patent for an inven-
tion shall be made as follows, that is to say :
(1.) The applicant shall deposit at the patent-office, or at any
local patent-office, a specification, written in a plain legible hand or
printed in fair legible type upon parchment or paper, and under his
hand and seal, in the form or to the effect in the first schedule hereto,
particularly describing and ascertaining the nature and details of
the said invention with precision, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, and containing a distinct claim for the especial
novelty thereof, and accompanied by drawings, if necessary, for the
full description and understanding of the said invention, and also a
copy of such specification and drawings.
(2.) The title of the invention must state distinctly and specifi-
cally the nature and object of the invention, and every specification
must be limited to one invention.
(3.) If such deposit be made at any local office the patent-office
agent shall give the applicant or his agent a receipt therefor in the
form contained in the second schedule hereto, or to the like effect,
and shall forthwith transmit the documents and a copy of his receipt
to the patent- officer.
10. Protection of invention; third schedule. (1.) The exact time
,f the deposit of every specification which, upon examination by
the patent-officer, is found to be in accordance with this Act and the
NEW ZEALAND. 405
regulations shall be recorded at the patent-office, and indorsed upon
such specification, and a certificate thereof, under the hand of the
patent-officer and in the form contained in the third schedule
hereto, shall be given or transmitted to such applicant or his agent.
(2.) And thereupon, subject and without prejudice to the pro-
visions hereinafter contained, the said invention shall be protected
under this Act for. the term of twelve months next after the said
deposit, and the applicant shall have during such term the like
powers, rights and privileges as might have been conferred upon
him by letters patent for such invention issued under this Act and
duly sealed as of the day of such deposit.
(3.) During the continuance of such powers, rights and privi-
leges under this provision, such invention may be used and pub-
lished without prejudice to any letters patent to be granted for the
same.
11. Patent not affected by specification of pretended inventor. In
case of the deposit of any such specification as aforesaid in fraud of
the true and first inventor, any letters patent granted to the true
and first inventor of such invention shall not be invalidated by rea-
son of such deposit, or of any use or publication of the invention
subsequent to such deposit and before the expiration of the said
term of protection.
12. Hearing of application; fourth schedule; objections. The
patent-officer shall make an appointment for the hearing of every
application, in the form contained in the fourth schedule to this
Act or to the like effect ; and shall publish a notification of the
said appointment once in the Gazette, not less than sixty clear days
prior to the day appointed.
Any person having an interest in opposing the grant of letters
patent shall be at liberty, not less than fourteen clear days before
the day so appointed, to leave particulars in writing of his objec-
tions to the said application at the patent-office.
13. Patent officer to hear applications and objections. At the
place and time named in the said appointment the patent-officer
shall hear and consider the said application, and all objections to
the same, if any, mentioned in the said particulars, and may call to
his aid such scientific or other person as he may think fit.
The applicant, the objectors, and their respective witnesses and
evidence shall be respectively heard, examined and considered sep-
arately and apart from and in the absence of the other, his wit-
nesses and evidence.
406 FOREIGN LAWS.
The patent-officer shall have full power to examine applicant,
objectors, and witnesses upon oath, and to administer an oath to
any or all of them.
14:. Hearing may be adjourned. The patent-officer may adjourn
from time to time the hearing of any application for letters patent.
15. Award of expenses and costs ; fifth schedule. The patent-
officer may require that the applicant and the objector shall deposit
such sums as the patent-officer may think fit to meet any costs of
or incident to the hearing, and may, by writing under his hand,
order to be paid to any person he may call to his aid as aforesaid,
some remuneration for his attendance, and may also, in like man-
ner, order that the costs of any hearing upon any objections, or
otherwise in relation to the grant of such letters patent, or the pro-
tection acquired by the applicant under this Act, shall be paid ;
and, in and by such writing, shall fix the amount of such remunera-
tion or costs, and by or to whom the same respectively shall be
paid.
Every such order shall be in the form contained in the fifth
schedule, or to the like effect, and may be made a rule of the
Supreme Court.
16. Patent-officer may issue warrant for letters patent ; sixth
schedule, if there shall be no objection to the grant of letters pat-
ent and he is satisfied that this Act and the regulations have been
complied with, the patent-officer may, on the day appointed, or as
soon thereafter, and, when there are objections, after such hearing
and consideration, issue a warrant under his hand for the granting
of letters patent for the said invention ; and, by such warrant, shall
direct the insertion in such letters patent of all such restrictions,
conditions, and provisos, as he may deem usual and expedient in
such grants, or necessary in pursuance of this Act.
Such warrant shall be the authority for the making and sealing
of letters patent under this Act, according to the tenor of the said
warrant.
Every such warrant shall be in the form set forth in the sixth
schedule or to the like effect.
17. Amendments. In case the title of the invention or the
specification be too large or insufficient, or clerical errors exist
therein, the patent-officer, on the hearing of the application for the
grant of the letters patent, may allow or require such specifi-
cation to be amended, or another and sufficient specification to
be deposited in lieu thereof, and every such amended, or r.ew
NEW ZEALAND. 407
specification shall have the same force, effect, and operation as if it
had been originally deposited in its amended or new state.
When an applicant desires to amend his specification or draw-
ings, or to substitute an amended specification, he must deposit par-
ticulars of such amendment or such amended specification at the
patent-office at least fifteen days before the day of hearing.
18. Letters patent to be issued on application and during the
protection. (1.) The patent-officer, after the issue by him of the
said warrant, and on application in writing by the applicant or his
agent, with payment of the fee thereon, shall cause to be pre-
pared letters patent for the invention according to the tenor of the
said warrant, and the Governor may cause such letters patent to be
sealed with the public seal of the colony.
(2.) Such letters patent shall be made applicable to the colony
and its dependencies, and shall be valid and effectual as to the
whole of the same respectively ; but, except as hereinafter men-
tioned, no letters patent shall issue on any warrant granted as
aforesaid, unless application be made to seal such letters patent
during the continuance of the protection conferred under this Act,
by reason of such deposit as aforesaid.
19. Letters patent may issue after that time in certain cases.
(1.) When the application to seal such letters patent has been made
during the continuance of such protection as aforesaid, and the
sealing of such letters patent has been delayed from accident, and
not from the willful default of the applicant, then such letters pat-
ent may be sealed at such time after the expiration of such protec-
tion as the Governor may direct.
(2.) Where the applicant for such letters patent dies during the
continuance of such protection as aforesaid, such letters patent may
be granted to the executors or administrators of such applicant dur-
ing the continuance of such protection or at any time within three
months after the death of such applicant, notwithstanding the
expiration of the term of such protection ; and the letters patent so
granted shall be of the like force and effect as if they had been
granted to such applicant during the term of such protection.
20. Duplicate letters patent may be issued. In case any letters
patent shall be lost or destroyed, duplicate letters patent of the like
tenor and effect, and sealed and dated as of the same day as such
lost or destroyed letters patent, may be issued upon evidence of
such loss or destruction being produced to the satisfaction of the
patent-officer.
408 FOREIGN LAWS.
21. Jitters patent to bear date of deposit of specification, and to
be conclusive as to preliminary steps. Notwithstanding any enact-
ment to the contrary, all letters patent to be issued in pursuance of
this Act shall be sealed and bear date as of the day of the deposit
of such specification as aforesaid, and shall be of the same force and
validity as if they had been sealed on the day as of which they are
expressed to be sealed and bear date.
After any letters patent shall have been issued in pursuance of
this Act, it shall not be necessary or material to inquire whether
such appointment as aforesaid has or has not been delivered and
published in the manner hereinbefore mentioned and directed.
4. FORM AND CONDITIONS OP PATENT.
22. Conditions for granting letters patent ; seventh schedule.
All letters patent for inventions granted under this Act shall be in
the form contained in the seventh schedule, or to the like effect,
and shall be made subject to the provisions of this Act, and to the
conditions and restrictions that may be inserted in such patent by
virtue thereof, or that are imposed by this Act, that is to say :
(1.) That the powers and privileges thereby granted shall cease
and determine at the expiration of five years from the date thereof,
unless there be paid within such five years the sum or sums of
money required to be paid under this Act, and the patent-officer
shall indorse a receipt for the same on the letters patent.
(2.) No letters patent shall extend to entitle the patentee to use
or imitate any invention or work which, before the date of such
patent, had been found out or invented by any other person, and
publicly used or exercised, or to whom like letters patent or privi-
leges have been already granted for the sole use, exercise and bene-
fit thereof within the colony.
(3.) The patentee, and all and every other person and persons to
whom letters patent or privileges have been granted shall distinctly
use and practice their several inventions by them invented and
found out according to the true intent and meaning of the same
respective letters patent.
(4.) Nothing contained in any letters patent shall prevent the
patentee from granting licenses in such manner and for such con-
siderations as they may by law be granted.
23. Matters rendering letters patent void. All letters patent
and all privileges and advantages whatsoever thereby granted shall
utterly cease and become void
NEW ZEALAND. 409
(1.) If the specification does not particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed.
(2.) If at any time during the term for which such letters pat-
ent are granted it appeal's that the grant is contrary to law or pre-
judicial or inconvenient to the public good, or that the invention
therein mentioned is not a new invention, or that the patentee is
not the true and first inventor thereof within this colony.
(3.) If the patentee shall not supply or cause to be supplied for
the government of the colony all such articles of the said invention
as he is required to supply by the persons administering the depart-
ment of the public service for the use of which the same are
required, in such manner, at such times, and at and upon such
reasonable prices and terms as shall be settled for that purpose by
the said persons requiring the same.
24. Invention to be brought into actual and public use. Every
invention protected by letters patent issued under this Act shall
be brought into actual and public use within the colony withki
the space of two years from the date of such letters patent, or in
default thereof such letters patent shall at the expiration of such
period of two years cease and be of no effect.
5. REPEAL OF PATENT.
25. Letters patent may be repealed, &c., or specification may be
canceled. (1.) An action shall lie for the repeal of any letters pat-
ent granted under this Act, and may be commenced in any district
of the Supreme Court, in such form as may be authorized by its
rules in substitution for the process by writ of scire facias ; and in
case the grantee does not reside in New Zealand, it shall be suffi-
cient to file the writ in the Supreme Court, and to serve notice of
such action in writing at the, last known place of residence or busi-
ness of such grantee.
(2.) The Governor in Council, upon the issue of the writ in such
action, may order such patent-officer to withhold such warrant as
aforesaid, or that any letters patent, for the granting whereof he
may have issued a warrant as aforesaid, shall not issue ; or may
order the insertion, in any such letters patent, of any restrictions,
conditions or provisos in addition to or in substitution for any
restrictions, conditions or provisos which would otherwise be inserted
therein under this Act.
(3.) The Governor in Council may also order any specification
410 FOREIGN LAWS.
f -
in respect of the invention described, in which no letters patent
may have been granted, to be canceled, and thereupon the protection
obtained by the deposit of such specification shall cease.
26. Patent not to prevent use of invention in foreign ships. No
letters patent granted for any invention shall extend to prevent the
use of any such invention in any foreign ship or vessel, or for the
navigation of any foreign ship or vessel which may be in any port
of New Zealand, or in any of the waters within the jurisdiction of
any of Her Majesty's courts in New Zealand, where such invention
is not so used for the manufacture of any goods or commodities to
be vended within or exported from the same.
But this enactment shall not extend to the ships of vessels of any
foreign state the laws of which authorize subjects of such foreign
state, having patents or like privileges for the exclusive use or exer-
cise of inventions within its territories, to prevent or interfere with
the use of such inventions in British ships or vessels or in or about
the navigation of British ships or vessels while in the ports of
8\ich foreign state, or in the waters within the jurisdiction of its
courts, where such inventions are not so used for the manufacture
of goods or commodities to be vended within or exported from such
foreign state.
6. LETTERS OF REGISTRATION.
27. Registration for foreign patents ; tenth schedule. The Gov-
ernor in his discretion, on the application of any person being the
holder or assignee of any letters patent or like protection issued in
Great Britain or any other country or colony for an invention or dis-
covery, and upon such proof as the Governor may by regulations
require that such person is the bond fide holder or assignee thereof,
and that the same are or is in full force, and upon payment of the
sum of ten pounds, may grant letters of registration to such applicant.
(2.) Such letters of registration shall be in the form contained
in the tenth schedule or to the like effect, and shall have the same
force and effect as letters patent granted under this Act, and shall
inure to the benefit of the grantee thereof, his executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, during the continuance of the original letters
patent or other protection in the country or colony where the
same was or were granted, and no longer ; and all the provisions of
this Act shall apply to such letters of registration in the same way,
mutatis mutandis, and as fully as to letters patent granted under
this Act.
NEW ZEALAND. 411
(3.) A copy of all such letters of registration shall be filed in
the patent-office.
PART II.
DISCLAIMERS AND ALTERATIONS.
28. Notice to disclaim; alter; procedure; eighth schedule; oppo-
sition. (1.) Any person who shall obtain letters patent under this
Act, his executors or administrators, or, in case he or they shall part
with the whole or any part of his or their interest by assignment, he
or they together with the assignee if part only has been assigned, or
the assignee alone if the whole has been assigned, may apply to the
patent-officer for leave to enter a disclaimer of any part of either
the title to the invention, or the specification, or a memorandum of
any alterations in the said title or specification, not being such dis-
claimer as shall extend the exclusive right granted by the said let-
ters patent.
(2.) Thereupon the patent officer shall deliver to the person or
persons applying, or to their agent, or to one of them, or the
agent of one of them, an appointment in the form contained in the
eighth schedule or to the like effect, and the person or persons so
applying shall cause such disclaimer (stating the reason for the
same), or such memorandum of alteration, to be written at the foot
of the said appointment, and shall cause the same respectively to
be published forthwith in the Gazette.
(3.) Any person having an interest in opposing the said appli-
cation, shall be at liberty to leave particulars, in writing, of his
objections to the same at the patent-office within such time not less
than fourteen clear days prior to the day so appointed.
(4.) Where such application shall be for leave to enter a dis-
claimer of any part of the title of the said invention, or a memoran-
dum of any alteration in such title, the patent-officer may dispense
with such appointment and publication, and in that case shall
certify in the fiat hereinafter mentioned that he has dispensed with
the same.
29. Application for disclaimer to be heard. At the time and
place named in such appointment the patent-officer shall hear and con-
sider the said application, and all objections to the same mentioned
in the said particulars, if any, and all such powers and authority
shall and may be exercised rpon that occasion by the patent-officer
412' FOREIGN LAWS.
as, by virtue of the provisions herein contained, can and may be
exercised in relation to the hearing and considering an application
for letters patent and objections to the same, and shall and may
be enforced in like manner.
30. How disclaimer entered and alterations / effect. (1.) After
such hearing and consideration, or without such hearing or considera-
tion, where the said appointment and publication shall have been dis-
pensed with as aforesaid, the person or persons applying, or one of
them, may by leave of the patent-officer, to be certified by a fiat
under his hand, to be written at the foot of the same paper or
parchment with the said disclaimer or memorandum, enter such
disclaimer (stating the reason for the same), or such memorandum
of alteration, and at the time of entering such disclaimer or memo-
randum of alteration, shall deposit a copy thereof in the office next
hereinafter mentioned.
(2.) Such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, being filed
in the patent-office, shall be deemed and taken to be part, of such
letters patent or such specification, and subject to the several inci-
dents thereof, in all courts whatever, and shall be valid and effec-
tual in favor of any person in whom the rights under the said letters
patent may then be, or thereafter become, legally vested.
31. Actions not brought, when ; proceedings conclusive. (1.) No
action shall be brought upon any letters patent in respect of which,
or the specification of which, any disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration shall have been filed, in respect of any infringement com-
mitted prior to the filing of such disclaimer or memorandum of
alteration (unless the patent-officer shall certify, in his said fiat, that
any such action may be brought, notwithstanding the entry or filing
of such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration), and no such dis-
claimer or alteration shall be receivable as evidence in any action
or suit (save any proceedings for the repeal of letters patent) pend-
ing at the time when such disclaimer or alteration was filed as
aforesaid ; but in every such action or suit the original title and
specification alone shall be given in evidence, and be deemed and
taken to be the title and specification of the invention for which
the letters patent have been or shall have been granted.
(2.) When any such fiat shall have been granted under this Act,
it shall not be necessary or material to inquire or ascertain whether
such appointment as last aforesaid has or has not been delivered
and published or dispensed with in accordance with this Act, and
such filing of any disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, in pur-
NEW ZEALAND. 413
suance of the leave of the patent-officer, certified as aforesaid, shall
(except in cases of fraud) be conclusive as to the right of the party
to enter such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration under this
Act.
PART III.
EXTENSION OF TERM.
32. Mode of obtaining extension ; petition. (1.) Any person
who has obtained letters patent under this Act or any other Act
relating to letters patent heretofore in force in New Zealand, or
the executors or administrators of such person, or (in case such
person shall have parted with the whole or any part of his interest
in such patent by assignment) he or they together with the assignee
when part only has been assigned, or the assignee alone when the
whole has been assigned, may, six months before the expiration or
other determination of such letters patent, present to the Governor
a petition for the extension of the term in such letters patent
mentioned.
(2.) Such petition shall set forth that the petitioner has been
unable to obtain a due remuneration for his expense and labor
bestowed in perfecting such invention, and that an exclusive right
of using and vending the same for some further period, to be named
in such petition, in addition to the said term, is necessary for his
reimbursement and remuneration, and the Governor may refer the
consideration of the said petition to one or more commissioners to
be appointed for that purpose in the manner hereinafter men-
tioned.
33. Appointment of commissioners. For the purpose of consid-
ering any such petition, the Governor, if he shall think fit, may
issue and direct, in the name of Her Majesty, to one or more per-
sons a commission reciting such petition, and requiring and author-
izing such person, or some stated number of such persons, to meet
at some time, not being less than two months from the publication
of such commission in the Gazette, and at some place to be respec-
tively fixed in the said commission, and then and there to consider
the said petition, and to report to the Governor (in case such peti-
tioner shall have prayed for an extension of the term in the letters
patent mentioned) whether any, and if any, what further extension
of the said term should be granted, according to the prayer of the
said petition.
34. Notice of commission ; ninth schedule ; caveat. (1.) Two
414 FOREIGN LAWS.
months at least before the time fixed in the said commission for the
consideration of any such petition as aforesaid, the petitioner shall
cause to be published, in the game manner as is hereinbefore
required with respect to the first mentioned appointment, an adver-
tisement of the contents of the said commission in the form con-
tained in the ninth schedule, or to the like effect.
(2.) Any person having an interest in opposing the said peti-
tion shall be at liberty to enter a caveat against the same at the
patent-office, at any time not less than one week before the time
named in the said commission for the consideration thereof.
35. Commissioners to hear all parties, and report. (1.) At the
time and place fixed in the said commission the commissioners, or
some of them not less than the said stated number, shall proceed to
consider such petition, and the petitioner shall be heard by his
counsel and witnesses, to prove his case as stated in such petition,
and the publication of the said last mentioned advertisement as
required by this Act, and the persons entering caveats shall likewise
be heard by their counsel and witnesses, and all such witnesses
shall be examined upon oath, which oaths such commissioners are
hereby authorized to administer.
(2.) Thereupon, and on hearing and inquiry of the whole mat-
ter (in case such petitioner shall have prayed for an extension as
aforesaid), the said commissioners may report whether any, and, if
any, what, further extension of the said term shall be granted, and
the Governor is hereby authorized and empowered, if he shall think
fit, to grant to the petitioner new letters patent for the said inven-
tion, not exceeding three years after the expiration of the first
term, anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
Such new letters patent shall be sealed and bear date as of the
day after the expiration of the term of the first letters patent.
PART IV.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
1. RECOEDS OF OFFICE.
36. Specification, <&c., of invention to be open to inspection.
Every specification deposited at the patent-office, and the drawings
and models accompanying the same, if any, and all other docu-
ments so deposited, shall be kept in the patent office, and shall be
open to the inspection of the public at all reasonable times, as well
NEW ZEALAND. 415
before as after the grant of letters patent, and whether such letters
patent be granted or not, but subject to regulations.
37. Indices to specifications, disclaimers, &c. Indices to all spec-
ifications, disclaimers and memoranda of alterations, heretofore or
to be hereafter enrolled or deposited as aforesaid, shall be prepared
and shall be open to the inspection of the public at the patent-office,
subject to regulations.
38. Register of patents to be kept. There shall be kept at the
patent-office a book, to be called The Register of Patents, wherein
shall be entered and recorded in chronological order
All letters patent and letters of registration granted under this
Act or the Patents Act, 1870.
The deposit and filing of specifications, disclaimers and memo-
randa of alterations, filed in respect of such letters patent.
All amendments in such letters patent and specifications.
All confirmations and extensions of such letters patent.
The expiry, determination, vacating, or canceling of such letters
patent, with the dates thereof respectively ; and
All other matters and things affecting the validity of such letters
patent as the Governor may direct.
Such register or a copy thereof shall be open at all convenient
times to the inspection of the public, subject to such regulations as
the Governor may make in that behalf.
39. Register of proprietors, and of assignments and licenses.
There shall be kept at the patent-office a book entitled The Reg-
ister of Proprietors, wherein shall be entered
The assignment of any letters patent or letters of registration,
or of any share or interest therein.
Any license under letters patent or letters of registration, and
the district to which such license relates, with the name of any per-
son having any share or interest in such letters patent or letters of
registration or license.
The date of his acquiring such letters patent or letters of regis-
tration, share or interest ; and
Any other matter or thing relating to or affecting the proprie-
torship in such letters patent or letters of registration, or license.
2. ASSIGNMENTS.
40. Conditions for registering assignment. Before any assign-
ment or license shall be registered, the assignee or licensee shall
furnish
416 FOREIGN LAWS.
(1.) A statutory declaration by one of the attesting witnesses to
the said assignment or license of the due execution of the said
assignment or license :
Provided that, if it be proved to the satisfaction of the said
patent-officer that the attesting witness to any such assignment or
license is dead or cannot be found, the execution of the said assign-
ment or license may be proved by a statutory declaration of any
other person capable of declaring to the same :
(2.) A certified copy or copies of the assignment or license, and
other intruments or documents of title.
41. Assignment or license to be made by separate deed. No
assignment or license of two or more letters patent or letters of
registration included in one deed or instrument shall be registered,
and no certificate of assignment or license shall be granted, unless
a fee for such registration or certificate be paid in respect of each
such letters patent or letters of registration in respect of which
such registration or certificate is desired.
42. Register of proprietors to be open to inspection; copies.
(1.) A copy of any entry in such book, certified as hereinafter
mentioned, shall be given to any person requiring the same, and
shall be primd facie proof of the assignment of such letters pat-
ent or letters of registration, or share or interest therein, or of the
license or proprietorship as therein expressed.
(2.) Until such entry shall have been made, the grantee of the
letters patent or letters of registration shall be deemed to be the
sole and exclusive proprietor thereof, and of all the licenses and
privileges thereby given.
(3.) Such register, or a copy, shall be open to public inspection
subject to regulations.
3. SEAL.
43. Seal to be noticed judicially ; certified copies, evidence,
(1.) The Governor may cause a seal to be made for the purposes
hereinafter mentioned, and all courts, judges, and other persona
whosoever shall take notice of such seal, and receive impressions
thereof in evidence, in like manner as impressions of the seal of the
Supreme Court are received in evidence.
(2.) All copies or extracts, certified by the patent-officer and
sealed with such seal, of letters patent, letters of registration,
specifications, disclaimers, memoranda of alterations, and all other
documents or books recorded, filed, and kept in pursuance of this
NEW ZEALAND. 417
Act, shall bo received in evidence in all proceedings relating to
letters patent for inventions and letters of registration in all courts
and by all judges and other persons whomsoever.
4. OFFENSES.
44. Falsification or forgery of entries. If any person shall
willfully make or cause to be made any false entry in any such
register, or shall willfully make or forge, or cause to be made or
forged, any writing falsely purporting to be a copy of any entry
therein, or shall produce or tender, or cause or suffer to be produced
or tendered, any such writing, knowing the same to be false, he
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable, on conviction,
to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding five years,
or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labor for any term not exceed-
ing two years.
45. Entries may be expunged. If any person shall deem himself
aggrieved by any entry made under color of this Act in any such
register, such person may apply by motion to the Supreme Court,
or by summons to a judge of such court, for an order that such
entry may be expunged, vacated, or varied ; and upon any such
application such court or judge may make such order for expunging,
vacating, or varying such entry, and as to the costs of such applica-
tion, as to such court or judge may seem fit ; and the patent officer,
on the production to him of any such order, shall expunge, vacate,
or vary the said entry accoi'ding to such order.
46. Penalty for unauthorized use of the word "patent."
(1.) If any person:
Shall, write, paint, print, mould, cast, carve, engrave, stamp, or
otherwise mark upon anything made, used, or sold by him, for the
sole making or selling of which he has not or shall not have obtained
letters patent, the name or any imitation of the name of any oth'er
person who has or shall have obtained letters patent for the sole
making and vending of such thing, without leave in writing of such
patentee or his assigns ; or
Shall upon any such thing, not having been purchased from the
patentee or some person who purchased it from or under such
patentee, or not having had the license or consent in writing of
such patentee or his assigns, write, paint, print, mould, cast, carve,
engrave, stamp, or otherwise mark the word " patent," the words
" letters patent," or the words " by the Queen's patent," or any
words of the like kind, meaning, or import, with a view of imita-
L 2T
418 FOREIGN LAWS.
ting or counterfeiting the stamp, mark, or other device of the pat-
entee, he shall for every such offense forfeit and pay the sum of one
hundred pounds, one half to Her Majesty, and the other half, with
full costs of suit, to any person who shall sue for the said penalty.
(2.) If any person shall upon any such thing for which no letters
patent or like protection shall have been obtained, write, paint,
print, mould, cast, carve, engrave, stamp, or otherwise mark the
word " patent," the words " letters patent," or the words " by the
Queen's letters patent," or any words of the like kind, meaning,
or import, or by advertisement, or in any other way imply or give
reasonable cause to believe that letters patent or like protection
have been granted for such thing, he shall, for every such offense^
be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds, one half of which
shall be paid to any person who shall sue for the said penalty.
(3) But nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend
to subject any person to any penalty in respect of stamping or in
any way marking the word " patent " upon anything for the sole
making or vending of which letters patent before obtained shall
have expired or otherwise determined.
5. PROCEDURE IN ACTIONS FOR INFRINGEMENT.
47. Actions for infringement, particulars of breaches and
objections. (1) In any action for the infringement of letters patent,
the plaintiff shall deliver with his statement of claim particulars of
the breaches complained of in the said action, and the defendant,
on pleading thereto, shall deliver with his statement of defense,
and the prosecutor in any proceedings by action to repeal letters
patent shall deliver with his statement of claim, particulars of any
objections on which he means to rely at the trial in support of the
said action, or of the suggestions of the statement last mentioned
respectively. At the trial of any such action no evidence shall be
allowed to be given in support of any alleged infringement, or of
any objection impeaching the validity of such letters patent, which
shall not be contained in the particulars delivered as aforesaid.
(2.) The place or places at or in which and in what manner the
invention is alleged to have been used or published prior to the
date of the letters patent shall be stated in such particulars, and
any judge at chambers may allow such plaintiff or defendant or
prosecutor respectively to am?nd the particulars delivered as afore-
said upon such terms as to such judge shall seem fit.
(3.) At the trial of any proceeding to repeal letters patent, the
NEW ZEALAND. 419
Jefendant shall be entitled to begin and to give evidence in support
of such letters patent ; and in case evidence shall be adduced on
the part of the prosecutor impeaching the validity of such letters
patent, the defendant shall be entitled to the reply.
48. Taxing costs ; effect of record and certificate, (t.) In taxing
the costs in any action for infringing letters patent regard shall be
had to the particulars delivered in such action, and the plaintiff and
defendant respectively shall not be allowed any costs in respect of
any particulars, unless certified by the judge, before whom the
trial was had, to have been proved by such plaintiff or defendant
respectively without regard to the general costs of the cause ; and
the judge before whom any such action shall be tried may certify
on the record that the validity of letters patent in the statement
mentioned came in question.
(2.) The record, with such certificate, being given in evidence
in any action for infringing the said letters patent, or in any pro-
ceeding in an action to repeal the letters patent, shall entitle the
plaintiff in any such action, or the defendant in such proceeding,
on obtaining a decree, order, or final judgment, to his full costs,
charges, and expenses, to be taxed as between solicitor and client,
unless the judge making such decree or order, or the judge trying
such action or proceeding, shall certify that the plaintiff or defend-
ant respectively ought not to have such full costs.
6. FEES.
49. Eleventh schedule ; Governor may reduce fees. There shall
be paid, in respect of the several matters and things respectively
mentioned in the eleventh schedule, such fees as are therein
enumerated, and all such fees shall be paid into the public account
and form part of the consolidated fund.
The Governor may reduce any of such fees respectively from
time to time by notification in the Gazette.
V. REPEALS.
50. Repeal; twelfth schedule ; saving. (1.) The Acts enumerated
in the twelfth schedule are hereby repealed.
(2.) But such repeal shall not affect any proceedings or things
lawfully taken or commenced, or any letters patent, or letters of
registration granted, or any protection or right conferred under the
said repealed Acts before the commencement of this Act ; and all
420 FOREIGN LAWS.
such proceedings and tilings shall be as valid, and all such letters
patent, letters of registration, protections, and rights shall have the
same force and efficacy as if this Act had not passed.
SCHEDULES.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
Specification for Patent.
Whereas I, , of , in the [Engineer] am desirous of obtaining letters
patent for securing unto me Her Majesty's special license that I and such others as I
should at any time agree with, should, from time to time during the term of fourteen
years (to be computed from the day on which this instrument shall be left at the
patent-office) make, use, and vend within the Colony of New Zealand and its depen-
dencies an invention for [insert the title of the specification], and in order to obtain
the said letters patent, I must by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal
particularly describe the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and make a distinct claim for the especial novelty thereof ; Now
therefore, the nature and details of the said invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, are particularly described in the following statement
[describe the invention and the especial novelty thereof, either in instrument or in
attached schedule]. And I do hereby for myself, my heirs, executors, and administra-
tors, covenant with Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, that I believe the said
invention to be a new invention as to the public use and exercise thereof, that I do
not know or believe that any other person than myself is the true and first inventor
of the said invention, that I will not deposit these presents at the patent office with
any such knowledge or belief as last aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal thia day of
18 .
Witness to signature.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Receipt for Specification.
Received from A. B., specification for an invention for [insert the title'] for trans-
mission to the patent-office, Wellington, at the hour of [insert the time] on this
day of 18 .
Local Patent Office. O. A., Patent-Office Agent.
THIRD SCHEDULE.
Deposit of Specification. No.
I hereby certify that , being the applicant for the grant to of letters
patent for an invention the name whereof is , ha this day, under the provis-
NEW ZEALAND. 421
ions in that behalf contained in the Patents Act, 1883, deposited at this office an
instrument in writing under hand and seal, particularly describing and ascer-
taining the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed ; and also a copy of such instrument, and of the drawings accompanying
the same, and the day of the deposit of such specification has been recorded in this
office, and indorsed on such specification.
Dated this day of 18
Patent-Office, Wellington, P. 0., Patent-Officer.
New Zealand.
FOURTH SCHEDULE.
Hearing Application.
Patent-Office, Wellington, 18 .
Patent for [insert title of specification] A. B., of , has deposited at this
office a specification of the said invention, and I have appointed the day
of next at o'clock in the forenoon, at this office, to hear the said applica-
tion and all objections thereto ; and I require all persons having an interest in
opposing the grant of such letters patent to leave on or before the day of
next, at this office, particulars in writing of their objections to the said application ;
otherwise they will be precluded from urging the same.
P. 0., Patent-Officer.
FIFTH SCHEDULE.
Order for Expenses.
Upon hearing the objection of A. B. to the grant to C. D. of letters patent for
[insert the title as in the specification], I do by this writing under my hand, order that
the said A. B. shall pay to the said C. D. the sum of for the costs of such hear-
ing [or to E. F. the sum of as a remuneration for his attendance at such
hearing].
Given under my hand this day of 18 .
P. 0., Patent-Officer.
SIXTH SCHEDULE.
Warrant for grant of Letters Patent.
I have [heard and] considered the application of A. B. for letters patent for
[insert the title as in the specification] [and also all objections to the same], and, hav-
ing perused the specification, am of opinion that, as it is entirely at the hazard of the
said applicant whether the said invention is new and will have the desired success,
Her Majesty's royal letters patent may be issued in the form contained in the seventh
schedule to the Patents Act, 1883] with the following additional clauses, that is to
say (here set them out, if any)].
Given under my hand this day of 18 .
P. 0., Patent-Officer.
422 FOREIGN LAWS.
SEVENTH SCHEDULE.
form of Letters Patent.
VICTORIA, by the prace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land Queen, Defender of the Faith.
To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting :
Whereas A. B. of in the of [Engineer] (who, with his execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, is and are hereinafter included in the term
" Patentee "), hath represented that he is desirous of obtaining letters patent for
securing unto him our special license for an invention for [insert the title of the inven-
tion], and by an instrument in writing under his hand and seal deposited in the office
of the patent-officer under the provisions of the Patents Act, 1883, the patentee hath
particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed ; Now, therefore, know ye that we have given
and granted, and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant
unto the patentee our special license and authority that the patentee by himself or
his servants or agents, or such others as he shall at any time agree with during the
term herein expressed, shall and lawfully may make, use, and vend, his said invention
within our said colony and its dependencies, in such manner as to him shall seem
meet ; To have, hold, and enjoy the said license, privilege, and advantage, unto and
by the patentee, for and during the term of fourteen years now next ensuing ; and
that he shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, and advantage
from time to time coming, accruing, and arising by reason of the said invention dur-
ing the said term : subject, however, in all things to the provisions of the Patents
Act, 1883, and to the conditions and restrictions thereby imposed [and inserted
herein, if any],
In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent, and to be
sealed and bear date as of the day of one thousand eight hundred
and
EIGHTH SCHEDULK.
Disclaimer.
Patent for [insert the title]. This is to notify to all whom it may concern that C.
D. of, &c. has applied to me for leave to enter a disclaimer of part [or, memorandum
of alteration, as the case may be] of the said invention, the particulars whereof are
stated below. I do therefore appoint day the day of next at
o'clock in the noon, to hear and consider the said application, and all objections
to the same. And I do hereby require all persons having an interest in opposing the
said application, to leave on or before the day of at my office in
particulars in writing of their objections to the same ; otherwise they will be precluded
from urging such objections.
Given under my hand this day of 18 ..
P. 0., Patent-Officer.
The following is the disclaimer [or, as the case may be] which I desire to make in,
&c. [The applicant must here set forth what he makes to enter, and sign it.]
NEW ZEALAND. 423
NINTH SCHEDULE.
Extension of Patent.
Patent for [insert the title]. Notice is hereby given that I have presented a peti-
tion to His Excellency the Governor, praying for the confirmation of [or, extension
of the term in] the said patent, and that a Royal Commission has issued authorizing
and requiring certain commissioners therein named to consider and report upon the
subject to Her Majesty, which said commissioners will meet for that purpose on the
day of next at o'clock in the noon at . All persons
objecting to the said confirmation [or extension] must enter a caveat against the same
at the office of the patent-officer in Wellington, otherwise they will be precluded
from objecting to it.
Dated this day of 18 .
A.B.
' TENTH SCHEDULE.
Form of Letters of Registration
Know all men by these presents that :
Whereas by an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand, entitled " The
Patents Act, 1883," it is enacted that the Governor in his discretion, on the applica-
tion of any person being the holder or assignee of any letters patent or like protec-
tion, and upon such proof as the Governor may by regulations require that such
person is the bonaf.de holder or assignee thereof, and that the same are or is in full
force, may grant letters of registration to such applicant ; and that such letters of
registration shall have the same force and effect as letters patent granted under the
said Act, and shall inure to the benefit of the grantee thereof, his executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, during the continuance of the original letters patent or other pro-
tection in the country or colony where the same was, or were, granted, and no longer ;
and all the provisions of the said Act shall apply to such letters of registration in the
same way, mutatis mutandis, and as fully as to letters patent granted under this Act ;
And whereas A. B. has represented to me the Governor of the colony of New
Zealand, that letters sealed and dated as of the day of one
thousand eight hundred and have been issued in the to for an
invention or discovery for And whereas the said A. B. has applied to me, the
Governor, as aforesaid, for the grant to him of letters of registration of the said
invention or discovery in pursuance of the said recited power, and has proved to my
satisfaction that he the said A. B., is the bona jide holder (or assignee) of the said
letters and that the same are in full force in the said Now know ye that
I, the Governor as aforesaid of the said colony of New Zealand, in pursuance of the
said recited power and authority conferred upon me by the said " Patents Act, 1883,"
do hereby grant unto the said A. B., his executors, administrators, and assigns, letters
of registration of the said letters with all the rights, powers, and privileges
thereto belonging.
Given under my hand at the at and issued under the seal of the said
colony this day of in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and . ,
Governor of New Zealand.
424 FOREIGN LAWS.
ELEVENTH SCHEDULE.
Fees.
. d.
On depositing specification 10
On depositing amended specification, or application for amendment to spec-
ification 10
On obtaining letters patent, or any duplicate thereof 2
At or before the expiration of the fifth year 7
On lodging particulars of objections 2
On presenting petition for extension 2
Search and inspection. For each book or specification 1
Entry of assignment or license 10
Certificate of assignment or license 10
Filing of memorandum of alteration or disclaimer 2 10
Entering any caveat 2 10
Copy or extract of any writing per common law folio
On obtaining letters of registration 10
TWELFTH SCHEDULE.
Acts repealed.
1870. No. 89. The Patents Act, 1870.
1881. No. 22. The Patents Act Amendment Act, 1881.
1882. No. 18. The Patents Act Amendment Act, 1882.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 416.
NICARAGUA. 425
NICARAGUA.
Report by Mr. Corbett, of the British Legation, published
1873.
Translation.
The Spanish Cortes, whose resolutions obtained until the 15th of
September, 1821, and as far as they are not in opposition to those
of these countries, have been declared in force in this republic,
assure and regulate the right of property of inventors, establishing
also the term of its duration.
Decree 43 declares, as to this right to consider as proprietor of
his work him who should invent, import, or introduce.
The government, by means of the proper minister, will issue to
the said proprietor a certificate, in which will appear his name as
inventor, improver, or introducer of the work, a description of it
(the invention), and the duration of the exclusive right. This cer-
tificate will serve as a sufficient title ; but in order to obtain it, it is
necessary that the petitioner should address himself to the prefect
of the department or to the municipality, giving an account of his
work, describing it with the greatest exactness possible in confor-
mity with the model, which the same law establishes.
The said authorities in their turn, shall be obliged to give to the
petitioner testimony of everything which may serve for the inform-
ation of the minister of the department.
The inventor shall have ten years of exclusive property, the
improver seven, and the introducer five. These terms may be
extended by the sovereign power, on the proposition of the gov-
ernment, to fifteen, ten and seven years, respectively.
The inventor, improver, and introducer, apart from the afore-
said terms, will cease to be considered as sole proprietors, first, if
they cede their right for the public good ; secondly, if they let six
months pass without taking up the certificate ; thirdly, if they let
two years pass without putting in execution their invention, per-
fection, or improvement.
This is, in substance, that which is decreed by the Spanish
Cortes.
426 FOREIGN LAWS.
In this republic nothing new has been arranged with respect to
this matter.
