This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government. C. O.
# CHINA TRADE.
## CONFIDENTIAL.
C
[7737]
(No. 31.) Sir,
No. 1.
[March 5.]
1155
SECTION 2.
216
Sir M. Durand to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received March 5.)
Washington, February 22, 1906.
I HAVE the honour to state that I addressed a note to the Secretary of State respecting the registration of trade marks in China, in accordance with the terms of your despatch No. 5 of the 10th January, and after explaining the position of affairs expressed the hope that the United States' Government might see their way to withdraw their objection to the proposed Regulation.
I now have the honour to forward herewith a copy of the reply which I have received from Mr. Root. It would appear from this note that twenty applications for registration of trade marks have been made by American firms in China, and it is feared that their interests may suffer if section 25 of the project comes into force.
The United States' Government accordingly propose that section 25 of the project should be amended as follows :—
"All demands of registration made by means of the competent Chinese authorities before the going into force of the present Regulation shall be considered as assimilated to the right of priority provided by section 7, and shall be effective from their dates."
I have, &c. (Signed) M. DURAND.
## Inclosure in No. 1.
Mr. Root to Sir M. Durand.
(No. 400.) Excellency,
Washington, February 17, 1906.
ATTENTIVE consideration has been given to your note No. 30 of the 30th ultimo, looking to the withdrawal of the objection raised, under instruction, by the American Minister at Peking, to section 25 of the project for Regulations governing the registration of trade marks in China, formulated by the Representatives of Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France, and Italy.
Section 25 of the project reads as follows:--
"All demands of registration made by means of the competent Chinese authorities before the going into force of the present Regulation shall be considered as having been made the day of the Regulation going into force."
The probable effect of this section would be to destroy the priority of date which may have been made under the trade mark Regulations heretofore published, and to reduce the effect of such registrations to the day of going into force of section 25 in question.
It is necessary in this connection to give consideration to section 7 of the project, which reads as follows:-
"If within a delay of four months counting from the day of registration of a trade mark, in a foreign country, there is presented a demand of registration in China of this mark, the original date of registration in the foreign land must be recognized if the demand is accompanied with the production of a writing certifying the registration made in the foreign land.”
It appears from the reports of American Consuls-General at Shanghae and Tien-tsin that last year four American firms at Shanghae, and sixteen American firms at Tien-tsin filed applications for registration of trade marks in the bureaus heretofore established at those places.
Now, if section 7 and section 25 both remain in this project, these twenty American firms who have effected registration of their trade marks under the provisional Regulations heretofore promulgated would be stripped by section 25 absolutely
[1906 e-2]