PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 88.5
8
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
Umited
484
provisions which have been inserted in some of the Colonial Patent Laws, giving privileges to foreign patentees or providing for the contingency of the
Colonies in which they are in force joining the Union.
NUMBER OF COLONIAL PATENTS Granted.
The following table, compiled chiefly from information contained in "La Propriété Industrielle," will give some indication of the extent of the patent business transacted in the Patent Offices of the Colonies to which this memorandum relates.
Name of Colony.
Canada
Newfoundland
New South Wales
Queensland
South Australia
Victoria
Western Australia
Tasmania
New Zealand
Cape Colony...
Natal ...
-
...
Number of
Year.
Patents Issued.
1901
4,766
•
1899
674
1900
459
1899
405
1898
572
1899
3-410
1899
208
...
1900
536
1898
188
1900
152
Total (excepting Newfoundland)
8,300
* No statistics available. The total number of patents granted in Newfoundland up to 1899 in only 198.
The number of patents issued in the United Kingdom in 1901 was 13,062.
It will be seen from the above table that a majority of the patents issued in the self-governing Colonies are granted in Canada, and that the number of patents granted in the self-governing Colonies amounts to considerably more than half of the number granted in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that it not unfrequently happens that an invention patented in the United Kingdom is patented in more than one Colony.
WHO MAY Obtain PatenTS.
The main points of difference arising in this branch of the Patent Law are (1) whether an inventor may assign or bequeath his right to obtain a patent for his invention; and (2) whether a person, who is not the inventor in The ordinary sense of the term, but who is the first to introduce the invention from abroad, should be allowed to obtain a patent for it, in disregard of the rights of the real inventor, or his assignee.
#
In the United Kingdom a patent may be granted to one or more applicants. Kingdom. Every application must contain a declaration to the effect that the applicant or applicants is or are in the possession of an invention whereof he, or, in the osse of a joint application, one or more of the applicants, claims or claim to be the true and first inventor or inventors.
485
If an inventor dies before applying for a patent, the patent may be obtained by his legal representative, provided that he makes his application within six months of the decease of the inventor.
If an applicant dies before the expiration of 15 months from the date of application, the patent may be granted to his legal representative at any time within 12 months after the death of the applicant.
Any person to whom an invention has been communicated from abroad, and who declares that to the best of his knowledge and belief, the invention is not in use in the United Kingdom by any other person or persons, is regarded as the true and first inventor within this country.
South
347
In Canada and South Australia a patent may be obtained by the inventor, Canada, or by any person to whom he has assigned or bequeathed the right of obtaining Australia.
it, or in the event of the death of the inventor, by his legal representatives.
In Newfoundland, before any person can obtain a patent he must "make New- "oath, in writing, that he doth verily believe that he is the inventor or discoverer foundland. "of the art, machine, composition of matter, or improvement for which he solicits "letters patent."
Wales.
In New South Wales patents may be granted to any person claiming to be New South the author or designer of any invention in, or improvement to, the arts or manufactures, or to his agent or assignee.
In Queensland the law is the same as in the United Kingdom, except that, Queens- when an inventor is out of the Colony, application for the patent may be made land. by his assignee, either alone, or, if the whole right of the invention is not assigned, jointly with the inventor.
Western
In Victoria and Western Australia the applicant for a patent may be Victoria,
(a) The actual inventor; or
(b) His assigns; or
(c) The actual inventor jointly with the assigns of a part interest
in the invention; or
(d) The legal representatives of a deceased actual inventor or of
his assigns; or
(e) Any person to whom the invention has been communicated by the actual inventor, his legal representatives or assigns (if the actual inventor, his legal representatives or assigns, is not or are not resident in Victoria or Western Australia).
The Act in the case of each of these Colonies prescribes that the term inventor "shall not include a person importing an invention from any other Colony or Country without the authority of the actual inventor, his legal "representatives or assigns."
$4
Australia.
In Tasmania the terms of the Act indicate that the law is the same as in Tasmania. the United Kingdom, but the "Brief Instructions, 1896," state that the applicant must claim to be either (1) the true and first inventor, (2) the inventor's agent, (3) the inventor's asignee, (4) the introducer of the invention into the Colony, (5) a deceased inventor's legal representative.
In New Zealand, one or more of the applicants for a patent must be the New true and first inventor, and the Act prescribes that the true and first inventor Zealand. " means the person who is the actual inventor of an invention, or his nominee “ or assignee, but does not include the unauthorised importer of an invention "from any place outside the Colony."
49 In Cape Colony and Natal, a patent may be granted to the true and first Cape inventor; or if he dies within six months from the date of the application for Colony, the patent, to his executors within such six months or at any time within three
months from his death.
P
Natal
ilus! 7.