The state of continual agitation in which this country has been
involved since its political emancipation, has not permitted the com-
plete reform of its codes.
But our Constitution has given to Congress the faculty of prom-
ising rewards and privileges to the inventors and managers of useful
works, as will be seen by its article XLII., division twenty-two ;
and, in practice, the rules of the decree cited above are not followed.
He who wishes for a reward or privilege seeks it from Congress,
which concedes it, if it sees fit to do so.
From 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 373.
NORWAY. 427
NORWAY.
Law of June 16, 1885.
We, OSCAE, by the Grace of God, King of Norway and Sweden,
the Goths, and the Vends, make known that there has been laid
before us the resolution of the now assembled honorable Storthing,
on the 8th of June, this year, as follows:
1. Patents shall be granted for new inventions which are useful
in industry, excepting, however, (a) inventions which, if brought
out, would be contrary to the law, morality, or public order ; (b)
inventions the subject-matter of which is a beverage, food, or med-
icine. Nevertheless in relation to these, patents will be granted
for processes or apparatus specially described for their manufacture.
2. An invention shall not be considered new if it have already
been so known before the application for the patent was handed in
that it could by other conversant persons be brought into practice.
However, publication by printing or by an ordinary exhibition shall
not prevent a grant of letters patent applied for within the next
ensuing six months after such publication.
3. The right to obtain patent is available, subject to a conform-
ity with section 4, to the first inventor only, or to a person having
the legal power to act for him. In cases where it cannot be clearly
ascertained who, among several applicants for a patent for a given
invention, is the first inventor, the patent will be granted to the first
one that handed in an application.
4. When a patent is granted for an invention here in the king-
dom, the inventor shall, in the course of two years, counted from
the time when the application for patent was handed in, have the
exclusive privilege of obtaining a patent for improvements on or
addition to the former patented invention. In consequence of this
every application for such patent that might come in from third
parties shall remain in abeyance under seal in the patent office and
shall be decided upon after the first mentioned interval is expired,
unless the older patentee has made use of his right of preference.
6. Patents shall be granted for a period of fifteen years, counted
from the time of the handing in of the application. If anybody
having obtained a patent for an invention shall wish to take out
a patent for an addition to or improvements on the same, he shall
428 FOREIGN LAWS.
have the option of taking out a special patent or only a supple-
mentary patent which shall expire the same time as the original
patent.
6. At the handing in of every application for a patent thirty
kroner shall be paid as a fee for the consideration of the matter.
For granting patents, with exception of supplement patents, a
yearly payment shall also be demanded, which begins with ten kroner
for the second year of the patent and increasing five kroner each
year for every following year, that is, fifteen kroner the third year,
twenty the fourth. This fee shall be paid before the beginning of
the patent year for which it is due. However, it may be paid
within the period of three months afterward, but in such a case
with an increase of one-fifth part.
7. The patent confers the privilege that nobody can without
the consent of the patentee, excepting for his own use, manufacture
or import from abroad the patented article, neither keeping nor
selling the same. If the patented matter be a process, an apparatus,
a machine, a tool, or other implement, the patent also confers the
privilege that nobody can without the consent of the patentee make
use of the patented matter in his business. However, ship-fittings
can be used without hindrance from the patent upon ships engaged
in foreign navigation while staying in Norwegian ports or in Nor-
wegian waters.
8. The patent shall have no effect against any one who already
had made use of the invention within the kingdom before the
handing in of the application or made the necessary arrangements
for the same. If the patentee have in an earlier stage published
the invention in the manner as described in the latter section of
section 2, the power of the patent does then extend back to the
publication, provided he at the same time and in conjunction there-
with (in case of exhibition by notification on the object exhibited)
has published that a patent will be applied for, and besides has be-
forehand handed in a preliminary notice to the patent commissioners.
9. Without the consent of the patentee the patented, invention
can be used by the public authority, if the King so decides. Like-
wise can the patented invention that is of particular importance
for one or another trade by similar provision be adopted for private
use. In both cases compensation shall be due to the patentee,
which amount and mode of computation, in default of amicable
agreement, shall be settled by judgment of impartial men (arbitra-
tion). Compensation is procured in the first case from the public
NORWAY. 429
authority in the latter case from the person or persons who take
the invention into use. If the compensation be settled as a lump
sum once for all, the same shall be paid before the invention is
taken into use. If it be settled as a royalty, the arbitration shall,
at the request of the patentee, also settle by what installments this
shall be paid, and also shall fix the amount of the security which
ought to be given for the correct payment of the royalty. The
royalty fixed by the arbitration can be levied by distraint.
10. The investigation and decision upon applications for patents
shall rest in a patent commission that shall have its sitting in Chris-
tiania, and which shall consist of a juridically educated chairman
and at least five technical skilled members, who shall be appointed
by the King for a period of five years. For the technical skilled
members deputies shall also be appointed. No decision by which
an application for a patent is to be decided shall take place unless
at least four, or in case of d inference of opinion at least five,
members of the commission shall be present, including always the
chairman and such members as have previously dealt with the mat-
ter. If the votes be equal, the decision shall rest with the chair-
man. Every such decision shall be accompanied by reasons, and
complete written copy handed to the applicant, the patentee, or his
deputy.
11. None of the members of the patent commission shall have
personally or through others a grant of a patent for any invention,
or shall act as deputy for others (patent-agent) in patent matters.
They shall resign if they are in such a manner connected with an
applicant for a patent that they as judges should give up their
seat.
12. Anybody who desires to obtain patent on an invention shall
hand in to the patent commission (1) an application for the patent
addressed to the commission ; (2) a specification of the invention,
in duplicate ; (3) the drawings necessary for the understanding of
the specification, also in duplicate, also, according to circumstances,
models, samples, &c. ; (4) a list of all the documents, <fcc., which
are handed in.
13. If the applicant is not a resident in Norway, he must name
in his application a deputy residing within the kingdom, who shall
represent him in all matters connected with the patent, and who
can be summoned on his account. A ratified copy of the docu-
ment appointing such deputy with full powers and accepted by
said deputy shall accompany the application. Likewise always
430 FOREIGN LAWS.
shall the application, if not signed by the applicant himself,
be accompanied by the necessary full powers to the person who
signs it.
14. The application, which must only relate to one principal
invention (with the details belonging to the same,) shall give the ap-
plicant's name, occupation, and residence, as well as a short descrip-
tion of the invention, such as it.is wished should be stated in the
patent. If the invention have not been made by the applicant him-
self, the necessary proofs shall be attached that it has been lawfully
intrusted to him by the inventor. The specification shall be so
explicit and complete that others conversant with the trade to
which it relates shall be able to carry out and apply the invention.
It shall finish with a specific declaration as to what the applicant
considers as his invention and desires to protect by patent. The
application, as well as the specification, is to be written in the Nor-
wegian language.
15. If the patent commission find that a deposited application
is not fulfilling the terms of sections 12, 13, and 14, it shall as soon
as possible give a written dommunication about it to the applicant
or his deputy, in which shall be given a reasonable time during
which the defects shall be remedied. If during this period, or any
extension thereof that may be granted according to circumstances,
the necessary corrections be not made, the application will be laid
aside.
16. If the invention treated in the application be evidently not
new, or there be other reason which would prevent the legally
granting of a patent for the same, the application can be refused at
once.
17. On the other hand, if the application, with its accompany-
ing documents, &c., be in proper form, and, as far as can be judged,
there be no defect present, as mentioned in section 16, the commis-
sion shall draw up as soon as possible, and at latest within four
weeks, a public notification about the application, stating the prin-
cipal contents of the same and the name of the applicant. At the
same time the application, with the document and other vouchers
belonging to it, shall be laid open for public examination in the
patent-office.
18. If the inventor in his application shall desire and at the same
time pay down an additional sum of twenty kroner, the enjoined
publication and laying out for examination, as stated in the preced-
ing section, shall be deferred until four months after the inventor
NORWAY. 431
or his deputy has received information that the patent commission
from the previous examination finds no hindrance for a grant of
patent. For the preliminary examination the commission has in
this case an extension of time of eight weeks, during which it is
entitled to obtain statements of men conversant in the matter, as
stated in section 20.
19. During the period of eight weeks following the publication
anybody shall be at liberty to hand in to the patent commission an
objection to a grant of the patent applied for. Such objection shall
be in writing, and shall be accompanied .by the reasons on which it
is based, which must also be presented in writing.
20. Before the expiration of sixteen weeks after the publication
the commission shall come to a decision concerning the application.
Before its decision it can demand more particular declarations or
explanations from those interested in the matter. It shall also be
entitled to obtain statements of men conversant with the same, or
make other necessary arrangements to throw light upon the matter.
21. If the applicant shall be dissatisfied with the decision of the
patent commission in conformity to section 16 or section 20, and he
shall think himself able to give explanation or information which
would convey another result, he shall have the right during the
next ensuing six weeks after the giving of the decision to hand in to
the commission a representation, which in such a case shall bring
the mutter under a renewed consideration. Should this also not
bring it to a decision satisfactory to the applicant, he shall still,
during four weeks more, have the option of making an application
to the patent commission asking for a decision of a supreme patent
commission, consisting of seven men specially selected by the King
for this case, and with an eye to the circumstances of the case.
With the request the applicant shall pay a fee of one hundred and
fifty kroner, which, however, shall be returned to him if the former
decision be not confirmed. The supreme patent commission shall
decide the case from the documents handed over by the patent
commission.
22. When the final decision shall be given that a patent be
granted, the commission shall draw up the letters patent, stating
the nature of the patent, as well as the day from which its duration
is to be counted, in accordance with section 5. As soon as possible
after the drawing up of the letters patent the commission shall
make a public notification of the same, containing also the essential
part of the specification, &c., and other documents, as the case may
432 FOREIGN LAWS
demand, together with the name and residence of the deputy.
When a final decision shall have been made that the patent be
refused, this shall also be published.
23. If the patentee leave the country, or the patent be trans-
ferred to an owner not residing in Norway, such a deputy must be
made known to the patent-office, and such authorized power be
forwarded as stated in section 13.
24. A register shall be kept at the patent-office of all the com-
pleted patents. This shall show the nature of the patent and date,
as well as the name and residence of the patentee, or, as the case
may be, those of his deputy. When a patent expires, becomes
void, is by judgment abolished, or is wholly or partly declared
invalid, this shall be noted in the register and publicly notified.
The same shall hold good with respect to transfer of patent right
and choice of deputy or substitution of a new one (sections 13 and
23) when notice concerning the same with necessary legitimation
shall be handed in to the office. As long as this latter shall not
have taken place, the transfer or the choice shall be without effect
with the public authorities, as well as with third persons. Both
the register and the specifications, drawings, models, &c., connected
with patents shall be accessible to everybody who might wish to
make themselves acquainted with the same.
25. A patent shall expire (1) if the fixed fee in section 6 be not
paid into the office within the time stated in the said section ; (2)
if the notified deputy will not or cannot any longer undertake the
charge, and the patentee within three months after he has been
notified about it in the newspaper for publications of patents has
not registered new deputy with the patent commission.
26. A patent shall by judgment be found wholly or partly
invalid if it be shown that in accordance with the provisions of sec-
tions 1, 2, 3, and 4, either in whole or in part, it ought not to have
been granted.
27. A patent shall by judgment be made void if the patentee
shall not have worked the patent within the termination of three
years from the date of the patent either himself or through others
in the kingdom or have offered the patented object for sale ; also,
if after that period the working or the offering for sale has been
discontinued during one year. If this be caused by a casual inci-
dent, the last-mentioned period can be increased by the patent com-
mission on application. In particular cases the patent commission
shall have power after representation to make exceptionally distinct
NORWAY. 433
provision for what is required for the 'working or arrangement for
sale within the kingdom.
28. Anybody who may desire to have a patent declared void
(section 20) or abolished (section 27) can prosecute the patentee to
accept judgment. Such questions shall come within the jurisdiction
of Christiania town court. The summons shall be four weeks
regardless of the summoned person's residence. Settlement by
arbitration will not be allowed. The chairman of the patent com-
mission shall always be summoned.
29. Any person who shall encroach upon the rights belonging
to any one pursuant to a patent shall be obliged to compensate the
injured person for all damage to him thereby caused. Should the
in f ringer have knowingly committed such violation of rights he
shall besides, provided he be not liable at law to a more severe
punishment, be fined (the penalty to be paid into the state treasury)
from fifty to one thousand kroner, and in case of repetition up to
two thousand kroner ; also, all unlawfully manufactured goods
offered for sale, in case the article itself be patented, may by judg-
ment be confiscated.
30. The public authority shall not prosecute the offense treated
in section 29. The prosecution concerns the patentee himself or
any other person to whom he wholly or partly transferred his right
or in any other person who by the offense shall have sustained loss.
31. If the defendant, in a case of infringement of a patent,
shall base his claim for acquittal on the ground that the patent is
invalid (section 26) or forfeited (section 27), the court shall, if
requested, if it be any other court than the town court of Christiania,
give him such delay that he can have an opportunity to obtain judg-
ment in conformity to section 28. If the matter is taken before the
town court of Christiania, he can, through counter prosecution,
without arbitration, obtain a hearing under the procedure to get the
patent made null and void or abolished.
32. No punishment or compensation shall be decreed under this
law if the infringement complained of at the court shall have been
committed more than two years before the commencement of the
action, or if the action has not been commenced by the injured
party within a year from the time when he was first acquainted by
established proof, through judicial act of the infringement com-
plained of, or if he delay to prosecute for a full year a trial already
judicially commenced.
33. If any one who shall have in a foreign country applied for
IL 28
434 FOREIGN LAWS.
patent for an invention within a period of seven months after such
foreign application hands in an application for patent in this coun-
try for the same invention, this last application shall (in case the
said foreign country grants reciprocal rights to Norwegians) be
considered in relation to other applications, as if it had been handed
in at the same time that the application was made in the foreign
state,
34. The present law has no application to patents issued before
the law comes into force. However, after the period of one year
the inventor of such a patent shall be at liberty to apply for change
of patent so as to come under the rules of the present law, which
in such a case will be fully applied to such patent. The question of
the novelty of the invention (section 2) shall be decided, however,
according to the condition of the time when the application of the
older patent was given in. If a new patent is granted, its duration
shall (section 5) be counted from the issue of the older patent and
the yearly fee (section 6) shall be determined according to its age.
35. The particular provisions of the administration of the patent
commission, the form and contents of patents, and what more may
be required for the execution of this law shall be in the jurisdiction
of the King.
36. The present law shall come into force on the 1st of Janu-
ary, 1886, after which time section 82 in the artisan's law of the
15th of July, 1839, shall be null and void.
We hereby accept and ratify this resolution as law under our
hand and Seal of the Realm.
Given at Stockholm Castle on the 13th of June, 1885.
OSCAR. [L. s.]
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World> 443.
NOVA SCOTIA.
See CANADA.
ORANGE FREE STATE.
oee APPENDIX OF RECENT LAWS, near end of Vol. II.
PARAGUAY PERSIA. 435
PARAGUAY.
Under a law of May 20, 1845, citizens or foreigners are alike
entitled to protection, and the terra of the grant varies from two
to ten years. Where there is a previous foreign patent for the
same invention, the patent is not valid for more than six months
beyond the termination of the foreign patent. The invention
patented must be worked within two years from the date of the
grant.
Encyc. Brit. ed. 9, art. Patents.
PERSIA.
According to a report of Mr. R. F. Thomson, of the British
Legation, published October 28, 1873, in 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 447,
there was not, at the time of his writing, any law in Persia respect-
ing patent rights for inventions, but every one there was free to
invent or imitate.
PERU.
See APPENDIX OF RECENT LAWS, near end of Vol. IL
PHILIPINE ISLANDS.
See SPAIN.
PORTO RICO.
See SPAIN.
436 FOREIGN LAWS.
PORTUGAL.
Civil Code.
CHAPTER III.
PROPERTY IN INVENTIONS.
SECTION I.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 613. Any one who invents any manufacture, product,
or article of commerce, who perfects and improves any known pro-
duct or manufacture of the same nature, or discovers any easier
and less expensive means of obtaining it, shall enjoy the property
in his invention or discovery for a period of fifteen years, on the
terms hereinafter set forth in this chapter.
1. An inventor who has obtained a privilege in a foreign coun-
try can only obtain a patent in the kingdom on the conditions of
this code, and for the term which has still to run in the foreign
country before the invention falls into the public domain.
ART. 614. The property in the invention gives the exclusive
right of producing or manufacturing the articles which constitute
or embody the said invention.
ART. 615. Inventions or discoveries relating to unlawful indus-
tries or articles cannot be patented.
ART. 616. The duration of the exclusive property in inventions
commences from the date of the grant of the patent.
ART. 617. The exclusive property is limited to the article speci-
fied, and can never be interpreted as extending to others, under
pretext of intimate relation or connection.
ART. 618. The appropriation of inventions can only be decreed
by law, in cases wherein it may be necessary for the public good.
SECTION II.
ADDITIONS TO INVENTIONS.
ART. 619. The patentee or his representatives may, during the
existence of the patent, add to the invention any improvements and
modifications which they may conceive.
PORTUGAL. 437
AET. 620. The person making additions enjoys, so far as con-
cerns the additional improvements, the same rights as those con-
ferred by the principal patent ; but only for the time that this
may last.
AKT. 621. The person making additions may, however, apply
for a new patent for the improvements, providing he submits him-
self to the provisions regulating principal patents.
ART. 622. The grant of a patent for an improvement cannot be
made during the first year of the patent granted for the principal
invention, save to the person who obtained that patent.
AET. 623. Third parties who solicit such a patent may, before
the end of the year, deliver their petition, closed and sealed, to the
proper department, and thereupon note shall be taken of such
delivery.
The deposit mentioned in this article serves to confer on the
depositor priority over all others, not being the patentee, who may
subsequently present themselves. The patentee has in every case
the preference, provided he applies within the year.
AET. 624. Third parties who apply for a patent of improve-
ment are deemed, for the issue of their titles, to be principal inven-
tors.
AET. 625. The exclusive property in inventions is authenticated
and secured by the laws and administrative regulations.
SECTION III.
TEANSMISSION or PEOPEETY IN INVENTIONS.
AET. 626. Property in inventions is governed by the general
laws which regulate movable property, except as is hereinafter pro-
vided.
AET. 627. The transfer of the patent, whether gratuitously, or
for a consideration, can only be effected by notarial deed.
AET. 628. Licensees under a principal patent shall enjoy addi-
tions granted to the inventor or his representatives, and so recipro-
cally if the case arises, unless there exists any agreement to the
contrary.
SECTION IV.
TUB PUBLICATION OF INVENTIONS.
AET. 629. The descriptions, designs, models and specifications
required for the grant of a patent shall be shown gratuitously to all
438 FOREIGN LAWS.
persons who may apply for them, and copies thereof shall be sup-
plied on payment of the cost.
It pertains to the government to make the necessary regulations
respecting this matter.
ART. 630. On the expiration of the second year of the patent
the designs and descriptions shall be published in full or by extract.
ART. 631. It is the duty of the government to announce officially
those inventions which have become public property.
SECTION V.
THE NULLITY AND Loss OF PATENTS.
ART. 632. Patents granted in the following cases are null:
1. If the inventions or discoveries were known to the public,
practically or theoretically, through any technical description
divulged in home or foreign documents, or by any other means :
2. If a patent had already previously been granted for the same
object: [Art. 635.]
3. If the invention or discovery should be found prejudicial to
public security or health, or contrary to the laws :
4. If the title given to the invention fraudulently comprises a
different object:
5. If the description lodged of the invention does not indicate
everything which is necessary for working the invention, or the real
means of the inventor:
6. If the patent was obtained contrary to the formalities pre-
scribed by law :
7. If a patent for a modification or improvement does not relate
to something which facilitates the working, or increases the utility
of the invention, but merely to a change of form or of proportions,
or to mere ornament.
ART. 4533. Any one who fails to carry out his invention within
two years counted from the date of the signature of the patent, or
who ceases to use it for two consecutive years, without proving a
legitimate impediment, shall forfeit the said patent.
SECTION VI.
ACTIONS FOR NULLITY AND WITHDRAWAL OF THE PATENT.
ART. 634. Either the public prosecutor, or persons having a
direct interest in the withdrawal of the patent, may bring suitable
PORTUGAL. 439
actions. If the action is brought by the public prosecutor, the
interested party shall be allowed to intervene therein as assistant,
but the public administration must always intervene in actions
brought by interested parties. [Civil Code, Art. 329.]
ART. 635. The right of action for nullity, in the case of No. 2 of
article 632, lapses on the expiration of a year without opposition by
the parties interested : in other cases it shall exist *as long as the
exclusive privilege of invention lasts.
SECTION VII.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF INFRINGERS.
ART. 636. Whosoever, during the exclusive privilege of inven-
tion, injures the patentee in the exercise of his rights by reproduc-
ing, without his authorization, the object of the said invention, or
by selling, concealing, or introducing with deliberate intent, any
similar article manufactured abroad, is responsible for the repara-
tion of the damage caused, besides being subject to the penalties of
the Criminal Code.
ART. 637. Patentees or their representatives may require, in
case of suspected infringement, and on their first giving security,
the seizure of the infringing articles, or of implements that can only
serve for their manufacture. [Civil Code, Art. 363.]
In this case, however, if the party seizing should not commence
his action within fourteen days, the seizure becomes void at law,
and the holder may sue the party making the seizure for losses and
damages.
ART. 638. If the action for infringement is brought to final judg-
ment at criminal or civil law, the articles seized shall be awarded
to the complainant, on account of the compensation due to him ;
but if the matter is tried by a criminal suit, the plaintiff can only
sue by civil action for anything that may be wanting for his com-
plete indemnification.
ART. 639. The party injured by the infringement may proceed
either by criminal action, or merely by civil action for losses and
damages ; in either case the Public Prosecutor shall be heard.
ART. 640. The tribunal which tries criminally the infringement
shall pronounce on the objections the defendant may raise as to the
nullity of the patent or the loss of the rights of the plaintiff.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 445.
440 FOREIGN LAWS.
Report by Mr. Wm. Doria, of tJie British Legation, pub-
lished 1873.
On the 17th of March, 1868, the present law in force was pub-
lished for regulating the concession of patents, and regulations were
laid down in the Civil Code for the protection of public interests
against the too excessive exercise of particular privileges granted by
patents, and the regulations were assimilated more to those adhered
to in other countries granting such patents.
It is, therefore, to the Civil Code that reference must be made
for those provisions of the law which protect patent rights from
being infringed. The punishment to be awarded to those persons
who infringe those rights is to be found inscribed in the Penal
Code of the country.
Patents are granted for a term of years not exceeding fifteen,
to the inventor or discoverer, to enjoy during that time the right of
property.
From the right of property to an invention is derived the exclu-
sive right of producing or manufacturing the articles which con-
stitute the said invention. Persons making additions to their
inventions enjoy the advantage of the additional improvements, and
they may apply for a French patent.
The exclusive right of property over inventions is secured by
the administrative laws and regulations that is to say, by the laws
having reference to movable property, except in cases where the
patent has been granted gratuitously, or as compensation in return
for service performed.
The publication of patents, their drawings, models, and specifi-
cations, which are required for obtaining the concession, must be
shown gratuitously to every one who desires to see them. Appli-
cants, by payment, can procure copies. On the government
devolves the duty to announce officially what patents have fallen
into the dominion of the public.
Patentees who have been injured by the infringement of their
patent can institute a criminal suit, or enter a civil action to recover
damages.
The right of property conferred by a patent is transmissible by
will to heirs and successors.
A register of all patents is kept in the department of public
works.
PORTUGAL. 441
A tax of 120,000 reis is exacted on granting a patent for fifteen
years, equivalent to about $140.00. Of this amount 75,000 reis, or
$88. 00, is set apart for a fund for the advancement of industry. The
remaining sum is absorbed in stamps and fees paid to government.
Medicines, articles of food, simple changes in the form of an ob-
ject patented, and ornaments are excluded from obtaining patents.
The civil governor of the district is charged with the duty of
granting patents, on whom devolves the duty also of forwarding to
the office of public works information for their due registration.
An invention which involves danger to public safety is prohib-
ited from obtaining a patent.
A foreigner can only obtain a patent subject to the rules laid
down by the Civil Code of Portugal, and that also only for the
period of time before it falls under the dominion of the public, in
conformity with those rules.
No concession of patent for an improvement of an article already
patented is granted, except to the patentee himself, during the first
year after the patent is granted. Application by another person
may be made before the expiration of the year to the proper depart-
ment, where such application will be taken into consideration.
This provision is to insure to the first applicant the preference
over other persons, with the exception of the original patentee, who
always has the preference accorded to him, provided his application
is also made during the first year.
Exclusive right to import foreign patents is not granted ; only
the privilege for their manufacture in Portugal is guaranteed by
patent.
The punishment awarded by the Penal Code to persons who
infringe. patent rights is subjection to a fine, which is imposed by
the judge at his discretion, varying from 30,000 reis to 300,000 reis,
or from $35 to $350, and the confiscation of the articles which have
been employed in the violation of the patent.
For losses sustained by the patentee through the infringement
of his rights, he can obtain indemnity by a civil action.
From 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 447.
See also, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.
See CANADA.
FOREIGN LAWS.
PRUSSIA.
Extracts from a report by Mr. T. N. Plunkett, of the British
Legation, published October 14, 1873.*
The legislation of Prussia on patents is based on a rescript of
October 14, 1815, on various ministerial decisions as to the precise
meaning of particular portions of it, which have been given from
time to time when occasion arose ; and also on the agreement come
to in September, 1842, between the different States of the Zollve-
rein respecting patents.
In the main, however, the practice in Prussia is as follows :
Patents can be obtained both for discoveries and for improve-
ments ; and also for the introduction into Prussia of inventions
patented abroad.
New goods, new machines, new tools, and new modes of fabri-
cation can be patented ; but only on the condition that they are
useful to industry and manufacture, and afford new means of indus-
trial development.
Patents are never granted in Prussia for inventions of an artistic
nature ; the only excuse for a patent is that the invention shall have
industrial value. No invention which is not entirely new, or which
is not certain to be useful to industry, has a chance of receiving a
patent, for the rules are administered with the greatest severity.
Articles or inventions patented abroad may also be patented in
Prussia, provided, however, that no description of them shall have
been published either here or elsewhere, and that no use shall have
yet been made of the invention in Prussia.
When once the details of an invention have been published,
either in Germany or elsewhere, officially or unofficially, before the
application for the Prussian patent has been made in Berlin, it is
invariably refused.
* The date of this report was not long had been established for the empire,
after the adoption of the Imperial Consti- The subject is now governed, for Prussia,
tution of the German empire, article 4 of as for the other kingdoms, by the gcn-
which declares that questions concerning eral law ; for which see GEKMAN EMPIRE.
patents and patent laws are reserved to This report has value in connection with
the Reichsrath ; but before a general law unexpired Prussian Patents.
PRUSSIA. 443
An article which is patented abroad may be patented in Prussia,
if it fulfills the necessary requirements, by anybody.
No rights whatever are reserved to the original patentee, except
in the case of patents taken out in other German countries.
.Under the agreement concluded between the Zollverein States
in 1842, when a patent has been given for an invention in any one
of those States, it secures to the patentee the sole right of applying
for a patent for the same article in all the other States of the Con-
federation ; but it does not necessarily follow from this that tho
Prussian authorities will give patents in evei'y case where other
German governments have done so.
In Saxony, Bavaria, and Wttrtemberg, for instance, patents are
much more easily obtained than they are in Prussia.
Patents are granted only to natives, or to the subjects of such
countries as by treaty are entitled to most-favored-nation treat-
ment. Therefore, under the treaty of commerce concluded in 1865,
British subjects are entitled to take out patents in this country.
Subjects of those foreign countries which are not entitled to most-
favored-nation treatment, if they wish to patent their inventions in
Prussia, must appoint a native as their representative, and have the
patents made out in his name.
The app^cation for a patent is made direct to the minister of
commerce in Berlin, and must be accompanied by full descriptions,
and, if necessary, also by models. These are, however, kept secret
from everybody except from the persons whose special duty it is
to examine and report upon them.
The applications are registered immediately on receipt at the
ministry, and take their precedence accordingly.
Under the ministry of commerce is a special department called
the technical deputation for industrial matters, to whom all these
applications are referred. It is their duty to examine the models,
descriptions, &c., to see whether patents for similar or kindred
inventions have been already given, and to ask for any fui'ther
explanations which they may require. They then decide absolutely
and without appeal whether they will grant the patent or not.
They fix the length of time for which the patent is to hold good,
and have, moreover, the right of declaring whether they will give
a patent for the whole invention or only for some portion of it.
The deputation consists, at present, of nine members, under the
presidency of a director of the ministry of commerce, and meets
444 FOREIGN LAWS.
once a week or oftener to examine the application for patents which
have loen made to the minister.
Their verdict is communicated to the person who has applied for
the patent, and he is allowed a period of six weeks to decide
whether he accepts or not the conditions proposed by the deputa-
tion.
If he agrees to accept them, the patent is then issued under the
signature of the minister of commerce.
The following conditions are invariably imposed in the case of
every patent which is granted :
1. The patentee must give practical effect to his invention in
Prussia within the time fixed by the minister (usually six months,
never more than a year), on pain of forfeiting his patent ; and he
must produce before the end of that term an official certificate from
the local police, or at least from some government employe, that
his invention is or has been actually in work within the Prussian
dominions.
2. If at any time during the period for which the patent is
granted his invention shall have been unemployed during twelve
consecutive months, the patentee shall forfeit all his rights.
3. The patent shall equally be forfeited if at any time afterward
it can be proved that the invention was neither new nor original.
The .period for which a patent is to run is laid down, specially
for each case, in the rescript of the minister of commerce. The law
is, that it shall not be less than six months nor more than fifteen
years ; but it is now usually fixed at three years.
A patent which is near expiring may, in some cases, be renewed;
but the entire period for which it can last must never exceed fifteen
years. Such prolongations, however, have lately been more diffi-
cult to obtain than they were formerly.
Unless in cases where the applicant himself demands a special
exception, patents extend to the whole Kingdom of Prussia.
The publication of the fact of a patent having been granted to
an inventor is made in the official journals free of cost. Merely the
fact itself is mentioned of a patent having been granted for such a
number of years to such or such a person, for such or such an inven-
tion. No details are entered into, and no description is given. The
exact particulars of the invention are kept in sealed covers at the
office of the technical deputation for industrial matters in Berlin ;
and, although in the patent commission itself there is a special
proviso that the government do not guarantee secrecy, they prac-
PRUSSIA. 445
tically never allow the secret to ooze out. It would indeed appear
that everything connected with this department is conducted with
the view of preventing the outside world from learning what takes
place within its walls.
The expenses of taking out a patent in Prussia are almost nom-
inal.
The application for a patent must be written on stamped paper
of 5 silber-groschen say 12 cents.
The answer of the technical deputation is given on stamped
paper of 15 silber-groschen say, 36 cents and the patent itself, if
granted, is liable to a stamp duty of 1 thaler say, 73 cents. There
is no further tax or duty whatever.
A patent can be sold or inherited like any other property, on
condition, however, that the new proprietor shall be a Prussian, or
a subject either of one of the Zollverein States or of a country
entitled by treaty to most-favored-nation treatment. In these cases
no notice need be given to the government, which always applies
direct to the original patentee or his heirs.
Corporate bodies have the same rights as individuals in regard
to the acquisition of patents.
A patent in Prussia gives to the patentee the exclusive right of
working his invention that is to say, the sole right of making the
article in question ; and also, in the case of machinery, the sole
right of employing it when made. It does not give the right of
prohibiting the sale or importation of articles which are like the
article for which the patent has been obtained.
A patentee whose rights have been infringed can invoke the aid
of the police to confiscate the pirated articles ; but the offending
party must be named before they can be seized ; and it is only in
case of a second offense that the articles in question can actuajly
be confiscated. The decision in these questions lies, in the first
instance, with the authorities of the "bezirk" (district), with an
appeal, in second instance, to the minister of commerce.
Claims for damages must be laid before the ordinary civil tri-
bunal ; and such claims may be made without the previous formality
of a warning to the offending parties being required.
Patents which have been granted before 1866 by the Prussian
Government, and by the former Governments of Hanover, Hesse,
Nassau, or Frankfort, and which have not yet expired, have force
only in those special districts which at that time were under each
of those governments ; but all patents issued by the Prussian Gov-
446 FOREIGN LAWS.
ernment since 1866 have force throughout the whole monarchy as
now consituted, unless in those few cases where, at the request of
the patentee himself, a special reservation is made.
From 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 395.
See GERMAN EMPIRE.
QUEBEC.
See CANADA.
QUEENSLAND. 44?
QUEENSLAND.
An Act to Amend and Consolidate the Law relating to Pat-
ents for Inventions, and the Registration of Designs
and Trade-Marks, assented to October 13, 1884.
Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legis-
lative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows :
PART I.
PRELIMINARY.
1. This act may be cited as "The Patents, Designs, and Trade
Marks Act, 1884."
2. This act is divided into parts, as follows :
Part I. Preliminary ;
Part II. Patents ;
Part III. Designs ;
Part IV. Trade-Marks ;
Part V. International and Intercolonial Arrangements ;
Part VI. General.
GENERAL DEFINITIONS.
3. (1.) In and for the purposes of this act, unless the context
otherwise requires :
"Jfaaminer" includes examiners, if more than one.
"The court " means the Supreme Court of Queensland.
" Law officer" means her Majesty's attorney-general for Queens-
land.
"The minister " means the colonial secretary or other minister
charged with the execution of this act.
"Registrar" means the registrar of patents, designs, and trade-
marks.
"Prescribed" means prescribed by any of the schedules to this
Act, or by general rules under or within the meaning of this Act.
"Patent " means letters patent for an invention.
"Patentee " means the person for the time being entitled to the
benefit of a patent.
448 FOREIGN LAWS.
"Invention " means any manner of new manufacture, the subject
of letters patent and grant of privilege within section 6 of the stat-
ute of monopolies that is, the act of the twenty-first year of the
reign of King James the First, chapter 3, entitled "Ail Act con-
cerning Monopolies, and Dispensations with Penal Laws, and the
forfeiture thereof " and includes an alleged invention.
"Design" means any design applicable to any article of manu-
facture, or to any substance, artificial or natural, or partly artificial
and partly natural, whether the design is applicable for the pattern,
or for the shape or configuration, or for the ornament thereof, or
for any two or more of such purposes, and by whatever means it is
applicable, whether by printing, painting, embroidering, weaving,
sewing, modeling, casting, embossing, engraving, staining, or any
other means whatever, manual, mechanical, or chemical, separate or
combined, not being a design for a sculpture, or other thing within
the protection of " The Sculpture Copyright Act " of the year Ibl4,
(fifty-fourth George the Third, chapter 56).
" Copyright " means the exclusive right to apply a design to
any article of manufacture or to any such substance, as aforesaid,
in the class or classes in which the design is registered.
"Jiritish possession " means any territory or place situate
within her Majesty's dominions, and not being or forming part of
the United Kingdom, or of the Channel Islands, or of the Isle of
Man ; and all territories and places under one legislature, as herein-
after defined, are deemed to be one British possession for the pur-
poses of this Act.
"Legislature" includes any person or persons who exercise leg-
islative authority in the British possession, and, where there are
local legislatures as well as a central legislature, means the central
legislature only.
"Summary conviction" means a conviction under the summary
jurisdiction Acts that is to say, the acts regulating the duties of
justices of the peace and any acts amending or in substitution for
them.
TRANSITIOXAL PROVISIONS.
4. The Acts mentioned in the first schedule to this Act are
hereby repealed to the extent in the said schedule indicated. But
this repeal shall not :
(a.) Affect the past operation of any of those enactments, or
any patent or copyright or right to use a trade-mark granted or
QUEENSLAND. 449
acquired, or application pending or appointment made, or compen-
sation granted, or order or direction made or given, or right, priv-
ilege, obligation, or liability acquired, accrued, or incurred, or
anything duly done or suffered under or by any of those enactments
before or at the commencement of this act ; or
(5.) Interfere with the institution or prosecution of any action
or proceeding, civil or criminal, in respect thereof, and any such
proceeding may be carried on as if this Act had riot been passed ; or
(c.) Take away or abridge any protection or benefit in relation
to any such action or proceeding.
5. (1.) There shall be an office, called the " patent-office," at a
convenient place, with such officers and clerks as the Governor in
Council shall appoint, at which the business of this Act required to
be transacted at the patent-office shall be transacted.
(2.) The patent-office shall be under the immediate control of
an officer, called the " registrar of patents, designs, and trade-
marks," acting under the superintendence and direction of the
minister.
(3.) Any act or thing directed to be done by or to the registrar
may, in his absence, be done by or to any officer for the time being
in that behalf authorized by the minister.
(4.) Until other provision is made in that behalf, the registrar-
general shall be and act as registrar of patents, designs, and trade-
marks.
6. This Act, except where it is otherwise expressed, shall com-
mence from and immediately after the 31st day of December, 1884.
PART II.
PATENTS.
APPLICATION FOR AND GRANT OF PATENT.
7. (1.) Any person whether a British subject or not, may make
an application for a patent.
(2.) Two or more persons may make a joint application for a
patent, and a patent may be granted to them jointly.
8. (1.) An application for a patent must be made in the form
set forth in the second schedule to this Act, or in such other form
as may be from time to time prescribed ; and must be left at or
sent by post to the patent-office in the prescribed manner.
(2.) An application must contain a declaration to the effect that
I. 29
450 , FOREIGN LAWS.
the applicant is in possession of an invention, whereof he, or, in the
case of a joint application, one or more of the applicants, claims or
claim to be the true and first inventor or inventors, and for which
he or they desires or desire to obtain a patent, and must be accom-
panied by either a provisional or complete specification.
(3.) In the case of a joint application, the declaration may be
made by one of the applicants.
(4.) A provisional specification must describe the nature of the
invention, and be accompanied by drawings, if required.
(5.) A complete specification, whether left on application or
subsequently, must particularly describe and set forth the nature of
the invention, and in what manner it is to be performed, and must
be accompanied by drawings, if required.
(6.) A specification, whether provisional or complete, must com-
mence with the title, and in the case of a complete specification
must end with a distinct statement of the invention claimed.
9. The registrar shall refer every application to an examiner or
examiners, who shall ascertain and report to the registrar whether
the nature of the invention has been fairly described, and the appli-
cation, specification, and drawings (if any) have been prepared in
the prescribed manner, and the title sufficiently indicates the sub-
ject-matter of the invention.
10. (1.) If the examiner reports that the nature of the invention
is not fairly described, or that the application, specification, or
drawings has not or have not been prepared in the prescribed man-
ner, or that the title does not sufficiently indicate the subject-matter
of the invention, the registrar may require that the application,
specification, or drawings be amended before he proceeds with the
application.
(2.) Where the registrar requires an amendment, the applicant
may appeal from his decision to the law officer.
(3.) The law officer shall, if required, hear the applicant, and the
registrar, and may make an order determining whether and subject
to what conditions, if any, the application shall be accepted.
(4.) The registrar shall, when an application has been accepted,
give notice thereof to the applicant.
(5.) If after an application has been made, but before a patent
has been sealed, an application is made, accompanied by a specifi-
cation bearing the same or a similar title, it shall be the duty of
the examiner to report to the registrar whether the specification
appears to him to comprise the same invention ; and, if he reports
QUEENSLAND. 451
in the affirmative, the registrar shall give notice to the applicants
that he has so reported.
