CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905 — Page 89

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Inclosure 4 in No. 1.

Signor Baroli to Baron von Mumm.

Mon cher Collègue,

Légation d'Italie, Pékin, le 21 Avril, 1905. J'AI l'honneur d'accuser réception à votre Excellence et de la remercier de la copie du projet de loi pour la protection des marques de fabriques en Chine.

En remerciant votre Excellence de cette communication, je m'empresse de l'informer que je n'ai, de ma part, aucune objection à faire au projet de loi précité, Je trouve aussi qu'il est préférable d'établir une entente générale avec le Gouverne- ment Chinois à ce sujet avant de soumettre aux Gouvernements respectifs le projet de loi en question, et j'ai naturellement pas d'objection à ce qu'une copie du projet soit soumise à titre d'information au Ministre du Japon et au Chargé d'Affaires d'Amérique.

(Translation.) Sir,

Veuillez, &c. (Signé) C. BAROLI,

Inclosure 5 in No. 1.

Herr Rosthorn to Baron von Mumm.

Austro-Hungarian Legation, Peking, April 18, 1905.

1 HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday, with which you were so kind as to communicate to me, in addition to the proposals regarding common action in the question of legislation for the protection of trade marks, a scheme elaborated by you in conjunction with the English and French Ministers.

My Government, which is interested in this matter, has instructed me to co-operate with the other Representatives, and in particular to act in agreement with At the same time it specially indicated two points to be sought after, and which it appears to me would guarantee the preservation not of our interests alone, but those of all classes of persons affected.

you.

These are stipulations which render it possible-

1. To protest against the registration of a mark within a period of nine to twelve months from the publication of the notification, on the ground of prior

and

use;

2. To enter an appeal for cancellation, unlimited as to time, against any notifica. tion effected by a third person.

Consideration is indeed given to these justifiable demands in the draft in question, but still it seems to me that the stipulations regarding them are not made quite precise enough.

As, however, I completely agree with your tactical proposals, I agree to negotia tious with the Chinese Government being begun on the basis of this draft, and more thorough reserve the right of indicating possible modifications after a study of it.

I return the draft with thanks, and beg you, &c.

(Signed)

A. ROSTHORN.

Inclosure 6 in No. 1.

Provisional Regulations for the Registration of Trade-marks. (Re-translation from the Chinese.)

A MERCHANT, whether Chinese or foreign, wishing to have the exclusive use of a trade-mark, must have it registered in conformity with the following Rules :-

It is essential that a trade-mark must consist of a special and distinctive device, word or words, or brand. All three forms may be employed together, or two together, or they may be used separately.

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2. The Board of Commerce will establish a Registration Office, which shall exclusively conduct the business of registration.

The custom-houses at Shanghac and Tien-tsin will be considered branch offices where trade-marks can be entered for registration, so that persons entering trade- marks for registration may present their applications at either place, as most convenient.

3. All applicants for registration may send their applications to the Registration Office, or may send them through one of the branch offices where trade-marks are entered for registration.

4. To every application must be appended a Memorandum. This Memorandum, in addition to giving a general description of the trade-mark, must be accompanied by a triplicate representation of the same, and must state the kind of goods it is intended to cover, according to the classifications defined in the list attached to these Provisional Regulations. In event of application for registration being made through a branch office, the application and Memorandum must be made in duplicate.

5. The Registration Office, on the receipt of an application, shall, on finding it to be in order, file it for six months; and if within that period no other person makes an application conflicting therewith, registration shall be proceeded with.

6. If applications are made for registration of marks which are alike, and which are for the same or similar kinds of goods, the mark for which application is first made will be registered. If such applications are made simultaneously they shall all be entitled to registration.

7. In the case of trade-marks already registered abroad, if application for regis- tration be made within a period of four months from the date of original registration the date of original registration will be accepted (as the date from which registration in China shall count).

be regis-

8. Trade-marks which infringe the following conditions cannot tered :-

(a.) Those likely to injure public order, or offending against morality, or calculated to deceive;

(6.) Those embodying marks or words reserved for Government use (e.g., Imperial or official seals), and those consisting of representations of the national flag or military flags, or of decorations awarded for meritorious service.

(c.) Marks already registered by other persons, and marks resembling, or of the same nature as marks which for over two years prior to the application for registration have been publicly used in China, and have covered a similar class of goods.

may

(d.) Marks to which no distinctive appellation can be applied, by which they be recognized.

9. The period during which Chinese or foreign merchants shall have the exclusive right to a trade-mark is limited to twenty years from the date of regis- tration by this Office.

In the case of trade-marks already registered abroad, in respect to which appli- cation for registration in China has been made in accordance with these Regulations, the period of exclusive rights follows the period of the original registration, but in no case must it exceed twenty years.

10. If owners of a trade-mark wish to have their exclusive rights therein con- tinued, they may, within six months prior to the date of expiry, apply for the term to be extended.

11. If the owner of a registered trade-mark wishes to transfer his exclusive rights therein to another, or to give others a share therein, he must at once apply to the Registration Office to register (the transfer).

12. If a mark already registered contravenes paragraphs (a), (b), or (d) of Regulation 8, the Registration Office will have the right to cancel the same.

18. Any one who considers himself injured by the fact that a trade-mark has been registered in contravention of Regulation 6 or Regulation 8 (c), may apply to the Registration Office to have registration cancelled, but he must do so within a period of three years from the date of registration.

14. The Registration Office must state in writing any reasons they may have for refusing to register a trade-mark.

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