109

A.—7

Canada. In Canada patents become null and void at the end of two years from the date thereof, unless the patentee or his legal representatives or his assignee within that time, or any authorised extension thereof, commence and after such commencement continuously carry on in Canada the construction or manufacture of the patented invention in such a manner that any person desiring to use it may obtain it or cause it to be made for him at a reasonable price at some manufactory or establishment for making or constructing it in Canada. This period of two years may be extended at any time not more than three months before its expiration by the Commissioner of Patents on its being proved to his satisfaction that the patentee was, for reasons beyond his control, prevented from complying with the above condition. Any question as to whether a patent has become void under these provisions may be adjudicated upon by the Exchequer Court of Canada upon information in the name of the Attorney-General of Canada, or at the suit of any person interested. Newfoundland. Any patent in Newfoundland which has not been brought into operation within two years from the date thereof becomes void at the end of that period. South Australia. Every patent in South Australia is liable to be revoked by the Governor upon the application of any person after the expiration of three years from the granting thereof, if it is made to appear to the Governor that neither the patentee nor his assignee or licensee has before the time of such application used the patented invention to a reasonable extent for the public benefit. But the Governor may, in his absolute discretion, refuse any such application upon such terms and conditions as he may see fit. No patent has yet been forfeited under these provisions, and it is believed that no application has yet been made under them. Forfeiture of Patents when Patented Goods are imported. Canada. The only colony in which it has been considered necessary to forfeit a patent by reason of the importation of the patented goods, or to place any special prohibition on the importation of patented goods as such, is Canada, which is of course very exceptionally situated by reason of its propinquity to the United States, the most inventive country in the world. In Canada, if after the expiration of twelve months from the granting of a patent, or any extension of such period which may be authorised by the Commissioner of Patents on satisfactory cause being shown at some time within three months of the expiry of the period, the patentee, or any of his representatives or assignees, imports or causes to be imported into Canada the inventions for which the patent has been granted, the patent becomes void as to the interests of the importer. • . Compulsory Licenses. New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia. In New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia, if it is proved that by reason of the default of a patentee to grant licenses on reasonable terms (1) the patent is not being worked in the colony; or (2) the reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the invention cannot be supplied ; or (3) any person is prevented from working or using to the best advantage an invention of which he is possessed, the Governor may require the patentee to grant licenses on such terms as, having regard to the nature of the invention and the circumstances of the case, he may think just; but, so far as we are aware, no application for a compulsory license has yet been made in any of these colonies under the above provisions. In the above colonies the law on this point is substantially the same as in the United Kingdom, with the exception that the jurisdiction exercised by the Board of Trade in the United Kingdom is exercised in the colonies by the Governor. In the remainder of the colonies to which this memorandum relates it has not been thought necessary to pass any legislation for the grant of compulsory licenses. The International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. By the International Convention of the 20th March, 1883, the Governments of Belgium, Brazil, France, Guatemala, Holland, Italy, Portugal, San Salvador, Servia, Spain, and Switzerland constituted themselves into a Union for the Protection of Industrial Property. The following Governments have since adhered to the Convention and become parties to the Union—viz., Great Britain, Tunis, the Dominican Bepublic, Sweden, Norway, Queensland, the United States, New Zealand, Denmark, and Japan; while San Salvador and Guatemala have left the Union. Article 11. of the Convention provides that the subjects and citizens of each of the contracting States shall in all the other States of the Union, in matters concerning patents of invention, industrial designs or models, trade and commercial marks, and trade names, enjoy the advantages which their respective laws now grant or shall hereafter grant to natives. Article IV. provides that:—" Any person who has duly lodged an application for a patent of invention, an industrial design or model, or a trade or commercial mark in one of the contracting States, shall enjoy, for lodging the application in the other States, and reserving the rights of third parties, a right of priority during the terms hereinafter stated. Consequently, a subsequent application in one of the other States of the Union before the expiration of these terms shall not be invalidated through any acts accomplished in the interval, either, for instance, by another application, by publication of the invention, or by the working thereof by a third party, by the sale of copies of the design or model, or by the use of the mark,"