(6.) Where the examiner reports in the affirmative, the registrar
may determine, subject to an appeal to the law officer, whether
the invention comprised in both applications is the same, and if so,
he may refuse to recommend that a patent be granted on the appli-
cation of the second applicant.
11. (1.) If the applicant does not leave a complete specification
with his application, he may leave it at any subsequent time within
nine months from the date of application.
(2.) Unless a complete specification is left within that time, the
application shall be deemed to be abandoned.
12. (1.) Where a complete specification is left after a provisional
specification the registrar shall refer both specifications to an exam-
iner for the purpose of ascertaining whether the complete specifica-
tion has been prepared in the prescribed manner, and whether the
invention particularly described in the complete specification is
substantially the same as that which is described in the provisional
specification.
(2.) If the examiner reports that the conditions hereinbefore
contained have not been complied with, the registrar may refuse to
accept the complete specification unless and until the same shall
have been amended to his satisfaction ; but any such refusal shall
be subject to appeal to the law officer.
(3.) The law officer shall, if required, hear the applicant and the
registrar, and may make an order determining whether and subject
to what conditions, if any, the complete specification shall be
accepted.
(4.) Unless a complete specification is accepted within twelve
months from the date of application, then (save in the case of an
appeal having been lodged against the refusal to accept) the appli-
cation shall at the expiration of those twelve months become void.
(5.) Reports of examiners snail not in any case be published or
be open to public inspection, and shall not be liable to production
or inspection in any legal proceeding other than an appeal to the
law officer under this act, unless the court or officer having power,
to order discovery in such legal proceeding shall certify that such
production or inspection is desirable in the interests of justice and
ought to be allowed.
'. 13. On the acceptance of the complete specification the registrar
shall advertise the acceptance in the Gazette, and the application
452 FOREIGN LAWS.
and specification or specifications with the drawings (if any) shall
be open to public inspection.
14. (1.) Any person may at any time within two months from
the date of the advertisement of the acceptance of a complete speci-
fication give notice at the patent-office of opposition to the grant of
the patent on the ground of the applicant having obtained the
invention from him, or from a person of whom he is the legal repre-
sentative, or on the ground that the invention has been patented in
this colony on an application of prior date, or on the ground of an
examiner having reported to the registrar that the specification
appears to him to comprise the same invention as is comprised in a
specification bearing the same or a similar title and accompanying
a previous application, but on no other ground.
(2.) Where such notice is given the registrar shall give notice
of the opposition to the applicant, and shall, on the expiration of
those two months, after hearing the applicant and the person so
giving notice, if desirous of being heard, decide on the case, but
subject to appeal to the law officer.
(3.) The law officer shall, if required, hear the applicant and any
person so giving notice and being, in the opinion of the law officer,
entitled to be heard in opposition to the grant, and shall determine
whether the grant ought or ought not to be made.
(4.) The law officer may, if he thinks fit, obtain the assistance
of an expert, who shall be paid such remuneration as the law officer
shall appoint.
15. (1.) If there is no opposition, or, in case of opposition, if
the determination is in favor of the grant of a patent, the registrar
shall report the facts to the minister.
(2.) The minister shall thereupon submit the application for the
consideration of the Governor in Council, who may direct a patent
to be sealed with the Great Seal of the Colony.
(3.) A patent shall be sealed as soon as may be, and not after
the expiration of fifteen months from the date of application,
except in the cases hereinafter mentioned that is to say :
(a.) Where the sealing is delayed by an appeal to the law officer,
or by opposition to the grant of the patent, the patent may be sealed
at such time as the law officer may direct.
(d.) If the person making the application dies before the expir-
ation of the fifteen months aforesaid, the patent may be granted to
his legal representative and sealed at any time within twelvemonths
after the death of the applicant.
QUEENSLAND. 453
16. Every patent shall take effect and be expressed to take
effect as of the day of the application : Provided, That no proceed-
ings shall be taken in respect of an infringement committed before
the publication of the complete specification : Provided, also, That
in case of more than one application for a patent for the same inven-
tion the sealing of a patent on one of those applications shall not
prevent the sealing of a patent on an earlier application.
PROVISIONAL PROTECTION.
17. Where an application for a patent in respect of an inven-
tion has been accepted, the invention may during the period between
the date of the application and the date of sealing such patent be
used and published without prejudice to the patent to be granted
for the same ; and such protection from the consequences of use and
publication is in this act referred to as provisional protection.
PROTECTION BY COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
18. After the acceptance of a complete specification, and until
the date of sealing a patent in respect thereof, or the expiration of
the time for sealing, the applicant shall have the like privileges and
rights as if a patent for the invention had been sealed on the date of
the acceptance of the complete specification : Provided, That an
applicant shall not be entitled to institute any proceeding for
infringement unless and until a patent for the invention has been
granted to him.
PATENT.
19. Every patent when sealed shall have effect throughout the
colony and its dependencies.
20. (1.) The term limited in every patent for the duration
thereof shall be fourteen years from the date from which it takes
effect.
(2.) But every patent shall, notwithstanding anything therein
or in this Act, cease if the patentee fails to make the prescribed
payments within the prescribed times.
(3.) If, nevertheless, in any case, by accident, mistake, or inad-
vertence, a patentee fails to make any prescribed payment within
the prescribed time, he may apply to the registrar for an enlarge-
ment of the time for making that payment.
(4.) Thereupon the registrar shall, if satisfied that the failure
has arisen from any of the above mentioned causes, on receipt of the
454 FOREIGN LAWS.
prescribed fee for enlargement, not exceeding ten pounds, enlarge
the time accordingly, subject to the following conditions :
(a.) The time for making any payment shall not in any case be
enlarged for more than three months.
(6.) If any proceeding shall be taken in respect of an infringe-
ment of the patent committed after a failure to make any payment
within the prescribed time and before the enlargement thereof, the
court before which the proceeding is proposed to be taken may, if
it shall think fit, refuse to award or give any damages in respect of
such infringement.
AMENDMENT OF SPECIFICATION.
21. (1.) An applicant or a patentee may, from time to time, by
request in writing left at the patent-office, seek leave to amend his
specification, including drawings forming part thereof, by way of
disclaimer, correction, or explanation, stating the nature of such
amendment and his reasons for the same.
(2.) The request and the nature of such proposed amendment
shall be advertised in the prescribed manner, and at any time within
one month from its first advertisement any person may give notice
at the patent-office of opposition to the amendment.
(3.) Where such notice is given the registrar shall give notice
of the opposition to the person making the request, and shall hear
and decide the case subject to an appeal to the law officer.
(4.) The law officer shall, if required, hear the person making
the request and the person so giving notice, and being in the opin-
ion of the law officer entitled to be heard in opposition to the
request, and shall determine whether and subject to what conditions,
if any, the amendment ought to be allowed.
(5.) Where no notice of opposition is given or the person so giv-
ing notice does not appear, the registrar shall determine whether
and subject to what conditions, if any, the amendment ought to be
allowed.
(6.) When leave to amend is refused by the registrar, the per-
son making the request may appeal from his decision to the law
officer.
(7.) The law officer shall, if required, hear the person making
the request and the registrar, and may make an order determining
whether, and subject to what conditions, if any, the amendment
ought to be allowed.
(8.) No amendment shall be allowed that would make the speci-
QUEENSLAND. 455
fication, as amended, claim an invention substantially larger than or
substantially different from the invention claimed by the specifica-
tion as it stood before amendment.
(9.) Leave to amend shall be conclusive as to the right of the
party to make the amendment allowed, except in case of fraud ; and
the amendment shall in all courts and for all purposes be deemed
to form part of the specification.
(10.) The foregoing provisions of this section do not apply when
and so long as any action for infringement or other legal proceed-
ing in relation to a patent is pending.
22. (1.) In an action for infringement of a patent, and in a pro-
ceeding for revocation of a patent, the court or a judge may at any
time order that the patentee shall, subject to such terms as to
costs and otherwise as the court or a judge may impose, be at lib-
erty to apply at the patent-office for leave to amend his specification
by way of disclaimer, and may direct that in the meantime the trial
or hearing of the action shall be postponed.
23. Where an amendment by way of disclaimer, correction, or
explanation has been allowed under this Act, no damages shall be
given in any action in respect of the use of the invention before the
disclaimer, correction, or explanation, unless the patentee establishes
to the satisfaction of the court that his original claim was framed
in good faith and with reasonable skill and knowledge.
24. Every amendment of a specification shall be advertised in
the prescribed manner.
COMPULSORY LICENSES.
25. If on the petition of any person interested it is proved to the
Governor in Council that by reason of the default of a patentee to
grant licenses on reasonable terms
(a.) The patent is not being worked in the colony ; or
(b.) The reasonable requirements of the public with respect to
the invention cannot be supplied ; or
(c.) Any person is prevented from working or using to the best
advantage an invention of which he is possessed, the Governor in
^Council may order the patentee to grant licenses on such terms as
to the amount of royalties, security for payment, or otherwise as
the Governor in Council, having regard to the nature of the inven-
tion and the circumstances of the case, may deem just, and any such
order may be enforced by mandamus.
456 FOREIGN LAWS.
REGISTER OF PATENTS.
26. (1.) There shall be kept at the patent-office a book, called
the " Register of Patents," wherein shall be entered the names and
addresses of grantees of patents, notifications of assignments, and
of transmissions of patents, of licenses under patents, and of amend-
ments, extensions, and revocations of patents, and such other matters
affecting the validity or proprietorship of patents as may from time
to time be prescribed.
(2.) The Register of Patents shall be prima facie evidence of
any matters by this act directed or authorized to be inserted
therein.
(3.) Copies of deeds, licenses, and any other documents affect-
ing the proprietorship in any letters patent, or in any license there-
under, must be supplied to the registrar in the prescribed manner
for filing in the patent-office.
FEES.
27. (1.) Tbei'e shall be paid in respect of the several instru-
ments described in the third schedule to this Act the fees in that
schedule mentioned, and there shall likewise be paid, in respect of
other matters under this part of the Act, such fees as may be from
time to time prescribed by the Governor in Council ; and such fees
shall be paid into the consolidated revenue.
(2.) The Governor in Council may from time to time reduce
any of those fees.
EXTENSION OP TERM OF PATENT.
28. (1.) A patentee may, after advertising in manner directed
by any rules made under this section his intention to do so, present
a petition to the Governor in Council, praying that his patent may
be extended for a further term ; but such petition must be pre-
sented at least six months before the time limited for the expira-
tion of the patent.
(2.) Any person may enter a caveat, addressed to the clerk of
the executive council at the council office, against the extension.
(3.) If the Governor in Council shall be pleased to refer any
such petition to the court, the court shall proceed to consider the
same, and the petitioner and any person who has entered a caveat
shall be entitled to be heard by himself or by counsel on the peti-
tion.
QUEENSLAND. 457
(4.) The court shall, in considering their decision, have regard
to the nature and merits of the invention in relation to the publio
to the profits made by the patentee as such, and to all the circum-
stances of the case.
(5.) If the court report that the patentee has been inadequately
remunerated by his patent, it shall be lawful for the Governor in
Council to extend the term of the patent for a further term not
exceeding seven, or in exceptional cases, fourteen, years ; or to
order the grant of a new patent for the term therein mentioned,
and containing any restrictions, conditions, and provisions that the
court may think fit.
(6.) It shall be lawful for the judges of the Supreme Court, or
any two of them, of whom the Chief Justice shall be one, to make
from time to time rules of procedure and practice for regulating
proceedings on such petitions, and subject thereto such proceedings
shall be regulated according to the existing procedure and practice
in cases of petitions to the court.
(7.) The costs of all parties of and incident to such proceedings
shall be in the discretion of the court, and the orders of the court
respecting costs shall be enforceable in the same manner as other
orders of the court.
REVOCATION.
29. (1.) The proceeding by scire facias to repeal a patent is
hereby abolished.
(2.) Revocation of a patent may be obtained on petition to the
court.
(3.) Every ground on which a patent may, at the commence-
ment of this Act, be repealed by scire facias shall be available by
way of defense to an action of infringement, and shall also be a
ground of revocation.
(4.) A petition for revocation of a patent may be presented
by-
(a.) The attorney-general ;
(b.) Any person authorized by the attorney-general ;
(c.) Any person alleging that the patent was obtained in fraud
of his rights, or of the rights of any person under or through whom
he claims ;
(d.) Any person alleging that he, or any person under or through
whom he claims, was the true inventor of any invention included
in the claim of the patentee ;
458 FOREIGN LAWS.
(e.) Any person alleging that he, or any person under or through
whom he claims an interest in any trade, business, or manufacture,
had publicly manufactured, used, or sold, within the colony, before
the date of the patent, anything claimed by the patentee as his
invention.
(5.) The plaintiff must deliver with his petition particulars of
the objections on which he means to rely, and no evidence shall,
except by leave of the court or a judge, be admitted in proof of
any objection of which particulars are not so delivered.
(0.) Particulars delivered may be from time to time amended
by leave of the court or a judge.
(7.) The defendant shall be entitled to begin and give evidence
in support of the patent, and if the plaintiff gives evidence impeach-
ing the validity of the patent the defendant shall be entitled to
reply.
(8.) "Where a patent has been revoked on the ground of fraud
the registrar may, on the application of the true inventor, made in
accordance with the provisions of this Act, grant to him a patent
in lieu of and taking effect from the same date as the date of revo-
cation of the patent so revoked, but the patent so granted shall
cease on the expiration of the term for which the revoked patent
was granted.
CBOWN.
30. (1.) A patent shall have to all intents the like effect as
against Her Majesty the Queen, her heirs and successors as it has
against a subject.
(*>.) But the officers or authorities administering any department
of the service of the crown may, by themselves, their agents, con-
tractors, and others, at any time after the application, use the
invention for the service of the crown on terms to be before or
after the use thereof agreed on, with the approval of the minister,
between those officers or authorities and the patentee, or, in default
of such agreement, on such terms as may be settled by the minister
after hearing all parties interested.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
31. (1.) In an action or proceeding for infringement or revoca-
tion of a patent, the court may, if it thinks fit, and shall on the
request of either of the parties to the proceeding, call in the aid of
an assessor specially qualified, and try and hear the case wholly or
QUEENSLAND. 459
partially with his assistance. The action shall be tried without a
jury, unless the court shall otherwise direct.
(2.) The remuneration, if any, to be paid to an assessor under
this section shall be determined by the court, and be paid in the
same manner as the other expenses of the execution of this Act.
32. (1.) In an action for infringement of a patent the plaintiff
must deliver with his statement of claim, or by order of the court
or the judge, at any subsequent time, particulars of the breaches
complained of.
'(2.) The defendant must deliver with his statement of defense,
or by order of the court or a judge, at any subsequent time, partic-
ulars of any objections on which he relies in support thereof.
(3.) If the defendant disputes the validity of the patent, the
particulars delivered by him must state on what grounds he dis.
putes it, and, if one of those grounds is want of novelty, must state
the time and place of the previous publication or use alleged by
him.
(4.) At the hearing no evidence shall, except by leave of the
court or a judge, be admitted in proof of any alleged infringement
or objection of which particulars are not so delivered.
(5.) Particulars delivered may be from time to time amended,
by leave of the court or a judge.
(6.) On taxation of costs regard shall be had to the particulars
delivered by the plaintiff and by the defendant, and they respec-
tively shall not be allowed any costs in respect of any particular
delivered by them unless the same is certified by the court or a
judge to have been proven, or to have been reasonable and proper,
without regard to the general costs of the case.
33. In an action for infringement of a patent, the court or a
judge may on the application of either party make such order for
an injunction, inspection, or account, and impose such terms and
give such directions respecting the same and the proceedings
thereon as the court or a judge may see fit.
34. In an action for infringement of a patent, the court or a
judge may certify that the validity of the patent came in question,
and if the court or judge so certifies, then in any subsequent action
for infringement the plaintiff in that action, on obtaining a final
order or judgment in his favor, shall have his full costs, charges,
and expenses as between solicitor and client, unless the court or
judge trying the action certifies that he ought not to have the
same.
4GO FOREIGN LAWS.
35. When any person claiming to be the patentee of an inven-
tion, by circulars, advertisements, or otherwise, threatens any
other person with any legal proceedings or liability in respect of
any alleged manufacture, use, sale, or purchase of the invention,
any person or persons aggrieved thereby may bring an action
against him, and may obtain an injunction against the continuance
of such threats, and may recover such damage, if any, as may have
been sustained thereby, if the alleged manufacture, use, sale, or
purchase to which the threats related was not in fact an infringe-
ment of any legal rights of the person making such threats : Pro-
vided, That this section shall not apply if the person making such
threats with due diligence commences and prosecutes an action for
infringement of his patent.
MISCELLANEOUS.
36. Every patent may be in the form in the second schedule to
this Act, and shall be granted for one invention only, but may con-
tain more than one claim ; but it shall not be competent for any
person in an action or other proceeding to take any objection to a
patent on the ground that it comprises more than one invention.
37. (1.) If a person possessed of an invention dies without
making application for a patent for the invention, application may
be made by, and a patent for the invention granted to, his legal
representative.
(2.) Every such application must be made within six months of
the decease of such person, and must contain a declaration by the
legal representative that he believes such person to have been the
true and first inventor of the invention.
38. A patent granted to the true and first inventor shall not be
invalidated by an application in fraud of him, or by provisional
protection obtained thereon, or by any use or publication of the
invention subsequent to that fraudulent application during the
period of provisional protection.
3K A patentee may assign his patent for the whole colony or
any place in or part of the colony.
40. If a patent is lost or destroyed, or its non-production i.s
accounted for to the satisfaction of the registrar, the Governor in
Council may at any time cause a duplicate thereof to be sealed.
41. The law officer may examine witnesses on oath and admin-
ister oaths for that purpose under this part of this Act, and may
QUEENSLAND. 461
from time to time make, alter, and rescind rules regulating refer-
ences, and appeals to the law officer and the practice and procedure
before him under this part of this Act ; and in any proceeding
before the law officer under this part of this Act the law officer may
order costs to be paid by either party, and any such order may be
made a rule of the court.
42. The exhibition of an invention at an industrial or interna-
tional exhibition, certified as such by the minister, or the publica-
tion of any description of the invention during the period of the
holding of the exhibition, or the use of the invention for the pur-
pose of the exhibition in the place where the exhibition is held, or
the use of the invention during the period of the holding of the
exhibition by any person elsewhere, without the privity or the con-
sent of the inventor, shall not prejudice the right of the inventor
or his legal personal representative to apply for and obtain provis-
ional protection and a patent in respect of the invention or validity
of any patent granted on the application: Provided, That both the
following conditions are complied with, namely :
(a.) The exhibitor must, before exhibiting the invention, give
the registrar the prescribed notice of his intention to do so ; and
(b.) The application for a patent must be made before or within
six months from the date of the opening of the exhibition.
43. The registrar shall from time to time prepare and publish
such indexes, abridgments of specifications, catalogues, and other
works relating to inventions as the minister may direct.
44. The minister may at any time require a patentee to furnish
him with a model of his invention on payment to the patentee of
the cost of the manufacture of the model, the amount to be settled
in case of dispute by the auditor-general.
45. (1.) A patent shall not prevent the use of an invention for
the purposes of the navigation of a foreign vessel within the jurisdic-
tion of the Supreme Court of Queensland, or the use of an invention
in a foreign vessel within that jurisdiction : Provided, It is not
used therein for or in connection with the manufacture or prepa-
ration of anything intended to be sold in or exported from Queens-
land.
(2.) But this section shall not extend to vessels of any foreign
State of which the laws authorize subjects of such foreign Stato
having patents or like privileges for the exclusive use or exercise of
inventions within its territories, to prevent or interfere with the use
of such inventions in British vessels while in the ports of such for-
462 FOREIGN LAWS.
eign State, or in the waters within the jurisdiction of its courts,
where such inventions are not so used for the manufacture or prep-
aration of anything intended to be sold in or exported from the
territories of such foreign State.
EXISTING PATENTS.
46. (1.) The provisions of this Act relating to applications for
patents and proceedings thereon shall have effect in respect only of
applications made after the commencement of this Act.
(2.) Every patent granted before the commencement of this Act,
or on an application then pending, shall remain unaffected by the
provisions of this Act relating to patents binding the crown, and tq
compulsory licenses.
(3.) In all other respects (except with regard to fees payable in
respect of granting a patent) this Act shall extend to all patents
granted before the commencement of this Act, or ou applications
then pending, in substitution for such enactments as would have
applied thereto if this Act had not been passed.
(4.) All instruments relating to patents granted before the
commencement of this Act required to be left or filed in the
Supreme Court shall be deemed to be so left or filed if left or filed
before or after the commencement of this Act in the patent-office.
PART III.
DESIGNS.
REGISTRATION OP DESIGNS.
47. (1.) The registrar may, on application by or on behalf of any
person claiming to be the proprietor of any new or original design
not previously published in Queensland, register the design under
this part of this Act.
(2.) The application must be made in the form set forth in the
first schedule to this Act or in such other form as may be from time
to time prescribed, and must be left at or sent by post to the pat-
ent-office in the prescribed manner.
(3.) The application must contain a statement of the nature of
the design, and the class or classes of goods in which the applicant
desires that the design be registered.
(4.) The same design may be registered in more than one class.
QUEENSLAND. 463
(5.) In case of doubt as to the class in which a design ought to
be registered, the registrar may decide the question.
(6.) The registrar may, if he thinks fit, refuse to register any
design presented to him for registration, but any person aggrieved
by any such refusal may appeal therefrom to the law officer.
(7.) The law officer shall, if required, hear the applicant and the
registrar, and may make an order determining whether and subject
to what conditions, if any, registration is to be permited.
48. (1.) On application for registration of a design the appli-
cant shall furnish to the registrar the prescribed number of copies,
of drawings, photographs, or tracings of the design, sufficient, in
the opinion of the registrar, for enabling him to identify the design;
or the applicant may, instead of such copies, furnish exact repre-
sentations or specimens of the design.
(2.) The registrar may, if he thinks fit, refuse any drawing,
photograph, tracing, representation, or specimen which is not, in
his opinion suitable for the official records.
49. (1.) The registrar shall grant a certificate of registration to
the proprietor of the design when registered.
(2.) The registrar may, in case of loss of the original certificate,
or in any other case in which he deems it expedient, grant a copy
or copies of the certificate.
COPYRIGHT IN REGISTERED DESIGNS.
50. (1.) When a design is registered, the registered proprietor
of the design shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have copy-
right in the design during five years from the date of registration.
(2.) Before delivery on sale of any articles to which a registered
design has been applied the proprietor must (if exact representa-
tions or specimens were not furnished on the application for regis-
tration) furnish to the registrar the prescribed number of exact
representations or specimens of the design, and if he fails to do so
the registrar may erase his name from the register and thereupon
his copyright in the design shall cease.
51. Before delivery on sale of any articles to which a regis-
tered design has been applied the proprietor of the design shall
cause each such article to be marked with the prescribed mark or
with the prescribed word or words or figures denoting that the
design is registered, and if he fails to do so the copyright in the
464 FOREIGN LAWS.
design shall cease unless the proprietor shows that he took all
proper steps to insure the marking of the article.
52. (1.) During the existence of copyright in a design the
design shall not be open to inspection except by the proprietor or a
person authorized in writing by the proprietor, or a person author-
ized by the registrar or by the court, and furnishing such informa-
tion as may enable the registrar to identify the design, nor except
in the presence of the registrar or of an officer acting under him,
nor except on payment of the prescribed fee; and the person making
the inspection shall not be entitled to take any copy of the design or
of any part thereof.
(2.) When the copyright in a design has ceased, the design shall
be open to inspection, and copies thereof may be taken by any per-
son on payment of the prescribed fee.
53. On the request of any person producing a particular design,
together with its mark of registration, or producing only its mark
of registration, or furnishing such information as may enable the
registrar to identify the design, and on payment of the prescribed
fee, it shall be the duty of the registrar to inform such person
whether the registration still exists in respect of such design, and
if so, in respect of what class or classes of goods, and stating, also,
the date of registration and the name and address of the registered
proprietor.
54. If a registered design is used in manufacture in any for-
eign country and is not used in this colony within six months of
its registration in this colony, the copyright in the design shall
cease.
REGISTER OF DESIGNS.
55. (1.) .There shall be kept at the patent-office a book, called
the " Register of Designs," wherein shall be entered the names and
addresses of proprietors of registered designs, notifications of
assignments and of transmissions of registered designs, and such
other matters as may from time to time be prescribed.
(2.) The register of designs shall be prima facie evidence of any
matters by this Act directed or authorized to be entered therein.
FEES.
56. There shall be paid in respect of applications and registra-
tion and other matters under this part of this Act such fees as may
be from time to time prescribed by the Governor in Council, and
such fees shall be paid into the consolidated revenue.
QUEENSLAND. 465
INDUSTRIAL, INTERNATIONAL, AND INTERCOLONIAL EXHIBITIONS.
57. The exhibition at an industrial, international, or intercolo-
nial exhibition, certified as such by the minister, or the exhibition"
elsewhere during the period of the holding of the exhibition, with-
out the privity or consent of the proprietor of a design or of any
article to which a design is applied, or the publication during the
holding of any such exhibition of a description of a design, shall not
prevent the design from being registered or invalidate the regis-
tration thereof : Provided, That both the following conditions are
complied with, namely :
(.) The exhibitor must, before exhibiting the design or article,
or publishing a description of the design, give the registrar the
prescribed notice of his intention to do so ; and
(b.) The application for registration must be made before or
within six months from the date of the opening of the exhibition.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
58. During the existence of copyright in any design
(a.) It shall not be lawful for any person, without the license or
written consent of the registered proprietor, to apply such design or
any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof in the class or classes of
goods in which such design is registered, for purposes of sale, to any
irticle of manufacture or to any substance artificial or natural or
partly artificial and partly natural ; and
(b.) It shall not be lawful for any person to publish or expose for
sale any article of manufacture or any substance to which such
design or any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof shall have
been so applied, knowing that the same has been so applied without
the consent of the registered proprietor.
Any person who acts in contravention of this section shall be
liable for every offense to forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty pounds
to the registered proprietor of the design, who may recover such
sum as a simple contract debt by action in any court of competent
jurisdiction.
59. Notwithstanding the remedy given by this Act for the
recovery of such penalty as aforesaid, the registered proprietor of any
design may (if he elects to do so) bring an action for the recovery
of any damages arising from the application of any such design or
of any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof, for the purpose of
sale, to any article of manufacture or substance, or from the publi-
cation, sale, or exposure for sale, by any person, of any article or
I. 30
466 FOREIGN LAWS.
substance to which such design or any fraudulent or obvious imi-
tation thereof shall have been so applied, such person knowing that
the proprietor had not given his consent to such application.
60. The author of any new and original design shall be consid-
ered the proprietor thereof, unless he executed the work on behalf
of another person for a good or valuable consideration, in which
case such person shall be considered the proprietor ; and every
person acquiring for a good or valuable consideration a new and
original design, or the right to apply the same to any such article
or substance as aforesaid, either exclusively of any other person or
otherwise, and also every person on whom the property in such
design or such right to the application thereof shall devolve, shall
be considered the proprietor of the design in the respect in which
the same may have been so acquired, and to that extent, but not
otherwise.
PART IV.
[Omitted because relating to trade-marks.]
PART V.
INTERNATIONAL AND INTERCOLONIAL ARRANGEMENTS.
And whereas by the one hundred and third section of the Act of
the Imperial Parliament, called " The Patents, Designs, and Trade-
Marks Act, 1883," it is enacted as follows, that is to say : [See the
section, ante, 244.]
And by the one hundred and fourth section of the said Act it is
further enacted as follows, that is to say : [See the section, ante,
245.]
Be it enacted as follows :
80. (1.) If her Majesty is pleased by order in council to apply
the provisions of the said one hundred and third section of the
imperial act, called " The Patents, Designs, and Trade-Marks Act,
1883," to the Colony of Queensland, then any person who has
applied for protection for any invention, design, or trade-mark in
England, or in any foreign State with the government of which her
Majesty has made an arrangement under the said section for mutual
protection of inventions, designs, or trade-marks, or any of them,
shall be entitled to a patent for his invention or to registration of
his design or trade-mark (as the case may be) under this Act in
priority to other applicants, and such patent or registration shall
QUEENSLAND. 467
take effect from the same date as the date of the protection obtained
in England or such foreign State, as the case may be : Provided,
That his application is made in the case of a patent within twelve
months and in the case of a design or trade-mark within six months
from his applying for protection in England or the foreign Stato
with which the arrangement is in force. [Proviso relative to
trade-marks.]
(2.) The publication in Queensland, during the respective
periods aforesaid of any description of the invention, or the use
therein during such periods of the invention, or the exhibition or
use therein during such periods of the design, or the publication
therein during such periods of a description or representation
of the design, or the use therein during such periods of the trade-
mark, shall not invalidate the patent which may be granted for the
invention or the registration of the design or trade-mark.
(3.) The application for the grant of a patent, or the registra-
tion of a design, or the registration of a trade-mark under this sec-
tion must be made in the same manner as an ordinary application
under this Act. [Proviso relative to trade-marks.]
(4.) The provisions of this section shall in the case of foreign
States apply only in the case of those foreign States with respect to
which her Majesty shall from time to time by order in council
declare the provisions of the aforesaid section of the said imperial
Act to be applicable, and so long only in the case of each State as
the order in council shall continue in force with respect to that
State.
81. (1.) Where it is made to appear to the Governor in Council
that the legislature of any British possession has made satisfactory
provision for the protection of inventions, designs, and trade-marks,
or any of them, patented or registered in Queensland, the Governor
in Council may from time to time, by order in council, apply all
or any of the provisions of the last preceding section relating to
the protection of inventions, designs, and trade-marks patented or
registered in England, with such variations or additions, if any, as
to the Governor in Council may seem fit, to inventions, designs,
and trade-marks, or any of them, patented or registered in such
British possession.
(2.) An order in council under this section shall, from a date
to be mentioned for the purpose in the order, take effect as if its
provisions had been contained in this Act ; but it shall be lawful for
the Governor in Council to revoke any such order in council.
468 FOREIGN LAWS.
PART VI.
GENERAL.
PROCEEDINGS AT PATENT-OFFICE.
82. There shall be a seal for the patent-office, and impressions
thereof shall be judicially noticed and admitted in evidence.
83. There shall not be entered in any register kept under this
Act, or be receivable by the registrar, any notice of any trust
expressed, implied, or constructive.
84. The registrar may refuse to recommend that a patent be
granted for an invention, or to register a design or trade-mark, of
which the use would, in his opinion, be contrary to law or
morality.
85. Where a person becomes entitled by assignment, transmis-
sion, or other operation of law, to a patent or to the copyright in
a registered design, or to a registered trade-mark, the registrar
shall on request and on proof of title to his satisfaction cause the
name of such person to be entered as proprietor of the patent,
copyright in the design, or trade-mark, in the register of patents,
designs, or trade-marks, as the case may be. The person for the
time being entered in the register of patents, designs or trade-
marks as proprietor of a patent, copyright in a design, or trade-mark
as the case may be, shall, subject to any rights appearing from such
register to be vested in any other person, have power absolutely to
assign, grant licenses as to, or otherwise deal with, the same, and to
give effectual receipts for any consideration for such assignment,
license, or dealing : Provided, That any equities in respect of such
patent, design, or trade-mark may be enforced in like manner as in
respect of any other personal property.
86. Every register kept under this Act shall at all convenient
times be open to the inspection of the public, subject to such regu-
lations as may be prescribed ; and certified copies, sealed with the
seal of the patent-office, of any entry in any such register shall be
given to any person requiring the same on payment of the prescribed
fee.
87. Printed or written copies or extracts, purporting to be cer-
tified by the registrar and sealed with the seal of the patent-office,
of or from patents, specifications, disclaimers, and other documents
in the patent-office, and of or from registers and other books kept
QUEENSLAND. 469
there, shall be admitted in evidence in all courts of justice and in
all proceedings without further proof or production of the
originals.
88. (1.) The court may on the application of any person
aggrieved by the omission without sufficient cause of the name of
any person from any register kept under this Act, or by any entry
made without sufficient cause in any such register, make such order
for making, expunging, or varying the entry as the court thinks
fit, or the court may refuse the application, and in either case may
make such order with respect to the costs of the proceedings as the
court thinks fit.
(2.) The court may in any proceeding under this section decide
any question that it may be necessary or expedient to decide for
the rectification of a register, and may direct an issue to be tried
for the decision of any question of fact, and may award damages
to the party aggrieved.
(3.) Any order of the court rectifying a register shall direct that
due notice of rectification be given to the registrar.
89. The registrar may, on request in writing, accompanied by
the prescribed fee
(a.) Correct any clerical error in or in connection with an
application for a patent, or for registration of a design or trade-
mark ; or
(b.) Correct any clerical error in the name, style, or address of
the registered proprietor of the patent, design, or trade-mark ; or
(c.) Cancel the entry or part of the entry of a trade-mark on
the register : Provided, That the applicant accompanies his request
by a statutory declaration made by himself, stating his name,
address, and calling, and that he is the person whose name appears
on the register as the proprietor of the said trade-mark.
90. (1.) The registered proprietor of any registered trade-mark
may apply to the court for leave to add to or alter such mark in
any particular, not being an essential particular within the meaning
of this Act, and the court may refuse or grant leave on such terms
as it may think fit.
(2.) Notice of any intended application to the court under this
section shall be given to the registrar by the applicant, and the
registrar shall be entitled to be heard on the application.
(3.) If the court grants leave, the registrar shall, on proof
thereof and on payment of the prescribed fee, cause the register to
be altered in conformity with the order of leave.
470 FOREIGN LAWS.
91. If any person makes or causes to be made a false entry in
any register kept under this Act, or a writing falsely purporting to
be a copy of an entry in any such register, or produces or tenders
or causes to be produced or tendered in evidence any such writing
knowing the entry or writing to be false, he shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
92. Where any discretionary power is by this Act given to the
registrar, he shall not exercise that power adversely to the applicant
for a patent, or for amendment of a specification, or for registration
of a trade-mark or design, without (if so required within the pre-
scribed time by the applicant) giving the applicant an opportunity
of being heard personally or by his agent.
93. The registrar may in any case of doubt or difiiculty arising
in the administration of any of the provisions of this Act apply to
the minister for directions in the matter.
94. A certificate purporting to be under the hand of the regis-
trar as to an entry, matter, or thing which he is authorized by this
Act, or any general rules made thereunder, to make or do, shall be
prima facie evidence of the entry having been made, and of the
contents thereof, and of the matter or thing having been done or left
undone.
95. (1.) Any application, notice, or other document authorized
or required to be left, made, or given at the patent-office or to the
registrar, or to any other person under this Act, may be sent by a
prepaid letter through the post, and if so sent shall be deemed to
have been left, made, or given respectively at the time when the
letter containing the same would be delivered in the ordinary course
of post.
(2.) In proving such service or sending it shall be sufficient to
prove that the letter was properly addressed and put into the post.
96. Whenever the last day fixed by this Act, or by any rule for
the time being in force, for leaving any document or paying any fee
at the patent-office shall fall on Christmas Day, Good Friday, or on
a Saturday or Sunday, or bank holiday, or any day observed as a day
of public fast or thanksgiving, herein referred to as excluded days,
it shall be lawful to leave such document or to pay such fee on the
day next following such excluded day, or days, if two or more of
them occur consecutively.
97. If any person is, by reason of infancy, lunacy, or other
inability incapable of making any declaration or doing anything
required or permitted by this Act or by any rules made under the
QUEENSLAND. 471
authority of this Act, then the guardian or committee, if any, of
such incapable person, or if there be none, any person appointed
by any court or judge possessing jurisdiction in respect of the prop-
erty of incapable persons, upon the petition of any person on behalf
of such incapable person, or of any other person interested in the
making such declaration or doing such thing, may make such
declaration or a declaration as nearly corresponding thereto as cir-
cumstances permit, and do such thing in the name and on behalf of
such incapable person, and all acts done by such substitute shall
for the purpose of this Act be as effectual as if done by the person
for whom he is substituted.
98. (1.) The Governor in Council may from time to time make
such general rules and do such things as they think expedient, sub-
ject to the provisions of this Act
(a.) For regulating the practice of registration under this Act ;
(k.) For classifying goods for the purposes of designs and trade-
marks ;
(c.) For making or requiring duplicates of specifications, amend-
ments, drawings, and other documents ;
(<?.) For securing and regulating the publishing and selling of
copies, at such prices and in such manner as the Governor in Coun-
cil think fit, of specifications, drawings, amendments, and other
documents;
(e.) For securing and regulating the making, printing, publish-
ing, and selling of indexes to and abridgments of specifications and
other documents in the patent-office, and providing for the inspec-
tion of indexes and abridgments and other documents ;
(y.) For regulating the presentation of copies of patent-office
publications to patentees and to public authorities, bodies, and insti-
tutions at home and abroad ;
(g.) Generally for regulating the business of the patent-office
and all things by this Act placed under the direction or control of
the registrar or of the minister.
(2.) Any of the forms in the first schedule to this Act may be
altered or amended by rules made by the Governor in Council as
aforesaid.
(3.) General rules may be made under this section at any time
after the passing of this Act, but not so as to take effect before the
commencement of this Act, and shall, subject as hereinafter men-
tioned, be of the same effect as if they were contained in this Act,
and shall be judicially noticed.
472 FOREIGN LAWS.
(4.) Any rules made in pursuance of this section shall be pub-
lished in the Gazette, and shall forthwith belaid before both houses
of Parliament, if Parliament be in session at the time of making
thereof, or if not, then as soon as practicable after the beginning of
the next session of Parliament.
(5.) If either house of Parliament, within the next forty days
after any rules have been so laid before such house, resolve that
such rules, or any of them, ought to be annulled, the same shall
after the date of such resolution be of no effect, without prejudice
to the validity of anything done in the meantime under such rules
or rule or to the making of any new rules or rule.
99. The registrar shall in every year make a report respecting
the execution by or under him of this Act which shall be laid before
both houses of Parliament, and therein shall be included for the
year to which each report relates all general rules made in that year
under or for the purposes of this Act, and an account of all fees,
salaries, and allowances, and other money received and paid under
this Act.
OFFENSES.
100. (1.) Any person who represents that any article sold by
him is a patented article, when no patent has been granted for the
same, or describes any design or trade-mark applied to any article
sold by him as registered which is not so, shall be liable for every
offense on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(2.) A person shall be deemed, for the purposes of[this enact-
ment, to represent that an article is patented or a design or a trade-
mark is registered if he sells the article with the word " Patent,"
" Patented," " Registered," or any word or words expressing or
implying that a patent or registration has been obtained for the
article stamped, engraved, or impressed on, or otherwise applied to
the article.
101. [Omitted because relating only to use of royal arms.]
102. The registers of patents and of proprietors kept under any
enactment repealed by this Act shall respectively be deemed parts
of the same book as the register of patents kept under this Act.
103. Nothing in this Act shall take away, abridge or prejudici-
ally affect the prerogative of the Crown in relation to the granting
of any letters patent or to the withholding of a grant thereof.
From 31 Pat. Off. Gaz. 122.*
* Schedules omitted because not given in the Patent Office Gazette.
RUSSIA.
RUSSIA.
Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. Vol. XI., Part II.
Statute of Manufacturing Industry, Section 3.*
PATENTS FOR NEW INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES.
CHAPTER I.
NATURE OF PATENTS FOR INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES.
