4

Article 4 The provisions of Articles 1 and 2 shall be subject to the right of each Government to take appropriate measures to protect and preserve proprietary, licence or other rights or interests in such patents which have been before the Ist August, 1946, lawfully granted to or acquired by any nonGerman. An exclusive licence granted before the Ist August, 1946, may be protected by declining to grant any new licence during the period of such exclusive licence, and a nonexclusive licence may be protected by imposing on new licensees the same terms as those imposed on the existing licensee. Article 5 For the purposes of this Accord, each Government may treat as non-German-owned those patents, or interests in patents, belonging to persons in special classes (such as Germans residing outside Germany, German refugees, &c.) whose property that Government has exempted or may in the future exempt from its general law and regulations relating to German-owned property. Article 6 In order to carry out the purposes of this Accord and to provide for the interchange of information through a central office, the Government of the French Republic will provide facilities for receiving and disseminating reports from Governments, parties to this Accord, and for notifying these Governments of matters of common interest under this Accord. Article 7 Each Government, party to this Accord, shall furnish as soon as possible to the central office referred to in Article 6, for transmission to the other Governments, parties to this Accord, a list of all former wholly or partly German-owned patents, which are not available to the nationals of these Governments by way of dedication or royalty-free licences, together with a schedule of the licences and of non-German interests existing under or in those patents. In addition, the Governments, which can conveniently do so shall furnish a list of all such patents still in force which are licensable on a royalty-free basis and of all such patents as have ceased or been dedicated to the public.