Untitled

Progress, Volume II, Issue 7, 1 May 1907, Page 249

floor of the Magistrates' Court in I,ambton Quay, the institution will well repay a visit as one of the most remarkable and useful established by the State. It was first housed in the Government buildings ; it passed on to the Governmen Printing Office ; its presence in the present quarters is probably but temporary. The Patent Office was constituted by the Patents Act, 1860, and commenced operations on the first of January of the year following. The progress of the office under that Act, and also under the Act of 1870, was slow, but applications for patents increased in number under the Act of 1883, which reduced the fees and simplified the procedure. The growth was further accelerated by the " Patents Designs and Trade Marks Act, 1889," which brought the law on these subjects in New Zealand into line with the legislation of the United Kingdom. The greater facilities under this Act quickly found favour with the inventors of the colony, and the rapid increase of the applications has since been very marked. In 1865 one application was received ; in 1875 the number crawled up to 16 ; in 1885 it swelled to 240 ; in 1895 it leaped to 816 ; in 1895 it rushed up to 1601 ; and it is estimated that the applications for the current year will exceed 1800. The act of 1889 also provided for the registration of useful and ornamental designs ; a form of protection which has, however, so far not found favour, only 321 being registeied to date. In England, 23,000 designs were registered in the year 1905. It is a big contrast. Trade Marks, formerly under the control of the Colonial Secretary's Department, were placed under the Patent Office by the Act of 1889. Up to that time 1222 marks had been registered, but as the result of lower fees and increase of trade, the number registered annually has since greatly increased. In 1895 the number registered was 254, in 1905 it was 607, and the estimate for the present year is 682.

contains particulars of applications for patents, illustrated abridgments of inventions, and full copies of specifications and drawings are supplied at a nominal cost. To enable inventors to ascertain whether their inventions have been already patented, specifications and drawings of the patents in the Colony, as well as in the United Kingdom and in the United States of America, can be seen at the Patent Office library; while illustrated abridgements of inventions of the United Kingdom may also be inspected at Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and

Registrar is Mr. I^ewis, who was appointed a few weeks ago, on the resignation of Mr. Waldegrave. Of all these various Patent Officers, Mr. Haselden is the one of whom it may be said that he was of the office " Magna Pars." It was he who by a system of judicious, but strictly official advertising, such as making full annual reports to parliament, sticking up posters in all Court Houses, and Post Offices, and other ways, first got the public to learn the advantages of obtaining patents in the colony for inventions. He also induced the