ARTICLE 73. Every discovery or invention of any new and use-
ful art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, and every
improvement on any art, machine, manufacture, or composition of
matter, is the property of the person or persons by whom such
discovery, or invention, or improvement has been made, and that
person, in order to secure his rights to such property, may make
application to the government for an exclusive privilege or patent
for itl
ART. 74. A patent is therefore a document granted by the gov-
ernment to certify that the individual or individuals specified therein
has or have laid the description of the discovery, invention, or
improvement before the government, and conveys to the aforesaid
individual or individuals the sole right to make, use, or dispose of
the new invention, discovery, or improvement described, for a cer-
tain specified period.
ART. 75. In granting such patent, the government neither
guarantees that the discovery, invention, or improvement described
actually belongs to the individual or individuals specified therein,
nor answers for the utility of the said discovery, invention, or
improvement, but merely certifies that such discovery, invention,
or improvement has actually been laid before the government, stat-
ing the time and the name or names of the individual or individuals
applying for the patent.
ART. 70. Consequently, a patent granted by the government
does not deprive any person or persons of the right of proving, by
legal process, that the discovery, invention, or improvement belongs
* A concise, practical statement of the by Mr. Ford, of the British Legation, pub-
substance of this law is given in a report lished October 28, 1873, 4 Pat. Off. Gaz.
448.
474 FOREIGN LAWS.
to him or them, or has been in use prior to the grant of the pat-
ent.
ART. 77. Until it shall have been proved, however, before a
court of law that the person to whom the patent has been granted
was not the inventor and has no right to it, he enjoys the following
privileges :
(1.) He has the sole right during the time specified to take the
benefits of the discovery, invention, or improvement as property
belonging exclusively to him, to make, use, sell, dispose of, bequeath,
or make over by any other lawful means, the object for which the
patent was granted, as well as the patent itself, or to allow any
other person to make use of it, during the whole term for which it
was granted, or for a shorter period.
(2.) To prosecute by law all infringements, and to seek for
redress for the losses he may have sustained by such.
ART. 78. An exact imitation of all the essential parts of the
discovery, invention, or improvement for which the patent was
granted, notwithstanding there may be some slight alterations in it,
not affecting its individuality, orven should there be improvements
on it, but in which the essential parts remain, is considered an
infringement.
ART. 79. Patents may be taken out for, discoveries, inventions,
or improvements made in foreign countries, and for which the term
of the patent granted in those countries has not expired ; in such
case, however, the term of the patent granted in Russia cannot
extend beyond the term for which the patent was taken out by the
inventor abroad. A patent for the introduction of an invention
previously known and in use in foreign countries, and for which no
patent has been taken out in those countries, can only be granted
by way of exception and by special favor of the government, with
a view to the advantages and utility to be derived from such intro-
duction. Patents granted for foreign inventions have the same
force and effect as patents taken out for inventions made in Russia.
ART. 80. Patents cannot be granted for fundamental or elemen-
tary pi-inciples, as for instance, distilling brandy by steam, or boil-
ing sugar by means of steam in a vacuum, unless their application
or combination produces some new result in the arts, presenting
a special and new apparatus.
ART. 81. Patents shall not be granted for trifling or unimpor-
tant discoveries, inventions, or improvements indicative only of
inventive genius, without offering any real advantage or utility,
RUSSIA. 475
nor for such inventions as may become dangerous to society, or
detrimental to the government revenues.
ART. 82. No patents shall be granted for inventions and
improvements relating to implements of war and the defense of the
State, such as cannons, shells, fuses, and other appurtenances of
ordnance, armor for ships, torpedoes, powder magazines, revolving
turrets, &c., the exclusive use of which belongs to the government.
But patents shall be granted for inventions and improvements the
objects of which, thougli applicable to military purposes, are useful
also to private persons, such as small fire-arms, metallic cartridges,
bullets, and other appurtenances of hand weapons. Patents for
these inventions shall, however, be granted solely on the condition
that the same shall not hinder the army and navy administrations
in the trial and use of such inventions and improvements for mili-
tary purposes.
AET. 83. Patents are granted to aliens, who are allowed to
construct manufactories, mills, &c., without turning Russian sub-
jects, as well as to Russian subjects.
CHAPTER II.
ORDER OF GRANT OF PATENTS.
ART. 84. The application for a patent for any new discovery, in-
vention, or improvement in the arts, manufactures, and trades, must
be made by petition to the department of manufactures and home
trade, praying for the exclusive right to the invention, discovery,
or improvement, specifying the term for which the patent is
solicited, and there shall be annexed the necessary drawings and
plans, together with a written description of the invention or dis-
covery, and of the matter and process of making, constructing,
using, and compounding the same, in such full, clear, and exact
terms as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which
it appertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make,
construct, compound, and use the same, without having recourse to
conjecture, or filling up omissions in the defective specification.
In this description the applicant must particularly specify and
point out the part, improvement, or combination which he claims
as his own invention or discovery. The description must be written
in Russian, and in the event of its having been translated from a
foreign language, the original must be annexed for the purpose of
verification. The description of the discovery, invention, or
470 FOREIGN LAWS.
improvement in a foreign language may be presented without a
Russian translation, in order to obtain an official certificate of the
applicant's right of property in the invention, but not for the pur-
pose of taking out a patent ; the grant of a patent can only be
obtained by supplying a description, or translation of it, in the
Russian language. In the event of non-fulfillment of the above by
the petitioner, or his agent, within three months from the date on
which the description in a foreign language was presented, the
petition will be null and void. The applicant shall deliver a model
of his invention, discovery, or improvement, when the same admits
of a model, and should it be necessary for the better understanding
of it. On presenting the petition, drawings, and description, the
applicant shall pay into the treasury of the department the amount
of duties according to the following scale :
(1.) For discoveries, inventions, or improvements of the dis-
coverers, inventors, and improvers themselves :
S. Rs.
For 3 years 90
" 5 " 150
"10 " 450
(2.) For the introductions of inventions, discoveries, or improve-
ments already existing and known abroad :
S. Rs.
For 1 year 60
" 2 " 120
" 3 " 180
" 4 " 300
" 6 " 360
ART. 85. On the filing of such an application (consisting of
petition, specification, model, or drawings), and on payment of the
duty, the department of trade and manufactures will, on the same
day, hand the applicant a receipt for the same, signed by the
director of the department, with the government seal affixed. To
persons living in other towns, the department may send such
receipt by post. This certificate, or receipt, shall specify the year,
month, day, and hour when the application was received by the
department.
ART. 86. Petitions for the grant of patents for any discovery,
invention, or improvement in arts, manufactures, and crafts, shall
be examined by the council of trade and manufactures, at the
session of which the director of the department of the ministry to
whose province the application pertains shall be invited to attend.
RUSSIA. 477
The examination is only made with a view of ascertaining whether
a patent has already been granted to another for the same invention
or discovery, and whether the description delivered by the applicant
is sufficiently exact, clear, and full ; and finally, whether the inven-
tion or discovery for which the patent is solicited offers any advan-
tage or utility. Special attention shall be paid by the council of
trade and manufactures to the investigation of the invention, dis-
covery, or improvement, with a view of ascertaining whether it
contains anything unhealthy, or likely to endanger the lives of
people. When necessary, and in order to decide with the more
certainty on this latter question, the council of trade and manu-
factures may confer with the medical board.
ART. 87. Should the council of trade and manufactures, on
examination of such application, decide that the invention, discovery,
or improvement for which a patent has been solicited has been
described with a sufficient accuracy, clearness, and fullness ; that no
patent has been granted for such to any other person prior to the
alleged invention or discovery thereof by the applicant ; and that
it does not contain anything unhealthy or likely to endanger the
lives of people, or be in any way detrimental to the government
revenues ; they shall then, having first fixed the term of the patent
according to the condition of the branch of industry to which it
belongs,- recommend to the minister of finance that a patent be
granted, and one shall then be issued under the hand of the minister.
If, on the contrary, it be known to the council of trade and manu-
factures that the invention for which a patent is solicited has
already been described, or has been made use of anywhere, they
shall refuse the patent : moreover, should the applicant's alleged
invention or improvement be considered dangerous to the health
and lives of people, he shall be bound by an undertaking signed by
him not to put it into action, under penalty of the rigor of the
law. The council shall publish the reasons for the refusal of a
patent in the Official Gazette, in the newspapers of both capitals,
and in the Warsaw Gazette.
ABT. 88. An applicant who has been refused the grant of a
patent by reason of or on account of defective or insufficient
description or drawings, may again make application by presenting
an amended specification containing the necessary explanations
and amplifications ; and should such be found satisfactory the issue
of patent will be effected according to the rule herein contained.
AET. 89. Should there be more than one applicant for the same
478 FOREIGN LAWS.
invention or discovery, pending the examination, the patent shall
not be granted at all ; an exception to this rule is made, however,
in the event of one of the applicants proving by legal process that
the other has appropriated his invention.
ART. 90. In case of the refusal of a patent, the money paid in
by the applicant will be repaid to him without delay.
CHAPTER III.
TERM OF PATENTS.
ART. 91. Patents for discoveries, inventions, and improvements
are granted to the discoverer, inventor, and improver himself, as
he may wish, and according to the discrimination of the govern-
ment, for three, five, or ten years, but not for longer. The term of
patents for the introduction of inventions already known in foreign
countries shall not exceed six years, or as is provided for in
article 79.
ART. 92. No extension of a patent can be granted after the
expiration of the term for which it was originally issued.
ART. 93. The term of a patent commences from the day on
which it is signed, but the power of taking legal proceedings for
infringement of a patent dates from the day of issue of the certifi-
cate of filing the application for the patent. A publication of each
certificate delivered is made in the newspapers of both capitals and
in the Warsaw Gazette.
CHAPTER IV.
FORM OF PATENTS AND THEIR PUBLIC NOTIFICATION.
ART. 94. A patent must always be headed by the words "By
order of His Imperial Majesty."
The patent contains :
(1.) The name of the applicant.
(2.) The day on which the application was made.
(3.) A full and detailed description of the discovery, invention,
improvement, or introduction.
(4.) The term of the patent.
(5.) The amount of duty paid for the same into the treasury.
(6.) A certificate, to the effect that no privilege has been
granted for the same discovery, invention or improvement, to any
other than the person who holds it.
(7.) A notice that the government does not guarantee that the
RUSSIA. 479
discovery, invention, or improvement for which the applicant has
solicited a patent actually belongs to him, or that it is a success.
(8.) The signature of the minister to whose province the grant-
ing the patent belongs.
(9.) The countersignature of the director of the department.
ART. 95. Patents shall be written on parchment.
ART. 96. A full and detailed account of the discovery, invention,
or improvement, shall be published immediately on delivery, in the
publications of the ministry to which it appertains, in the Senate
Gazette, in the newspapers of both capitals, and in the Warsaw
Gazette. Independently of the above, the departments that have
granted the patent are bound to show the register of new inven-
tions for which patents have been granted, to any one who may wish
to see it.
CHAPTER V,
THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OP PATENTEE.
ART. 97. The holder of a patent is bound to put into complete
practice or execution, during the first quarter of the term specified,
the discovery, invention, or improvement for which the patent was
granted, and before the expiration of the six months after this to
present to the department from which the patent was issued a cer-
tificate from the local authorities, to the effect that it has actually
been put into execution i. e., that the patented invention or
improvement has been put into practical use.
ART. 98. Should the patentee wish to transfer the patent to
another person, or to enter into partnership in respect to such pat-
ent, such matters must be effected through the proper courts, and
according to the laws. On making such transfer, or on entering
into partnership, the original patentee must communicate the same
to the department, and the latter shall publish it in the news-
papers.
ART. 99. A patentee has not the right of forming a joint stock
company for the purpose for which the patent was taken out, nor
of transferring his patent to such a company without special per-
mission from the government.
ART. 100. Should a patentee make any new improvement on
his invention or discovery, or introduce any important alteration in
it, readjusting and simplifying his process, he is at liberty to take
out a patent for it, but in any case he is bound to give notice of
480 FOREIGN LAWS.
such improvement or alteration to the department, together with a
detailed and accurate description of the said improvement or alter-
ation.
ART. 101. Should any other person than the original patentee
make an improvement on the patentee's invention or discovery, the
former cannot take out a patent for it unless he can prove that he
has entered into an agreement with the original patentee, by whicli
the latter has consented to his making use of his improvement. At
the expiration of the term of the first patent, however, he may take
out a patent for his improvement on the first patentee's invention.
ART. 102. In the cases provided for in the preceding articles
(100 and 101), the following rules must be observed:
(1.) In applications for patents for improvements made by the
inventor himself, the term specified for the patent must be shorter
than that of the patent for the original invention.
(2.) That the effect of such patent is entirely independent of
the patent granted for the principal invention, so that the term of
the latter cannot be extended, though the term of the patent
granted for the improvement may not have expired.
(3.) That the term of a patent taken out for an improvement
made by any other person on the original patentee's invention shall
not be more than half the term granted to the original patentee.
ART. 103. Patents shall cease :
. (1.) At the expiration of the term for which they are issued.
(2.) When it shall be proved before a court of law that the
same t discovery, invention, or improvement for which the patent
was granted, was, before the patentee presented his petition, already
introduced in the Russian empire, or was known by descriptions or
specifications, by which the same apparatus or process in essential
respects could be produced or carried out without the new descrip-
tion or specification.
(3.) When it shall be proved before a court of law that the dis-
covery, invention, or improvement for which a patent has been
granted, was already in use somewhere without being patented,
with the exception, however, of the introduction of inventions,
discoveries, and improvements from foreign countries admitted by
special favor, as provided for in article 79.
(4.) When it shall be proved by judgement of a court of justice
that the person to whom a patent has been granted appropriated
the discovery, invention, or improvement of another person, and the
real inventor petitions for the repeal of such patent.
RUSSIA. 481
(5.) When it shall be proved that the description or specification
is not complete, that the details of some of the essential parts or
properties of the discovery or invention, without which the expected
results could not possibly be obtained, have been left out or kept
back ; or that essential alterations and improvements have been
made, without -which it is impossible to obtain the desired result,
or generally that the specification does not disclose the real mode of
procedure.
(6.) Should the patentee not present, within the time specified,
to the department to which it pertains, the certificate from the
local authorities, as provided for in article 97.
ART. 104. In any and all of the cases referred to in article 103,
the dcpatraent from which the patent was issued shall publish an
advertisement in the newspapers of both capitals, and in the War-
saw Gazette, that the patent no longer exists, and after such publi-
cation every one has the right to make use of the discovery, inven-
tion, or improvement for which the patent was granted.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 453.
ST. CHRISTOPHER.
See LEEWABD ISLANDS.
L 31
482 FOREIGN LAWS.
ST. HELENA.
Ordinance No. 3 of 1872. An Ordinance made by the Gov-
ernor of St. Helena for the extension to this Island of
Letters Patent granted under the Great Seal of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Preamble. Whereas it is expedient that letters patent granted
under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland should have the same force and effect within the Island of
St. Helena as such letters have in the said United Kingdom ; be it
enacted as follows :
1. Privileges granted by letters patent in the United Kingdom
extended to St. Helena. The grantee of any such letters patent, and
the executors, administrators and assigns of the said grantee shall
be entitled to the sole and exclusive privileges of making, selling
and using in the Island of St. Helena, the invention patented by
such letters, and of authorizing others so to do, for and during the
unexpired residue of the term granted in and by such letters, and
if the said letters patent shall by competent authority be renewed
in and for the United Kingdom, the term of the privileges granted
in respect of the inventions comprised in such letters which may be
so renewed, shall ipso facto thereupon be also prolonged in and for
the Island of St. Helena for and during such renewed term subject
to the following conditions and provisions :
2. Grantee to file copy of such letters in the Supreme Court.
The grantee or grantees of such letters patent shall file in the reg-
istry of the Supreme Court a copy of such letters patent and speci-
fication, or in case of a renewal a copy of the renewal thereof, such
copy of the letters patent and specification or of the renewal thereof,
to be signed and certified as a true copy by one of the officers to
whose custody the original is entrusted, and if such filing be not so
effected, the privileges granted by this ordinance in respect of the
inventions comprised in such letters shall cease to have effect.
3. Letters to be open to inspection. Every such copy so filed,
shall, if purporting to be so signed and certified, be prima facie
evidence of the document of which it purports to be a copy,
and shall be open at all reasonable times at the office of the registrar
of the Supreme Court for the inspection of any person ; and the
ST. HELENA. 483
said registrar shall permit to be made by any person a copy of the
whole or any part of such copy of the said letters patent and speci-
fication, and shall on application certify the same to be a true copy*
4. Fees payable to the registrar. The following fees shall be
payable to and accounted for by the registrar of the Supreme
Court, viz :
. d.
For filing copy of letters patent and specification ..,.1 1
For inspection and permission to copy the same .....0 2 6
For registrar's certificates to copy 5
5. All cases of doubt to be settled by law of England. In all
cases of doubt or difficulty not provided for by this ordinance, or
by the local laws of this island, the same shall be guided and goy^
erned, so far as practicable, by the law in force in England.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 464.
ST. PIERRE.
See FBANCE.
484 FOREIGN LAWS.
SALVADOR.
A report by Mr. Corbett, of the British Legation, published
October 7, 1873, in 4 Pat. Off. Gaz. 372, under the head of San
Salvador, states that : " Our Constitution gives power to the exec-
utive to award and concede privileges to the authors of useful
inventions ; but this faculty is not arranged as it should be, by a
secondary law ; and in the few cases which have occurred, the spirit
of this constitutional disposition has been followed in accordance
with the practice of civilized governments."
M ' See also INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
SAXONY.
See GERMAN EMPIRE.
SCOTLAND.
See GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
SENEGAMBIA.
See FRANCE.
SERVIA.
See INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 485
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
An Act to Consolidate and Amend the Laws Relating to
Patents for Inventions. No. 78 of December 21, 1877.
[NOTE.* The words in italics in sections 4, 6, 25, and schedule B are alterations
made by Act No. 101. 1878, and Act No. 201, 1881.]
Preamble. Whereas it is expedient to amend the law relating
to the grant of patents for inventions in the province of South
Australia : Be it therefore enacted by the Governor of the province
of South Australia, with the advice and consent of the Legislative
Council and House of Assembly of the said province, in this pres-
ent Parliament assembled, as follows:
1. Repeal. From and after the passing hereof, "The Patent
Act, 1859," being Act No. 18 of 1859, and "The Provisional Reg-
istration of Patents Act, 1875," being Act No. 3 of 1875, are
hereby repealed ; but this repeal shall not affect the validity of any
letters of registration or any provisional registration granted, made,
or entered under the said repealed Acts or either of them, nor the
rights, remedies, or liabilities of any parties or persons in respect
of any such letters of registration, or of such provisional registra-
tion, nor affect or prevent the grant of any letters of registration
under " The Patent Act, 1859," pursuant to any application there-
for made before the passing of this Act, but such application shall
be proceeded with arid granted, and the letters of registration when
granted shall have the same effect as if this Act had not passed,
provided that the applicant may at any time before the granting of
letters of registration to him, in pursuance of such application,
apply for and obtain a patent under this Act in place of such letters
of registration, without any further payment than he shall have
made under " The Patent Act, 1859."
2. Short title. This Act may be cited for all purposes as " The
Patent Act, 1877."
* Notes printed in this manner are alterations made by Act No. 101, 1878,
from Carpmaels' edition. and Act No. 201, 1881. The Acts No/ 78
The law as presented there and in the of 1877, and No. 101 of 1878, are pub-
text consists of Act No. 78, of December lished separately and in full in 20 Pat. Off.
21, 1877, with which are consolidated the Gaz. 1088-1092.
486 FOREIGN LAWS.
3. Division of Act. This Act is divided into seven parts,
relating to the following subject-matters :
Part I. Patent-Office, sections 4 to 8:
Part II. Who may obtain patents, sections 9 to 13:
Part III. How patents obtained, sections 14 to 29:
Part IV. Effect, conditions and extension of patents, sections
30 to 37:
Part V. New patents, disclaimers, alterations and confirma-
tions, sections 38 to 45:
Part VI. Caveats ; and revocation and assignment of patents,
sections 46 to 52:
Part VIL Miscellaneous provisions, sections 53 to 72.
PABT I.
PATENT- OFFICE.
4. Establishment of patent-office. There shall be attached to
the department of the attorney-general or to a branch of such
department, an office to be called the patent-office, and the commis-
sioner of patents under this Act shall receive and have the custody
of all applications, papers, documents, models, machines, books, and
records relating to patents, and shall receive all fees, and perform
all acts and things incidental to the grant, issue, or renewal of pat-
ents under this Act.
5. Seal of patent-office to be received in evidence. The commis-
sioner of patents shall have a seal, to be called " the Seal of the
Patent-Office," and such seal and any impression thereof shall be
taken 'judicial notice of by all courts, judges, and magistrates, tri-
bunals, and persons authorized to receive evidence in the said
province, who shall receive in evidence any document bearing an
impression of the said seal, and purporting to be a copy of or
extract from any document or book deposited or kept in the said
patent-office under the provisions hereof, without the production of
the original.
6. Commissioner. The secretary to the attorney-general for
the time being shall be commissioner of patents.
7. Governor may make rules and prescribe forms. The Gov-
ernor may from time to time, by proclamation in the government
Gazette, make, prescribe, repeal, and alter such regulations and
forms as he shall deem necessary or expedient for the purposes of
this Act.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 487
8. Governor may appoint clerks and officers. The Governor
may from time to time appoint and remove such clerks and officers
as he may deem expedient for carrying out the purposes of this
Act, and no commissioner of patents, nor any clerk or officer,
appointed as aforesaid shall, unless he shall be the original inventor
or the legate^ of the rights of the original inventor, buy, sell,
acquire, or otherwise deal in any patent or right to a patent, and
every purchase, sale, acquisition, or other dealing contrary to the
provisions of this section, shall be null and void.
PART II.
WHO MAY OBTAIN PATENTS.
9. Power to issue patents. The true and first inventor of any
new and useful art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter,
or any new; and useful improvement on any art, machine, manufac-
ture, or composition of matter, not publicly used or offered for sale
within the said province prior to the date of the patent for the
same, may, on petition to the commissioner, and on complying with
the requirements of this Act, obtain a patent under the hand of
the commissioner and the seal of the patent-office for the sole mak-
ing, using, exercising, and vending of any such art, machine, manu-
facture, or composition of matter, or improvement within the said
province.
10. Inventions for which foreign patents have been obtained.
An inventor shall not be entitled to a patent for his invention if a
patent or other similar privilege therefor shall have been in exist-
ence in any country other than the said province, and shall have
expired before a patent shall be granted to him under this Act ;
and whenever a patent or other similar privilege in any other coun-
try than the said province in respect of any invention is in existence,
at the time when a patent is granted for the same invention under
this Act, such last named patent shall not confer any rights for any
period beyond the earliest date at which the patent or other similar
privilege in such other country shall expire.
11. Inventor's representatives may obtain patent. A patent may
be granted by the commissioner to any person to whom any inven-
tor, entitled to obtain a patent, has assigned or bequeathed the
right of obtaining it, or in default of such assignment or bequest,
to the executor or administrator of any deceased inventor..
12. Patent for improvements on patented invention. A patent
488 FOREIGN LAWS.
may be granted under this Act in respect of any improvement on
or modification of any previously patented or registered invention,
but sball not be deemed to confer any right to make, use, exercise,
or vend such last named invention.
13. Patents to several persons jointly. Where several persons
shall make a joint application for a patent it shall be granted to
them jointly, and any assignment from one or more of them to the
other or others, or to any other person, shall be registered like any
other assignment of a patent ' *".-
PART III.
How PATENTS OBTAINED.
14. Repealed. See sections 3 and 7 of Act of 1881.
15. Petition for patent to be accompanied by specification. The
petition shall contain the name or title of the invention, and shall
state an address within the City of Adelaide, to which notices in
respect of such petition may be sent, and shall be accompanied by
a specification in duplicate of the invention for which the patent is
sought. The petition and specification shall be filed in the patent-
office, and the day of such filing shall be recorded at the said office,
and indorsed on the petition, and a certificate thereof, under the
seal of the patent-office, given to the applicant, or his agent, and
thereupon, except in case of application for a patent by any person
to whom the commissioner shall have already refused to grant a
patent for an invention substantially the same as that for which
such application for a patent is made, and subject to the provisions
hereinafter contained, the invention shall be protected under this
Act for the term of six months next after such filing, and the appli-
cant shall during such term have the like powers, rights, and privi-
leges as would have been conferred upon him by a patent for such
invention issued under this Act, and duly sealed, as of the day of
such filing : Provided that in case the specification be too large or
insufficient, the commissioner may, during the said term of six
months, and before the grant of the patent, allow or require the
specification to be amended, or another and sufficient specification
to be filed in lieu thereof, and every such amended or new specifica-
tion shall have the same force and effect as if it had been filed in
its amended or new form on the day of the filing of the original
specification.
16. Requisites of specifications. Every such specification shall
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 489
correctly and fully describe and ascertain the nature and principle
of the invention, and in what manner it is to be made, used, worked,
or performed, and shall be signed by the inventor if he be alive,
and if not by the applicant, which signature shall be attested by
two witnesses, who shall specify when and where the same was
signed ; and in any case where the invention admits of a model or
drawing, illustration, or explanation by means of drawings, the
specification shall contain or be accompanied by a model or by draw-
ings in duplicate, showing clearly all parts of the invention, which
drawings, if not comprised in the specification, shall be signed and
attested in the same manner as the specification : Provided that in
any case the commissioner may in his discretion dispense with any
such drawings.
[NOTE. See section 4 of Act of 1881.]
17. Commissioner to publish notice in Gazette. The commis-
sioner shall cause to be published in the Government Gazette a notice
that the applicant has applied for a patent in respect of the speci-
fied invention, giving the name or title thereof, and stating that the
specification thereof may be inspected at the patent-office ; and that
any person may within one month, or within such longer period
not exceeding three months to be specified in such notice as the
commissioner may determine, object to the grant of the patent by
lodging at the patent-office notice in writing, stating his name and
address and the nature and grounds of his objection, and also an
address within the City of Adelaide, to which notices in respect of
such objection or of the application for the patent may be sent.
18. Applicant to publish notice. The applicant shall within one
week after the filing of his petition, cause notice to be given by
advertisement to be inserted three times in at least two of the daily
newspapers published in Adelaide, stating that he has applied for a
patent for the invention, giving its title or name, and stating that
the specification may be inspected at the patent-office.
19. If no objections lodged, commissioner to grant patent. If
there shall be no objection lodged within the period limited for
that purpose by the notice of the government Gazette, the commis-
sioner shall, on the expiration of such period, determine upon the
application for the patent and no person shall be entitled to object
to such application.
20. If objection lodged, commissioner to give notice. If during
the period limited as aforesaid any objection to the grant of the
patent shall have been duly lodged in the patent-office under the
490 FOREIGN LAWS.
provisions of this Act, the commissioner shall, immediately on the
expiration of such period, send through the general post-office, or
otherwise, to the applicant and to every objector at the respective
addresses given as hereinbefore prescribed for that purpose, a notice
in writing that he will, at a time and place to be specified in the
notice, such time to be not less than ten nor more thirty days from
the time of posting or otherwise sending such notice, attend to hear
and determine upon the application and the objections.
21. Commissioner may summon witnesses. The commissioner
shall, at the request of the applicant or of any objector, issue sum-
monses under the seal of the patent-office for the attendance of
witnesses, and every witness so summoned shall be bound to attend
at the time and place mentioned in such summons on being paid his
expenses according to the scale for the time being allowed to wit-
nesses on trials in local courts, and to continue in attendance until
the matter shall be disposed of, and to produce any documents
which he shall by any such summons be required to produce, if they
are in his possession, power, custody, or control.
22. Penalty for non-attendance of witness. Any witness neg-
lecting to attend, or continue to attend, or to produce any documents
in accordance with such summons, shall be liable to a penalty of
twenty pounds, in addition to the costs of service of the summons
upon him, and the amount paid him for expenses, which penalty,
costs, and amount may be recovered by the person on whose behalf
such summons shall be issued by information before any two jus-
tices of the peace in a summary way, together with the costs of, and
incidental to, and resulting from such information.
23. Commissioner to determine application. At the time and
place appointed the commissioner shall attend and hear the appli-
cant and the objectors either personally or by their respective solic-
itors or agents, and any evidence adduced either by declaration or
vivd vocein support of the application and objections respectively,
and may adjourn or postpone any such hearing, and shall at such
hearing, or some adjournment or postponement thereof, either grant
or in his discretion refuse the application for the patent.
24. Cost of application or objection. The commissioner may,
by writing under his hand, order the applicant or any objector to
pay to any objector or to the applicant such costs of and attending
the application or objection as the commissioner shall think lit, aud
every such order may be made a rule of the Supreme Court.
25. Commissioner may refer to examiners. The commissioner
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 491
may at any time, if he shall think fit, refer any petition for a patent,
whether opposed or not, to one or more competent person or per-
sons to be appointed by him to examine and consider the matters
stated in such petition, and to report thereon to the commissioner
for his information ; and the applicant for such patent shall, prior
to such reference, pay to the commissioner such sura not exceeding
five pounds five shillings, as the commissioner shall in each case
direct, such sum to be paid by the commissioner to the person or
persons so appointed as aforesaid as a recompense for his or their
trouble.
26. Determination of commissioner final. The determination
of the commissioner upon any such application shall be final, but
any applicant whose application has been refused may, on giving
not less than four weeks' previous notice in the government Gazette
of his intention so to do, make one or more fresh applications for a
patent in respect of the same invention.
27. When patent to issue. When the commissioner has deter-
mined to grant a patent, he shall, upon payment of the proper fee,
cause the same to be sealed and issued accordingly ; but except as
hereinafter mentioned no patent shall be sealed after the expiration
of the six months' term of protection conferred under this Act by
reason of the filing of the petition and specification, nor unless the
applicant shall pay the fee for the sealing of the patent within ten
days after the commissioner has sent to the applicant notice of his
intention to grant the same : Provided that where the sealing of
any patent shall have been delayed by reason of opposition to the
grant thereof, such patent may be sealed at such time as the com-
missioner shall direct.
28. Patent may issiie after prescribed time in certain cases.
When the sealing of the patent has been delayed from accident and
not from the neglect or willful default of the applicant, then the
patent may be sealed at such time not being more than one month
after the expiration of the six months' term of protection herein-
before referred to as the Governor shall direct ; and where the
applicant for the patent dies during the continuance of such protec-
tion, the patent may be granted to his executors or administrators
during the continuance of such protection, or at any time within three
months after the death of the applicant, notwithstanding the expira-
tion of the term of such protection, and the patent so granted shall
be of the like force and effect as if it had been granted to the
applicant during the continuance of such protection.
492 FOREIGN LAWS.
29. Patent to relate back to filing of petition. Every patent to
be issued in pursuance of this Act shall be signed and sealed and
bear date as the day of the filing of the petition and specification
as aforesaid, and shall be of the same force and validity as if it had
been signed and sealed on the day of which it is expressed to be
signed and sealed and bear date ; and after any patent shall have
been signed and sealed, it shall not be necessary or material to
inquire or ascertain whether any advertisement or notice directed
by this Act shall have been published, given, or sent as herein
directed.
PART IV.
EFFECT, CONDITIONS, AND EXTENSION OF PATENTS.
30. Rights conferred by patent. Every patent granted under
this Act shall be in duplicate, and shall contain the title or name of
the invention, with a reference to the specification, and shall be in
the form in the schedule A. hereto, or as near thereto as the cir-
cumstances will permit, and shall, subject to the provisions of this
Act and to all such restrictions, conditions, and provisos as the
commissioner shall deem necessary or expedient, and shall insert in
such patent, confer upon the patentee, his executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, for the term of fourteen years, and for such
further term, not exceeding seven years, as the Governor may grant
under section 37 of this Act, the sole right of making, using, exer-
cising, and vending such invention : Provided that no patent shall
be construed to prohibit the subsequent use or sale of any article
once lawfully obtained.
31. Duplicate patent to be filed. One duplicate part of every
patent issued under this Act shall be delivered to the patentee or his
agent, and the other duplicate part shall be filed in the patent-office.
32. Prerogative of crown preserved. Nothing herein contained
shall extend to abridge or affect the prerogative of the Crown in
relation to granting or withholding the grant of any patent or let-
ters patent ; and it shall be lawful for the Governor to direct the
commissioner to grant or withhold the grant of any patent or letters
patent as aforesaid, or to direct the insertion in any patent issued
under this Act of any restrictions, conditions, or provisos which the
Governor may think fit, in addition to or in substitution for any
restrictions, conditions, or provisos which would otherwise be
inserted therein under this Act ; and it shall also be lawful for the
Governor to direct any specification filed under this Act, and in
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 493
respect of the invention described in which no patent shall at the
time of such direction have been granted, to be canceled, and there-
upon the protection obtained by the filing of such specification shall
cease.
33. Conditions of patent. All patents granted under this Act
shall be made subject to the conditions that the same shall be void
if at any time during the term thereby granted it shall appear that
the grant of the patent was contrary to law or prejudicial or incon-
venient to the general public, or that the said invention was not a
new and useful art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter,
or a new and useful improvement on any art, machine, manufacture,
or composition of matter, or that the said invention had been pub-
licly used or offered for sale within the said province prior to the
date of such patent, or that the patentee was not the true and first
inventor of the patented invention ; or if the patent shall have been
granted to him as assignee, legatee, executor, or administrator, then
that he was not the assignee, legatee, executor, or administrator, as
the case may be, of the true and first inventor of the patented
invention, or if the specification does not correctly and fully
describe and ascertain the nature and principle of the invention,
and in what manner it is to be made, used, worked or performed.
34. Patent to cease on non-payment of fees. All patents under
this Act shall also be made subject to the. condition that the same
shall be void, and that the rights and privileges thereby granted
shall cease and determine at the expiration of three years from the
date thereof, unless the patentee, his executors, administrators, or
assigns, shall pay at the patent-office the sum of five pounds before
the expiration of such three years from the date thereof, and at
the expiration of seven years from the date thereof, unless the pat-
entee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall pay at the
patent-office the sum of five pounds before the expiration of such
seven years.
35. Patented invention may be used in foreign vessels. No
patent for any invention granted after the passing of this Act shall
extend to prevent the use of such invention in any foreign ship or
vessel, or for the navigation of any foreign ship or vessel which
may be in any port of South Australia or its dependencies, or in
any of the waters within the jurisdiction of any of the courts of
the said province, where such invention is not so used for the
manufacture of any goods or commodities to be vended within or
exported from the said province or its dependencies : Provided that
494 FOREIGN LAWS.
this enactment shall not extend to the ships or vessels of any foreign
State of which the laws authorize subjects of such foreign State
having patents or the like privileges for the exclusive use or exer-
cise of inventions within its territories to prevent or interfere with
the use of such inventions in British ships or vessels, or in or about
the navigation of British ships or vessels while in the ports of such
foreign State, or in the waters within the jurisdiction of its courts,
where such inventions are not so used for the manufacture of goods
or commodities to be vended within or exported from the territo-
ries of such foreign State.
36. Government may use patented invention. The Govern-
ment may use any invention patented under this Act, paying to
the patentee such sum for the use thereof as shall be agreed upon
between the Government and the patentee, or, in case of dispute,
such sum as may be fixed by two arbitrators, one of whom shall be
appointed by the Government, and one by the patentee ; or, in case
of disagreement between the arbitrators, by an umpire to be named
by them before entering upon the consideration of the matter
referred to them.
37. Government may extend term of patent. The Governor,
on petition by any patentee, or his executors, administrators, or
assigns, presented at least six months before the expiration of any
patent, and on being satisfied that the patentee, his executors,
administrators, or assigns, have been unable to obtain due remun-
eration for the expense and labor of perfecting the invention, the
subject of the patent may, by order under his hand, to be filed in
the patent-office, grant an extension of the term of such patent for
any term not exceeding seven years from the expiration of the term
for which the patent was originally granted : Provided that the
Governor may require such petition to be advertised in such man-
ner as he shall think fit, and may hear any person desirous of oppos-
ing such extension.
PART V.
. NEW PATENTS, DISCLAIMERS, ALTERATIONS AND CONFIRMATIONS.
38. When commissioner may grant new patent. Whenever any
patent shall be deemed defective or inoperative by reason of insuf-
ficient description or specification, or by reason of the patentee hav-
ing claimed as new more than he had a right to claim, the commis-
sioner may, upon petition by the patentee, and upon being satisfied
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 495
that the error arose from inadvertence, accident, or mistake,
without any fraudulent intention, and upon the surrender of such
patent and payment of the fee for that purpose specified in the
schedule B. hereto, and the filing of an amended description and
specification, to be filed in the like manner as hereinbefore provided
with respect to applications for patents, grant to the patentee, his
oxecutors, administrators, or assigns, a new patent for the same
invention, for any part or the whole of the then unexpired term for
which the original patent was granted.
39. Disclaimer or memorandum, of alteration may be filed.
Any patentee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, may, on
payment of the fee for that purpose specified in the schedule B. to
this Act, and on obtaining the leave of the commissioner, file in the
patent office a disclaimer of any part, either of the title or the spec-
ification of the invention in respect of which he is the patentee, or
the executor, administrator, or assignee of the patentee, stating
the reasons for such disclaimer, or a memorandum of any alteration
in such title or specification, not being such disclaimer or alteration
as shall extend the exclusive right granted by the patent. Such
disclaimer or memorandum of alteration shall be attached to the
patent or specification filed in the patent-office, and a memorandum
thereof shall be entered upon the patent in possession of the pat-
entee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, and thereupon such
disclaimer or memorandum of alteration shall be deemed and taken
to be part of the patent or specification in all courts in the said
province : Provided that no such disclaimer or alteration shall,
except, in proceedings by scire facias, be receivable in evidence to
support any patent in any action or suit pending at the time that
such disclaimer or alteration was filed, or brought in respect of any
infringement of any patent committed prior to the filing of such
disclaimer or memorandum of alteration ; but in every such action
or suit, except as aforesaid, the original title and specification
alone shall be given in evidence, and deemed to be the title and
specification of the invention for which the patent shall have been
granted.
40. Commissioner may require notices to be given. The com-
missioner may require any patentee, his executors, administrators,
or assigns, applying for a new patent, or for leave to file a dis-
claimer or memorandum of alteration, to give such notices by
advertisement or otherwise of his application as the commissioner
shall think fit, and may hear any person in opposition to such
496 FOREIGN LAWS.
application. The 61ing of any disclaimer or memorandum of alter-
ation in pursuance of the leave of the commissioner obtained under
the last preceding section shall, except in cases of fraud, be conclu-
sive as to the right of the party to file such disclaimer or memoran-
dum of alteration nnder this Act, and no objection shall be made in
any proceeding upon or touching such patent, specification, dis-
claimer, or memorandum of alteration on the ground that the party
filing such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration had not suffi-
cient authority in that behalf.
41. Mode of obtaining confirmation of invalid patent. If in
any suit or action it shall be proved, or specially found by the ver-
dict of a jury, that any person who shall have obtained a patent
for any invention or supposed invention was not the first inventor
thereof, or of some part thereof, by reason of some other person
having invented the same, or some part thereof, before the date of
such patent, or if such patentee, his executors, administrators, or
assigns, shall discover that some other person had unknown to such
patentee invented the same, or some part thereof, before the date
of such patent, such patentee, his executors, administrators, or
assigns, may petition the Governor to confirm the said patent, or
to grant a new patent in respect of such invention ; and it shall be
lawful for the Governor to refer the consideration of the said peti-
tion to commissioners to be appointed for that purpose in the man-
ner hereinafter mentioned.
