Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1961-1962 — Page 25

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in the numbers of applications accepted and of marks registered, the former increasing by 221 to 1,359, and the latter by 39 to 1,095, of which 1,074 were registered in Part A and 21 in Part B.

55. Table XV shows the numbers of marks registered in each of the thirty four scheduled classes, and Table XVI shows the countries of origin of the applications for the 1,095 marks registered. In each case the previous figures are included for comparison. As compared with 1960-61 there have been increases in the number of registrations in twenty classes, none of any particular significance, and decreases in the other fourteen classes, the only major one being the slump from 174 to 126 in Class 25, 'Clothing, including boots, shoes and slippers.' The seven countries from which most applications were received were Hong Kong (397), the United States of America (197), the United Kingdom (170), Japan (77), Germany (77), Switzerland (39), and The Netherlands (26). This is the same order as in the two preceding years except that The Netherlands has displaced China from seventh place.

56. 316 marks having been removed from the Register for non- payment of the registration renewal fee, and four cancelled at the request of the registered proprietors, the total number of marks on the Register on 31st March 1962 was 19,404, comprising 3,030 re-registered pre-war marks and 15,374 new marks.

Oppositions and Hearings

57. Seventeen oppositions were pending at the beginning of the year and nine further notices of opposition were received during the year. Three oppositions were withdrawn and three opposed applications abandoned, leaving twenty pending at the end of the year. Oppositions rarely go to a hearing before the Registrar: usually one side or the other withdraws, or the parties arrive at some compromise arrangement acceptable to the Registrar. Two hearings nevertheless took place during the year, one under Rule 86 of the Trade Marks Ordinance on an objection by the Registrar to an application to register the words ‘Fruit of the Loom' in Class 25 in respect of clothing, and one under Rule 18 on an objection by the Registrar to an application to register the words 'Royal Command' in Class 33 in respect of alcoholic beverages. At the former it was held that as the words 'Fruit of the Loom' had a direct reference to the character of the goods, they could not be registered. At the latter it was held that as Rule 4 of the Trade Marks Ordinance placed a complete embargo on the use of the word 'Royal' on any

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