July 24, 1909.]
ALLEGED INFRINGEMENT OF
TRADE-MARKS.
INTERESTING CASE AT THE
MAGISTRACY.
Three Chinese merchants were charged before Mr. F. A. Hazeland at the Magistracy on the 22nd inst, with selling, or exposing for sale, or having in their possession for sale, medicine pills bearing marks so nearly resembling regis- tered trade-marks as to be calculated to deceive.
Mr. Eldon Potter, instructed by Mr. J. H. Gardiner, prosecuted, and Mr. F. Paget Hett (of Messrs. Brutton and Hett) appeared for the defendants.
Mr. Potter reminded his Worship, before going into the facts, that it had been arranged between the defendants and the complainants that these charges should be withdrawn if they carried out certain conditions. He did not know whether Mr. Hett represented the three men who had agreed to carry out such conditions.
Mr. Hett said his clients refused absolutely to carry out any conditions.
His Worship-What was your suggestion? Mr. Potter-It was really their suggestion, They came to us and asked us to withdraw the summons. We told them we did not wish to be harsh, and would withdraw in consideration of their paying portion of the costs and not selling the forged articles in future.
Mr. Hett entered a plea of "not guilty" on behalf of the defendants, and said it would be convenient if the cases were taken separately.
Mr. Potter said the facts were the same in each case, but if his friend insisted the cases should be taken separately.
Mr. Hett-I desire that the case against Chu Hong should be taken first, and that he should be dealt with summarily.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
trader dealing in these pills could not very well, fail to know from what firm the pills came. In June, 1907, the complainant opened a shop at 16, Queen's Road West, and put his nephew in charge.
His Worship-I thought you objected to the nephew?
Mr. Potter said this was another and a friendly nephew. In March, 1909, complainant applied under the Trade-marks Ordinance of 1898 to register the Gourd mark and the Flying ats' mark. In response to the application a certificate was duly issued and signed by the Colonial Secretary, who certified that the complainant was the owner of the marks. In order to publish this fact abroad. complainant ordered advertisements to be inserted in five local Chinese papers, and that advertisement was, in fact, continuing still in four hinese papers. The defendant, Chuong, was the manager of the Kwan Hing firm.
His Worship-Have we the right defendant before the oart? Is he the manager?
Mr. Hett Yes, your Worship. The police who seized certain articles at the shop would be able to identify him.
His Worship-You know your client, don't you ?
Mr. Hett-I know he says he is my client. The police would be able to inform you if he is the man you want.
Mr. Potter-That is the man, your Worship. His Worship-Are you sure you have got hold of the right man?
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innocence would be his willingness to come forward and give information.
His Worship decided that the point regarding the admission of conversation could be argued when it came up in evidence.
Mr. Potter said that three men called at Mr. Gardiner's office and requested that these pro- ceedings should be stayed. Mr. Gardiner told them, through an interpreter, that they would be required to carry out certain conditions, one of which was to put an advertisement in the papers On June 30th they produced an advertisement which they said they were quite prepared to insert. On July 6th, when Mr. Gardiner ap- peared in Court, he was somewhat surprised to find the three defendants represented by Mr. Hett and determined to fight. The fact Counsel wished to press upon his Worship was that com- plainant's poster was up outside the defendant's shop, and advertised that the latter sold com. plainant's pills. It was impossible, Counsel submitted, that the defendant firm could have made a mistake, for complainant's name was set out clearly on the backs of the leaflets.
Evidence was then called, and the hearing adjourned.
BUILDING COLLAPSE IN QUEEN'S
ROAD CENTRAL.
MANY NARROW ESCAPES: NO FATALITIES.
Опе
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of Hongkong's alleged jerry built Mr. Potter said it was the right man so far through the roof collapsing. The building structures tumbled in Wednesday morning as he knew, and he was the manager of the
in question is situate at 142, Queen's Road Kwan Hing firm. It was supposed that this firm was an offshoot of the Kwan Sang, an-
Central, the ground floor thereof being a piece- other defendant firm. For ten years past the family residences. According to the inmates goods shop, and the first and second stories complainant had been in the habit of selling pills to the Kwan Hing firm, which firm very ominous creaking of the roof, which eventually of the top floor the collapse was preceded by an often used to get rather important posters fell in, and carried most of the goods and chattels from him. These posters, as bis Worship
on the first and second floors through to the would observe, set out distinctly that complainant's firm was the Sang Lee Chan and
Wonderful to relate, however, ground floor. also gave the address.