42. Appointment of commissioners. The Governor may issue
to three or more persons, of whom one shall be a judge of the
Supreme Court, a commission reciting such petition, and requiring
and authorizing such persons, or any three of them, of whom the
said judge shall be one, to meet at some time, not being less than
two months from the publication of the said commission in the gov-
ernment Gazette, and at some place to be respectively fixed in the
said commission, and then and there to consider the said petition,
and to report to the Governor whether such confirmation should or
should not be made.
43. Notice of commission published ; caveat. Six weeks at
least before the time named in the said commission for the consid-
eration of any such petition as aforesaid, the petitioner shall cause
to be published twice in the government Gazette, and three times
in some daily newspaper published in Adelaide, an advertisement of
the contents of the said commission ; and any person having an
interest in opposing the said petition shall be at liberty to enter a
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 497
caveat against the same at the office of the commissioner of patents
at any time not being less than one week before the time named in
the said commission for the execution thereof.
44. Commissioners to hear all parties and report. At the time
and place fixed in the said commission for that purpose, the com-
missioners shall meet and proceed to consider such petition, and
the petitioner shall be heard in person, or by his solicitor or agent,
and may call witnesses to prove his case as stated in such petition,
and the publication of the last mentioned advertisement as required
by this Act ; and the persons entering caveats shall likewise be
heard in person, or by their solicitors or agents, and may also call
witnesses ; and all witnesses shall be examined upon oath or affirm-
ation (which oath or affirmation such commissioners as aforesaid are
hereby authorized and required to administer) ; and thereupon, and
upon hearing and inquiry of the whole matter, such commissioners,
upon being satisfied that such patentee as aforesaid believed himself
to be the first and original inventor, and being satisfied that the
invention, or part thereof, has not been publicly and generally used,
or offered for sale within the said province prior to the date of such
patent, may report to the Governor their opinion that the prayer of
such petition ought to be complied with.; whereupon the Governor
may, if he shall think fit, grant such prayer ; and the confirmed or
new patent (as the case may be) shall thereupon be available at law
and in equity to give to such petitioner the sole right of making,
using, exercising, and vending such invention as against all persons
whomsoever, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary not-
withstanding : Provided that any person party to any former suit
or action touching the first patent shall be entitled to have notice
in writing of the time and place fixed as aforesaid for the first meet-
ing of the said commissioners to consider the said petition ; and
after any such report shall have been made it shall not be material
or necessary to inquire or ascertain whether any such advertisement
as last aforesaid has or has not been published, or whether any such
notice as last aforesaid has or has not been given in the manner
hereinbefore directed.
45. Where patent only partly assigned. When a patentee, his
executors, administrators, or assigns, shall have assigned a part only
of his or their interest in any patent, no petition or application under
any of the preceding sections numbered respectively 37, 38, 39, and
41, shall be allowed unless joined in by all persons having any legal
interest in the patent.
I. 32
498 FOREIGN LAWS.
PART VI.
CAVEATS AND REVOCATION AND ASSIGNMENT OF PATENTS.
46. Caveat may be filed. Any intend ing applicant for a patent
may tile in the patent-office, on payment of the fee specified for
that purpose in the schedule B. hereto, a document to be signed by
him and containing a description of any invention claimed by him
as his own (with or without plans at his option), and giving an
address within the City of Adelaide to which any notice by the
next following clause required to be sent to him may be addressed ;
such document, which shall be called a caveat, may be amended by
the cavcator, at any time within one year from the filing thereof,
and shall, until the expiration of such year, be preserved in secrecy
in the patent-office, the commissioner being at liberty, however, to
furnish copies of the same to the caveator on payment of the proper
charges for such copies.
4:7. In, certain cases commissioner to send notice. If at any time
before the expiration of one year from the filing of any caveat an
application shall be made by any person other than the caveator for
a patent for any invention, and the commissioner shall consider that
the granting of such application may interfere with or affect the
right of the caveator to obtain a patent for the invention described
in the caveat, the commissioner shall forthwith send notice thereof
through the general post-office to the caveator at the address given
by him for that purpose.
48. Patent may be revoked by governor. Every patent shall
be liable to be revoked by the Governor upon the application of any
person after the expiration of three years from the granting thereof,
if it shall be made to appear to the Governor that neither the pat-
entee nor his assignee or licensee has, before the time of such
application, used the patented invention to a reasonable extent for
the public benefit : Provided that the Governor may in his absolute
discretion refuse any such application upon such terms and condi-
tions as lie may sec fit.
49. Proceedings to revoke patent. The Supreme Court of the
said province shall have jurisdiction to revoke and cancel any pat-
ent issued under this Act, upon a writ of scire facias, issued out of
the said court ; and in case any person having an interest in such
patent shall not reside in the said province at the time of the issue
of such writ, it shall be sufficient as against such person to file such
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 499
writ in the office of the Supreme Court, and serve notice of such
filing at his last known place of business or residence within the
said province (if any), and if no such place can be found, then to
give notice of such filing by advertisement, or otherwise, as the
said court may in each case direct.
50. Patent may be filed in the Supreme Court. Any person
desiring to impeach a patent issued under this Act may obtain from
the patent-office a copy of the patent, and of the petition, declara-
tion, specification, and drawings thereunto relating, certified under
the seal of the patent-office and the hand of the commissioner, and
may file the same in the office of the said Supreme Court to be held
of record therein.
51. Certificate of judgment to be filed. A certificate of the judg-
ment voiding any patent shall be filed in the patent-office by the
prosecutor on the writ of scire facias, and shall be noted on the
duplicate patent in the patent-office, and thereupon the patent shall
be and be held to have been void and of no effect from the time of
the grant thereof.
52. Assignment of patent. Every patent shall be assignable
either as to the whole interest of the patentee, his executors, admin-
istrators, or assigns, or as to any part of such interest by instrument
in writing under the hand of the assignor or his agent thereunto
authorized in writing ; and every such assignment shall be in dupli-
cate, and shall be registered by deposit of one duplicate part in the
patent-office. Every assignment shall be deemed null and void
against any subsequent assignment for valuable consideration, unless
such prior assignment shall be registered before the registration of
the subsequent assignment.
PART VII.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
53. Patents, &c., to be open to public inspection. All patents,
specifications, drawings, models, disclaimers, and other papers,
except caveats, filed in the patent-office, shall be open to the inspec-
tion of the public, subject to such regulations as the Governor may
make in that behalf.
54. Fees. The fees mentioned in schedule B. to this Act shall
be paid in respect of the several matters and things therein respec-
tively referred to. Such fees shall form part of the general revenue
500 FOREIGN LAWS.
of the said province, and be paid, applied, and disposed of accord-
ingly.
66. Commissioner may correct clerical errors. No patent or
other instrument under this Act shall be invalidated by any clerical
error in the framing or copying thereof, but any such error may be
corrected by or under the authority of the commissioner.
56. Lost patent. In case any patent be lost or destroyed, any
person entitled to such patent may obtain from the patent-office, on
payment of the proper fee, a copy of such lost or destroyed patent,
to be certified under the seal of the patent-office.
67. Declarations, before whom to be made. Every declaration
under this Act may be made before the commissioner or any justice
of the peace or notary public in South Australia ; or if the declara-
tion shall be made out of the said province, then before any person
who, in the country in which the declaration is made, shall be
authorized to administer an oath.
68. Licensed patent agents. It shall be lawful for the commis-
sioner, with the sanction of the Governor, to license fit and proper
persons to be patent agents for transacting business under the pro-
visions of this Act, and upon proof to his satisfaction of the mal-
feasance or incapacity of any such licensed patent agent, or on non-
payment of any annual fee for any such license, as prescribed by
schedule B. hereto, and with such sanction as aforesaid, to revoke
any such license. Before granting any such license the commis-
sioner shall receive bond from the person to be licensed in the sum
of five hundred pounds, with two sureties each in the sum of two
hundred and fifty pounds, conditioned that such person shall duly
and faithfully act in the capacity of a licensed patent agent, in
accordance with the provisions of this Act, and shall also adminis-
ter to such person the oath following :
I, A. B., do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and to the best of my ability exe-
cute and perform all such business or duties as may be entrusted to or imposed upon
me as a licensed patent agent. So help me God.
69. Certificate of correctness; false and negligent certificate.
The commissioner shall not receive any petition, disclaimer, memo-
randum of alteration, caveat, assignment, or other instrument under
this Act, unless there shall be indorsed thereon a certificate that the
same is correct for the purposes of this Act, signed by the applicant
or the principal party filing such instrument, or by his solicitor, or
by a patent agent licensed under this Act, or by a land broker lie-
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 501
ensed under the provisions of the "Real Property Act of 1861,"
or any Act substituted therefor ; and any person who shall falsely
and negligently certify to the correctness or any such instrument
shall incur a penalty therefor not exceeding fifty pounds, to be
recovered by any person before two or more justices of the peace
in a summary manner.
60. In actions for infringements; particulars of breaches and
objections. In any action for the infringement of a patent the
plaintiff shall deliver with his declaration particulars of the breaches
complained of in the said action, and the defendant on pleading
thereto shall deliver with his pleas, and the prosecutor in any pro-
ceedings by scire facias to revoke and cancel any patent shall
deliver with his declaration, particulars of any objections on which
he means to rely at the trial in support of the pleas in the said
action, or of the suggestions of the said declaration in the proceed-
ings by scire facias respectively ; and at the trial of such action or
proceeding by scire facias no evidence shall be allowed to be given
in support of any alleged infringement, or of any objection impeach-
ing the validity of such patent, which shall not be contained in the
particulars delivered as aforesaid : Provided always, that the place
or places at or in which and in what manner the invention is
alleged to have been used or offered for sale in the said province
prior to the date of the patent shall be stated in such particulars :
Provided also, that it shall and may be lawful for any judge at
chambers to allow such plaintiff, or defendant, or prosecutor,
respectively, to amend the particulars delivered as aforesaid upon
such terms as to such judge shall seem fit : Provided also, that at
the trial of any proceedings by scire facias to revoke and cancel a
patent the defendant shall be entitled to begin and to give evi-
dence in support of such patent ; and in case evidence shall be
adduced on the part of the prosecutor impeaching the validity of
such patent the defendant shall be entitled to the reply.
61. Particulars to be regarded in taxing costs. In taxing the
costs in any action commenced after the passing of this Act for
infringing any patent, regard shall be had to the part of such case
which has been proved at the trial, which shall be certified by the
judge before whom the case shall be tried, and the costs of each
part of the case shall be given according as either party has suc-
ceeded or failed therein, regard being had to the particulars of
objections and breaches as well as the counts in the declaration, and
the plaintiff and defendant respectively shall not be allowed any
502 FOREIGN LAWS.
costs in respect of any particular unless certified by the judge before
whom the trial was had to have been proved by such plaintiff or
defendant respectively, without regard to the general costs of the
cause ; and it shall be lawful for the judge before whom any such
action shall be tried to certify on the record that the validity of the
patent in the declaration mentioned came in question ; and the
record with such certificate being given in evidence in any suit or
action for infringing the said patent, or in any proceeding by scire
facias to revoke and cancel the patent, shall entitle the plaintiff in
any such suit or action, or the defendant in any such proceeding by
scire facias, on obtaining a decree, decretal order, or final judgment,
to his full costs, charges, and expenses, to be taxed as between
attorney and client, unless the judge making such decree or order,
or the judge trying such action or proceeding, shall certify that
the plaintiff or defendant respectively ought not to have such full
costs.
62. Register of Patents. There shall be kept at the patent-office
a book or books to be called the " Register of Patents," wherein
shall be entered and recorded, in 'chronological order, all patents
granted under this Act, the deposit and filing of specifications, dis-
claimers, and memoranda of alterations filed in respect of patents,
all amendments in specifications and patents, all assignments, con-
firmations, and extensions of patents, the expiry, determination,
vacating, revoking, or canceling of patents, with the dates thereof
respectively, and all other matters and things affecting the validity
of patents as the Governor may direct ; and such register or a copy
thereof shall be open at all convenient times to the inspection of
the public, subject to such regulations as the Governor may make
in that behalf.
63. Register of Proprietors to be kept. There shall also be kept
at the patent-office a book or books entitled " The Register of Pro-
prietors," wherein shall be entered every assignment of a patent, or
of any share or interest therein, every license under a patent, and
the place or district to which such license relates, with the name or
names of every person having by assignment any patent, or any
share or interest in any patent, or, having any license, the date of
his or their acquiring such patent, share, interest, or license, and any
other matter or thing relating to or affecting the proprietorship in
such patent or license ; and a copy of any entry in such book, cer-
tified under the seal of the patent-office, shall be given to any per-
son requiring the same, and shall be primci facie evidence of the
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 503
proprietorship or assignment of such patent, or share or interest
therein, or license as therein expressed : Provided always, that until
such entry shall have been made the grantee or grantees of the
patent shall be deemed and taken to be the sole and exclusive pro-
prietor or proprietors of such patent, and of all the licenses and
privileges thereby given and granted, and such register, or a copy
thereof, shall be open to public inspection, subject to such regula-
tions as the Governor may make.
64. Expungement, &c., of entries in Register. If any person
shall deem himself aggrieved by any entry made under color of this
Act in any such register as aforesaid, he may apply to the Supreme
Court, or any judge thereof, for an order that such entry may be
expunged, vacated, or varied, and such court or judge may thereupon
make such order as to the expunging, vacating, or varying of such
entry, and as to the costs of such application, as to such court or
judge shall seem fit ; and the officer having the custody of such
register shall, on the production of any such order, expunge, vacate,
or vary such entry in accordance with the order.
65. Falsification or forgery of entry. If any person shall will-
fully make or cause to be made any false entry in any such register,
or shall willfully make or forge, or cause to be made or forged,
any writing falsely purporting to be a copy of any entry in any such
register, or shall produce or tender, or cause to be produced or
tendered .in evidence, any such writing or any such false entry,
knowing the same to be false or forged, he shall be guilty of a mis-
demeanor, and shall be liable to be imprisoned for any term not
exceeding five years.
68. Punishment on false oath or declaration. Every person
who shall make any false oath or declaration under this Act shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on conviction be liable to
imprisonment, with or without hard labor for any period not exceed-
ing five years.
67. Penalty for unauthorized use of name of patentee, &c. If
any person shall write, paint, print, mould, cast, carve, engrave,
stamp, or otherwise mark upon anything made, used, or sold by
him, for which he has not or shall not have obtained a patent, the
name or any imitation of the name of any other person who has or
shall have obtained a patent for such thing without leave in writ-
ing of such patentee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, or if
any person shall, upon such thing not having been purchased from
ths patentee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, or some per-
504 FOREIGN LAWS.
son who purchased it from or under such patentee, his executors,
administrators, or assigns, or not having had the license or consent
in writing of such patentee, his executors, administrators or assigns,
write, paint, print, mould, cast, carve, engrave, stamp, or otherwise
mark the word " patent," the words " letters patent," or the words
" By the Queen's patent," or any words of the like kind, meaning,
or import, with a view of imitating or counterfeiting the stamp,
mark, or other device of the patentee, his executors, administrators,
or assigns, or shall in any other manner imitate or counterfeit the
stamp, mark, or other device of the patentee, his executors, admin-
istrators, or assigns, he shall for every such offense forfeit and pay
the sum of one hundred pounds, one half to Her Majesty, her heirs
and successors, and the other half with full costs of suit to any per-
son who shall sue for the said penalty, by action of debt, or in a
summary manner before any two justices of the peace of the said
province : Provided alwa} r s, that nothing herein contained shall be
construed to extend to subject any person to any penalty in respect
of stamping or in any way marking the word " patent " upon any-
thing in respect of which the patent .before obtained shall have
expired or otherwise determined.
68. Proceedings before justices. The proceedings before justices
shall be conducted as appointed by and shall be regulated under
the Ordinance No. 6 of 1850, entitled "An Ordinance to facilitate
the performance of the duties of Justices of the Peace out of Ses-
sions with respect to summary convictions and orders."
69. Non-payment of penalty. In every case of the adjudica-
tion of a fine or pecuniary penalty or amends under this Act, and
of the non-payment of such fine or pecuniary penalty or amends,
any justice of the peace may commit the offender or person making
default in payment to any jail in the said province for any time not
exceeding three calendar months, the imprisonment to cease on pay-
ment of the sum and costs due ; but this section shall not affect any
remedy for the recovery of any fine or pecuniary penalty or amounts
under the said Ordinance No. 6 of 1850, or any other ordinance or
Act.
70. Appeal. There shall be an appeal from any order of justices
of the peace made under the provisions hereinbefore contained, or
from any order of justices of the peace dismissing any information
laid under this Act, or from any conviction by justices for any
offense against this Act, which appeal shall be to the local court of
Adelaide of full jurisdiction only, and the proceedings in such
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 505
appeal shall be conducted in manner appointed by the said Ordi-
nance No. 6 of 1850 for Appeals to Local Courts, but the local
court of Adelaide aforesaid may make such order as to payment of
costs of appeal as such court shall think tit, although such costs may
exceed ten pounds.
71. Local court may state a case for Supreme Court. It shall
be lawful for the local court of Adelaide, upon the hearing of any
appeal under the last preceding section, to state one or more special
case or cases for the opinion of the Supreme Court and the Supreme
Court shall hear and decide such special case or cases according
to the practice of the Supreme Court on special cases ; and the
Supreme Court shall make such order as to the costs of any such
special case as to the said court shall appear just ; and any two or
more justices, or the local court of Adelaide, shall make an order in
respect of the matters referred to the Supreme Court, in con-
formity with the certificate of the said Supreme Court, or of any
judge thereof, which order of the justices of the peace or local court
shall be enforced in manner provided by this Act for the enforce-
ment of orders of justices of the peace ; and, save as herein pro-
vided, no order or proceeding of justices or of any local court made
under the authority of this Act, shall be appealed against or removed
by certiorari or otherwise into the Supreme Court of the said
province,
72. Definition clause. In the construction of this Act the fol-
lowing expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them
unless such meaning shall be repugnant to or inconsistent; with the
context : " patent" shall mean letters patent granted'under this Act;
" patentee" shall mean a person to whom a patent shall have been
granted under this Act ; " commissioner " shall mean the commis-
sioner of patents.
SCHEDULE A.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of tha United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land Queen, Defender of the Faith, to all to whom these presents shall coma,
greeting :
Whereas , of , hath, by his petition, represented unto us that ha is [or
, of , is or was] the true and first inventor of a certain invention for
, and that the same has not been publicly used or offered for sale within the
province of South Australia more than twelve months prior to the date of the said
petition [and that the said is tha assignee, legatee, executor, or administrator,
506 FOREIGN LAWS.
at the case may be, of the said ], and hath, therefore, humbly prayed for letters
patent for the sole making, using, exercising, and Tending of the said invention
within our said province for the term of fourteen years, pursuant to " The Patent
Act, 1877 :" And whereas the said hath correctly and fully described and ascer-
tained the nature and principle of the said invention, and in what manner the same is
to be made, used, worked, or performed, by a specification in writing under his hand,
and has caused the same to be duly filed in the patent office of our said province on
the day of ,18 : And We, being willing to give encouragement to all
arts and inventions which may be for the public good, are graciously pleased to con-
descend to the petitioner's request : Know ye, therefore, that we of our especial
grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, have given and granted, and by these
presents for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant unto the said , his
executors, administrators, and assigns, our special license, full power, sole privilege,
and authority, that he, the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, and
every of them, by himself and themselves, or by his and their deputy or deputies, ser-
vants or agents, or such others as the said , his executors, administrators, or
assigns, shall at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all
times hereafter during the term of years herein expressed, shall and lawfully may
make, use, exercise, and vend his said invention within our said province, in such
manner as to him, the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, or any
of them, shall in his or their discretion seem meet ; and that he, the said , his
executors, administrators, and assigns, shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the
whole profit, benefit, commodity, and advantage from time to time coming, growing,
accruing, and arising by reason of the said invention for and during the term of years
herein mentioned, to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licenses, powers, privi-
leges, and advantages herein before granted or mentioned to be granted to the said
, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for and during and unto the full
end and term of fourteen years from the day of , A. D. , according
to the statute in such case made and provided ; and to the end that he, the said ,
his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, may have and enjoy the
full benefit and sole use and exercise of the said invention, according to our gracious
intention hereinbefore declared, we do by these presents for us, our heirs and suc-
cessors, require and strictly command all and every person and persons, bodies politic
and corporate, and all other our subjects whatsoever, of what estate, quality, degree,
name, or condition soever they be, within our said province, that neither they nor any
of them, at any time during the continuance of the said term of fourteen years hereby
granted, either directly or indirectly, do make, use, exercise, or vend the said inven-
tion, or any part of the same, so attained unto by the said as aforesaid, nor
in anywise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor make or cause to be made
any addition thereunto, or subtraction from the same, whereby to pretend himself or
themselves the inventor or fnventors, deviser or devisers thereof, without the consent,
license, or agreement of the said , his executors, administrators, or assigns, in
writing under his or their hands or seals first had and obtained in that behalf, upon
such pains and penalties as can or may be justly inflicted on such offenders for their
contempt of this our royal command, and iurther to be answerable to the said ,
his executors, administrators, and assigns, according to law for his and their damages
thereby occasioned : And, moreover, we do by these presents, for us, our heirs and
successors, will and command all and singular the justices of the peace, sheriffs, bail-
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 507
iffs, constables, and all other officers and ministers of us, our heirs and successors for
the time being, that they or any of them do not nor shall at any time during the said
term hereby granted in anywise molest, trouble, or hinder the said , his execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or any of them, or his or their deputies, servants, or
agents, in or about the due and lawful use or exercise of the aforesaid invention, or
anything relating thereto: Provided always, and these our letters patent are and shall
be upon this condition, that if at any time during the said term hereby granted it shall
appear that this our grant is contrary to law, or prejudical or inconvenient to the
general public, or that the said invention is not a new and useful art, machine, man-
ufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement on any art,
machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or that the said invention has been
publicly used or offered for sale within our said province prior to the date of these our
letters patent, or that the said petitioner is not the true and first inventor thereof [or
the assignee, legatee, executor, or administrator, as the case may be t of the true and
first inventor thereof], or if the said specification, filed as aforesaid, does not correctly
and fully describe and ascertain the nature and principle of the said invention, and in
what manner the same is to be made, used, worked, or performed, or if the said ,
his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall not supply or caused to be supplied for
our service all such articles of the said invention as he or they shall be required to
supply by the officers or commissioners administering the department of our service,
for the use of which the same shall be required, in such manner, at such times, and at
or upon such reasonable prices and terms as shall be settled for that purpose by the
said officers or commissioners requiring the same, then and in any of the said cases
these our letters patent shall forthwith cease, determine, and be utterly void to all
intents and purposes, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in any-
wise notwithstanding: Provide also, that these our letters patent or anything herein
contained, shall not extend or be construed to extend to give privilege unto the said
, his executors, administrators, and assigns, or any of them, to use or imitate
any invention or work whatsoever which hath heretofore been found out or invented
by any other of our subjects whatsoever, and publicly used or exercised, unto whom
our like letters patent or privileges have been already granted for the sole use, exer-
cise, and benefit thereof, it being our will and pleasure that the said , his execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, and all and every other person and persons to whom
like letters patent or privileges have been already granted as aforesaid, shall distinctly
use and practice their several inventions by them invented and found out according to
the true intent and meaning of the same respective letters patent, and of these
presents: Provided likewise, and these our letters patent are upon this express condi-
tion, that the same shall be void, and that the rights and privileges hereby granted
shall cease and determine at the expiration of three years from the date hereof, unless
the said , his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall pay at the said patent-
office the sum of five pounds before the day of , A. D. 18 and
further upon condition that the same letters patent shall be void, and the said rights
and privileges cease and determine at the expiration of seven years from the date
hereof, unless the said , his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall pay at
the said patent-office the sum of five pounds before the day of ,
A. D. 18 : Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the granting of
licenses in the manner and for the considerations in and for which they may by law
be granted ; and lastly we do by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, grant
508 FOREIGN LAWS.
i
unto the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, that these our letters
patent or ths filing thereof shall be in and by all things good, firm, valid, sufficient,
and effectual in the law, according to the true intent and meaning thereof, and shall
be taken, construed, and adjudged in the most favorable and beneficial sense, for the
best advantage of the said , his executors, administrators, and assigns, as well
in all our courts of record as elsewhere, and by all and singular the officers and min-
isters whatsoever of us, our heirs and successors, in this our said province, and
amongst all and every the subjects of our heirs and successors, whatsoever and where-
soever. In witness whereof we have caused these our letters patent to be made pat-
ent this day of , A.D. , and to be sealed with the seal of the said
patent-office, and bear date as of the said day of , A.D., in the year
of our reign.
SCHEDULE B.
(As Amended by Act of 1881.)
Fees to be paid in respect of the several matters kereunder specified :
s. d.
On filing every petition , 2 10
On grant of patent 1 1
On every patent before the expiration of three years from its date 2 10
And before the expiration of seven years ^ 2 10
For taking any declaration 8 6
For every certificate of filing , 2 6
On filing every amended or substituted specification 1
On lodging objections against grant of patent , 010 6
On every summons to witnesses 6
On hearing of every opposed application 1
On filing duplicate patent 6
On extention of patent 20
On granting new patent under Part V 10
On filing every disclaimer or memorandum of alteration 210
On confirmation of invalid patent 60
On filing caveat under part VI 1
On amending any caveat 10 6
For every office copy (including the seal) per folio of 72 -words 006
On filing every certificate voiding a patent 5
On deposit of any assignment of patent 1
On every search, including inspection 2 6
Annual fee for license to patent agent 500
From Carpm. Pat. Law of World, 466.
SOUTPI AUSTRALIA. 00
An Act to amend " TJie Patent Act, 1877." No. 201, 1881.
Preamble. Whereas it is desirable to amend "The Patent
Act, 1877," by affording greater facilities for the obtaining of
patents Be it therefore enacted by the Governor of the Province
of South Australia, with the advice and consent of the Legislative
Council and House of Assembly of the said province, in this present
Parliament assembled, as follows :
1. Short title. This Act may be for all purposes cited as "The
Patent Act Amendment Act, 1881."
2. Incorporation. This Act and " The Patent Act, 1877," except
so far as the same is altered by this Act, shall be incorporated and
read and construed together.
3. Petition for patent. Every petition for a patent shall be
addressed to the commissioner, and shall be accompanied by a
declaration by the applicant, or his duly authorized attorney or
agent, that the several allegations contained in the petition are true,
and stating that the person making the declaration verily believes
that the inventor mentioned in the petition is the true and first
inventor of the invention for which the patent is sought.
4. Requisites of specifications. For the purposes of section 16
of the said Act, it shall be sufficient, whether the inventor be alive or
not, if the specification therein mentioned be signed by the appli-
cant, or his duly authorized attorney or agent, and if such signature
be attested as provided in the said section.
5. Exhibition not ground for refusing patent. The mere fact
of any inventor having exhibited or tested his invention, either
publicly or privately, shall not in itself be deemed any ground for
refusing him a patent, or justify any other person in using such
invention, provided that such exhibiting must have been within six
months of the date of the inventor filing his petition for a patent.
6. Schedule of fees. The fees mentioned in the schedule of this
Act shall be paid in respect to the several matters and things therein
respectively referred to, in lieu of the fees mentioned in schedule B
of the Patent Act, 1877. Such fees shall form part of the general
revenue of the said province, and be paid, applied, and disposed of
accordingly. [Nora. See end of 1877 Act.]
7. Repeal. Section 14 of the said Act is hereby repealed.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 493.
See also AUSTRALASIA.
510 FOREIGN LAWS.
/
c
SPAIN.
Law of July 30, 1878.*
SECTION I.
GENEBAL PROVISIONS.
AETICLE 1. Every Spaniard or foreigner who intends to estab-
lish or has established in the Spanish dominions a new branch of
industry shall have the exclusive right to work the same during a
certain number of years, subject to the rules and conditions laid
down by the present law.
I ABT. 2. The right referred to in the preceding article shall be
acquired by obtaining from the Government a patent of invention.
i ABT. 3. The following objects shall be patentable :
Machinery, apparatus, instruments, processes, or mechanical or
chemical operations, being entirely or partly a new and original (i. e.,
the applicant's own) invention, or which, without fulfilling these
conditions, have not been established or executed in the same way
or form in the Spanish dominions.
New industrial products or results [obtained by new or known
means, provided their working tends to establish a new industry in
the country.
ABT. 4. Patents having for their objects products or results
mentioned in the second paragraph of the previous article shall not
prevent other patentees of objects mentioned in the first paragraph
from obtaining the same products or results.
ABT. 5. Objects which are not known, nor have been executed,
or worked in the Spanish dominions or abroad, shall be considered
as new according to article 3 of this law.
ABT. 6. The right which is conferred by the patent of invention,
or as the case may be, the right derived from the application, can
be transferred entirely or partly by the various ways established by
our laws relating to private property.
ABT. 7. A patent of invention can be granted to one person or
to several, or to a society, whether they be natives or foreigners.
Another translation of this law, dif- text, may be found in 26 Pat. Off. Gax.
fering slightly from that given in the 108.
SPAIN. 511
ART. 8. All patents shall be considered as granted, not only for
the Peninsula and adjacent islands, but also for the provinces
beyond the sea.
ART. 9. The following shall not be the objects of patents :
(1.) The result or product of the machines, apparatus, instru-
ments, processes or operations mentioned in the first paragraph of
article 3, unless they are contained in the second paragraph of the
same article.
(2.) The use of natural products.
(3.) Scientific principles or discoveries, so far as they are of a
mere speculative nature, and are not likely to be applicable to
machinery, apparatus, instruments, processes, or mechanical or
chemical operations of a practical industrial nature.
(4.) Pharmaceutical or medical preparations of all sorts.
(5.) Schemes or combinations of credit or finance.
ART. 10. No patent shall be delivered for more than one object
of industry.
ART. 11. Patents of invention shall be delivered without previ-
ous examination as to novelty or utility, and must not therefore be
considered in any case as a declaration or certificate of the novelty
or utility of the object to which they refer. Qualifications of this
nature concern the person interested, who must act on his own
responsibility, and will be subject to the consequences resulting
from the provisions of the present law.
SECTION II.
THE DURATION OF PATENTS AND THE GOVERNMENT FEES.
ART. 12. The duration of patents of invention shall be twenty
years without prolongation, if they have for their object new and
original inventions. The duration of patents for all objects that are
not original inventions, or being so, are not new, shall only be five
years without prolongation.
Nevertheless, patents shall be granted for ten years for all origi-
nal inventions, even when the inventor has obtained a patent ior
the same object in one or more foreign countries, provided he
applies therefor in Spain before the expiration of two years from
the obtaining of the first foreign patent.
ART. 13. For working a patent there must bee paid in Govern-
ment paper an annual and progressive tax, as follows: 10 pesetas
for the first year, 20 pesetas for the second year, 30 pesetas for the
612 FOREIGN LAWS.
third year, and so on to the fifth, tenth, or twentieth year, when
the tax will be respectively 50, 100, and 200 pesetas.
ART. 14. The annual taxes mentioned in the previous article
shall be paid in advance, and they will in no case be dispensed
with.
SECTION III.
FORMALITIES FOR THE GRANT OF PATENTS.
ART. 15. Every person who desires to obtain a patent shall
deliver at the office of the secretary of the civil government of the
province in which he is domiciled, or at that of any other province
where he elects domicile for this purpose :
(1.) A petition to the minister of commerce, in which he indicates
a single object for the patent, stating whether the said object is a
new and original invention, or not, and the domicile of the appli-
cant, or his attorney. In the latter case the power must be annexed
to the petition. It must contain neither conditions, restrictions,
nor reservations.
(2.) A specification in duplicate, in which shall be described the
machine, apparatus, instrument, process, or mechanical or chemical
operation forming the object of the patent, all with the greatest
possible clearness, so that there can at no time be the least doubt as
to the object or the particular represented to be a new and original
invention, or as to its not having been practiced or established in
the same mode or form in Spain. At the foot of the specification
there must be a note expressing clearly, distinctly, and particularly
which part, piece, movement, mechanism, operation, process, or
matter is claimed as the object of the patent. The patent will
depend entirely on the contents of the said note.
The specification must be written in Spanish, without abbrevia-
tions, corrections, or erasures of any kind, on sheets folded and
numbered. References to weights and measures must be given
according to the metrical decimal system.-
The specification must not contain conditions, restrictions, or
reservations.
(3.) The drawings, samples, or models which the interested party
thinks necessary for the comprehension of the descriptive specifica-
tion, all in duplicate.
The drawings must be made on cloth-paper in ink, and accord-
ing to the metrical decimal scale.
SPAIN. 513
(4.) The receipt for the payment to the State of the first annual
tax.
(5.) A signed list of all the documents and objects presented,
which latter must also be signed by the applicant or his attorney.
ABT. 16. The secretary of the civil government upon receiving
the documents and objects mentioned in the preceding article, shall
enter, in a special register, the day, the hour, and the minute of the
presentation ; sign the list jointly with the interested party or his
representative, and deliver a proper receipt. The same secretary
shall close and seal the box or packet containing the two copies of
the specification, and of the drawings, samples, or models, and write
underneath the inscription on the box or packet " Presented on
such a month, day, hour, and minute," signing the same, and affix-
ing the official seal.
The entry in the register of presentation indicating the day,
hour, and minute of presentation shall establish the right of prior-
ity of the applicant.
ART. 17. Within a term not exceeding five days from the date
of the presentation of the application, and of the aforesaid docu-
ments and objects, the civil governor shall remit to the director of
the Conservatory of Arts at Madrid the application, together with
the documents and objects, also a certificate of the secretary,
countersigned by the governor, of the entry in the register, and the
contents of the box or packet. The cost of remittance shall be borne
by the interested party.
ART. 18. The secretary of the Conservatory of Arts shall examine
the contents of the box or packet, and shall sign and seal, at the
foot of the certificate mentioned in the preceding article, a state-
ment as to their completeness or defects.
ART. 19. The secretary of the conservatory shall at once com-
pare the two copies of the specification and drawings or models for
the sole purpose of satisfying himself of their identity, and having
found them consistent and that the specification has written at the
end the note mentioned in the second paragraph of article 16
(query 15 ?), he shall sign and seal both copies, in proof of the com-
pliance with this formality.
If he discovers any defects in the documents, he shall point them
out in his dispatch, and they must be corrected by the interested
parties themselves, or their attorneys ; for which purpose they
shall be allowed a term of two months, counting from the day of
the presentation of the petition to the government of the province,
L 33
514 FOREIGN LAWS.
if it is in the Peninsula or the adjacent islands, and of four months
if in the Canaries or Antilles, and of eight months for the Philip-
pine Islands.
These terms cannot be prolonged, and when once expired without
the defects pointed out having been amended, such application shall
not proceed, and the petition for the patent shall be considered as
of no effect.
ART. 20. When the requirements mentioned in two preceding
article have been observed, the director of the Conservatory of Arts,
bearing in mind the provisions of article 11, shall send the petition
to the minister of commerce, together with a report stating
(1.) Whether the form of the petition is in conformity with the
provisions of article 15.
(2.) Whether the specification and the above-mentioned draw-
ings, samples and models, all in duplicate, and the receipt for the
government tax for the first year, have been delivered.
(3.) Whether there is perfect conformity between the duplicates
of the specifications, drawings, samples or models and the originals.
(4.) Whether the object of the patent is comprised among one
of the cases of article 9.
(5.) Whether, taking all circumstances into consideration, it is
advisable to grant or refuse the petition.
ART. 21. If the application results favorably, the minister of
commerce shall inform the director of the Conservatory of Arts
thereof, who shall publish this decision by means of the Madrid
Gazette ; and within a term, which cannot be prolonged, of one
month from the date of publication, the interested party or his
representative shall appear at the Conservatory or Arts to pay in
Government paper the value of the stamp, which must be put on
the patent document. Should this not be done within the pre-
scribed term, the proceedings shall be stayed and the petition for
the patent shall be considered as of no effect.
ART. 22. When the payment mentioned in the preceding article
has been made, the director of the Conservatory of Arts shall inform
the minister of commerce thereof, who shall immediately issue the
patent of invention, and send it to the Conservatory of Arts, whose
director shall communicate it to the governor of the province where
the application was originally made, for the purpose of having it
duly entered in the register mentioned in article 16, and of having
it copied by the secretary of the conservatory in a special register,
after which it shall be delivered by him to the interested party or
SPAIN. 515
his representative, against a receipt which shall be attached to the
documents.
ART. 23. At the head of the patent there shall be printed in let-
ters of a larger type than the largest employed in the body of the
same the following words :
" Patent of invention, without guarantee of the government
as to the novelty, fitness, or utility of the object for which it is
granted."
AKT. 24. The secretary of the Conservatory of Arts shall like-
wise deliver to the interested party or his representative, against a
receipt, at the same time as the patent, one of the copies of the
specification and of the drawings, samples and models accompany-
ing it, and the whole shall be considered as an integral part of the
patent and so designated therein.
ART. 25. The special register of patents at the office of the sec-
retary of the Conservatory of Arts shall remain at the disposition
of the public during the hours fixed by the director. The dates in
this register shall be considered as evidence in the courts.
SECTION IV.
THE PUBLICATION OF PATENTS AND THE PUBLICITY OF SPECIFICA-
TIONS, DRAWINGS, SAMPLES, OR MODELS.
ART. 26. The director of the Conservatory of Arts shall deliver
to the Madrid Gazette, within the second half of the months of
January, April, July, and October, for immediate publication in
that official periodical, a report of all patents granted during the
preceding quarter, clearly expressing their objects.
The provincial governors shall have these reports reproduced in
the official bulletins in the same form as in the Gazette.
ART. 27. The specifications, drawings, samples, and models relat-
ing to the patents shall be open for public inspection at the office
of the secretary of the Conservatory of Arts during the hours fixed
by the director of the same.
Any one wishing to make copies thereof may do so at his own
expense, after previous consent of the director of the conservatory,
who will fix the place, days, and hours at which they can be made.
ART. 28. After the expiration of patents, the specifications,
drawings, samples, and models shall remain at the Conservatory of
Arts, in the museum of which shall be placed those which appear
worthy of being exhibited there.
516 FOREIGN LAWS.
SECTION V.
CERTIFICATES OF ADDITION.
ART. 29. The owner of a patent of invention, or those interested
through him, shall during the term of the grant have the right of
making any alterations, modifications, or additions to the object of
the patent, they may think proper, in preference to all others apply-
ing at the same time for a patent for an object similar to the alter-
ations, modifications, or additions.
Such alterations, modifications, or additions shall be established
by certificates of addition, delivered in the same way and with the
same formalities as the original patent, and after application and
proceedings as prescribed by article 15.
ART. 30. The applicant for a certificate of addition shall pay a
single tax of 25 pesetas in government paper.
ART. 31. Certificates of addition shall form part of the original
patent, and shall have from the respective dates of the application
and grant the same effect. The time for working a certificate of
addition terminates at the same time as that for the original pat-
ent.
SECTION VI.
CESSION AND TRANSFER OF PATENT RIGHTS.
ART. 32. All total or partial cessions of the rights conferred by
a patent of invention or certificate of addition, whether gratuitously
or for a consideration, and every other act involving a modification
of the original right must indispensably be made by deed on which
there shall be a certificate of the secretary of the Conservatory of
Arts, signed by the director, proving the payment up to date of the
taxes prescribed by this law, and that the assignor is the real owner
of the patent or certificate of addition according to the entries in
the records.
