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the steam hammer: an establishment of the importance of the II. & W. Dock Co. should be capable of making a new shaft for any vessel which my require it; failures of shafts are the most frequent of all accidents to machinery afloat, and although most ressels carry spare ones there is still scope enough with those who don't, and other heavy forgings in general.
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
SUPREME COURT.
· Tuesday, 2nd December
IN ORIGINAL JURISDICTION.
BEFORE HIS HONOUR Sr W. MEIGH Goodman (CHIEF JUSTICE).
tansan.
THE TANSAN DISPUTE.
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28 one
December 6, 1902
One was yellow and one blue.
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from the other. It had been held in Japan that the plaintiff could not have any protection for the use of the word "tansan," as it was a word in common
might say "soda water" "appollinaris." That fact was within the knowledge of the plaintiffs and was not rorealed to his Lordship on the application for tie Vec parte injan tiɔn. In not mentioning this mat rial fact the plaintiff was guilty of a srius error of judgment
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application for this order was submitted to him, His Lordship remarked that when the
he specially asked whether the plaintiff claimed exclusive right to the use of the word "tausan," because he had some doubt in his own mind on the point, but he was told that they claimed a monopoly in that word aud granted the injunction accordingly. That statement did not now appear to be right.
Mr. II. E. Pollock, K.C., barrister-at-law, appeared for the plaintiff (it struct d by Mr. C. D Wilkinson of Messrs Wilkinson & Grist, Mr. Slade said there had ben legal proceed. solicitors); and Mr. M. W. Slade. barrister-at-ings in Japan on the point and it had been so law, appeared for Ea Shn & Co, the defendants | decided. (iustructed by Mr. F. B. Deacon of Messrs. Deacon & Hastings, solicitors).
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That the time is aupropitions 1 join is no : it was not the fault of the direttors that Government blocked the sebėmo same years ago; perhaps the Dock Co. expected too much, This was a cross-summons arising out of an but the powers that were decidedly did not err application by J. Clifford Wilkinson. Kobe,, on the side of liberality: the delay in itself was Japan, for an order for an ez parte injunction exasperating In this respect our local Govern against. Ea Shu & Co. Hongkong, agents for ment is simply incomprehensible: requests for Ish ́michi & Co., Kobe, Japan, selling or deal laud to be put up to auction are shelved for yearsing in mineral waters under the designation until all arrangements for its acqusition by its would-be lesse a fall through, and have to be recommenced when the tardy reply is given, and then the conditious attached are found to be so oueron, the upset price and Crown rent so high, and generally the squeezes exacted so much in excess of reason, that purchasers are deterred from carrying out schemes which would result in the Colony's benefit. Our local Mr. Slade made a motion that the order for an Goverument seems to be under the impression er parte injuuction previously obtained in that that industrial concerus should be discouraged; ¦ Court be set aside on the grounds of misrepre- forgetting their value in adding to the prosper-soutati n. the suppression of material facts ity of the Colony, and also the fact that trade That order restrained the defendants from is as much dependant upon the workshops as selling or dealing in mineral waters under the upon the hongs. We have to make our new
desiguation of ་ tansan until the motion for ventures pay in spite of official obstruction the injunction was heard. The material state. moreover they must pay in our owu lifetime. ment on which that order was made was the We are accused of being speculators, and affidarit of Mr. R. H. B Mitchell of Mess 8. fauuled with th : sonbriquet of Shylock, but it! Price & Ca, in which he swore that the trade. must be remembered that must of us are but mark of the plaintiff which appeared on the sojourners here, bave no periodical leave ou
bottle produced was registered in this Colony half-pay at a 4s. dollar, no peusion to look on 23rd March. 10); he stated also that the forward to. and the dollar diminishing to defendant firm had only recently started selling
uicroscopic proportions.
this water described as "(ansan "aud were selling it cheaper than flie plintiffs. Now, investigation had been made and it transpired that no such trade-mark was registered in this Colony and that the trade-mark registered was entirely different in every essential materialį excepting the word tausau," which พยง written, too, in a different way. Thore they Jul a most material misrepresentation of the actual fact. Mr. Mitchell was not the plaintiff. The plaintiff was Wilkinson, and he knew perfectly well what Mr. Clifford
trade-mark was registered, and M. Mitchell 1. The trans-Pacific trade will not justify was not the only agent of the plaintiff their construction. There is but one large in this Colony. Mr. Mi chell wiht not town on the Northern Pacific seaboard and a know what trade-mark was registered, but comparitively sparse population in the hinter the solicitors of the plaintiffs had not attempted land; consequently little business passenger to say that they did not know. He would traffic. Chinese are practically deburred, so
go furthe and say that 0:1 that label little steerage traffic. Tourist traffic a negli which had been sworn as being registered in gible quantity.
March. 199, there was a direct untrue state. ment by the plaintiff himself, uamely, the label boe the words registered trade-mark." was this false statement of fact which had induced or did something towards inducing his Lordship to make the restraining order.
It is hinted that certain concessions have been made by the Government. If these "concessions enable us to proceed with the scheme it will be to the ultimate benefit of the Colony and the Empire. The expenditure must be spread over a sufficient number of years so as to ensure that dividends will not be reduced : and we must wait and see what to us we will got before coming to a final conclusiou.
