Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/379

 PATENTS 357 of the application. Inventions may be protected in most if not all the other British colonies by special Acts of the colonial legis latures. Australian Colonies. The colonial Act for New South Wales is dated 14th September 1852. Applications are referred to a board consisting of two scientific men, and upon their report and the payment of 20 the governor will grant letters patent of registra tion, which have the effect of letters patent. These letters of registra tion are granted for the term of fourteen years. The New South Wales Act of 1852 still continues in force in Queensland. By an order in council of 6th November 1859 patents similar in terms to those granted in New South Wales can be obtained, and at the same cost. By an Act passed in 1867 inventions can be provisionally protected, but the provisional protection only appears to be useful to residents in the colony. In South Australia the law of patents is governed by the Acts of 1877 and 1881. The application is submitted to an official examination. The patent is granted for a term of fourteen years, and is subject to taxes of 2 10s. to be paid before the end of the third year and 2 10s. before the end of the seventh year. The invention must be worked in the colony within three years from the date of the grant. In Victoria power is given to the governor to issue letters patent by Act No. 240, 1865. The sum of 15 must be paid before the expiration of the third year, and 20 before the expiration of the seventh year. For Western Australia the colonial Act is dated 15th August 1872, under which bonafide holders of letters patent in any other country can obtain letters of registration having the force of patents and expiring with the original patent. The government fee is 25. The governor has also power to grant original patents, but these are seldom applied for except by residents in the colony. The government fee on these is 50. The application for a patent must be made before the application is made in any other colony or country. British Guiana. The law of patents is governed by an ordinance dated 12th July 1861. Patents are granted very much in the same form and on the same conditions as British letters patent. A duty of $100 is payable before the end of the seventh year. The governor has power to prolong the term for a period not exceeding seven years. British Honduras. The Act for amending the law for granting patents for inventions dated 10th September 1862 rules here. This Act has provisions very similar to the British Patent Law Amend ment Act 1852. The government fee on sealing is 30, and the further government duties payable are $50 a t the end of the third year and $100 at the end of the seventh year. Prolongations of the original term of fourteen years may be obtained for an addi tional term not exceeding seven years. Canada. The Acts in force are those of 1872, 1875, and 1883. Inventors or their assignees may obtain patents for fifteen years for all inventions not having been in public use or on sale in Canada for more than a year prior to the application. When a period of more than twelve months has elapsed since the date of any other patent for the same invention the application will be refused. A government duty of $20 must be paid for the first five years, $40 for the second five years, and $60 for the last five years. These duties can be paid either altogether on application or by three instalments. The invention must be worked in Canada within two years from the date of the patent. The patent is void if after the expiration of twelve months from the grant the patentee imports into Canada the objects of the invention manufactured elsewhere. Cape of Good Hope. The Act of 1860 prescribes a system very similar to that laid down by the English Patent Act of 1852. A stamp duty of 10 is payable at the expiration of the third year and 20 at the expiration of the seventh year of the grant. The patent will expire with the expiration of any earlier patent in any other country for the same invention. Ceylon. The inventions ordinance of 1859 governs the law of patents here. Patents are granted for a term of fourteen years from the time of filing the specification, and the governor has power to grant prolongations not exceeding fourteen years. The fee on filing the specification is 10. Hong-Kong. By the law of 3d July 1862 the governor in council may grant patents for inventions which have already been patented in England to the inventor or to the owner by assignment of the British patent. The patent will extend over the same term as the British patent. Subjects of foreign states not having British patents cannot obtain patents in Hong-Kong. India. The law of patents is governed by an Act dated 17th May 1859. Where there is no prior English patent the invention must not have been used or published before filing the application. Where an English patent has already been obtained, the applica tion must be made within twelve months from the date of the English patent. The exclusive privilege is acquired by merely filing a specification of the invention upon leave obtained from the governor-general for that purpose, and no patent is issued. The governor-general has power to extend the original term for another term not