ART. 33. No assignment or other deed involving a modification
of the right can prejudice a third party, unless it has been registered
at the office of the secretary of the civil government of the province
where the original deposit took place.
ART. 34. The registration of cessions and of all deeds involving
a modification in the right shall be effected by the presentation and
delivery to the secretary of the provincial government of an attested
copy of the deed or contract of cession or modification.
SPAIN. 517
On this copy the secretary shall mark the day and the page of
the register.
AKT. 35. The civil governor of the province where the assign-
ment or other deed or contract involving a modification in the right
is registered, shall, within five days after it has been entered in the
register, transmit to the director of the Conservatory of Arts a copy,
certified by the secretary and countersigned by the governor, both
of the deed or contract of cession or modification, and of the entry,
on the register made by the secretary.
AKT. 36. The secretary of the Conservatory of Arts shall note
in the special register of patents all modifications occurring in the
right of each of them, after having taken cognizance of the certi-
fied copy of the deed or contract of cession annexed to the records.
ART. 37. The director of the Conservatory of Arts shall trans-
mit to the Gazette with the report mentioned in article 26 all mod-
ifications of rights that have taken place in the patents.
SECTION VII.
LIABILITIES OF PATENTEES.
ART. 38. The owners of a patent or certificate of addition shall
be required to prove before the director of the Conservatory of
Arts, within a term of two years counting from the date of the
patent or of the certificate of addition, that they have put it in
practice on Spanish territory, establishing a new industry in the
country.
The above mentioned term of two years can only be prolonged
by a law on equitable grounds, and for a term not exceeding six;
months.
ART. 39. The director of the Conservatory of Arts shall ascer-,
tain the fact, either by himself or through a practical engineer, or
any competent person appointed for that purpose, by means of
steps the least onerous he considers necessary, and for this end he
may demand the assistance of all authorities and corporations, who
are bound to aid him in the most efficacious manner with their
influence and all means they can employ for that purpose.
ART. 40. When the director of the Conservatory of Arts thinks
that the report concerning the working of the patent is sufficiently
proved, he shall transmit the same, together with his report, to the
minister of commerce for final decision.
ART. 41. The costs caused by the inquiries necessary to prove
518 FOREIGN LAWS.
that the object of a patent or of a certificate of addition has been
worked establishing a new industry in the country, shall be borne
by the interested party, who need only pay them when approved
by the director of the Conservatory of Arts.
ART. 42. The director of the Conservatory of Arts shall cause
the secretary to make on the register of patents a note of the 'decis-
ion recognizing the working, and communicate the same to the
governor of the proper province.
SECTION VIII.
NULLITY AND ANNULMENT OF PATENTS.
ART. 43. Patents of invention are void :
(1.) Whenever it is proved, with respect to the object of the
patent, that the circumstances ; of originality and novelty ; of not
having been established or practiced in essentially the same mode
and form within the dominions ; or any other circumstance, alleged
as fundamental in the application ; are not borne out.
(2.) Whenever it is found that the object of the patent is con-
trary to public order, or safety ; to morals, or to the laws of the
country.
(3.) Whenever the object for which the patent was applied for
is different from that which is worked in virtue of it.
(4.) Whenever it is shown that the specification does not con-
tain all that is required for the complete understanding and work-
ing of the object of the patent, or when it does not completely
indicate the real means of manufacturing or working.
ART. 44. Actions for annulment -can only be instituted by an
interested party.
The public prosecutor, however, may demand the annulment
when the patent comes under the second paragraph of article 43.
AKT. 45. Where the provisions mentioned in article 43 apply,
all certificates of alterations, modifications, or additions to the
original patent shall equally be null and void.
ART. 46. Patents of invention shall be annulled :
(1.) At the expiration of the term of the grant.
(2.) When the owner does not pay the annual tax before the
beginning of each year of the duration of the patent.
(3.) When the object of the patent has not been worked in the
Spanish dominions within the time mentioned in article .38.
SPAIN. 519
(4.) When the owner has ceased to work for one year and one
day, unless he can show good cause for such interruption.
ART. 47. The declaration of annulment of patents coming under
the first, second, and third paragraphs of article 46, belongs to the
minister of commerce, on the previous advice of the director of the
Conservatory of Arts. Against the decision of the minister there
may be lodged an appeal to the Council within 30 days. The
declaration of annulment of a patent coming under the fourth para-
graph of the same article 46, belongs to the courts of justice on the
application of an interested party.
ART. 48. The director of the Conservatory of Arts, after having
caused the required entries to be made in the register of patents,
shall transmit to the Madrid Gazette, together with the report
mentioned in article 26, a further list of the patents annulled by the
minister of commerce.
The civil governors shall cause such lists to be published in the
official bulletins of their provinces, and have copies made in the
registers of patents at the offices of their secretaries.
SECTION IX.
INFRINGEMENTS AND FALSIFICATION OF PATENTS, AND THE PENAL-
TIES TO WHICH THEY ARE SUBJECT.
ART. 49. Infringers of patents are those who knowingly encroach
on the rights of the legal owner by manufacturing or executing
the object of the patent by the same means.
Accomplices are these who knowingly assist in the manufacture,
execution, and sale or expedition of the counterfeit patent articles.
ART. 50. Infringement shall be punished by a fine of from 200
to 2,000 pesetas,
In case of a second offense the fine shall be from 2,001 to 4,000
pesetas.
It is a second offense when the infringer has been convicted of
the same offense within the five preceding years.
Complicity in infringement shall be punished by a fine of from
50 to 200 pesetas, and a second offense by a fine of from 201 to
2,000 pesetas.
All products obtained by infringement shall be delivered to the
patentee, besides damages for the loss he may have sustained.
Insolvents shall suffer, in both cases, imprisonment, as prescribed
by article 50 of the Criminal Code.
520 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. 51. Falsifiers of patents of invention shall suffer the pen-
alties mentioned in the first section of chapter 4, book ii., of the
Criminal Code.
ART. 52. Actions for the offense of infringement provided for
and punishable by the present section can only be entered by the
public prosecutor on the complaint of the injured party.
SECTION X.
JURISDICTION IN PATENT MATTERS.
ART. 53. Civil and criminal actions concerning patents of inven-
tion shall be instituted before industrial juries. Until the organ-
ization of the industrial juries, such actions shall be brought
before the ordinary courts.
ART. 54. Whenever the action is brought at the same time
against the grantee and against one or more licensees, the compe-
tent tribunal shall be that of the domicile of the grantee.
ART. #5. Civil actions shall be governed by the rules prescribed
for them by the laws relating to ordinary justice ; and criminal
actions shall be regulated by the criminal procedure.
ART. 56. The public prosecutor shall be a party to all actions
having for their object the annulment of a patent of invention.
ART. 57. In the case of the preceding article, all parties inter-
ested in the grant according to the register of the Conservatory of
Arts shall be summoned.
ART. 58. As soon as a patent of invention has been judicially
declared null or extinct, the tribunal shall communicate the judg-
ment to the Conservatory of Arts for entry, and the annulment or
expiry shall be published in the Madrid Gazette in the manner pre-
scribed by this law for the publication of patents.
The civil governors shall republish such annulments or expiries
in the official bulletins of their provinces, and make in the registers
of their offices the corresponding entries.
SECTION XI.
TRANSITORY DISPOSITIONS.
ART. 59. From the day the present law comes into force, all
anterior dispositions relating to patents of invention, of importation,
and of improvement shall be abrogated.
ART. 60. Existing patents of invention, importation, and
SPAIN. 521;
improvement, obtained under the old law, shall continue to be in
force during the term for which they were granted.
ART. 61. Applications made before the publication of the pres-
ent law shall be regulated in accordance with the old law ; the
applicants, however, may choose the terms and mode of payment of
the present law.
ART. 62. All actions for infringement, counterfeiting, annulment,
or extinction of patents, which were not begun before the commence-
ment of the present law, shall be pursued according to the provis-
ions of the same.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 495.
See also INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
Operation of the general patent law allows an extended time for the correct-
of Spain over her provinces abroad, ing defects in applications presented iu
Spain, like France and unlike Great Bri- the Canaries or Antilles, or in the Phil-
tain, has pursued the policy of providing lipine Islands. The mention, here, of the
a law suitable for her colonies and de- Antilles of course embraces only those
pendencies as well as for the mother few of the islands known by that general
country. Thus article 8 of the general name which belong to Spain. Cuba and
law (see p. 511 of the text), enacts that Porto Rico deserve mention as provinces
" all patents shall be considered as grant- of Spain important to inventors and pat-
ed not only for the peninsula and adja- entees. There are many others, but they
cent islands but also for the provinces are small, or the authority of Spain over
beyond the sea." Article 19 (p. 614) them is disputed.
522 FOREIGN LAWS.
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
An Ordinance for Granting Exclusive Privileges to Inven-
tors ; being Ordinance No. XII. of 1871.
PART I.
PRELIMINARY RULES.
1. Short title. This ordinance may be cited as the Inventions
Ordinance, 1871.
2. Interpretation clause. In the construction of this ordinance,
the following words and expressions shall have the meanings hereby
assigned to them, unless there be something in the subject or con-
text repugnant to such construction :
The word " invention " shall include an improvement.
The word " manufacture " shall include any art, process, or
manner of producing, preparing, or making an article, and also any
article prepared or produced by manufacture.
The word " inventor," when not used in conjunction with the
word " actual," shall include the importer of an invention not pub-
licly known or used in the colony.
The words " inventor" and " actual inventor" shall include the
heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns of an inventor, or actual
inventor, as the case may be.
The word " assigns " shall include grantees of the sole use or
benefit in the colony of an invention, or of the sole use of any
exclusive privilege for a limited time.
3. Invention. An invention shall be deemed a new invention
within the meaning of this ordinance, if it shall not, before the time
of applying for leave to file the specification, have been publicly
used in the United Kingdom, in this colony, or in any British Pos-
session. The public use of an invention prior to the application
for leave to file a specification shall not be deemed a public use
within the meaning of this section, if the knowledge thereof shall
have been obtained surreptitiously, or in fraud of the inventor, or
shall have been communicated to the public in fraud of the inven-
tor, or in breach of confidence. Provided that the inventor shall,
within six months after the commencement of such public use,
apply for leave to file his specification, and shall not previously
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 523
have acquiesced in such public use. Provided also, that the use of
an invention in public by the inventor thereof, or by his servants
or agents, or by any other person by his license in writing, shall
not be deemed a public use thereof, within the meaning of this
ordinance.
4. When exclusive privilege does not attach. No person shall
be entitled to any exclusive privilege under the provisions of this
ordinance ;
If the invention is of no utility ; or,
If the invention, at the time of presenting the petition for leave
to file the specification, was not a new invention within the meaning
of this ordinance ; or,
If the petitioner is not the inventor thereof ; or,
If the specification filed, or the amended specification (if any),
does not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be carried out, with the
particulars required by section 11 of this ordinance ; or,
If the original or any subsequent petition relating to the inven-
tion, or the original or any amended specification, contain a willful
or fraudulent misstatement.
5. Prerogative in respect of letters patent saved. Nothing in
this ordinance contained shall abridge or effect the prerogative of
the Crown, in relation to the granting or withholding the grant of
any letters patent for inventions, or otherwise, or affect or inter-
fere with any letters patent for an invention heretofore granted, or
hereafter to be granted by the Crown.
PART II.
ACQUISITION OF EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES.
6. Inventor may petition for leave to file specification ; form,
&c., of petition. The inventor of any new manufacture may peti-
tion the Governor in Council for leave to file a specification thereof.
Every such petition shall be in writing, in the form or to the effect
mentioned in the schedule A, and shall be signed by the petitioner,
or in case the petitioner shall be absent from the colony, by an
authorized agent, and shall state the name, condition, and place of
residence of the petitioner, and the nature of the invention.
7. An alien ami may petition. An alien ami, whether resident
in the colony or not, may petition for leave to file a specification
under this ordinance.
524 FOREIGN LAWS.
8. Order for filing specification. Power to refer petition for
inquiry and report. Fee for report. Governor in Council may
refuse order. Upon such petition the Governor in Council may
make an order authorizing the petitioner to file a* specification of
the invention. Provided always, that at any time before such
order is made, the Governor may, if he think fit, refer the petition
to any person or persons for inquiry and report, and such person or
persons shall be entitled to a reasonable fee for such inquiry and
report, to be paid by the petitioner, the amount of fee, in case of
dispute, to be settled by a judge of the Supreme Court in a sum-
mary manner.
And provided further, that it shall be lawful for the Governor
in Council to refuse to make any order under this section in any
case in which it may appear to him that the granting of exclusive
privileges under this ordinance would be prejudicial to the public
interests, or of doubtful public utility.
9. Petition and specification to be left with the colonial secretary ,
and to be accompanied by declaration by petitioner, or if absent, by
agent. To be recorded. Every petitition for leave to file a specifi-
cation, and every specification filed under this ordinance, shall be
left with the colonial secretary, and shall be accompanied by a
declaration in writing, signed by the petitioner, in the form in the
schedules B and C respectively ; and if the inventor be absent from
the colony, the petition and specification shall also be accompanied
by a declaration in the form in the schedule D, signed by the agent,
who shall present or file the same, to the effect that he verily
believes that the declaration, purporting to be the declaration of
the inventor, was signed by him, and that the contents thereof are
true. The date of the delivery of every such petition and specifica-
tion shall be indorsed on the same respectively, and shall also be
recorded in the office of the colonial secretary.
10. Order to file specification may be made subject to conditions.
An order, authorizing the filing of a specification, or for extending
the term of such exclusive privilege as aforesaid, may be made,
subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Governor in Coun-
cil may think expedient.
11. Specification to describe invention and manner of working,
t&c. Plans and further particulars. Every specification of an
invention filed under this ordinance shall be in writing, and shall be
signed by the petitioner, and shall clearly and minutely describe
and define the nature and purpose of the invention, and how and in
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 525
what manner it is to be worked and carried into practical operation,
and shall be accompanied by such explanatory plans, and shall con-
tain such further or other particulars and information as the Gov-
ernor in Council may require.
12. Petitioner to be entitled to exclusive privilege for 14 years.
Extension of term. If, within the space of six months from the
date of such order, the petitioner cause a specification of his inven-
tion to be filed in manner required by this ordinance, the Governor
in Council may, in the form E in the schedule, under the public
seal of the colony, grant to the petitioner, his heirs, executors,
administrators, and assigns, the sole and exclusive privilege of
making, selling, and using the said invention in the colony, and
authorizing others so to do, for the term of fourteen years from the
time of filing such specification ; and for such further term, if any,
not exceeding fourteen years from the expiration of the first four-
teen years, as the Governor in Council may think fit to direct, upon
petition to be presented by such inventor at any period, not more
than one year, and not less that six months, before the expiration of
the exclusive privilege hereby granted.
13. Petitions for disclaimer, how drawn' order; notice opposing;
proviso. If, after the filing of the specification, the inventor or his
assignees shall have reason to believe that through mistake or inad-
vertence he has erroneously made any misstatement in his petition
or specification, or included therein something which at the date of
his petition was not new, or whereof he was not the inventor, or
that such specification is in any particular defective or insufficient,
he may petition the Governor in Council for leave to file a memo-
randum, pointing out such error, defect, or insufficiency, and dis-
claiming any part of the alleged invention, or for leave to file an
amended specification, in case of any defect or insufficiency of the
specification.
The petition shall state how the error, defect, or insufficiency
occurred, and that it was not fraudulently intended, and shall be
accompanied by a declaration in writing, signed by the petitioner,
or, if he be absent from the colony, by his agent, stating that the
contents of such petition are true to the best of his knowledge and
belief. Upon such petition, the Governor in Council may make
an order, allowing such memorandum or amended specification to
be filed.
All the provisions of the 3d part of this ordinance applicable to
petitions and specifications shall be applicable to the petitions, orders
526 FOREIGN LAWS.
and memoranda, or amended specifications, referred to in this sec-
tion, but the stamp fee chargeable on the petition shall be five dol-
lars in lieu of fifty dollars.
Every petition under this section shall be published in the Gov-
ernment Gazette of the colony, and at the same time notice shall be
given in the said Gazette of the time when the petition will be
taken into consideration by the Governor in Council, and any per-
son interested in opposing the prayer of the petition may serve on
the colonial secretary a notice, on a stamp paper of the value of one
dollar, of his intention to oppose, and every person so serving a
notice may be heard by the Governor in Council, in opposition to
the prayer of the said petition.
Every memorandum of alteration filed under the provisions of
this section shall be added to and form part of the original specifi-
cation, and, except as to suits or proceedings relating to the exclu-
sive privilege which shall be pending at the time of the filing of
such memorandum of alteration, or of the filing of an amended
specification, the memorandum of alteration, or the amended speci-
fication, shall have the same effect as if it had formed part of or had
been the specification first filed ; provided that nothing contained
in an amended specification shall extend or enlarge any exclusive
privilege before acquired.
14. Patentee in England may petition for extension here. Pro-
viso. If an inventor who, prior to the time of applying for leave
to file a specification of an invention under this Ordinance, shall
have .obtained Her Majesty's letters patent for the exclusive use of
such invention in any part of the United Kingdom, or shall have
obtained a grant of exclusive privileges in any British Possession,
but not extending to this colony, shall petition the Governor in
Council for leave to file a specification of such invention, it shall be
competent to the Governor in Council to make an order authorizing
the petitioner to file a specification of the invention and exemplifi-
cation of the letters patent or grant of exclusive privileges granted
to him. On this being done, the petitioner shall be entitled to the
sole and exclusive privilege of making, using, and selling the said
invention in this Colony, duifmg the remainder of the term for
which the said letters patent or grant of exclusive privileges or any
renewal of the same may be in force, or for the term or terms men-
tioned in section 12. Provided that the petition for leave to file the
specification shall state that such letters patent or grant of exclusive
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 527
privileges have been granted, and shall also state the date thereof,
and the term during which the same are to continue in force.
15. Rule for Indian patents before April 1, 1867. Stamp fee.
Every person who, before the first day of April, 1867, shall have
obtained from the Governor General of India in Council a grant of
exclusive privileges under the Indian Act No. 15 of 1859, for India,
as defined in the said Act, shall be entitled to use and exercise in
the colony after the first day of April, 1867, all the rights and
privileges conferred by such grant, on registering at the office of
the colonial secretary a certified copy of such grant, and of the
specification filed in India on which such grant was made.
For every such register a fee of 5 dollars shall be paid, by a
stamp or stamps impressed on the said copy.
16. Disclaimers or memorandum of alterations made elsewhere,
and amendments under section 3, how to be filed. Proviso. When-
ever it shall be made to appear to the Governor in Council that a
disclaimer or memorandum of alterations relating to any invention
as to which privileges have been obtained in the colony under sec-
tion 14 of this ordinance, or under the provisions of the Electric
Telegraph Exclusive Pi-ivileges Ordinance, 1870, has been entered
according to the law of England, or the law of the British Posses-
sion in which the exclusive privilege may have been granted, and
whenever any amendments are made under section 35 of this ordin-
ance, it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to order that a
copy of such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration or amend-
ment shall be filed in the office of the colonial secretary, with and
as part of the specification of the invention and exemplification of the
letters patent, or of grant of exclusive privileges to which the same
relates ; whereupon the said specification of invention and exempli-
fication of letters patent, or of grant of exclusive privileges, shall
be read as if such disclaimer or memorandum of alterations or
amendment had formed a part thereof when filed in the office of the
colonial secretary. Provided that no such disclaimer, memorandum
of alteration, or amendment shall be held to extend the exclusive
rights granted by such letters patent, or grant of exclusive privi-
leges.
PART III.
GENERAL RULES.
17. Stamp on petition. Every petition for leave to file a speci-
fication under the provisions of this ordinance, or for the extension
528 FOREIGN LAWS.
of the term of an exclusive privilege, shall be written or printed
on a stamped paper of the value of fifty dollars.
18. All fees to be paid before filing. No specification shall be
filed until the petitioner shall have paid all fees and stamp duties
payable under this ordinance.
19. Specification to be open to inspection. Fee for inspection.
The specification, or a copy thereof, shall be open at all reasonable
times at the office of the colonial secretary to public inspection,
upon payment of a fee of one dollar.
20. Register for the registry of petitions, specifications y &c. A
register shall be kept in the office of the colonial secretary, wherein
shall be entered every such petition and specification, and every
order made upon such petition, or relating to the invention therein
mentioned, and every grant of exclusive privilege. Every specifi-
cation and every grant as aforesaid shall be numbered according to
the order in which they are entered in such book, and a reference
shall be made in such book, in the margin of the entry of each
specification, to every order relating to the invention.
21. Inspection of register. Fee. Certified copy of entry to be
given. Such register, or a copy thereof, shall be open at all con-
venient times for the inspection of any person, upon payment of a
fee of one dollar, and the colonial secretary shall cause a copy of
any entry therein, certified under his hand, to be given to any per-
son requiring the same, on payment of the expense of copying.
22. Certified copy to be prima facie evidence. Every copy of
a document filed in the office of the colonial secretary under the
provisions of this ordinance, purporting to be certified as a true
copy under the hand of the colonial secretary, shall be primd facie
evidence of the document of which it purports to be a copy.
23. Specifications. Service of notices, &c. Names and
addresses of proprietors. A book shall be kept in the office of the
colonial secretary (such book to be open to inspection without fee),
wherein every person filing a specification under this ordinance
shall cause to be stated, under a number corresponding with the
number of the specification, some place in the settlement where
service of any rules or proceedings for the purpose of canceling or
revoking his exclusive privilege, or of any other process may be
made. Any person, partnership, or company, from time to time,
being proprietors of, or having shares or interests in, such exclusive
privilege, shall cause to be entered in such book, under such num-
bers as aforesaid, their names, together with the name of some
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 529
place for the service of such proceedings and process as aforesaid.
All such rules, proceedings, and process shall be deemed sufficiently
served on any such person, partnership, or company, if a copy
thereof be left at the place entered in such book, or (if any other
place be substituted for the same by entry in said book) at the
place last substituted, by delivering the same to any person resident
at or in charge of such place ; or if there be no person resident at
or in charge of such place, and if such person, partnership, or com-
pany shall neglect to make or cause to be made such entry, then
service of such rule, proceeding, or process may be effected by affix-
ing a copy thereof to a conspicuous pai-t of the Supreme Court
house, or in such other manner as the court may direct.
24. Governor may determine exclusive privilege. Every exclu-
sive privilege under this ordinance shall cease if the Governor in
Council shall declare by notification in the Government Gazette,
that the same, or the mode in which it is exercised, is mischievous
to the State, or generally prejudicial to the public ; or if a breach
of any special condition, on which the petitioner shall have been
authorized to file a specification, or upon which the term of the
exclusive privilege shall have been extended, shall be proved to the
satisfaction of the Supreme Court, and if the Governor in Council
shall thereupon declaim that such exclusive privilege shall cease.
PART IV.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
25. Actions for infringements. An action may be maintained
in the Supreme Court by an inventor against any person who, dur-
ing the continuance of any exclusive privilege granted by this ordi-
nance, shall, without the license of the said inventor, make, use, sell,
or put in practice the said invention, or who shall counterfeit or
imitate the same.
26. Particulars to be delivered. Evidence at trial. Court may
amend particulars. In any such action the plaintiff shall deliver
with his plaint particulars of the breaches complained of in the said
action ; and the defendant shall deliver a written statement of the
particulars of the grounds (if any) upon which he means to contend
that the plaintiff is not entitled to an exclusive privilege in the
invention. In like manner, upon any application to the Supreme
Court under sections 30 and 31 of this ordinance, the applicant shall
deliver particulars of the objections on which he means to rely. At
I. 34
530 FOREIGN LAWS.
the trial of any action or issue, no evidence shall be allowed to be
given in support of any alleged infringement, or of any objection
impeaching the validity of such exclusive privilege, which shall not
be contained in the particulars delivered as aforesaid. If it be
alleged that the invention was publicly known or used prior to the
date of the petition for leave to file such specification, the places
where, and the manner in which the invention was so publicly known
or used, shall be stated in such particulars : Provided always, that
it shall be lawful for the court to allow the plaintiff or defendant
respectively to amend the particulars delivered as aforesaid upon
such terms as shall seem fit.
27. Action for infringement not to be defended for defect in
specification or petition, or for want of novelty in invention. No
such action shall be defended upon the ground of any defect or insuf-
ficiency of specification of the invention, nor upon the ground that
the original or any subsequent petition relating to the invention, or
the original or any amended specification, contains amisdescription,
nor upon the ground that the invention is not useful ; nor shall any
such action be defended upon the ground that the plaintiff was not
the inventor, unless the defendant shall show that he, the defend-
ant, is the actual inventor, or has obtained a right from the actual
inventor to use the invention, either wholly or in part.
28. The actual use of an invention in the colony, or the United
Kingdom, or any British Possession before the date of petition, a
defense to such action. Any such action may be defended upon the
ground that the invention was not new, if the person making the
defense, or some person through whom he claims, shall, before the
date of the petition for leave to file the specification, have publicly
or actually used in the colony or in some part of the United King-
dom, or in any British Possession, the invention or that part of it of
which the infringement shall be proved, but not otherwise.
29. In what case actual inventor entitled to assignment of an
exclusive privilege fraudulently obtained. If, upon proceedings
instituted by a person claiming to be the inventor, within two years
from the date of a petition to file a specification, he shall prove to
the satisfaction of the Supreme Court that the petitioner was not
the inventor, and that at the time of the petition he knew or had
good reason to believe that the knowledge of the invention was
obtained by himself or by some other person surreptitiously or in
fraud of the inventor, or by means of a communication made in
confidence by the actual inventor to him or to any person through
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 531
whom he derived such knowledge, the court may compel the peti-
tioner to assign to the inventor any exclusive privilege obtained
under this ordinance, and to account for and pay over the profits
thereof.
30. Application by attorney-general on breach of special condi-
tions. Costs. It shall be lawful for the attorney-general or solici-
tor-general to apply to the Supreme Court, calling upon any peti-
tioner under this ordinance, his executors, administrators, or assigns,
to show cause why the question of the breach of any special condi-
tion, upon which the leave to file a specification has been granted,
or any other question of fact on which the revocation of the exclu-
sive privilege by the Governor in Council, under the power reserved
in section 24, may, in the judgment of the said Governor in Council,
depend, should not be tried in the form of an issue directed by the
said court, and if the rule be made absolute, the court, unless the
breach or other matter of fact be admitted, may thereupon direct
such issue to be tried, and shall certify the result of such trial to the
Governor in Council. The costs of such trial, and also the costs
of such proceedings, shall be in the discretion of the said court.
31. Application to Supreme Court to declare exclusive privilege
not to have been acquired. It shall be lawful for any person to
apply by motion to the Supreme Court for a rule to show cause why
the court should not declare that an exclusive privilege in respect
of an invention or part of an invention has not been acquired under
the provisions of this ordinance, by reason of all or any of the
objections following (to be specified in the rule) ; that is to say :
That the said invention or part of invention was not at the time
of presenting the petition for leave to file the specification a new
invention ; or,
That the petitioner was not the inventor thereof, and, in addi-
tion thereto, either that the applicant was the inventor, or that the
inventor has dedicated or made known the invention or part of
invention to the public, or has acquiesced in the public use thereof;
or,
That the specification filed does not particularly describe and
define the nature of the invention or part of invention, or in what
manner the same is to be carried out ; or,
That the petitioner has fraudulently inserted in the petition or
specification, as part of his invention, something which was not new,
or whereof he was not the inventor ; or,
532 FOREIGN LAWS.
That the petitioner has willfully made a false statement in his
petition or specification ; or,
That some part of the invention, or the manner in which that
part is to be carried out as described in the said specification, is not
thereby sufficiently described and defined, and that such defect or
insufficiency was fraudulent, and is injurious to the public.
32. Service of proceedings on all persons interested. Notice of
any rule obtained or proceeding taken under either of the last three
preceding sections shall be served on all persons appearing to be
proprietors, or to have shares or interests in the exclusive privilege
under the provisions of section 23 of this ordinance, and it shall not
be necessary to serve such notice on any other persons.
33. Court may direct issue for trial. The Supreme Court may,
if it think fit, direct an issue for trial of any question of fact arising
upon an application under sections 30 or 31 of this ordinance, and
such issue shall be tried in the usual manner for trying issues of fact
in the said court.
34. Judgment. Costs. If it shall appear to the Supreme
Court, at the hearing of any application under the provisions of
sections 30 or 31 of this ordinance, that, by reason of any of the
objections therein mentioned, the said exclusive privilege in the
invention, or in any part thereof, has not been acquired, the court
shall give judgment accordingly, and shall make such order as to
the costs of, and consequent upon, the application, as it may think
just; and thereupon the petitioner, his heirs, executors, administrat-
ors, and assigns, shall, so long as tbe judgment continues in force,
cease to be entitled to such exclusive privilege.
35. Amendment of specification by court. Proviso. If the
court, at the hearing of any application under this ordinance, shall
think that the petitioner has, in the description of the invention
given in his petition or specification, included something which at
the date of the petition was not new, or whereof he was not the
inventor, or that the specification is in any particular defective or
insufficient, but that the error, defect, or insufficiency was not fraud-
ulently intended, the said court may adjudge the said exclusive
privilege to have been acquired and to be valid, save as to tbe part
thereof affected by such error, defect, or insufficiency ; or if the
court shall think that the error, defect, or insufficiency can be
amended without injury to the public, it may adjudge the exclusive
privilege in the whole of the invention to be valid, and may, upon
such terms as shall appear reasonable, order the specification to be
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 533
amended in any of the said particulars ; and thereupon the peti-
tioner, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, shall, within
the time limited by the court for the purpose, file a specification
amended according to such order.
Provided that no such amended specification shall have the
effect of extending or enlarging the exclusive privilege before
acquired.
36. Misdescript ton in the petition, if not fraudulent, not to defeat
the privilege. An exclusive privilege shall not be defeated upon
the ground that there is any misdescription of the invention in the
petition, unless such misdescription was fraudulent.
37. Entry in registry book, of judgment declaring privilege not
to have been acquired. Whenever it shall be adjudged by the said
court that an exclusive privilege as to the whole or any part of an
invention has not been acquired, the colonial secretary shall, upon
the production of a certified copy of the judgment or order of the
court, cause an entry thereof to be made in the register hereinbefore
in section 20 directed to be kept, and shall cause a reference to such
entry to be made in the margin of the entry of the specification
contained in such register.
38. Appeal to Privy Council. Nothing in this ordinance con-
tained shall be held to affect the right of appeal to Her Majesty in
Her Privy Council. Every such appeal may be had, and proceed-
ings therein shall be subject to the rules, orders, and regulations in
force, or to be in force, in the colony for appeals to Her Majesty in
Her Privy Council from decisions of the Supreme Court of the
Colony.
SCHEDULE.
A.
Form of Petition.
To His Excellency the Governor of the Colony of the Straits Settlements in
Council :
The petition of [here insert name, addition, and place of residence], for leave to file
a specification under the Inventions Ordinance, 1871, showeth,
That your petitioner is in possession of nn invention for [xtate the title of the inven-
tion], which invention he believes will be of public utility ; that he is the inventor or
owner of the said invention [or, as (he case may be, the assignee, or the executor, or
administrator, or heir of the inventor or owner of the said invention] ; and that the
534 FOREIGN LAWS.
same is not publicly known or used in the colony, to the best of his knowledge and
belief [or, as the case may be, that be is the first importer into the colony of the said
invention, and that the same is not publicly known or used in the colony].
N. B. If letters patent have been obtained for the invention, stale according to tJie
requirements of section 14.
The following is a description of the invention [here describe it as required by sec-
tion 11].
Your petitioner therefore prays for leave to file a specification of the said inven-
tion, pursuant to the provisions of the Inventions Ordinance, 1871. And your peti-
tioner, &c.
(Signed.)
The day ot
B.
Declaration to accompany a Petition.
I [here insert name, addition, and place of residence], do solemnly and sincerely
declare that I am in possession of an invention for [state the title of the invention as
in the petition] ; that I believe the said invention will be of public utility ; that I am
the inventor [or owner] of the said invention [or, as the case may be, the assignee, or
executor, or administrator, or heir of the inventor or owner of the said invention, or
that I am the first importer of the said invention into this colony], and that the same
is not publicly known or used in the colony to the best of my knowledge and belief ;
and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my said invention is truly described
in my petition for leave to file a specification thereof.
(Signed.)
The day of
Declaration to accompany a Specification.
I [here insert name, addition, and place of residence], do solemnly and sincerely
declare that I am in possession of an invention for [state the title of the invention],
which invention I believe will be of public untility ; that I am the inventor or owner
of the said invention [or, as the case may be, the assignee, or executor, or administra-
tor, or heir of the inventor or owner of the said invention, or that I am the first
importer of the said invention into this colony], and the same is not publicly known
or used in this colony to the best of my knowledge and belief ; and that, to the best
of my belief, the instrument in writing under my hand, hereunto annexed, particularly
describes and defines the nature of the said invention and in what manner the same
is to be carried out.]
(Signed.)
The day of
D.
Declaration by Agent.
I , of , do solemnly and sincerely declare that I have been appointe.1
by the said , his agent for the purpose of , and I verily believe that the
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 535
declaration purporting to be the declaration of the said , marked ( ), was
Bigned by him, and that the contents thereof are true.
(Signed.)
The day of
E.
Form of Or ant.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c.
(Signed.) [Signature of Governor.]
To all to whom these presents shall come,
Greeting :
Whereas A. E. of C. I)., has presented to [insert name of Governor^, Governor of
the Colony of the Straits Settlements, a petition (numbered in the book of
petitions for exclusive privileges in inventions in the office of the colonial secretary)
praying for leave to file a specification of a certain invention entitled [here insert the
title of invention], and an Order in Council, dated the day of ,18 ,
was made thereon, authorizing the said A. B. to file a specification of the said inven-
tion: And whereas the said A. B. did on the day of ,18 , file a
specification in accordance with the said order, and the same is entered in the Book of
Specifications of the colonial secretary, and bears the number therein : And
whereas all things have been done to entitle him to exclusive privilege in the invention
in the said petition and specification instituted, mentioned, and described for the term
of years : It i.i hereby ordered that the said A. B., his heirs, executors, admin-
istrators, and assigns, shall have the exclusive privilege of making, selling, and using
(as the case may be) the said invention in the said specification described in the Colony
of the Straits Settlements for the term of years, in terms of and subject to the
provisions of the Inventions Ordinance, 1871 [here insert any condition under which
the grant is made],
(Signed.)
Colonial Secretary.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 510.
536 FOREIGN LAWS.
SWEDEN.
Law of May 16, 1884.*
His royal majesty's gracious order respecting patents, given at the
Castle of Stockholm on the 16th of May, 1884.
We, OSCAU, by the grace of God, King of Sweden, Norway, Goth-
land, and Vendland, make known that, in accordance with a pro-
position of the Riksdag, dated the 25th of January last, we have
agreed to declare annulled (with some small exceptions herein
noted) our gracious order respecting patents, of the 19th of
August, 1856, and are graciously pleased to order as follows :
1. Patents may, under the conditions hereinafter prescribed,
be granted for inventions of industrial productions or of special
methods of manufacturing such productions.
Inventors only, Swedish or foreign, or the legal representatives
of inventors, are entitled to obtain patents.
2. Patents shall not be granted for inventions the working of
which would be contrary to law or morals. With regard to inven-
tions relating to provisions or medicines, patents shall not be
granted for the commodity itself, only for special methods for its
manufacture.
3. An invention shall not be considei'cd as new, if it has, prior
to filing the application for a patent with the patent authorities,
been described in any published journal, or is so openly worked
that any person conversant with the subject may, guided by the
information thus gained, work the invention, or if the object of the
invention doos not essentially differ from products or methods of
manufacture which have before become known in such a v;ay.
The publication of an invention in print by foreign patent
authorities or the exhibition of the same in any international exhi-
bition shall not be an obstacle to the granting of a patent, provided
the application is filed within six months from the date of publica-
tion or the day the exhibition commenced.
4. (1.) Whoever wishes to obtain a patent shall lodge a writ-
* Another translation of this law, dif- ing clause commencing and ending the law
fering slightly from that given in the in the text are taken, may be found in 28
text, and from which the title and enact- Pat. Off. Guz. 1 103.
SWEDEN. 537
/
ten application with the patent authorities or send it prepaid by
post. The application must be accompanied by a duplicate descrip-
tion of the invention and the drawings in duplicate which are
required to explain the description ; and when necessary, also by
models, samples or the like.
The application shall contain the name, profession and postal
address of the applicant, likewise the title of the invention.
The description must be given in so explicit and complete a
manner that any person conversant with the subject may, thus
guided, work the invention.
The description must also state what the inventor considers to
be novel in the invention.
When the applicant does not reside in the country he must
also deposit a power of attorney to an agent, residing in the country,
authorizing him to represent the inventor in everything pertaining
to the patent.
If patents are applied for for several inventions, separate appli-
cations must be lodged for each.
(2.) If the applicant names another person as the inventor he
shall produce papers authorizing him to represent the inventor.
(3.) The applicant is also required to pay a fee amounting to
fifty crowns according to section 11.
5. If the patent authorities find that the applicant has not
fulfilled the provisions of section 4 (I.) a written notice to that
effect will be kept at the office for him ; or, if a full postal address
is furnished, the notice will be sent to him by post. Should the
applicant not supply the deficiency within the date fixed by the
patent authorities the application will be considered abandoned.
6. Should it be deemed that the object of the invention is of
such a character that a patent may not be granted, or that the
invention evidently is not new, or if the applicant upon stating that
another person is the inventor has not proved himself to be the
legal representative of the inventor, or if the applicant has failed to
pay the fee prescribed by section 4 (3.) ; the patent authorities
shall immediately reject the application.
Notice of such a decision together with the Reasons for rejec-
tion will be communicated to the inventor in accordance with
section 5.
7. If the several documents for application are complete, and
there is no cause for immediate rejection of the application as pro-
vided in section 6, the patent authorities shall give notice of the ap-
538 FOREIGN LAWS.
plication in the newspapers, stating the main features thereof ; like-
wise it shall be the duty of the said authorities to keep the documents
of application accessible to every person desiring to obtain knowl-
edge of the same. And every one intending to contest the applica-
tion for the patent shall, within a period of two months from the
date of the announcement of the application, be permitted to file
with the patent authorities a written protest.
At the end of that period the patent authorities shall take up
the case under consideration.
If there is nothing to impede the granting of the application
the patent may be granted and letters patent be issued, saving,
however, the right of contest provided for in section 18. It shall
be the duty of the patent authorities to enter the grant in a regis-
ter kept for that purpose and to make it public by notices in the
newspapers and to have the description, with the necessary supple-
ments in their essential parts, printed and published in a suitable
way.
If the application is rejected the decision shall be communicated
to the applicant in the form enacted by section 6.
8. In cases where an application for a patent has been rejected
in pursuance of sections 6 and 7, and the applicant declares himself
dissatisfied with this decision, he may appeal to the King before
twelve o'clock upon the sixtieth day after the date of the decision
or the privilege of appeal shall be lost.
9. When several persons desire to obtain a patent for the same
or a similar invention, the right of preference will be granted to the
inventor whose documents for application, prepared in conformity
to law, were earliest lodged with the patent authorities.
10. Letters patent shall, except in the case hereinafter stated,
be issued for a period of fifteen years from the day the application
was filed.
