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1904. NEW ZEALAND.

PATENTS, DESIGNS, AND TRADE MARKS: FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE REGISTRAR.

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

I have the honour to submit ray report on the operations of the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Office for the year ended the 31st December, 1903. The increase in the business of the office is again very noticeable, the number of applications exceeding by 206 the number for 1902, and by 566 the number for any other year. The amount collected in fees was £5,290 2s. 7d., £1,290 19s. id. (32-17 per cent.) more than in the preceding year. This large increase is due partly to the rapid growth of the business of the office and partly to the fees (£671) for the renewal of trade marks registered before the commencement of the present Act on the Ist January, 1890, being payable last year. As the renewal fees of marks registered under that Act are now due fourteen years from the date of registration, the amount payable in any one year will not for some time to come be so great as that shown for last year. Apart from the amount for renewal fees, the increase in revenue was £619 19s. 4d., or 155 per cent, more than the revenue for 1902. The progress of the office since the commencement of the present Act on the Ist January, 1890, is illustrated by the following figures : — Applications. Eevenue. Year. £ s. d. 1890 ... ... ... ... ... 781 1,914 13 10 1895 ... ... ... ... ... 1,084 2,170 9 6 1900 ... ... ... ... ... 1,372 3,396 17 3 1903 ... ... ... ... ... 2,077 5,290 2 7 The whole cost of working, including printing, &c, was £1,657 Is. 5d., £312 4s. 4d. more than last year. This increase is chiefly accounted for by the extra cost of the Patents Gazette, due to printing the drawings of inventions, £152 19s. 6d.; additional fees to Patent Office Agents, £52 155.; classifying specifications, £13 10s.; and increases in salaries of the ordinary staff of the office, £35. It will be noticed that £676 13s. (40-8 per cent.) of the total expenditure is in respect of work done by the Government Printing Office. PATENTS. During 1903 1,604 applications were received. This number exceeds by 173 the number for 1902, and by 490 the total for any other year. The increasing extent to which inventors are availing themselves of the benefits of the patent law is shown by the following figures, taken at intervals of ten years from 1863, three years after the commencement of the first Patents Act in New Zealand :— Year. Number of Applications. 1863 ... ... ... ... .. ... ... 6 1873 33 1883 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 233 1893 ... ... ... ... ... ... 625 1903 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,604 The total fees received from patents amounted to £3,964 Bs. 10d., £525 6s. 7d. more than the amount paid under this head for 1902. As was the case in that year, nearly twice as many applications were lodged with provisional specifications as with complete specifications, the numbers being respectively 1,031 and 573. Two hundred and eighty-four complete specifications were left after provisional specifications, an increase of 79 on last year, and 674 Letters Patent were issued, 130 more than in 1902. The number of patents on which renewal fees were paid remained about the same. A slight increase is shown in the grants of extension of time for lodging complete specifications and paying fees, as well as in the number of assignments registered, and 90 more searches were made.

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