This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Gover54
2
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Extract from the "Japan Chronicle" of November 10, 1908.
FRAUDULENT TRADE-MARKS: DENUNCIATION BY VICE-MINISTER OF COMMERCE.
Letter to Kobe Chamber of Commerce.
THE Kobe Chamber of Commerce has received a communication from Mr. Oshikawa, Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, calling the attention of the Chamber to the piracy of foreign trade-marks by Japanese manufacturers and merchants. The letter, which has presumably been addressed to all the Chambers of Commerce in the country, was accompanied by specimens of forged foreign labels, and reads in substance as follows:-
"The extension of the sphere of business enterprise has of late intensified the evils of competition. As a result some merchants are known to be freely indulging in fraud, and manufacturers imitate the inventions of others or produce spurious articles. There are some who are always trying shamelessly to diminish the profits of others for the sake of temporary personal gain. There are not a few who venture to infringe the right of others to industrial property by imitating or pirating inventions, trade-marks, &c. These are tendencies to be deplored in regard to the future of the Empire's industry. It is to be particularly noted that complaints have been frequently made by foreigners against the infringements of their trade-marks or trade-names by Japanese. While some of these complaints cannot be regarded as legitimate in the eyes of the law, there are many actions on the part of Japanese business men which have a strong appearance of being illegal and fraudulent. These actions not only damage the credit of Japanese business men, but tend to affect the national prestige of the Empire. The annexed specimens of forged trade-marks illustrate only the most glaring examples.
"From these the rest can be inferred. From the first the Patent Bureau has been stringently scrutinizing all applications for registration of trade-marks in order to detect forgeries, and applications for trade-marks which are calculated to impose on the public have been rejected. It is to be hoped that all business men will exercise redoubled care, warning each other and making it a principle of business to fortify their credit and strive to promote commerce and industry by legitimate means."
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[43876]
(No. 536.) Sir,
No. 1.
1189
[December 16.]
SECTION 3.
TT JAN 09
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.~(Received December 16.)
Peking, November 26, 1908. I HAVE the honour to report the settlement of a long-outstanding claim against the Chinese Government on behalf of Messrs. Butterfield and Swire.
In the autumn of 1905 this firm's native employé had purchased on their account a large consignment of wool in the Provinces of Kansu and Shensi, which he was bringing towards Tien-tsin under transit pass, when he was stopped at a certain li-kin barrier in the latter province, and his goods were confiscated on the ground that he should have exchanged the transit passes issued in Tien-tsin for transit certificates at the first li-kin barrier on his road towards the port of shipment.
In
The firm, in reporting the occurrence to His Majesty's Consul-General, assessed their losses at over 17,000 taels, at that time equivalent to nearly 2,5007. Lengthy correspondence ensued with the Tien-tsin Taotai and the Viceroy without result. the summer of 1906 the matter was referred to the Wai-wu Pu by Mr. Carnegie, and, since that date, has formed the subject of repeated representations, both written and verbal, in the course of which it has been pointed out that for many years past the Treaty rule respecting the exchange of the transit-pass or memorandum for a transit certificate at the first barrier has not been enforced in the North-West Provinces on account of the difficulty of hiring transport. The scarcity of transport renders it necessary to bring native produce, such as wool and hides, to collecting centres in small quantities, and it is not until the cargo is packed at those collecting centres that the exchange of the transit pass for the certificate has hitherto been demanded. The sudden reversion to a Treaty rule of 1858, which had not been strictly construed before in the northern trade, thus penalized a British firm without any warning whatever.
The attitude of the Wai-wu Pu was not unsympathetic. They considered that the action of the Shensi li-kin authorities in confiscating the cargo was harsh though technically justifiable, and they were quite willing to make the province refund the value of the goods. But it was not easy for them to give effect to this benevolent view of the case. They succeeded, however, in prevailing on the Governor of Shensi to leave the settlement in the hands of the Tien-tsin Taotai, who, in consultation with His Majesty's Consul-General, decided in favour of the firm.
The next step was to extract payment from the province, and it was not until I had repeatedly urged upon the Wai-wu Pu the alternative of sending a Commission, to be composed of a Consular officer and a representative of the Board, to hold an inquiry in the province, not only into this case, but also into other interferences with trade, that the Governor consented to pay over the sum of 10,000 taels.
The firm hesitated to accept this sum, but when it was increased to 12,000 taels I advised them to close with the offer, as I felt that we had gone to the extreme limit of pressure, and that there was no prospect of obtaining more than this figure.
On the 16th November His Majesty's Acting Consul-General was able to inform me that the money had been paid over and that the case was therefore closed.
In recording this settlement the Wai-wu Pu observe, in a note dated the 20th November, that the whole complication arose from a disregard of the Treaty rule respecting the exchange of the transit pass for a certificate at the first barrier, and give notice that foreign firms must not again plead "ancient practice" as an excuse for not observing this procedure. They also ask me to instruct His Majesty's Consul-General to confer with the Taotai in drawing up more satisfactory rules, in accordance with Treaty, to govern the transit-pass trade of Tien-tsin.
In my reply I have reminded the Board of the local circumstances which gave rise, in the North-West Provinces, to a modification in form of the usual transit-pass practice laid down in the Treaty rules, and I have said that merchants would probably prefer
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