ENG-1962 — Page 268

LAW, ORDER AND RECORDS

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by maintaining similar deposits elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Arising out of the Colony's great commercial, shipping and in- dustrial interests, an immense amount of insurance business is transacted annually and altogether there are 195 companies engaged in it. The approval of the Governor in Council must be obtained for transacting motor vehicle third party insurance business.

The Registrar of Companies keeps a list of all persons and firms authorized for appointment as auditors of locally incorporated companies. The list is in two parts: part one contains auditors authorized to audit accounts kept in English, and part two those authorized to audit accounts kept in Chinese. On 31st December 1962 there were 154 names (including 36 firms) in part one and 127 names (including 29 firms) in part two. The com- panies registry also deals with the incorporation of trustees under the Registered Trustees Incorporation Ordinance, 1958, and with the registration of limited partnerships, Chinese partnerships, and money-lenders.

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Trade Marks and Patents Registries. Trade marks are registered under the Trade Marks Ordinance, 1954, which is based on the Trade Marks Act, 1938, of the United Kingdom. The procedure is laid down in the Trade Marks Rules, 1954, and the prescribed forms may be obtained free of charge from the Registrar of Trade Marks, Registrar General's Department.

During the year 1,916 applications for registration were received and 1,508 (including many made in previous years) were accepted and allowed to proceed to advertisement. A total of 1,558 marks were registered, the principal countries of origin being: Hong Kong 468, United States of America 349, United Kingdom 249, Japan 95, Germany 92, Switzerland 55, and France 35. The total number of marks on the register on 31st December 1962 was 19,003.

Hong Kong law does not provide for the original grant of pat- ents, but patents registered in the United Kingdom are registrable under the Registration of United Kingdom Patents Ordinance (Chapter 42). This provides that the grantee of a United Kingdom patent may, within five years from the date of its issue, apply to have it registered in Hong Kong. Registration confers the same rights as though the patent had been issued in the United Kingdom