Any person desiring to obtain a patent of addition for improve-
ments upon inventions patented before as his own, without apply-
ing for a new patent, may upon complying with the conditions
hereinbefore stated, have this granted for the same period as that
for which the prior patent is valid.
11. On each application for a patent a fee amounting to fifty
crowns shall be paid to the patent authorities as provided in section
4. Should the application be rejected or forfeited half that sum
will be returned to the applicant.
Upon each patent granted, with the exception of patents of
SWEDEN. 539
addition, the patentee shall pay to the patent authorities an annual
fee amounting for the second, third, fourth and fifth years of the
patent to twenty-five crowns, each year, and for each of the follow-
ing five years fifty crowns, and for each of the remaining five years
seventy-five crowns. The fee may be sent prepaid by post, and
shall for each year of the patent he paid before the commencement
of that year, under penalty of the fee for that year being increased
by one-fifth. Should the payment of the increased fee be after-
wards neglected, then at the end of the first ninety days of the new
year of the patent, the patent shall be considered as forfeited. The
patentee has not to pay, over and above the fees here prescribed,
the expenses of publishing the patent or the description.*
12. If the patent is assigned to another person, notice of such
proceeding, together with the documents proving the assignment,
shall be presented to the patent authorities. Unless such notice is
given, the patentee latest entered in the records shall be considered
by the patent authorities as patentee.
13. In case a patentee is about to reside abroad, or the patent
has been assigned to a person who does not live within the country,
it shall be the duty of the patentee to deposit with the patent
authorities a power of attorney to a legal representative as provided
under section 4(1). Should the agent of the patentee go away to
reside abroad, or his charge be otherwise discontinued, the patentee
must deposit a power of attorney to another agent. If these pro-
visions are not observed, the judge of the court shall upon being
duly notified of the matter appoint an agent for the patentee.
* The matter corresponding to section fifty kroner (about fourteen dollars), and
11 is stated in the Patent-office Gazette for each of the five last years seventy five
translation, as follows : kroner (about twenty-one dollars). The
With each application for patent shall duty (which must be forwarded in pre-
be paid to the patent authority, as stated paid letter) shall for each patent year be
in 4, 50 kroner (about fourteen dollars), paid before the beginning of that year ;
One half of this, however, shall be re- otherwise the duty for the same shall be
turned to the applicant if the application increased one-fifth. If, furthermore, the
fall through or be rejected. On every increased duty be not paid within ninety
patent, with the exception of patents of days after the beginning of the patent
addition, shall be paid by the holder of year, the patent shall be forfeited. The
the patent to the patent authority a yearly holders of patent are not obliged to pay
duty amounting for each of the second, beyond the above-named duties for the
the third, the fourth, and the fifth patent expenses of publication of the patent or
years twenty-five kroner (about seven dol- for the announcement of the detailed
lars), for each of the five following years description.
540 FOREIGN LAWS.
14. If the fees are paid and the proceedings completed as pro-
vided by sections 12 and 13, the patent authorities shall register the
payment in the records pursuant to section 7.
15. It shall be the duty of the patentee within three years
from the date at which the patent was granted to have the inven-
tion worked within the country to an adequate extent. But the
patent authorities may allow at the time the patent is granted, or
afterwards, should it be requested, and having regard to the char-
acter and extent of the invention, a prolongation of the period up
to four years. They may also determine in exceptional cases what
measures, taken by the patentee, shall be considered to have com-
plied with the conditions of working the invention.*
If the patentee has within the period prescribed failed to com-
ply with the conditions required for working the invention, or if
the working of the invention is subsequently abandoned and not
afterward resumed within a year, the patent shall be forfeited.
16. Claims in relation to patents shall not be valid against any
person who at the time the application for the patent was filed had
worked the patented invention or made extensive preparations for
such working.
17. If the King considers it necessary that a patented inven-
tion shall be open to the free use of the public, or appropriated on
account of the State, the patent shall be no obstacle, the patentee
shall however be entitled to full compensation. If the amount of
compensation cannot be agreed upon, it shall be fixed by a special
jury, appointed by the court, according to the provisions for expro-
priation of land or homesteads required for public purposes.
18. Should a patent have been obtained contrary to the pro-
visions of sections 1, 2 and 3, any person who considers his rights
violated through the patent granted, and also the public prosecutor,
when the interest of the public demands such proceedings, may con-
test before the court the validity of the patent.
* This point is thus stated in the trans- to him, and if the nature of the invention
lation given in the Patent-Office Gazette : and other causes make it desirable in his
The holder of the patent is required opinion) to extend the said period for
within three years from the date of when beginning working to four years, and
the patent was granted to bring into also in remarkably exceptional cases the
operation his invention to some practical patent authority may direct that the
extent within the realm. At the same holder of the patent be considered ad
time the patent authority shall have having fulfilled the conditions for the
power to allow at the grant of the patent working of the invention,
or afterward, if representations be made
SWEDEN. 541
19. All and every one who alleges that a patentee through
negligence in complying with the regulations prescribed by section
15 has forfeited his patent, may proceed before the court.
20. The court before whom it shall be lawful to proceed in
cases coming under sections 17, 18 and 19, shall be the Court of the
City of Stockholm.
21. If the validity of a patent has been contested, and the
contest has been decided, the decision shall through the court, be
transmitted to the patent authorities.*
22. Any person who without the permission of the patentee,
except in cases coming under sections 16 and 17, manufactures
goods in the country with an intent to sell, or for such manufacture
employs a method of which he knows another person to be the
lawful patentee ; or who sells in the country or imports into the
country for sale, goods patented here or made according to methods
of manufacturing which he knows to be patented here, which
methods he appropriates without permission of the patentee, shall
be liable to a fine varying from twenty to two thousand crowns,
and he shall be also liable to all the damages. No one but the pat-
entee has the right to take proceedings for these penalties.
Goods unlawfully manufactured or unlawfully imported into
the country shall, when the complainant so demands, be delivered
up to him against compensation for the value, or against deduction
therefor from the damages due to the complainant. Implements
exclusively applicable for the unlawful manufacture may, when
the complainant requires it, be destroyed to prevent further mis-
chief.
Persons accused under this section (section 22) who continue the
offense during the proceedings shall, when legally convicted be
called to account for each separate time a warrant has been issued
and served. .
Money fines according to this section go to the crown. In cases
of destitution when the fine cannot be fully paid, imprisonment
maybe substituted according to the general penal code.f
23. Should any person be accused of interfering with the
* Section 21 is translated as follows in f Section 22 is thus translated in the
the Patent-Office Gazette : Patent-Office Gazette.
The verdict in any action about the Any one who shall, except in the cases
validity of the patent, when the plea of mentioned in sections 16 and 17, without
invalidity has been approved, shall be the permission of the holder of the patent
sent by the court to the patent authority, within the realm, offer for sale, manufac-
542 FOREIGN LAWS.
rights of another person under a patent, and in the course of the
proceedings the patent be found invalid, forfeited, or the claim
unfounded, the person under prosecution shall be acquitted.
24. When a patent has ceased to be valid, either in conse-
quence of the provisions prescribed by this law, or when the pat-
entee has notified to the patent authorities his intention to give up
the patent, it shall be the duty of the patent authorities to cause the
same to be canceled in the register, and also to have notices of the
cancellation published in the newspapers.
25. With regard to patents granted in a foreign State, where
patents granted in this country are treated with corresponding con-
sideration, be it enacted that persons, who within seven months
from the day the application was filed in the foreign State, apply
for a patent for the same invention in this country, shall with
regard to this application in relation to earlier applications for pat-
ents, be considered as if the application was filed in this country at
the same date as the application was filed in the foreign State.
26. More detailed provisions relating to the character of the
documents required when an application is lodged, to the entering
of patents, and to the publication of the descriptions of patents, will
be issued by the King.
27. The regulations contained in this law shall take effect from
the first day of January, 1885, and applications for patents filed
pi'ior to that date shall be proceeded with in accordance with the
ture goods or make use of a mode of man- to him for compensation for the value or
ufacture, by manufacturing for sale, for in part payment of damages. All tools
which he is aware patent has been obtain- exclusively applicable for the unlawful
ed, or keep knowingly for sale within the manufacture shall, if the plaintiff demands
realm or for sale imports into the realm it, be dealt with in such manner that abuse
the patented article or articles which he with the same may not take place. Any-
knows to be produced by the patented body that during the time when he is
mode of manufacturing of goods without being proceeded against for infringement
the permission of the holder of the pat- under this section continues the same
ent, shall be punished with fines of not less offense, shall, when he is lawfully eon-
than twenty kroner (about five dollars victed, be fined separately for each nnd
and fifty-five cents), or more than two every time summons for the offense has
thousand kroner (about five hundred and been made out and served upon him.
fifty-five dollars), and all costs and dam- Fines which are imposed in conformity to
ages. At the same time no one but the this section fall to the crown. If the full
holder of the patent shall be allowed to value of the fines be not forthcoming,
prosecute. Unlawfully manufactured common penal punishment shall be im-
goods or unlawfully imported goods shall, posed in their place,
if the plaintiff demands it, be delivered up
SWEDEN. 543
provisions hitherto observed, also any court, where the validity of a
patent has been contested prior to the said date, may, notwithstand-
ing the provisions of section 20, proceed with the case.
If letters patent have been issued according to prior laws and a
patentee desires the same to be exchanged for another, granted pur-
suant to this law, he may lodge an application for that purpose with
the patent authorities, when the provisions stated in this law shall
be observed relative to the application, questions as to the novelty
of the invention being decided with regard to the period when the
former patent was granted. If a second patent is granted the
.period of its validity shall be considered to commence at the same
date as that of the patent previously issued, and the annual fees
to be paid shall be according to the date of the first patent.
Let all whom it concerns be obediently ruled by this law. For
further confirmation of this Act, we have ratified it with our auto-
graph signature and our royal seal, at the Castle of Stockholm, on
the 16th of May, 1884.
(Signed) OSCAR. [L. s.]
E. VON KBUSENSTJEKNA. (Signed.)
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 527.
644 FOREIGN LAWS.
SWITZERLAND.
According to a report by Mr. Gould, of the British Legation,
published November 18, 1873, in 4 Pat. Off. (faz. 523, there were
not, at the time of his writing, any special laws in the Swiss Con-
federation for the encouragement and protection of inventors.
According to dispatches from Frank H. Mason, United States
Consul at Basle, dated in 1882, and published September 19, 1882,
in 22 Pat. Off. Gaz. 947, the Federal Congress at Switzerland had
then recently enacted an amendment to the Constitution of the Con-
federacy, the purpose of which amendment was to enable the Fed-
eral Assembly to enact a general patent law ; this perogative having
been previously reserved by the several cantonal governments. By
the requirement of the Constitution, such amendment after its adop-
tion by the assembly must be submitted to popular vote for ratifi-
cation. Such submission took place July 20, 1882 ; when the pro-
posed amendment was defeated. By the Constitutional Law of
Switzerland, ten years must elapse before a defeated amendment
can be again presented for popular approval.
See also INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
TAHITI.
See FBANCE.
TASMANIA. 545
TASMANIA.
An Act to Regulate the Granting of Letters Patent for
Inventions ; No. XXII. of November 5, 1858.
[NOTE.* The words " registrar of patents " f in italics are alterations made by the
Amending Act of 1883.]
Preamble. Whereas it is expedient to promote and encour-
age the discovery and use of new manufactures, and to afford greater
facilities for obtaining for a limited period the exclusive enjoy-
ment thereof by means of letters patent : Be it therefore enacted
by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the
advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assem-
bly, in Parliament assembled, as follows :
1, Interpretation. In the construction of this Act the following
expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them, unless
such meanings are repugnant to or inconsistent with the context :
" Law officer " shall mean Her Majesty's attorney-general or
solicitor-general for the time being of the Colony of Tasmania :
" Invention " shall mean any manner of new manufacture the
subject of letters patent and grant of privilege within the meaning
of this Act :
" Petition," " declaration," " specification," " appointment to
hear application," " warrant," and " letters patent," respectively,
shall mean instruments in the form and to the effect in the schedule,
subject to such alterations as may, from time to time, be made
therein under the powers and provisions of this Act.
2. Power to grant letters patent for inventions. It shall be law-
ful for the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, in
the name and on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, to make and
issue, in the manner hereinafter mentioned, letters patent and
grants of privilege for any term not exceeding fourteen years from
the date thereof of the sole working or making of any manner of new
manufactures within this colony to the true and first inventor of
such manufactures, which others at the time of making such letters
* Notes printed in this form are from Gaz. 771, as act of November 6, 1885,
Carpmaels' edition. and without the insertion of " Registrar
f This law is published in 32 Pat. Off. of Patents."
I. 85
646 FOREIGN LAWS.
patent and grants do not use, so as also they be not contrary to law
nor mischievous to the community by raising prices of commodities,
or hurt of trade, or generally inconvenient.
3. Governor to make rules for executing Act. It shall be lawful
for the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council from
time to time, to make such rules and regulations, not inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act, as may appear to be necessary and
expedient for the purposes of this Act ; and all such rules and regu-
lations shall be laid before both Houses of the Parliament of Tas-
mania within fourteen days after the making thereof if Parliament
is then sitting, and if Parliament is not then sitting, then within
fourteen days after the next meeting of Parliament.
4. Mode of applying for letters patent for inventions. Every
application for the grant in this colony, under this Act, of letters
patent for inventions, shall be made by petition to the Governor,
the allegations of which petition shall be supported by a declara-
tion, to be made and subscribed by the applicant, that he is the true
and first inventor, and that the article has not to his knowledge or
belief been before made or used in this colony ; and such petitions
and declarations shall be lodged at the 'office of the registrar of
patents, and shall be in the form in the schedule, or to the like
effect.
5. On application for letters patent, inventor to deposit specifica-
tion. Specification may be amended before patent issues. The
applicant for letters patent for an invention shall, at the time of
lodging such petition and declaration as aforesaid, deposit at the
said office of the registrar of patents an instrument in writing under
his hand and seal, hereinafter called a specification, particularly
describing and ascertaining the nature of the said invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, which specification shall
be mentioned in and annexed to the declaration ; and shall also then
deposit at the said office a copy of such instrument, and of the
drawings accompanying the same, if any ; and the day of the deposit
of every such specification shall be recorded at the said office and
indorsed on such specification, and a certificate thereof givn to
such applicant or bis agent ; and thereupon, subject and without
prejudice to the provisions hereinafter contained, the said invention
shall be protected under this Act for the term of six months from
the day of such deposit, and the applicant shall have during such
term the like powers, rights, and privileges as might have been con-
ferred upon him by letters patent for such invention issued under
TASMANIA. 547
this Act, and duly sealed as of the day of such deposit ; and during
the continuance of such powers, rights, and privileges under this
provision, such invention may be used and published without prej-
udice to any letters patent to be granted for the same ; and where
letters patent are granted in respect of such invention, such letters
patent shall be conditioned to become void if such specification
does not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed : Pro-
vided always, that in case the title of the invention or the said
specification is too large or insufficient, it shall be lawful for the law
officer during the said term of six months, and before the grant of
the letters patent, to allow or require the same to be amended, or
another and sufficient specification to be deposited in lieu of such
specification as aforesaid ; and every such amended or new speci-
fication shall have the same force, effect, and operation as if it had
been originally deposited in its amended or new state.
6. Forms and size of specification and copy. Every such spec-
ification shall be in the form in the schedule, or to the like effect,
and shall be written upon parchment upon both sides, and every
page thereof shall be of the exact size of twenty inches in length by
fifteen inches in breadth, leaving a margin of at least one inch and
a-half on each side of every such page in order and to the intent
that the same may be bound into books for safe custody, but the
drawings accompanying such specifiations, if any, may be made
upon larger sheets of parchment, leaving a margin of the size and
for the purpose aforesaid ; and every copy of any such specification
as aforesaid, and of the drawings accompanying the same, if any,
shall in like manner be written upon paper of the size and with the
margins aforesaid.
7. Petition of true inventor not to le affected by protection
obtained in fraud of true inventor. In case of any application for
letters patent for an invention, and the obtaining of protection for
the same by reason of the deposit of any such specification as aforesaid
in fraud of the true and first inventor, any letters patent granted to
the true and first inventor of such invention shall not be invali-
dated by reason of such application or of such protection as afore-
said, or of any use or publication of the invention subsequent to
such application and before the expiration of the said term or pro-
tection.
8. Mode of proceeding after deposit of specification. The appli-
cant, so soon as he thinks fit after the deposit of such specification as
548 FOREIGN LAWS.
aforesaid, and of the drawings and models accompanying the same,
if any, may give notice in writing at the office of the law-officer of
his intention to proceed with his application for letters patent for
the said invention, stating in such notice the title of the said inven-
tion, and the day on which the specification thereof was deposited
at the office of the registrar of patents, and shall at the time of giv-
ing such notice produce the certificate of deposit ; and thereupon
the law-officer shall deliver to the applicant or his agent an appoint-
ment to hear the application in the form in the schedule, or to the
like effect ; and such applicant or agent shall cause the said appoint-
ment to be published once in the Gazette and twice in some newspa-
per published in Hobart Town and in Launceston ; and any person
having an interest in opposing the grant of letters patent for the
said invention shall be at liberty to leave particulars in writing of
their objections to the said application at the office of the law officer
within such time, not being less than one month, as the law officer
by such appointment may direct.
9. Law officer to hear application and objections. At the time
and place named in the said appointment the applicant shall produce
the Gazette and newspapers containing the same ; and the law
officer shall thereupon hear and consider the said application, and
all objections to the same mentioned in the said particulars, if any,
and for that purpose shall obtain from the office of the registrar of
patents the copy of the specification and of the drawings and models
accompanying the same, if any ; and the law officer may call to his
aid such scientific or other person as he may think fit, and may
cause such remuneration to be paid to such person as he thinks
proper : Provided always, that the applicant, the objectors, and
their respective witnesses and evidence, shall be respectively heard,
examined, and considered separately and apart from and in the
absence of the other and his witnesses and evidence.
10. Law officer may order by and to whom costs to be paid. It
shall be lawful for the law officer, if he sees fit, by certificate under
his hand, to order by and to whom the costs and expenses of any
hearing or inquiry upon any objection, or otherwise in relation to
the grant of such letters patent, shall be paid, and in what manner
and by whom such costs are to be ascertained ; and if any costs so
ordered to be paid are not paid within four days after the amount
thereof is so ascertained, it shall be lawful for such law officer to
make an order for the payment of the same ; and every such order
may be made a rule of the Supreme Court.
TASMANIA. 549
11. Laic officer may issue warrant for sealing letters patent. It
shall bo lawful for the law officer, after such hearing and consider-
ation as he may think fit, to issue a warrant under his hand and seal
for the sealing of letters patent for t,he said invention, and such
warrant shall set forth the tenor and effect of the letters patent
thereby authorized to be granted, and shall direct the insertion in
such letters patent of all such restrictions, conditions, and provisos
as the law officer may deem usual and expedient in such grants, or
necessary in pursuance of the provisions of this Act ; and the said
warrant shall be the warrant for the making and sealing of letters
patent under this Act according to the tenor of the said warrant ;
and every such warrant shall be in the form in the schedule or to
the like effect.
12. Writ of scire facias. The writ of scire facias shall lie for
the repeal of any letters patent issued under this Act in the like
cases as the same would lie in England for the repeal of letters pat-
ent which may now be issued under the Great Seal ; and in case
the grantee does not reside in this colony, it shall be sufficient to
file such writ in the proper office of the Supreme Court, and serve
notice thereof in writing at the last known residence or place of
business of such grantee.
13. Nothing to affect prerogatives of Crown in granting or
withholding letters patent. Nothing herein contained shall extend
to abridge or affect the prerogatives of the Crown in relation to the
granting or withholding the grant of any letters patent ; and it
shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to direct such law
officer to withhold such warrant as aforesaid, or that any letters
patent for the issuing whereof he may have issued a warrant as
aforesaid shall not issue, or to direct the insertion in any such let-
ters patent of any restrictions, condition^, or provisos, in addition
to or in substitution of any restrictions, conditions, or provisos
which would otherwise be inserted therein under this Act ; and it
shall also be lawful for the Governor in Council to direct the speci-
fication in respect of the invention described to be canceled in any
case in which letters patent may have been refused to be granted,
and thereupon the protection obtained by the deposit of such speci-
fication shall cease.
14. Letters patent to be void on non-performance of conditions.
All letters patent for inventions granted under this Act shall be in
the form in the schedule or to the like effect, and be made subject
to the condition that the same shall be void, and that the powers
550 FOREIGN LAWS.
and privileges thereby granted shall cease and determine, at the
expiration of three years and seven years respectively from the date
thereof, unless there is paid before the expiration of the said three
and seven years respectively the sum or sums of money in that
behalf by this Act required to be paid ; and the colonial treasurer
shall issue under his hand a certificate of such payment, and shall
indorse a receipt for the same on the letters patent.
15. Registrar of patents to issue letters patent. The registrar
of patents, so soon after the receipt by him of the said warrant as
he is required by the applicant, shall cause to be prepared letters
patent for the invention according to the tenor of the said warrant;
and it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to cause such
letters patent to be sealed with the seal of the colony ; and such
letters patent shall be made applicable to this colony, and shall be
valid and effectual within the same.
16. Letters patent to be issued within certain time. Save as
hereinafter mentioned, no letters patent shall issue on any warrant
granted as aforesaid unless application is made to seal such letters
patent within three months after the date of the said warrant, nor
shall any letters patent be issued or be of any force or effect unless
such letters patent are granted during the continuance of the pro-
tection conferred under this Act by reason of such deposit as afore-
said.
17. Letters patent may issiie after that time in certain cases.
Where the letters patent have not been sealed during the continu-
ance of such protection as aforesaid, and the delay in such sealing
has arisen from accident and not from the neglect or willful default
of the applicant, it shall be lawful for the Governor, if he thinks fit,
to seal such letters patent at any time, not being more than one
month after the expiration of such protection ; and where the appli-
cant for letters patent dies during the continuance of such protec-
tion as aforesaid, such letters patent may be granted to the execu-
tors or administrators of such applicant during the continuance of
such protection, or at any time within three months after the death
of such applicant, notwithstanding the expiration of the term of
such protection ; and the letters patent so granted by virtue of this
section shall be of the like force and effect as if they had been
granted to such applicant during the continuance of such protection;
and in case any letters patent are destroyed or lost, other letters
patent of the like tenor and effect, and sealed and dated as of the
same day, may, subject to such regulations as the Governor in
TASMANIA. 551
Council may direct, be issued under the authority of the warrant in
pursuance of which the original letters patent were issued.
18. Letters patent to bear date of the deposit of specification and
to be conclusive as to preliminary steps and proceedings. Notwith-
standing any law to the contrary, all letters patent to be issued in
pursuance of this Act shall be sealed and bear date as of the day of
the deposit of such specification as aforesaid ; and such letters pat-
ent shall be of the same force and validity as if they had been sealed
on the day as of which the same are expressed to be sealed and bear
date ; and after any letters patent have been issued under this Act
it shall not be necessary or material to inquire or ascertain whether
such appointment to hear the application as aforesaid has or has
not been delivered and published in the manner hereinbefore men-
tioned and directed.
19. Letters patent for foreign inventions not to continue after
expiration of foreign patent. Where upon any application made
under this Act letters patent are granted for or in respect of any
invention first invented in parts out of this colony, and a patent or
the like privilege for the monopoly or exclusive use or exercise of
such invention in any part out of this colony is there obtained
before the grant of such letters patent in this colony, all rights and
privileges under such letters patent shall, notwithstanding any term
in such letters patent limited, cease and be void immediately upon
the expiration or other determination of the term during which the
patent or like privilege obtained in such part out of this colony con-
tinues in force, or where more than one such patent or like privilege
is obtained abroad, immediately upon the expiration or determina-
tion of the term which first expires or is determined of such several
patents or like privileges : Provided always, that no letters patent
for or in respect of any invention for which any such patent or like
privilege as aforesaid has been obtained abroad, granted in this
colony after the^expiration or determination of the term for which
such patent or privilege was granted or was in force, shall be of
any validity.
20. Letters patent not to prevent the use of inventions on foreign
ships resorting to ports of this colony. No letters patent for any
invention granted in pursuance of this Act shall extend to prevent
the use of such invention in any foreign ship or vessel, or for the nav-
igation of any foreign ship or vessel which may be in any port of
this colony, or in any of the waters within the jurisdiction of any
of Her Majesty's courts in this colony, where such invention is not
552 FOREIGN LAWS.
BO used for the manufacture of any goods or commodities to be
vended within or exported from this colony : Provided always that
this enactment shall not extend to the ships or vessels of any for-
eign State, the laws of which authorize subjects of such foreign
State having patents or like privileges for the exclusive use or exer-
cise of inventions within its territories to prevent or interfere with
the use of such inventions in British ships or vessels, or in or about
the navigation of British ships or vessels while in the ports of such
foreign State, or in the waters within the jurisdiction of its courts,
where such inventions are not so used for the manufacture of goods
or commodities to be vended within or exported from the territories
of such foreign State.
21. Specifications, &c. to be filed. Every specification deposited
at the office of the registrar of patents as aforesaid, and t-he draw-
ings and models accompanying the same, if any, and all such peti-
tions and declarations, as aforesaid, shall forthwith after the grant
of the letters patent, or if no letters patents are granted then
immediately on the expiration of six months from the time of such
deposit, or upon the specification being so canceled as aforesaid, be
transferred to, kept, and filed in such office as the Governor in
Council from time to time appoints for that purpose ; and the. cop-
ies of such specifications, and the drawings and models, if any,
accompanying the same, shall also be forwarded to and kept at the
same office.
22. Application to disclaim or make alterations. Any person
who obtains letters patent under this Act, or in case such person
parts with the whole or any part of his interest by assignment,
such person together with the assignee if part only has been
assigned, or the assignee alone if the whole has been assigned, may
apply to the law officer for leave to enter a disclaimer of any part Of
either the title of the invention or of the specification, or a memo-
randum of any alteration in the said title or specification, not being
such a disclaimer or such an alteration as extends the exclusive
right granted by the said letters patent; and thereupon the law
officer shall deliver to such applicant or his agent an appointment
to hear such application in the form in the schedule or to the like
effect ; and such applicant or his agent shall thereupon cause such
disclaimer, stating the reason for the same, or such memorandum of
alteration, to be written at the foot of the said appointment, and
cause the same respectively to be published in the manner herein-
before required with respect to the publication of the appointment
. TASMANIA. 553
to hear an application for letters patent ; and any person having an
interest in opposing the said application shall be at liberty to leave
particulars in writing of their objections to the same at the office of
the law officer, within such time not'being less than one month as the
law officer, by such appointment, may direct : Provided always, that
where such application as aforesaid is for leave to enter a disclaimer
of any part of the title of the said invention or a memorandum of
any alteration in such title, the law officer may dispense with such
appointment and publication, and in that case shall certify in the
fiat hereinafter mentioned that he has dispensed with the same.
23. Law officer to hear applications for leave to disclaim. At
the time and place named in such appointment the applicant shall
produce the Gazette and newspapers containing the same, and the
said disclaimer, or memorandum of alteration at the foot thereof ;
and the law officer shall thereupon hear and consider the said appli-
cation, and all objections to the same mentioned in the said particu-
lars, if any, and all such power and authority shall and may be
exercised upon that occasion by the law officer as by virtue of the
provisions hereinbefore contained can and may be exercised in rela-
tion to the hearing and considering an application for letters patent
and objections to the same, and shall and may be enforced in like
manner.
24. Disclaimers and alterations to be entered and filed. After
such hearing and consideration, or without such hearing and con-
sideration where the said appointment and publication have been
dispensed with as aforesaid, such applicant may, by leave of the
law officer, to be certified by a fiat under his hand to be written at
the foot of the same parchment with the disclaimer or memorandum,
enter such disclaimer, stating the reason for the same, or such
memorandum of alteration ; and such disclaimer or memorandum
of alteration and fiat shall be filed in the office in which specifica-
tions are appointed to be filed as aforesaid, with the specification of
the invention to which the same relate ; and such disclaimer or
memorandum of alteration, being so filed in such office, shall be
deemed and taken to be part of the letters patent or the specifica-
tion, and subject to the several incidents thereof, in all courts what-
ever, and shall be valid and effectual in favor of any person in
whom the rights under the said letters patent may then be or there-
after become legally vested ; and such filing of any disclaimer or
memorandum of alteration in pursuance of the leave of the law
officer certified as aforesaid shall, except in cases of fraud, be con-
Hi
554 FOREIGN LAWS.
elusive as to the right of the party to enter such disclaimer or
memorandum of alteration under this Act, and no objection shall
he allowed to be made in any proceeding upon or touching such
letters patent, specification, disclaimer or memorandum of altera-
tion, on the ground that the person entering such disclaimer or
memorandum of alteration had not sufficient authority in that
behalf : Provided always, that no action shall be brought upon any
letters patent in which or on the specification of which any dis-
claimer or memorandum of alteration has been filed in respect of
any infringement committed prior to the filing of such disclaimer
or memorandum of alteration, unless the law officer certifies in his
said fiat that any such action may be brought, notwithstanding the
entry or filing of such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration ;
and that no such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration shall be
receivable in evidence in any action or suit, save and except in any
proceeding by scire facias pending at the time when such disclaimer
or alteration was filed as aforesaid, but in every such last mentioned
action or suit the original title and specification alone shall be given
in evidence, and be deemed and taken to be the title and specifica-
tion of the invention for which the letters patent have been granted :
Provided also, that when any such fiat has been issued under this
Act, it shall not be necessary or material to inquire or ascertain
whether such appointment as last aforesaid has or has not been
delivered and published or dispensed with in accordance with this
Act.
25. Specifications, cfcc., to be open to inspection. All specifica-
tions, and the drawings and models accompanying the same, if any,
and all petitions, declarations, disclaimers, and memoranda of alter-
ations filed in the office appointed for filing specifications under and
in pursuance of this Act, and also the copies of the specifications,
and drawings and models accompanying the same, if any, kept at
the said office, shall be open to the inspection of the public at all
reasonable times, subject to such regulations as the Governor in
Council may appoint in that behalf.
26. Mode of obtaining extension of the term. If any person
having obtained letters patent under this Act, or in case such per-
son has parted with his whole or any part of his interest by
assignment, if such person, together with the assignee where part
only has been assigned, or if the assignee alone where the whole
has been assigned, six months before the expiration or other deter-
mination of such letters patent, presents to the Governor a petition
TASMANIA. 555
for the extension of the terra in such letters patent mentioned, and
sets forth in such petition that he has been unable to obtain a due
remuneration for his expense and labor in perfecting such invention,
and that an exclusive right of using and vending the same for some
further period to be named in such petition, in addition to the said
term, is necessary for his reimbursement and remuneration, it shall
be lawful for the Governor in Council to refer the consideration of
the said petition to commissioners to be appointed for that purpose
in the manner hereinafter mentioned.
27. Mode of obtaining confirmation of invalid patent. If in
any suit or action it is proved or specially found by the verdict of
a jury that any person who has obtained letters patent for any
invention or supposed invention was not the first inventor thereof,
or of some part thereof, by reason of some other person having
invented or used the same or some part thereof in this colony,
before the date of such letters patent, or if such patentee or his
assigns discover that some other person had, unknown to such pat-
entee, invented or used the same or some part thereof in this colony
before the date of such letters patent, such patentee or his assigns
may petition the Governor to confirm the said letters patent, or to
grant new letters patent, and it shall be lawful for the Governor in
Council to refer the consideration of the said petition to commis-
sioners to be appointed for that purpose in the manner hereinafter
mentioned.
28. Appointment of commissioners. For the purpose of con-
sidering any such petition as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the
Governor in Council, if he thinks fit, to issue and direct a commis-
sion in the name of Her Majesty to five or more persons, of whom
the judges of the Supreme Court shall be two, reciting such petition
and requiring or authorizing such persons or any three of them, of
whom one of the said judges shall be one, to meet at some time, not
being less than two months from the publication of the said com-
mission in the Gazette, and at some place to be fixed in the said
petition, and to report to the Governor, in case the petitioner prays
for an extension of the term in the letters patent mentioned, whether
any, and if any what, further extension of the said term should be
granted, or in case the petitioner prays for a confirmation of the
letters patent or for a grant of new letters patent, whether such
confirmation or grant should be made, and upon what, if any, con-
ditions the prayer of any such petition should be complied with.
29. Notice of commission to be published and caveats entered.
556 FOREIGN LAWS.
Two months at least before the time named in the commission for
the consideration of any such petition as aforesaid, the petitioner
shall cause an advertisement of the contents of the said commission,
in the form in the schedule or to the like effect, to be published in
the same manner as is hereinbefore required with respect to the
publication of the appointment to hear an application for letters
patent ; and any person having an interest in opposing the said
petition shall be at liberty to enter a caveat against the same at the
office of the registrar of patents, at any time not being less than one
week before the time named in the commission for the execution
thereof.
30. Commissioners to hear all parties and report. At the time
and place fixed in the commission for that purpose the commission-
ers, shall meet and proceed to consider such petition ; and the peti-
tioner shall be heard by his counsel and witnesses to prove his case
as stated in such petition, and the publication of the said last men-
tioned advertisement as required by this Act ; and the persons enter-
ing caveats shall likewise be heard by their counsel and witnesses ;
and all such witnesses shall be examined upon oath, which oath any
one of the commissioners is hereby authorized and required to admin-
ister ; and the proceedings before the said commissioners may be
adjourned from time to time as may be necessary.
31. Extension of term may be granted. Invalid patents may
be confirmed. Parties to actions to have notice of petitions. If
upon hearing and inquiry of the whole matter the commissioners,
in case the petitioner prays for an extension as aforesaid, are of
opinion, and so report, that a further extension of the said term
should be granted, it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council, if
he thinks fit, to grant to the petitioner new letters patent for the
said invention for any term not exceeding fourteen years after the
expiration of the term of the first letters patent, anything herein-
before contained to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding ; and
if the commissioners, in case the petitioner prays for a confirmation
or grant as aforesaid, upon examining the said matter, and being
satisfied that such patentee as aforesaid believed himself to be the
first and original inventor, and that such invention, or part thereof,
had not been publicly and generally used in this colony before the
date of the first letters patent, report their opinion that the prayer
of such petition ought to be complied with, the Governor in Coun-
cil may, if he thinks fit, grant such prayer ; and the said letters
patent shall be available at law and in equity to give to such peti-
TASMANIA. 557
tioner the sole right of using, making, and vending such invention
as against all persons whatsoever, anything hereinbefore contained
to the contrary notwithstanding : Provided, that any person, party
to any former suit or action touching any such first letters patent
as in this section are mentioned, shall be entitled to have notice in
writing of the time and place fixed as aforesaid for the first meet-
ing of the said commissioners to consider the said petition ; and
that after any such report has been made it shall not be material or
necessary to inquire or ascertain whether any such advertisement
as last aforesaid has or has not been published, or whether any such
notice as last aforesaid has or has not been given in the manner
hereinbefore directed in that behalf.
32. Conditions may be inserted in new patents. Date of new pat-
ents. It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to insert in any
such new letters patent as in the preceding section are mentioned any
restrictions, conditions, and provisions which may be recommended
by the commissioners in their report, or which to the Governor in
Council may seem proper ; and such new letters patent shall be
sealed and bear date as of the day after the expiration of the term
of the first letters patent.
33. Indexes to specifications, &c. The Governor may cause
indexes to all specifications, declarations, disclaimers, and memo-
randa of alterations, deposited and filed as aforesaid, to be prepared
in such form as may be thought fit ; and such indexes shall be open
to the inspection of the public, subject to the regulations to be made
by the Governor.
34. Register of patents to be kept. There shall be kept at the
office appointed for filing specifications as aforesaid a book, to be
called the " Register of Patents," wherein shall be entered and
recorded in chronological order ajl letters patents granted under
this Act, -the deposit and filing of specifications, disclaimers and
memoranda of alterations filed in respect of such letters patent,
all amendments in such letters patent and specifications, all con-
firmations and extensions of such letters patent, the expiry, determ-
ination, vacating, or canceling of such letters patent, with the dates
thereof respectively, and all such other matters and things affect-
ing the validity of such letters patent as the Governor in Council
may direct ; and such register or a copy thereof, shall be open at
all convenient times to the inspection of the public, subject to such
regulations as the Governor may make in that behalf.
35. Register of Proprietors to be kept. There shall be kept at
558 FOREIGN LAWS.
the same office a book, entitled the "Register of Proprietors,"
wherein shall be entered, in such manner as the Governor directs,
the assignment of any letters patent, or of any share or inter-
est therein, any license under letters patent, and the district to
which such license relates, with the name or names of any person
having any share or interest in such letters patent or license, tho
date of his or their acquiring such letters patent, share, and interest,
and any other matter or thing relating to or affecting the pro-
prietorship in such letters patent or license ; and a copy of any
entry in such book, certified as hereinafter mentioned, shall be given
to any person requiring the same, and shall be primd facie proof of
the assignment of such letters patent, or share or interest therein,
or of the license or proprietorship, as therein expressed ; and such
register or a copy thereof shall be open to public inspection, sub-
ject to such regulations as the Governor may make : Provided
always, that until such entry has been made, the grantee of the
letters patent shall be deemed and taken to be the sole and exclu-
sive proprietor of such letters patent, and of all the licenses and
privileges thereby given and granted.
36. More than twelve persons may be interested in patent. It
shall be lawful for a larger number than twelve persons to have a
legal and beneficial interest in letters patent granted under this
Act.
37. Certified copies to be evidence. The Governor may cause a
seal to be made for the purposes hereinafter mentioned ; and all
courts, judges, and other persons whomsoever shall take notice of
such seal, and receive impressions thereof in evidence in like man-
ner as impressions of the seal of the colony are received in evidence;
and copies or extracts, certified and sealed with such seal, of letters
patent, specifications, disclaimers, memoranda of alterations, and all
other documents or books recorded, filed, and kept in pursuance of
this Act, shall be received in evidence in all proceedings relating to
letters patent for inventions in all courts, and by all judges and
other persons whomsoever.
38. Falsification or forgery of entries. If any person willfully
makes, or causes to be made, any false entry in the said Register of
Proprietors, or willfully makes or forges, or causes to be made or
forged, any writing falsely purporting to be a copy of any entry in
the said book, or produces or tenders, or causes or suffers to be pro-
duced or tendered in evidence, any such writing knowing the same
to be false or forged, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall
TASMANIA. 559
be liable to be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for any term
not exceeding two years, or to be fined and imprisoned at the dis-
cretion of the court.
39. Entries may be expunged from Register of Proprietors.
If any person deems himself aggrieved by any entry made under
color of this Act, in the said Register of Proprietors, it shall be
lawful for such person to apply by motion to the Supreme Court in
term time, or by summons to a judge of such court in vacation, for
an order that such entry may be expunged, vacated, or varied ; and
upon any such application, such court or judge respectively may make
such order for expunging, vacating, or varying such entry, and as
to the costs of such application, as to such court or judge may seem
fit ; and the officer having the care and custody of such Register,
on the production to him of any such order, shall expunge, vacate,
or vary the said entry according to the requisition of such order.
