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1890. NEW ZEALAND.

PATENTS, DESIGNS, AND TRADE-MARKS (FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE REGISTRAR OF).

« - Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly pursuant to Section 128 of " The Patents, Designs, and Trade-marks Act, 1889."

As the Act came into force only on the Ist January last, this report is necessarily limited to six months so far as the working of the present Act is concerned. The Act of 1889 supersedes the Patents Act of 1883 and its amendments, and the Trade-marks Act of 1866 with its amending Act of 1882, and is practically the same as the Imperial Patents, Designs, and Trade-marks Act of 1883, as amended by subsequent statutes. The differences, which are few and mostly unimportant, are only such as were required by the different conditions of this colony. It is hoped that the other colonies will follow the example of New Zealand, and thus make the patent laws of the Empire uniform throughout it. 2. Under the Imperial Act opposition to the grant of Letters Patent is restricted to three grounds, but in this colony there is no such restriction, and more costly litigation in the Supreme Court is thus avoided. 3. On the coming into force of the Act, the Colonial Secretary, who was Begistrar of Trademarks under the repealed Trade-marks Acts, handed over to me the books and documents connected with the registration of trade-marks prior to the Ist January last. _. The change in the law both as regards patents and trade-marks, involving an almost entirely new system, with new forms and books, could not, of course, be adopted without considerable labour and some occasional delays; but the main difficulties have now been overcome, and the Act is working smoothly. I obtained from the London Patent Office specimens of books and forms in use there, and adapted them with some modifications which my experience led me to consider desirable. 5. The Begulations made under the Act have also been adapted from those in force in England. Copies of these Begulations have, in accordance with the Act, been presented to Parliament. They appear to give satisfaction to the persons concerned. 6. Although copies of the Act and Begulations have been extensively circulated through this and the other colonies and Great Britain, a great deal of correspondence in the office has been, and is still, caused by the ignorance on the part of some applicants of the existence of a new Act, and by the neglect of others to study the requirements of the Act and Begulations before forwarding their applications. 7. It may be interesting to refer here to some of the differences between the old laws and the new, and how they are working : — (a.) To guard inventors against incompetent persons styling themselves "patent agents," and causing serious loss and trouble to those who employ them, no person is allowed so to call himself unless he has been duly registered as a patent agent. Up to date, one layman in Wellington and one in Christchurch have passed the required examination and been registered, and eight solicitors practising in Wellington have also been registered. (b.) The present Act allows for the deposit of a provisional specification of an invention, to be kept secret pending the perfection of the invention and the deposit of a complete specification ; but this privilege has not as yet been taken advantage of to the extent anticipated. Probably more will avail themselves of this provision as it becomes better known. Attached is a return showing the number of provisional specifications and the number of complete specifications lodged in the first instance during the last six months.

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