the inmates of all floors escaped unscathed, Therefore, any person being at the time of the collapse on portions of who went into the defendant's shop for pills the first and second floors which remained firm, get cut in this poster ought to get the pills while those in the shop beneath were likewise manufactured by the Sang Lee Chan Company.fortunate in missing the falling debris. About two months ago the nephew who was man- aging complainant's branch in Hongkong called at the defendant firm and asked for two of Ho Kang Woo's "stop cough" pills similar to those advertised on the signboard out- side the shop. On receiving two pills he examined them, and found they were not complainant's pills, but the pills of the rival firm. The police were communicated with, and on June 21st a Chinese constable went to the Kwan Hing and purchased two full boxes. He also asked for the genuine Ho Kang Woo's, the same as advertised on the signboard outside the shop. He got two boxes, and obtained a receipt. The pills on examination turned out to be not those of the complainant, but the pills manufactured by the rival firm. On June 23rd a search warrant was obtained, and Detective Ser- geant Grant and a Chinese detective searched de- fendant's shop and seized a number of boxes of pills, a number of empty boxes and some leaf- lets, and it was rather significant that some of the empty boxes seized were some of the genuine bores. On June 28th a person who represented himself to be a representative of the defendant firm called at Mr. Gardiner's office and said he came from the firm.
Mr. Potter informed the Court that the com. plainant in the case was a manufacturer of pills, and the defendant was the manager of the Kwan Hing firm. The sum ons was taken out under the Merchandise Marks Ordinance, No. 4 of 1890, and the onus of proving that they acted innocently was thrown upon the defendants. Mr. Potter said he in- tended first to give his Worship a short history of the complainant, and to show how it was he became a manufacturer of pills. The complain ant began life as a boarding-house keeper, and was at that time a rather delicate young man. suffering from throat trouble and asthma. He was attended by a doctor who prescribed cer- tain pills from which he derived so much benefit that he obtained the ingredients, manufactured the pills himself, and gave them awry voluntari. ly. About the year 1890 he started in the pill business, sold in the trading name of Ho Kang Woo and assumed the firm name of Sang Lee Chan. 'Ho' meant flower, or water lily; 'kang' meant mirror; and " 'Woo was a gourd. About the year 1899 he suspected that some- body else Was imitating this mark, 80 adopted a second mark composed of flying bats, oyster shells and water nymphs. "the pills were made up in boxes with the name of the firm on the outside, and in the inside were a number of leaflets. Mr. Potter produced a pill box of the rival firm which, he submitted, was to all intents and purposes the same thing, the only difference being the name on the outside. In 1907 a nephew of the complainant's opened a shop in Canton, adopting for his firm name Hoi Yuen Tong, and he commenced to make pills practically the same as these made by the com- plainant; the boxes and leaflets were practically the same to look at. Complainant protested against this in Canton, and brought the matter' before the Canton Chamber of Commerce. On investigation that body came to the conclusion that the complainant was solely entitled to these marks, and found that the rival firm had no right to them at all, but they did not grant an injunction because, Counsel' took it, they had not the power. Although the boxes were very similar, and might well deceive the outside public, still there were cer- tain points on them which must show a trader who dealt in pills where the box came from, and people who were selling the pills must have known whether they were selling the genuine article or not. It was quite obvious that any
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Mr. Hett objected to the admission of any conversation between this man and
Mr. Gardiner.
Mr. Potter said the man called and requested that certain proceedings Mr. Gardiner was bringing against his firm should be stayed.
Mr. Hett stated that Mr. Gardiner had been paid $250.
His Worship What was the $250 paid to Mr. Gardiner for?
Mr. Iotter-It was paid to Mr. Gardiner's client as satisfaction for the costs he had in- curred.
Mr. Hett withdrew his objection, but said he would object to his friend referring to any conversation with Mr. Gardiner and a third party.
Mr. Potter said this was a peculiar form of prosecution under the erchandise Marks Act. and a prosecution in which they were allowed to get information out of employees in a shop. and the Act said that proof of the defendant's
A few years ago, we understand, the unstable condition of this building was reported upon, certain alterations. and the Public Works Department then ordered Recently, a party wall between Nos. 42 and 44 has been removed with
large one. the object of making the two shops into one In place of the wall, iron pillars were used to support the first floor, and it may be that the removal of the wall mentioned weakened the buildings. It must be considered in such mild weather, for there can be little a very fortunate thing that the collapse occurred
doubt had a typhoon overtaken the Colony the whole of the structure would have fallen in, and the death roll in such a case might have been considerable. Shortly after the collapse the Public Works Department proceeded to shore the buildings up, and repairs will be effected as speedily as possible.
I
A NEW SOLICITOR.
At the Supreme Court on July 19 Sir Henry Berkeley, K.C., presented to the Chief Justice an application for the admission of William Blakestone Hind as a solicitor to practice in that honourable court. He said that the papers had been filed in order and the essential fact had been established that the gentleman had been admitted as a solicitor in England by the
affidavit of Mr. Hett.
His Lordship admitted Mr. Hind to practice and trusted he would have a successful career.
CHINESE -AIR-SHIPS.
A Kuangtang dispatch to Northern papers states that the Intendant of Industry in that province, H. E. Chén Wang trứng, hoa san tioned an application from a merchant named Yu Chih-ching to open a manufactory at his own expense in the provincial capital for the manufacture of air-ships..
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The formal opening of the new railway station at Shanghai, which is the terminus of the Shanghai-Nanking Railway, took place last Saturday.