40. Penalty for unauthorized use of word "patent." If any
person writes, paints, prints, moulds, casts, carves, engraves, stamps,
or otherwise marks upon anything made, used, or sold by him, for
the sole making or selling of which he has not obtained letters pat-
ent, the name or any imitation of the name of any other person who
has obtained letters patent for the sole making and vending of such
tiling, without leave in writing of such patentee or his assigns, or if
any person upon such thing, not having been purchased from the
patentee, or some person who purchased it from or under such pat-
entee, or not having had the license or consent in writing of such
patentee or his assigns, writes, paints, prints, moulds, casts, carves,
engraves, stamps, or otherwise marks the word " patent," the words
" letters patent," or the words " by the Queen's patent," or any
words of the like kind, meaning, or import, with a view of imitating
or counterfeiting the stamp, mark, or other device of the patentee,
he shall for every such offense forfeit and pay the sum of one hun-
dred pounds, one half to Her Majesty, and the other half with full
costs of suit to any person who sues for the said penalty by action
of debt : Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be
construed to extend to subject any person to any penalty in respect
of stamping or in any way marking the word " patent " upon any-
thing made for the sole making or vending of such letters patent
before obtained have expired or been otherwise determined.
41. In actions for infringement, particulars of breaches and
objections to be delivered. In any action for the infringement of
letters patent the plaintiff shall deliver with his declaration particu-
560 FOREIGN LAWS.
lars of the breaches complained of in the said action, and the
defendant on pleading thereto shall deliver with his pleas, and the
prosecutor in any proceeding by scire facias to repeal letters patent
shall deliver with his declaration, particulars of any objections on
which he means to rely at the trial in support of the pleas in the
said action, or of the suggestions of the said declarations in the pro-
ceeding by scire facias respectively ; and at the trial or proceeding
by scire facias no evidence shall be allowed to be given in support
of any alleged infringement or of any objection impeaching the
validity of such letters patent which are not contained in the par-
ticulars delivered as aforesaid : Provided always, that the place at
or in which and in what manner the invention is alleged to have
been used or published prior to the date of the letters patent shall
be stated in such particulars : Provided also, that it shall and may
be lawful for any judge at chambers to allow such plaintiff or
defendant or prosecutor respectively to amend the particulars deliv-
ered as aforesaid, upon such terms as to such judge seems fit. Pro-
vided also, that at the trial of any proceeding by scire facias to
repeal letters patent the defendant shall be entitled to begin and to
give evidence in support of such letters patent ; and in case evi-
dence is adduced on the part of the prosecutor impeaching the
validity of such letters patent, the defendant shall be entitled to
the reply.
42. Court may grant injunction in case of infringement. In
any action for the infringement of letters patent, it shall be lawful
for the court, if the court is then sitting, or if the court is not sit-
ting then for a judge, on the application of the plaintiff or defend-
ant respectively, to make such order for an injunction, inspection,
or account, and to give such direction respecting such action, injunc-
tion, inspection, and account, and the proceedings therein respect-
ively, as to such court or judge may seem fit.
43. Particulars to be regarded in taxing costs. In taxing the
costs in any action for infringing letters patent, regard shall be had
to the particulars delivered in such action, and the plaintiff and
defendant respectively shall not be allowed any costs in respect of
any particular unless certified by the judge before whom the trial
was had to have been proved by such plaintiff or defendant respec-
tively, without regard to the general costs of the cause ; and it
shall be lawful for the judge before whom any such action is tried
to certify on the record that the validity of the letters patent in the
declaration mentioned came in question : and the record with such
TASMANIA. 561
certificate being given in evidence in any suit or action for infring-
ing the said letters patent, or in any proceeding by scire facias to
repeal the letters patent, shall entitle the plaintiff in any such suit
or action, or the defendant in such proceeding by scire facias, on
obtaining a decree, decretal order, or final judgment, to his full
costs, charges, and expenses, taxed as between attorney and client,
unless the judge making such decree or order, or the judge trying
such action or proceeding, certifies that the plaintiff or defendant
respectively ought not to have such full costs.
44. Fees on obtaining patents. There shall be paid in respect
of letters patent applied for or issued under or in pursuance of this
Act, the depositing of specifications, the filing of disclaimers and
memoranda of alterations, certificates, entries, and searches, and
other matters and things respectively mentioned in the schedule,
such fees as are enumerated in the schedule ; and such of the said
fees as are hereby made payable to the law officer shall and may be
received and retained by such law officer for his own proper use ;
and the residue of the said fees shall form part of the general rev-
enue, and shall be forthwith paid into the colonial treasury by the
persons receiving the same in pursuance of this Act.
45. English patents. All letters patent which are granted in
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the 30th
day of June, 1859, for any invention, shall, so far as the same relate
to this colony, be utterly void and of none effect, and in nowise be
put in execution ; but all such letters patent granted in the said
United Kingdom on or before that day, and which if this Act had
not been passed would have been valid in this colony, shall be
deemed and taken to have been granted under this Act, and maybe
dealt with accordingly.
46. Forms in schedule may be varied. The Governor in Coun-
cil may, if he thinks fit, vary and alter the several forms in the
schedule as occasion may require.
47. Short title. In referring to this Act it shall be sufficient to
use the expression the Patent Law Act.
L 36
662 FOREIGN LAWS.
SCHEDULE.
FORMS.
Petition.
No.
To His Excellency the Governor of the Colony of Tasmania.
The humble petition of [here insert name and address of petitioner,] for, &c.
Showeth,
That your petitioner is in possession of an invention for [the title of the invention,"]
which invention he believes will be of great public utility ; that he is the true and first
inventor thereof ; and that the same has not been before made or used in this colony
by any other person or persons, to the best of his knowledge and belief.
Your petitioner therefore humbly prays that Your Excellency will be pleased to
grant unto him, his executors, administrators, and assigns, letters patent for the term
of fourteen years, pursuant to the provisions of the Patent Law Act.
And your petitioner will ever pray, &c.
Declaration.
No.
1 1, A. ., of , in Tasmania, do hereby solemnly and sincerely declare that
I am in possession of an invention for, &c. [tfo title as in petition], which invention I
believe will be of great utility ; that I am the true and first inventor thereof ; and that
the same has not been before made or used in this colony by any other person or per-
sons, to the best of my knowledge and belief ; and that the instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, hereunto annexed, particularly describes and ascertains the
nature of the said invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed ;
all which matters I conscientiously believe to be true ; and I make this declaration
under the provisions of the Act of Council, entitled An Act for the abolition of txtra-
jitdicial and unnecessary Oaths.
A. B,
Taken before me, this day of ,18 .
C. D.,
Justice of the Peace.
Specification.
No.
To all to whom these ptesents come,
I, A. ., of , in Tasmania, Engineer, send greeting :
Whereas I am desirous of obtaining letters patent for securing unto me Her Majes-
ty's special license that I, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others aa
I or they should at any time agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might from
time to time, and at all times during the term of fourteen years, to be computed from
the day on which this instrument is left at the office of the registrar of patents at Hobart
Town, make, use, exercise, and vend within the Colony of Tasmania, an invention for
TASMANIA. 563
[insert the title of the invention] ; and in order to obtain the said letters patent, I must
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed :
Now know ye, that I, the said A. B., do hereby declare the nature of the said inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement ; that is to say [describe the inven-
tion].
In witness whereof I, the said A. B., have hereunto set my hand and seal this
day of ,18 . A. B. (L. s.)
Appointment to hear Application for Letters Patent.
Patent for [insert the title as in specification]. This is to notify that A. B., of
, in Tasmania, Engineer, did on the day of instant [or last]
deposit at the office of the registrar of patents at Hobart Town a specification or instru-
ment in writing under his hand and seal particularly describing and ascertaining the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
that by reason of such deposit the said invention is protected and secured to him
exclusively for the term of six months then next ensuing: And I do further notify
that the said A. B. has given notice in writing at my office of his intention to pro-
ceed with his application for letters patent for the said invention, and that I have
appointed [ Thursday] the day of next, at o'clock in the
noon, at my office, to hear and consider the said application, and all objections
thereto ; and I do hereby require all persons having an interest in opposing the grant
of such said letters patent, to leave before that day at my office at Hobart Town par-
ticulars in writing of their objections to the said application, otherwise they will be pre-
cluded from urging the same.
Given under my hand this day of , 18 .
F. S., [Attorney] General,
Macquarie Street, Hobart Town.
Warrant.
I have heard and considered the application of A. B., of , in Tasmania,
Engineer, for letters patent for [insert the title as in the specification], and [also all
objections to the same, if any], and having perused the specification and the usual and
necessary advertisements, am of opinion that as it is entirely at the hazard of the said
applicant whether the said invention is new and will have the desired success, letters
patent may be issued to the said A. B., in the form contained in the schedule to the
Patent Law Act ; [with the following additional clauses ; that is to say, here set tJiem
out if any].
Given under my hand and seal, this day of , 18 .
F. S. (L. s.),
[Attorney] General.
Letters Patent.
VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Queen, Defender of the Faith :
To all whom these presents come, greeting :
Whereas A. B., of , in , Tasmania, Engineer, has represented
664 FOREIGN LAWS.
that he is desirous of obtaining letters patent for securing unto him our special license
that he, his executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as he or they
should agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might, make, use, exercise, and
vend within our Colony of Tasmania an invention for [insert the title of the invention] ;
and by an instrument in writing under his hand and seal deposited in the office of the
registrar of patent*, the said A. B. has particularly described and ascertained the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed.
And we, being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which may
be for the public good, are graciously pleased to confer upon the said A. B. the privi-
leges hereinafter mentioned : Know ye, therefore, that we, of our especial grace, cer-
tain knowledge, and mere motion, have given and granted, and by these presents, for
us, our heirs, and successors, do give and grant under the said A. B., his executors,
administrators, and assigns, our especial license, full power, sole privilege, and author-
ity that he the said A. B., his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of
them, by himself and themselves, and his or their deputy or deputies, servants or
agents, or such others as he or they at any time agree with, and no others, during the
term herein expressed, shall and lawfully may, make, use, exercise, and vend his said
invention within our said colony, in such manner as to him, his executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or any of them, seems meet, and that he, his executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, shall and lawfully may have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit,
commodity, and advantage, from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising
by reason of the said invention during the said terra ; to have, hold, exercise, and
enjoy the said licenses, powers, privileges, and advantages unto and by the said A. B.,
his executors, administrators, and assigns, for and during and unto the full end and
term of fourteen years now next ensuing : And to the end that the said A. B., his
executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, may have and enjoy the
full benefit, and the sole use and exercise, of the said invention according to our
gracious intention, we do by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, require
and strictly command all and every person and persons, bodies politic and corporate,
and all other our subjects whatsoever of what estate, quality, degree, name, or condi-
tion soever they be, within our said colony, that neither they nor any of them at any
time during the said term, either directly or indirectly, do make, use, or put in prac-
tice the said invention or any part of the same so attained unto by the said A. B. as
aforesaid, nor in anywise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor make or cause
to be made any addition thereunto or subtraction from the same whereby to pretend
himself or themselves the inventor or inventors, devisor or devisors thereof, without
the consent, license, or agreement of the said A. ., his executors, administrators, or
assigns, in writing under his or their hands and seals first had and obtained in that
behalf, upon such pains and penalties as can or may be justly inflicted on such offend-
ers for their contempt of this our Royal command, and further to be answerable to
the said A. ., his executors, administrators, and assigns, according to law, for his
and their damages thereby occasioned: Provided always, and these our letters patent
are and shall be upon this condition, that if at any time during the said term hereby
granted it appears that this our grant is contrary to law or prejudicial or inconvenieut
to our subjects in general, or that the said invention is not a new invention as to the
public use and exercise thereof, or that the said A. B. is not the true and first inven-
tor thereof within this colony, these our letters patent shall forthwith cease, determine,
TASMANIA. 565
and be utterly void to all intents and purposes, anything hereinbefore contained to
the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding : Provided also, that these our letters
patent, or anything herein contained, shall not extend or be construed to extend to
give privilege unto the said A. ., his executors, administrators, or assigns, or any of
them, to use or imitate any invention or work whatsoever which has heretofore been
found out or invented by any other of ou'- subjects whatsoever and publicly used or
exercised, unto whom our like letters patent or privileges have been already granted
for the sole use, exercise, and benefit thereof, within our said colony : It being our
will and pleasure that the said A. B., his executors, administrators, and assigns, and
all and every other person and persons to whom like letters patent or privileges have
been already granted as aforesaid, shall distinctly use and practice their several inven-
tions by them invented and found out according to the true intent and meaning of the
same respective letters patent, and of these presents : Provided likewise nevertheless,
and these our letters patent are upon this express condition, that if the said instru-
ment in writing does not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and also if the said A. .,
his executors, administrators, and assigns, shall not pay at the office of the colonial
treasurer of our said colony the sum of fifteen pounds within three years next after
the date of these presents, and ^the sum of twenty pounds within seven years next
after such date, and also if the said A. ., his executors, administrators, or assigns
shall not supply or cause to be supplied for our service all such articles of the said
invention as he or they are required to supply by the persons administering the depart-
ment of our service for the use of which the same are required, in such manner, at
such times and at and upon such reasonable prices and terms as are settled for that
purpose by the said persons requiring the same, that then and in any of the said cases
these our letters patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever hereby granted,
shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, anything hereinbefore contained to
the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding: Provided that nothing herein con-
tained shall prevent the granting of licenses in such manner and for such considera-
tions as they may by law be granted : And lastly we do by these presents, for us, our
heirs, and successors, grant unto the said A. B., his executors, administrators, and
assigns, that these our letters patent shall be in and by all things good, firm, valid,
sufficient and effectual in the law according to the true intent and meaning thereof,
and shall be taken, construed, and adjudged in the most favorable and beneficial sense
for the best advantage of the said A. B., his executors, administrators, and assigns,
as well in all our courts of record as elsewhere, and by all and singular the officers
and ministers whatsoever of us, our heirs and successors, in our said colony, and
amongst all and every the subjects of us, our heirs and successors, whatsoever and
wheresoever, notwithstanding the not full and certain describing the nature or quality
of the said invention, or of the materials thereunto conducing and belonging. In
wiinsss whereof we have caused these our letters patent to be made patent, and to be
sealed and bear date as of the day of , 18 .
Appointment to hear Application for Leave to enter Disclaimer.
Patent for [insert the title]. This is to notify that C. D., of , in Tasmania,
has applied to me for leave to enter a disclaimer of part of [or, a memorandum of
566 FOREIGN LAWS.
alteration in] the title of the said invention [or as the case may be] the particulars
whereof are stated below ; I do therefore appoint [ Thursday], the day of
next, at o'clock in the noon, at my office, to hear and consider the said
application, and all objections to the same ; and I do hereby require all persons having
an interest in opposing the said application, to leave before that day, at ray office at
Hobart Tt>wn, particulars in writing of their objections to the same ; otherwise they
will be precluded from urging such objections.
Given ilnder my hand, this day of , 18 .
F. 8. [Attorney] General,
Maequarie Street, Hobart Town.
The following is the disclaimer [or, as the case may be] which I desire to make in,
Ac. [ The applicant must here set forth what he wishes to enter, and the reasons for the
disclaimer, and sign it.]
Notice of Appointment of Commission.
Patent for [insert the title\. Notice is hereby given that I have presented a peti-
tion to His Excellency the Governor, praying for the confirmation of [or, extension
of the term in, or, as the case may be] the said patent ; and that a commission has
issued authorizing and requiring certain commissioners therein named to consider and
report upon the subject to His Excellency the Governor, which said commissioners
will meet for that purpose on the day of next, at o'clock in the
noon at : All persons objecting to the said confirmation [or extension,
or, <7.i the case may be] must enter a caveat against the same at the office of the
registrar of patents, Hobart Town, not less than one week before the time named for
the said meeting, otherwise they will be precluded from objecting to the said peti-
tion.
Dated this day of , 18 .
A.S.
FEKS.
Fees on obtaining Patents.
s. d.
On depositing specification 2 10
To the law officer for any appointment 2 4 6
On obtaining letters patent 2 10
At or before the expiration of the third year 15
At or before the expiration of the seventh year 20
To the law officer with particulars of objections 2 4 6
On presenting petition for extension or confirmation 210
Every search and inspection 1
Entry of assignment or license 010
Certificate of assignment or license 10
Filing disclaimer or memorandum of alteration 2 10
Entering any caveat 2 10
Copy or extract of any writing per common law folio 6
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 535.
See also, AUSTRALASIA.
TRINIDAD. 667
TRINIDAD.
Ordinance No. 25, of (September 2), 1867.
An Ordinance enacted by the Governor of Trinidad, with the
advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, for
amending the Law for granting Patents for Invention.
Be it it enacted by his Excellency the Governor, with the advice and
consent of the Legislative Council, as follows :
I. On delivery of declaration and specification, the registrar-gen-
eral to issue certificate to inventor. The registrar-general, on an
application by or on behalf of any person claiming to be the inven-
tor within this colony of any invention, and on the delivery to such
registrar-general of a declaration in writing according to the form
in the schedule to this Ordinance, together with a specification
signed by the applicant or his agent, particularly describing and
ascertaining the nature of the invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, shall deliver to such person or his agent a
certificate according to the form in the schedule to this ordinance,
and a copy of such certificate shall be inserted by the registrar-gen-
eral in the Royal Gazette.
II. Specification may be open or if closed, opened in six months.
Any specification of an invention may be delivered to the registrar-
general, open or closed, in an envelope, with a note of the name of
the invention to which the specification refers indorsed on such
envelope, and signed by the applicant or his agent, and where any
such specification shall be so delivered closed, the registrar-general
shall, on the expiration of six calendar months from the day of
granting the certificate, or at any earlier day, on the request of the
applicant, his executors, administrators, or assigns, break the seal
of such envelope and enregister the specification.
III. Inventions to be duly recorded, and specifications numbered.
The registrar-general shall number with a distinguishing number,
and shall, in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, to be called
The Book of Inventions, enter and record in its chronological order
every such invention, and the Christian and surnames of the inven-
tor, and the day of the date of the certificate of such invention, and
shall cause every specfication to be marked with the distinguishing
number of the invention to which the specification refers, and such
668 FOREIGN LAWS.
Book of Inventions and such specifications shall be open to the
inspection of the public.
IV. Certificate to vest exclusive right for fourteen years. Every
certificate granted under this ordinance shall vest in the applicant,
his executors, administrators, or assigns, the sole right and benefit
of using witbin this island the invention mentioned in such certifi-
cate for and during the space of fourteen years next after the grant-
ing of such certificate.
V. Disclaimer may be entered. Any person who, as grantee,
assignee, or otherwise, shall obtain a certificate under this ordi-
nance, may, if he think fit, enter with the registrar-general a dis-
claimer or disclaimers, of any part or parts of either the title of
the invention or of the specification, stating the reason for such
disclaimer, or may enter a memorandum of any alteration in suclx
title of specification, not being such disclaimer or such altera-
tion as shall extend the exclusive right vested by such certificate ;
and such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, being filed by the
said registrar-general, shall be deemed and taken to be part of such
specification in all courts whatever ; provided always, that no action
shall be brought on any certificate in any case where any disclaimer
or memorandum shall have been filed in respect of any infringe-
ment committed prior to the filing of such disclaimer or memoran-
dum of alteration.
VI. Where the invention assigned, who may enter disclaimer.
In case any person obtaining such certificate shall part with his or
their whole or their part or any part of his or their interest by assign-
ment to any other person or persons, it shall be lawful for the person
obtaining such certificate, together with such assignee or assignees, if
part only hath been assigned, and for the assignee or assignees, if the
whole hath been assigned, to enter a disclaimer and memorandum
of alteration under the powers of this ordinance ; and such dis-
claimer and memorandum of such alteration, having been so entered
and registered as in this ordinance mentioned, shall be valid and
effectual in favor of any person or persons in whom the rights under
the said certificate may then be or thereafter become legally vested;
and no objection shall be made in any proceeding whatsoever on
the ground that the party making such disclaimer or memorandum
of such alteration had not sufficient authority in that behalf.
VII. Disclaimer recorded, and note thereof indorsed on specifi-
cation. The registrar-general shall cause every such disclaimer
and memorandum to be entered in a book to be kept by him for
TRINIDAD. 569
that purpose, and to be marked with the distinguishing number of
the invention and specification to which such disclaimer or memo-
randum shall refer, and shall indorse on the declaration and specifi-
cation to which such disclaimer or memorandum shall refer a
memorandum in writing of the date and entry of every such mem-
orandum and disclaimer.
VIII. Penalties for infringement of exclusive right. If any
person shall, during the said term of fourteen years from the grant-
ing of a certificate for an invention, directly or indirectly make,
use, or put in practice the said invention, or any part of the same,
or in anywise counterfeit or imitate the same, or make or cause to
be made any addition or subtraction from the same, whereby to pre-
tend himself the inventor thereof, without the license in writing of
the inventor, his executors, administrators, or assigns, the inventor,
his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall have and be entitled
to such and the like remedies against such persons, both in law and
in equity, as the grantee of any letters patent for any invention
would be entitled to in the like case by the law of England.
IX. Exclusive right to cease in certain cases. Provided always,
that if at any time during the said fourteen years, it shall be made
to appear that the said invention is not a new invention as to the
public use and exercise thereof in this colony, or that the said inven-
tion is prejudicial or inconvenient to the subjects of our Lady the
Queen in general, then all privileges and advantages hereby granted
to the inventor, his executors, administrators, and assigns, in respect
of such invention, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void,
anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary in anywise not-
withstanding.
X. Fees to be paid. There shall be paid to the registrar-general
the several fees mentioned in the schedule to this ordinance, and
such fees shall be paid over monthly by the registrar-general to the
receiver-general for the use of the colony.
Form of Declaration.
I of declare that I am in possession of an invention for
(state the title of the invention), which invention I believe will be of great public
utility, and that the same is not in use by any person or persons in the Island of Trini
dad to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that the instrument in writing under
my hand herewith delivered particularly describes and ascertains the nature of tt
said invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed.
Signature.
570 FOREIGN LAWS.
Form of Certificate.
I, J. I! , Registrar General of the Island of Trinidad, do hereby certify that on the
day of has been delivered to me by (or on behalf of the name
' and place of abode of the inventor), a declaration in writing, signed by the said
of a certain invention whereof the said claims to be the inventor in this island,
being an invention (&tale tlie name of tht invention), together with a specification (open
or under seal, as the case may be,) describing the nature of the said invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed.
In witness whereof, I hare hereunto put my hand at Port of Spain, in the Island
of Trinidad, this day of in the year one thousand eight hundred and
Fees to be paid to 'he Registrar- General.
. <L
On leaving any declaration of invention and specification 10
Every disclaimer 2
Publication in the Royal Gazette of any declaration, disclaimer, or memo-
randum of alteration. , 10
Every search or inspection of the Book of Inventions 1
Every inspection of any specification 2
For every copy of any specification, for every 120 words 1
From Carpm. Pat. X. of World, 561.
TUNIS.
See FRANCE.
See also INTEBNATIONAL CONTENTION.
TURKEY. 571
TURKEY.
Law of the 20th Day of the Month of Rabia L, A. H. 1297
(February 18, 1879 *).
SECTION I.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 1. Every new discovery, invention, or improvement in
any branch of industry, confers on its author, under the conditions
and for the time hereinafter mentioned, the right to work the said
discovery, invention, or improvement for his own benefit. This
right is confirmed by a berat (patent) delivered by the government.
ABT. 2. The following shall be considered as new inventions :
The invention of new industrial products.
The invention of new means, or a new application of known
means, for obtaining an industrial result or product.
ABT. 3. The following are not patentable :
1. Pharmaceutical compounds and medicines of all kinds.
2. Devices or combinations relating to banking or finance.
AET. 4. The duration of patents delivered in accordance with
article 1 will be five, ten, or fifteen years. Every patent shall be
subject to the payment of a fixed tax, as follows :
Ten Turkish pounds for a patent for five years.
Twenty Turkish pounds for a patent for ten years.
Thirty Turkish pounds for a patent for fifteen years.
This tax shall be paid in installments of two Turkish pounds,
payable at the commencement of each year, under penalty of for-
feiture if lie patentee omits the payment of any annuity.
SECTION II.
THE FORMALITIES IN RELATION TO THE DELIVERY OF
PATENTS.
CHAPTER I.
APPLICATIONS FOR PATENTS.
ART. 5. Whoever shall desire to obtain a patent shall deposit, in
* A translation of this law differing text is that given in Carpmaels' edition.
very slightly from that presented in the The Patent Office Gazette, and the Ency-
text may be found in 20 Pat. Off. Gaz. 2. clopsedia Brit, assign March 2, 1880, as
The date of the law as stated in the the date.
572 FOREIGN LAWS.
a sealed envelope, if in Constantinople, at the ministry of commerce
and agriculture, and if in the provinces at the office of the provin-
cial government, or, if he prefers it, at the said ministry :
(1.) His application for a patent.
(2.) A specification of the discovery, invention, or appliance
forming the subject of the application.
(3.) The drawings or samples which may be necessary to the
understanding of the description.
(4.) A memorandum of the papers deposited.
If the applicant complies with these formalities in a place in
which he has no domicile, he must elect domicile there.
ART. 6. The application shall be limited to a single main subject
with its details. It shall mention the duration which the applicant
wishes to assign to his patent, within the limits fixed by article 4,
and shall contain neither restrictions, conditions, nor reservations.
It shall have a title giving a short and precise designation of the
object of the invention. The application and the specification shall
be written without erasures, alterations, or interlineations. The
drawings shall be made in ink, to a metrical scale. A duplicate of
the specification and drawings shall accompany the application.
All the papers shall be signed by the applicant or by his attorney,
whose power shall be annexed to the application.
ART. 7. No deposit will be accepted unless accompanied by a
receipt showing that the applicant has paid to the authorities, to
whom he presented his application, the sum of two Turkish pounds
on account of the tax on the patent. An official memorandum shall
be drawn up, in Constantinople, at the ministry of commerce and
agriculture, or in the provinces at the office of the provincial gov-
ernment. This memorandum will authenticate each deposit, show-
ing the date of the remission of the application papers, and shall be
signed by the applicant. A copy of the said memorandum will be
sent to the depositor on prepayment of postage.
ART. 8. The term of the patent will begin from the date of the
deposit prescribed in article 5.
CHAPTER II.
TIIE DELIVERY 0* PATENTS.
ART. 9. After the application has been filed and the deposits
made in the province, in accordance with article 5, the governor-
general will transmit the application to the ministry of commerce
TURKEY. 573
and agriculture within five days, accompanied by a letter, a certi-
fied copy of the memorandum, the receipt for the tax, the power of
attorney (if there be one), and the memorandum of the pieces
deposited, all under the seal of the applicant. If the applicant is
at Constantinople, these formalities must be complied with at the
ministry of commerce and agriculture.
ART. 10. The papers sent from the provinces and those remitted
directly to the ministry of commerce and agriculture will be filed in
the order of their reception on a special file, and the patent applied
for will be delivered.
ART. 11. Patents applied for in due form shall be delivered
without previous examination, at the risk and peril of the applicant
and without guarantee either of the reality, novelty, or merit of
the invention, or of the accuracy or exactness of the specification.
ART. 12. In case of the invention or arms, tools, or apparatus of
war which may be used by the army and navy of the State, the
inventors and their applications are directed at once to the grand
masters of artillery and to the imperial admiralty. A patent will
be given for any invention which is shown after examination to be
useful and advantageous to the State, and will be bought, in con-
formity with a contract with the inventor, and paid for, in propor-
tion to its usefulness, by that department of the army and navy
which the invention chiefly concerns. A medal of invention is also
conferred upon the inventor in accordance with article 14. Inven-
tions not found useful or advantageous will be rejected.
ART. 13. The berat (patent) is the official document confirming
the regularity of the application, and is delivered to the applicant.
It will bear at the top the imperial arms, and at the bottom the seal
of the ministry of commerce and agriculture. This document will
be accompanied by a certified copy of the specification and draw-
ings mentioned in article 6. Subsequent copies of the patent asked
for by the patentee or parties interested require the payment of a
fee of one Turkish pound for expenses, the cost of the drawings, if
any, being borne by the applicant.
ART. 14. Gold, silver, and copper medals will be ordered. Otto-
man subjects and foreigners who shall invent articles useful to the
State and to the country will receive as a compensation for and
according to the importance of their inventions, gold, silver, or cop-
per medals. They will be required to use the design of the medal
as a trade-mark for the object invented.
ART. 15. The first copy of a patent is delivered without charge.
674 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. 16. Every application not in conformity with the formal-
ities prescribed by numbers 2 and 3 by article 6 will be rejected.
Half of the sum prepaid will remain in the treasury, but it will be
placed on account of the sum payable by the applicant if he repeats
his application within three months, counting from the date of the
notification of the rejection of the application.
ART. 17. When an application is rejected in accordance with
article 3 the tax prepaid will be returned.
ART. 18. A list of patents issued by the ministry of commerce
and agriculture with a description of the inventions will be pub-
lished every six months. This publication will be in the usual form
of the proclamations of the laws of the Empire.
ART. 19. The duration of patents can be prolonged only by spec-
ial law.
CHAPTER III.
CERTIFICATES OF ADDITION.
ART. 20. Patentees or parties interested will have the right dur-
ing the whole term of the patent to make changes, improvements,
or additions in the invention by complying with the formalities laid
down in articles 5, 6, and 7. These changes, improvements, or
additions will be confirmed by certificates, which will have from the
date of their delivery, the same effect as the original patent, and
will expire with them. Every application for a certificate of addi-
tion requires the payment of one Turkish pound. A certificate of
addition taken by any person interested inures to the benefit of all
the others.
ART. 21. Every patentee who, instead of a certificate of addi-
tion, wishes to take out a new patent for a change, improvement,
or addition, shall comply with the formalities prescribed in articles
6, 6, and 7, and pay the fees mentioned in article 4.
ART. 22. Those who have transferred their patents to others lose
the right of applying for a certificate of addition according to
article 20.
ART. 23. No one besides the patentee or persons interested
through him may, during one year from the date of the patent,
apply for a patent for a change, improvement, or addition to the
invention which was the subject of the original patent. Neverthe-
less, if such an application is received in the course of the aforesaid
year, the application and the papers annexed will remain deposited
under seal of the ministry of commerce and agriculture. When
TURKEY. 575
the year has expired the seal will be broken and the patent issued.
In all cases the original patentee will have the preference in the
matter of changes, improvements, or additions for which he himself
shall during the year apply for a certificate of addition or a patent.
ART. 24. Any one having taken out a patent for a discovery,
invention, or appliance connected with the object of another patent
shall have no right to work the invention already patented, and,
reciprocally, the owner of the original patent shall not have the
right to work the object of the new patent.
CHAPTER IV.
ASSIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF PATENTS.
ART. 25. The right of ownership of a patent for an invention is
divisible. Every patentee may assign the whole or a part of his
patent. The assignment, total or partial, of a patent, either gratui-
tously or for a consideration, can only be made by notarial deed, or
by an Act passed before a civil tribunal of first instance in localities
where there are no notaries. This formality requires the payment
of all the fees mentioned in article 4. No assignment will'be valid
until registered at Constantinople, at the ministry of commerce and
agriculture, or in the provinces at the office of the local authorities
of the place in which the Act was passed. The entry of assign-
ments or transfers shall be accomplished by the deposit of a certi-
fied copy of the act of assignment or transfer. A copy of each
official entry made in the provinces shall be sent by the local author-
ities to the ministry of commerce and agriculture within five days
from the date of the official report. This copy will be accompanied
by an extract of the Act aforementioned.
ART. 26. Every patentee may, in accordance with a contract,
assign in part the right to work his patent for the manufacture or
preparation of the article invented in any quantities, and for any
time agreed upon. The owner of a patent for any object dangerous
to the community can only work it with caution and under surveil-
lance of the government. The assignee of such a patent is sub-
jected to the same conditions.
ART. 27. The ministry of commerce and agriculture will keep a
register of the assignments and transfers of all patents. Every six
months an official publication will announce in a form laid down in
article 18, the assignments and transfers that have occurred during
the half-year just expired.
676 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. 28. Licensees under a patent and all who have acquired
from a patentee or his agents the right to a patent shall have the
full benefit of certificates of addition issued to the original patentee
or to persons interested through him. In the same way the pat-
entee and persons interested through him will profit by a certifi-
cate of addition issued to the licensees. All those who have the
right to profit by a certificate of addition may obtain a copy of it
from the ministry of commerce and agriculture on payment of a fee
of one Turkish pound.
CHAPTER V.
INSPECTION AND PUBLICATION OF THE SPECIFICATIONS AND DRAW-
INGS OF PATENTS.
ART. 29. The specifications, drawings, samples, and models of
patents issued will remain until the expiration of the patents depos-
ited at the ministry of commerce and agriculture, where they may
be inspected without expense by any applicant. Any one may
obtain, at his own expense, copies of the said specifications and
drawings.
ART. 30. After payment of the second annual fee the specifica-
tions and drawings will be published either entire or by extract
only. Besides, there will be published every year a catalogue of
the patents issued during the preceding year.
ART. 31. The specifications and drawings and the catalogue,
when published, will be deposited at Constantinople, at the ministry
of commerce and agriculture, and in the provinces, at the office of
the secretary of the administrative council, where they can be con-
sulted without charge.
ART. 32. At the expiration of the patents the original specifica-
tions and drawings will be deposited at the conservatory of the
school of arts and trades at Constantinople.
SECTION III.
RIGHTS OF FOREIGNERS.
ART. 33. Foreigners may obtain patents in Turkey.
ART. 34. The formalities and conditions prescribed by the pres-
ent law are applicable, without exception, to foreigners applying
for patents.
ART. 35. The author of an invention already patented in a for-
TURKEY. 577
eign country may obtain a patent in Turkey ; but the duration of
this patent shall not exceed that of the patent previously obtained in
the foreign country.
SECTION IV.
ANNULMENTS AND FORFEITURES AND MATTERS RELATIN
THEREUNTO.
CHAPTER I.
ANNULMENTS AND FORFEITURES.
ART. 36. Patents issued in the following cases will be null and
void.
(1.) If the discovery or invention is not new.
(2.) If in accordance with article 3 the discovery or invention is
not patentable.
(3.) If the patents relate to theoretical principles, methods, sys-
tems, discoveries, and conceptions, without indication of their
industrial application.
(4.) If the discovery or invention is contrary to public order or
safety, to morals, or to the laws of the empire.
(5.) If the title under which the patent was applied for gives a
false or fraudulent indication of the real object of the invention.
(6.) If the specification annexed to the patent is insufficient for
the execution of the invention or if it does not indicate completely
and faithfully the true means employed by the inventor.
(7.) If the patent was obtained contrary to the provisions of
article 23.
The manufacture and sale of articles prohibited by paragraphs
3 and 4 of this article incur the penalties enacted by the laws of the
empire.
All certificates for alterations, improvements, and additions
which do not relate to the subject of the original patent are like-
wise null and void.
ART. 37. No invention will be considered new which, up to the
date of the application, has received, either in Turkey or elsewhere,
sufficient publicity to enable the same to be worked.
ART 38. The following persons shall be deprived of all
rights :
(1.) Patentees who neglect to pay the yearly tax before the
beginning of each year of their patent's duration.
I. 37
578 FOREIGN LAWS.
(2.) Any patentee who has not worked his invention in Turkey
within two years from the date of the issue of the patent or who
has at any time ceased to work the same for any consecutive period
of two years, unless in either case he can give a sufficient reason
for his inaction.
(3.) Any patentee who shall have introduced into Turkey arti-
cles of foreign manufacture and similar to those forming the sub-
ject of his patent.
Nevertheless, the minister of commerce and agriculture may
authorize the introduction into the empire of models of machines,
and articles manufactured abroad intended for public exhibitions or
for experiments made with the consent of the government.
ART. SO. Whoever shall in a sign, announcement, prospectus,
advertisement, trade-mark, or stamp, pretend to the possession of a
patent according to law without really possessing one, or after the
same has expired, or shall, while having a patent, mention the same
without adding the words " without guarantee of the government,"
shall be punished by a fine of not less than two nor more than forty-
five Turkish pounds. For the second offense the fine shall bo
doubled.
CHAPTER II.
ACTIONS FOR ANNULMENT AND FORFEITURE.
AFT. 40. Actions for annulment or forfeiture may be brought
by any person having an interest in the matter, or who can be
injured by the act of the defendant. These actions, as well as all
disputes relating to the ownership of patents, shall be brought
before a civil tribunal of first instance.
ART. 41. If the action is brought at the same time against the
owner of a patent and against a licensee, it shall be brought before
the tribunal of the domicile of the owner.
ART. 42. Whenever the annulment or forfeiture of a patent has
been pronounced, notice of the same shall be sent to the ministry of
commerce and agriculture, and it shall be published in the form
prescribed by article 18 for the proclamation of patents.
SECTION V.
INFRINGEMENTS, PROSECUTIONS, AND PENALTIES.
ART. 43. Every interference with the rights of a patentee, either
by the manufacture of articles or by the use of means forming the
TURKEY. 579
subject of his patent, constitutes the offense of infringement.
Every person who shall be judged guilty of this offense shall be
punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than a hundred
Turkish pounds.
AET. 44. All persons who shall have knowingly received, sold,
or exposed for sale or introduced into Ottoman territory, infringing
articles shall be considered guilty of infringement.
AET. 45. Any person who shall, without authority from the gov-
ernment, sell or expose for sale arms, tools, or apparatus of war,
mentioned in article 12, and that could be used to the detriment of
the country, shall be amenable to the penalties imposed by the
appendix to article 106 of the Penal Code, without regard to the
fact of these inventions having been accepted or rejected by the
army and navy departments.
ART. 46. The penalties established by the present law are not
cumulative. The heaviest penalty only can be inflicted for all acts
committed prior to the prosecution.
AET. 47. For a second offense, in addition to the fine imposed
by articles 42 and 43, there shall be inflicted a penalty of imprison-
ment for not less than one nor more than six months. Any act will
be considered as a second offense when the accused shall have at
any time during the previous five years been found guilty of any
offense provided for by the present law. An imprisonment of not
less than one month, nor more than -six months, may likewise be
inflicted upon any infringer who is or has been employed in any
capacity in the shops or establishments of the patentee, or who has
been associated with any one so employed in such a manner as to
obtain knowledge from him of the processes described by the patent.
In the latter case the employe from whom the knowledge was
derived may be prosecuted as an accomplice.
AET. 48. At the request of the patentee and on presentation of
the patent the president of the tribunal may issue an order provid-
ing that an oflicer of the court shall, assisted, if need be by an
expert, make an inventory of articles alleged to be infringements.
AVhcn a seizure is to be made, the order may require security of
the person making the requisition. Security shall always be required
of foreigners. The owner of the articles seized shall be provided
with copies both of the ordinance and of the order requiring secur-
ity, if there be one, under pain of annulment of the proceedings
and of damages against the ofaccr to the profit of the party
injured.
580 FOREIGN LAWS.
ART. 49. In default of the party making the requisition present-
ing himself before the tribunal within a period of seven days, in
addition to the time necessary to travel the distance between the
place in which the objects seized or inventoried were found and the
place or residence of the infringer, receiver, importer, or retailer,
the seizure or inventory shall be void without prejudice to any
damages that may be claimed.
ART. 50. The objects declared infringements must, and the
implements and tools intended specially for the manufacture of the
said objects may, at the discretion of the tribunal, be confiscated,
even in case of the acquittal of the infringer, receiver, importer, or
retailer. The objects, implements, and tools so confiscated shall, at
the discretion of the judge, be delivered to the owner of the patent
without prejudice to further damages or to the publication of the
judgment.
From Carpm. Pat. L. of World, 506.
END OP VOL. L
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