Dec. 12.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 3531

Christmas and New Year Holidays.

Office of the Minister of Internal Affairs,
Wellington, 29th November, 1907.

IT is hereby notified for general information that Wednesday, the 25th December, Thursday, the 26th December, Friday, the 27th December, Saturday, the 28th December, 1907, and Wednesday, the 1st January, and Thursday, the 2nd January, 1908, will be observed as holidays in the public offices of the Government of New Zealand.

By order.

HUGH POLLEN,
Under-Secretary.

Patent Agent registered.

Patent Office,
Wellington, 11th December, 1907.

IT is hereby notified that

JOHN CAMPBELL PEACOCK,
Solicitor, of the City of Wellington, in the Dominion of New Zealand, has been registered as a Patent Agent.

English Patents and Designs Act, 1907.

THE following extract from the “Illustrated Official Journal (Patents)” of the United Kingdom is printed for general information.

PATENTS AND DESIGNS ACT, 1907.

The attention of manufacturers and traders is specially called to the following summary of certain of the provisions of the above Act.

Revocation of Patents worked wholly or mainly abroad.

Section 27 of the Act provides that at any time not less than four years after the date of a patent, and not less than one year from the passing of the Act (i.e., from the 28th of August last), any person may apply to the Comptroller for the revocation of the patent on the ground that the patented article or process is manufactured or carried on exclusively or mainly outside the United Kingdom.

If after inquiry the Comptroller is satisfied that the allegations contained in any such application are correct, he may, subject to an appeal to the Court, revoke the patent, unless the patentee proves that the patented article or process is manufactured or carried on to an adequate extent in the United Kingdom, or gives satisfactory reasons why it is not.

A year’s grace dating from the 28th of August last has been given by this section in the Act. This interval has been allowed in the hope that the patentees, unless prevented by satisfactory reasons, will at once take the necessary steps to work their patents to an adequate extent in the United Kingdom. In the event of their failing to do so, they will run the risk of losing their monopolies, not only by means of the legislative machinery provided by section 27, but also by the operation of section 25 (2), which has authorised the Law Courts to take cognisance of their default, and has provided that every ground on which a patent may be revoked under the Act by the Comptroller shall also be available by way of defence to an action for infringement, and shall also be a ground of revocation under that section.

Cancellation of Copyright in Registered Designs used in Manufacture wholly or mainly abroad.

Provisions similar to those contained in section 27 of the Act are to be found in section 58 with reference to the cancellation of registrations of designs used in manufacture wholly or mainly abroad. A year’s grace has not been allowed by this section, which will come into force on the 1st January next, nor is there any appeal against the decisions of the Comptroller under it. The grounds for cancellation of the registration of a design under this section are made available by way of defence to an action for infringement of the copyright in the design.

Compulsory Licenses and Revocation.

Another amendment of the law relating to obstructive patents will be found in section 24, which provides that petitions to the Board of Trade for the grant of compulsory licenses or in the alternative for the revocation of patents on the ground that the reasonable requirements of the public with respect to a patented invention have not been satisfied shall, if the Board of Trade are satisfied that a prima facie case is made out, be referred to the Court, i.e., to a specially selected Judge of the High Court or to a Lord Ordinary in Scotland, instead of as at present to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. For the purposes of this section, the reasonable requirements of the public are not to be deemed to be satisfied—

(a.) If by reason of the default of the patentee to manufacture to an adequate extent and supply on reasonable terms the patented article, or any parts thereof which are necessary for its efficient working, or to carry on the patented process to an adequate extent, or to grant licenses on reasonable terms, any existing trade or industry, or the establishment of any new trade or industry, in the United Kingdom is unfairly prejudiced, or the demand for the patented article or the article produced by the patented process is not reasonably met; or

(b.) If any trade or industry in the United Kingdom is unfairly prejudiced by the conditions attached by the patentee before or after the passing of the Act to the purchase, hire, or use of the patented article, or to the using or working of the patented process.

Avoidance of certain Conditions imposed by Patentees in relation to the Sale or Lease of or License to use Patented Articles or Processes.

Attention is called to section 38 of the Act, which deals with this matter. Broadly speaking, the conditions prohibited are those which have the effect of preventing purchasers, lessees, or licensees of patented articles and processes from buying or using other articles or processes and availing themselves of other inventions, or of compelling them to acquire from the patentee or his nominees articles that are not protected by his patent. Subject to certain specified exceptions, section 38 renders any conditions of this character inserted in contracts made after the passing of the Act null and void as being in restraint of trade and contrary to public policy; and enables existing contracts containing them to be determined on payment of compensation. The section also provides that the insertion by the patentee in a contract made after the passing of the Act of any condition which by virtue of the section is null and void shall be available as a defence to an action for infringement of the patent to which the contract relates brought while that contract is in force.

Other Provisions.

The Act contains a large number of provisions which will improve the position of existing and future patentees and proprietors of registered designs.

For the details of these provisions the Act itself should be consulted. Reference may, however, be made to Section 18, the object of which is to reduce the cost of extending the time of a patent where a patentee has been inadequately remunerated;

Section 19, enabling patentees to obtain patents of addition in respect of which no renewal fees will be payable;

Section 20, dealing with the restoration of lapsed patents;

Sections 41 (2) and 55, protecting a patentee or proprietor of a design against the consequences of unauthorised publication of his invention or design; and

Section 53, enabling copyright in a design to be extended for a second or third term of five years.

[Extract from the “Board of Trade Journal” of October 17, 1907.]

Applications for Letters Patent filed.

LIST of applications for Letters Patent filed. (Where a complete specification accompanies an application an asterisk is affixed; in all other cases a provisional specification has been lodged. In all cases where the applicant is not the inventor the name of the latter appears in italics after the title.)

No. 23764—27th November.—A. Soderling, Bodie, U.S.A.
Ore-treatment.*

No. 23765.—27th November.—J. R. Patterson, Wellington, N.Z.
Actuating machine sheep-shears.

No. 23766.—27th November.—J. Leahy, Sydney, N.S.W.
Sheep-shearing machine.* (J. W. Sutton.)

No. 23767.—27th November.—D. Lewers and F. S. Greer, Sydney, N.S.W.
Rabbit-trap.* (F. Gerson and W. G. English.)

No. 23768.—27th November.—G. C. Munns, Auckland, N.Z.
Lawn, &c., sprayer.