exceeding fourteen years. The government fees on application amount to 10 ; no further duties are payable. Jamaica. Chap. 30, 21 Viet. 1857, governs the law of patents here. The invention must be brought into operation in the island within two years from the date of the patent. A patent bears a stamp duty of 6 10s., and there is a reference to the attorney- general, upon which he is paid a fee of 5. The duration of the patent is limited to that of any previous foreign patent. Improve ments on the original invention may be protected by certificates of addition. Patents may be extended for a further period of seven years beyond the original term of fourteen years. Leeward Islands. The law is regulated by the Acts of 1876 and 1878, the provisions being similar to those of the English Patent; Act of 1852. The patent expires with the termination of any earlier patent elsewhere for the same invention. The payments amount to 28 on every application which is not opposed, and a duty of 10 is payable at the termination of the third year and 20 at the termination of the seventh year. Mauritius. The law is regulated by an ordinance dated 22d May 1875. The governor has power to extend patents for any period not exceeding fourteen years beyond the original term of fourteen years. A patent may be applied for by the executors or administrators of a deceased inventor. Payments of 12 are re quired to be made upon application for the patent and upon sealing. Natal. The provisions of the colonial Act of 1870 are similar to those of the English Patent Act of 1852. The fees on sealing are 1 10s., and there is a third year s duty of 5, and a seventh year s duty of 10. The patent expires with the termination of any British or foreign patent of earlier date. The lieutenant-governor can grant a prolongation of the original term for a fresh term not exceeding fourteen years. Newfoundland. Under an Act passed in 1856 patents are granted for fourteen years, but may be extended upon application for a further period of seven years. The patent expires with the expira tion of any previous foreign patent for the same invention. Im provements may be protected by certificates of addition. The invention must be worked in the colony within two years from the date of the patent. New Zealand. Under the New Zealand Patent Act of 1883 in ventors can obtain either letters patent or letters of registration as they think fit. The fee for letters of registration is 10, and for letters patent 2 10s., with a further duty of 10 at the end of five years. Letters of registration are granted as of course upon proof of the applicant being the actual owner of the foreign patent. The invention patented must be worked in the colony within two years from the date of the patent. Tasmania. The colonial Act for Tasmania is dated 5th Novembt r 1858. The proceedings prescribed are very similar to those in England. The government fees are 7 10s. on application, 15 i.t the end of the third year, and 20 at the end of the seventh year. Patents may also be obtained in St Helena, the Straits Settlements, and Trinidad. Foreign Patent Laics. Argentine Republic. Patents are granted under a law dated llth October 1864, for five, ten, or fifteen years, to the inventor or to his assignee. The applications are subjected to an official examination, and the patent when granted is liable to government fees and stamp duties, which vary from about 20 to 60, according to the term of the patent. The invention must not have been published either at home or abroad prior to the application, and must be worked in the republic within two years from the date of the issue of tho patent. Austria-Hungary. By an imperial decree of the 15th August 1852, although separate patents are issued, they are made upon one application. The protection extends to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Where the applicant for a patent is a foreigner he must have ob tained a patent in his own country for the same invention, and patents are only granted to the original inventor or his assignee. Inventions are considered new when at the time of the applications for patents they have not been put into operation or made public in the empire. The government taxes commence at the rate of 26 florins per annum for the first five years, and gradually increase until in the fifteenth year the duty is 132 florins. If the patent is originally granted for less than fifteen years it may at any tiir. j be prolonged for that term. The invention must be worked in the empire within a year from the date of the patent, and the working must not be suspended for more than two years ; during its continu ance there is no objection to the patented articles being imported from a foreign country. Belgium. Patents are granted to the inventor or to his assignee, or to any one holding the authority of the inventor for that purpose. The term is fixed at twenty years, except in the case of inventions previously patenteel elsewhere, when the Belgium patent expires with the previous foreign patent of the greatest length. Patents are subject to an annual tax beginning at 10 francs for the first year, and increasing annually at the rate of 10 francs. Patents of addition expiring with the original patent may be obtained. The invention must be worked in Belgium within one year from its