H.—lo

While these indexes and abridgements will in some measure meet the wants of inventors, the profession, and the public generally, it must be kept in mind that their requirements in this direction will not be satisfied until the specifications and drawings are printed in full, as is done in England, the United States of America, and Australia. The classified abridgments of a few of the smaller classes have been completed, but owing to the extent and intricate nature of this work, and to the time of the staff being otherwise fully occupied, expert assistance will be required before any material progress can be made with it. Inspection of Specifications at Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin. A further step has been taken in the direction of rendering more readily available to inventors and others the particulars of inventions Bought to be patented. Hitherto the specifications have only been open to inspection at this office, and any one unable to attend here lias been obliged to obtain copies. This baa placed inventors in other places at a disadvantage, which has now, to a certain extent, been removed by the office sending one set of the specifications to the local Patent (Mice at Auckland, Dunedin, ami Christohurch in succession. They remain open for inspection for a. fortnight in each place, and inventors and others in the leading towns are now enabled to refer to the original documents in time to give notice of opposition to the grant of the patents within the prescribed period of two months from the date of the advertisement of the acceptance of the applications. This arrangement lias worked successfully, but, with the other facilities provided by the "Hire, requires to be given greater publicity to be fully availed of and appreciated. Inquiry into Novelty. It cannot be too firmly impressed on inventors that this ofh'ee is not required by law to investigate the novelty of inventions sought to be patented, and with its present staff can only do so to a limited extent. Applicants should therefore endeavour, by referring to the abridgements of specifications in the leading towns and other available publications, to ascertain that their inventions have not been anticipated before lodging a complete specification or seeking to obtain protection abroad. DESIGNS. Sixty applications were received during the year, and registration effected in 58 eases. This number, though small, is the highest yet readied in any one year, and is an advance of 21 on the previous year's total. By far the greater proportion of designs were applied for in Class 3 (" articles composed wholly or partly of wood, bone, ivory, papier-mache, or other solid substances not included in other classes) — i.e., 39, or 67 per cent, of the total number, most of the registrations being effected by one firm. Class 1, " Articles composed wholly or partly of metal, not included in Class 2," comes next with 10 desig-ns, and Classes 5 (" articles composed wholly or partly of paper exoepi hangings"), 4 ('' articles composed wholly or partly of glass, earthenware, or porcelain, bricks, tiles or cement "), 10 (" millinery and wearing-apparel, including boots and shoes"), 2 ("'jewellery "'), and 13 ('"printed or woven designs on textile piece-goods") follow with 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, respectively. TRADE MARKS. There were GB4 applications for registration of trade marks in 1907, IS less than in the previous year: and 583 marks were placed on the register, as compared with r>ls in 1906. Renewal cil' marks registered fourteen years ago was effected in 162 cases, or 49 per cent., or about the same proportion as in the former year. The fees from trade marks amounted to £1,002 18s., £47 19s. more than in 1906, due principally to the larger sum received from registration and renewal fees. Goods fob which Trade Marks registered. The 'number of applications in Class 42 considerably exceeded, as in former years, those in any other class, totalling 121, 17 less than in the previous year, and 50 below that for 1905. The principal classes showing an increase are Class 1 (chemical substances used in manufactures, &c), 21 (16); Class 3 (medicines), 53 (50); Class 4 (raw or partly prepared vegetable, &c, substances), 13 (3); Class 5 (metals), 25 (12); Class 22 (carriages), 16 (12); Class 24 (cotton piecegoods), 7 (0); Class 43 (fermented liquors and spirits), 46 (17); Class 44 (mineral and aerated waters), 16 (6). A falling-off is shown in Class 7 (agricultural machinery), 7 (13); Class 38 (articles of clothing), 32 (41); Class 39 (paper), 14 (27); Class 45 (tobacco), 18 (39); Class 48 (perfumery), 29 (46); and Class 50 (miscellaneous), 53 (63). The numbers in parentheses are those for 1906. Countries from which Applications received. Of the total number of applications received— i.e., 684—residents of New Zealand sent 303, as compared with 332 in 1906; the United Kingdom sent 187, 16 more than in 1906; and slight increases are also shown in those received from the following places: Canada, 5 (1); France, 9 (5); Holland, 6 (3); India, 3 (0); Spain, 12 (0): the numbers in parentheses being those for 1906. There is a falling-off in the number from United States of America, 60 (70); Germany, 13 (19); and Sweden, 2 (4). The Commonwealth sent 114 applications, as compared with 86 in 1906; and of this number New South Wales sent 68, Victoria 41, Western Australia 3, and Tasmania 2.

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