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This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL
No. 1.
471 [March 24.]
SECTION 1.
Sir,
Board of Trade to Foreign Office.--(Received March 24.)
Board of Trade, March 23, 1905.
I AM directed by the Board of Trade to refer to your letter of the ath December, transmitting a copy of a despatch from His Majesty's Ambassador at Madrid inclosing the reply of the Spanish Government to the inquiry addressed to them relative to the proposed Agreement between the two Governments for the mutual protection of British and Spanish trade-marks in China, and asking whether, in the opinion of the Board, the British Consular authorities in China are empowered by British law to protect Spanish trade-marks against infringement by British subjects, whether those marks have been previously registered in the United Kingdom or not.
In reply, I am to point out, for the information of Lord Lansdowne, that "The China, Japan, and Corça (Patents, &c.) Order in Council, 1899," relates, not only to the Patents, Designs, and Trade-Marks Acts, but also to "The Merchandize Marks Act, 1887.”
Section 3, sub-section (1) of the latter Act provides that for the purposes of that Act the expression "trade-mark" means a trade-mark registered in the register of trade- marks kept under "The Patents, Designs, and Trade-Marks Act, 1883," and includes any trade-mark which, either with or without registration, is protected by law in any British possession or foreign State to which the provisions of the 103rd section of The Patents, Designs, and Trade-Marks Act, 1883," are under Order in Council for the time being applicable,
Spain is a member of the Industrial Property Union, and an Order in Council has been issued applying the provisions of section 103 of the Patents, &c., Act to that State. Consequently all trade-marks legally protected in Spain have the benefit of the protection afforded by the Merchandize Marks Act. This Act also provides against the application of false trade descriptions to goods, and further that the pro- visions in the Act on this head shall extend to the application to goods of any such marks whether including a trade-mark or not, as are reasonably calculated to lead persons to believe that the goods are the manufacture or merchandize of some person other than the person whose manufacture or merchandize they really are.
Further, it is competent for any foreigner in the United Kingdom to set the Merchandize Marks Act in motion for the punishment of an offender.
In these circumstances, the Board of Trade are of opinion that a reply might be returned to the Spanish Government in the termus proposed by Lord Lansdowne as set out in the last paragraph of your letter.
1 am, &c.
(Signed) FRANCIS J. S. HOPWOOD.
[1892 aa-)
“་ཤiaབ་བསག**44མpa,