The number of very large vessels frequenting the port will increase but slowly,for the following
reasons:---
No heavy weight cargo, and no cattle trade, requiring enormous vessels of the Boric type.
3. China harbours are mostly shallow, and the Suez Canal Co. only guarantees 27 feet depth of water.
t. If the Americans put on a few more ships of the Korea class, they will take care that the docking is done at San Francisco where they have a dock under construction 750 feet long by 103 feet wide. Such vessels as the above cannot profitably be run without Gov- ernment subsidy, so will not multiply rapidly.
And finally B. aud S.'s new dock will take all such for the first ten years after completion.
Yours, etc.,
"DOCKER."
According to the Osaka Moinichi, the pro- duction of gold in Formosa continues to increase rapidly.. The wines now working are coufiued to a small section of the district north of Kelung. When gold was first purchased by the Bank of Formosa its valug was estimated at 830.000 yen a year. It increased to 1,000,000 and then to 1,500,000 yen in a very short space of time. When the bank started buying gold at first no small amount was being exported abroad by the natives. By paying the highest possible price, however, the Bink has been the means of entirely checking this indiscriminate exportation. A gold field has existed from ancieat times at Southern Formosa and the lease was recently obtained by a Mr. Yamashita. but operations have not yet commenced. It is believed that a very promising future is before the gold mining industry of Formosa.
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Mr. Pollock-I am under the impression that it has been registered in England.
Mr. Slade repli-d that if that was the position of the plaintiff it should have been stated previously. There was no evidence on the point. His Lordship remarked that the only question appeared to be the use of the word tnsan When the motion was before him he assumed that tausan was a special name uot commou to the trade. but the affidavits on the other side seemed to show that this description of this kind of article was common to the tra·le,
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Mr. Slade stated that as a matter of fact au action had been brought by Mr. Clifford Wilkinsop in Japan upon the use of this very word tausan. and it had been there decide that tansan was a common word and there- fore could not be the subject of a trade-mark.
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His Lordship Practically like soda water? Mr. Flade Yes. This is a slightly mineral effervescent water: the whole of the watar obtained from these springs is called tausan."
His Lordship Has the plaintiff himself authorised this action: he must have known of the decision given in Japan?
Mr. Pollock-Yes, my lord
Mr. Slade went on to say that that undoubtedly was so. The settlement of the suit in Japan must have been known to the plaintiff's agents in Hongkong. The trade-mark on which this suit was brought was essentially different in every respect excepting the mere word
tansau
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His Lordship added that of course that was in
a foreign country and was not biuding upon him.
At the same timo it was in Japan where the word "tansap wes nsed, and where they were e rta'uly in a position to say whether it was or
was not in common use.
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Mr. Pollock, in addressing the Court, admitted that a reprehensible mistake had been made in the affidavit, but entended that it was not done with the object of breaking faith with the Court. Hy weat on to state that even if it were to be established on proof that the word "tansau mineral wat in Japan he would still have was a common generic name for
gone on with the motion for restraiul, on the ground that the label iu use now by the defen- daut was a colonrable imitation of that regis. tered by the plaintiff, who had been using the label referred to for two years down here, whereas the other side had just started the use of the label complained of. With regard to the nam
prove that the plaintiff inverted it and adopted tansan," they hopel to be able to
it as the designation of the water from his mineral spring that the water coming from that spring obtained a certain reputation in the market; aud that these other people, trying to take advantage of the reputation which ** tansan had acquired in the market-of con so there were plenty of mineral springs iu Japan-said. We will call this tansin."
His Lordship-But the Japanese courts held that " tanszu is a common word; though that is not of course bitding upon me.
Mr. Pollock said that Was irrelevant to the matter before the Court. They had no knowledge of the case as it was heard in the Japanese courts. They did not know the facts. the pleadings or the precedure at all. This Court would have to try the case de anco, to consider whether "tansau' ought to Lavo been on the register at all and whether "tansan" had become such a word of common, use, like
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goda water or "whisky" that really it had ceased to denote the plaintiff's ownership. These matters would have to be gone iulo by and-by, and be submit ed that the mere fact that an extract was put in by the other side from the judgment of a Japanese court, without them being acquainted with the facts luid be- fore the Court or the arguments or the way in which the plaintiff's case was shaken, was practically irrelevant. This Court woull also have to consider this point-the use of the word tansan in this Colony. It was possible that while in Japan the word might have become more or less in common use so as to indicate to porsons purchasing tansan in Japan a general generic term for mineral water, in Hongkong they might by entitled to protection. The question would be. How does this laosan stand in Hongkong what reputation has it got? It would not be whether there were hundreds or thousands of people in Japan foul of deiuking mineral water labelled tansau,” but what repu- tation the waters had in Hongkong and what individual or firm acquired that reputation for tausau in Hongkong. He won'd submit that so far as the evidence before the Court went it was all one way, namely, that it was the plaintiff in this case. Mr. Clifford Wilkinson, who had acquired in Hongkong a reputation for tansan.
His Lordship, commenting upon the simil- arity of the labels, said that if it was shown that
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