A.—s

484

Sir JOSEPH WARD : Lord Elgin, I would like the resolution I have given notice of motion of to be formally placed before the Conference and assented to unless there is any material objection to it. " That all doubts " should be removed as to the right of the self-governing Dependencies to " make reciprocal and preferential fiscal agreements with each other and " with the United Kingdom, and further, that such right should not be " fettered by Imperial Treaties or Conventions without their concurrence." I presume you will put this resolution, and it may be agreed to ? Mr. LLOYD GEOFtGE : Yes. UNIFORMITY OF PATENT LAWS. Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : With regard to patents, the Resolution is : " That it is desirable inihe interests of inventors and the public that patents " granted in Great Britain or in any Colony possessing a Patent Office of " a standard to be specified should be valid throughout the Empire." That is New Zealand, is it not ? Mr. DEAKIN : No, it is ours. Cape Colony comes next. Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : Yes. Sir WILFRID LAURIER: That is a very broad resolution, Mr. Deakin. Mr. DEAKIN : Very broad indeed. I have not looked at it recently, but I am quite aware that as it stands it sets up a practically impossible standard. How far it is either possible or desirable to secure uniformity in this direction is still a matter of argument with us. Our Chief Patents Officer, the Commissioner of Patents, while admitting that the end in view is most desirable, points out that the enormous distances which separate us, the great importance as we all know in patent matters of prior registration, and the varying conditions under which protection is granted — all these circumstances together make the expectation of anything like real uniformity in connection with the granting of patents still a far off end. So that, speaking from memory, and without my material here, which 1 have not looked at for some months, I know that this resolution, although allowed to stand in these general terms, was intended merely to introduce the subject with a view to a discussion as to the particular points and methods of simplifying patent processes, assimilating them to each other, so that we might at all events make some approach towards uniformity. Any idea of absolute uniformity to be obtained by means of an Imperial Statute, if it be ever feasible, does not appear feasible now. All that can be attempted so far as I recall the difficulties to mind is, as I have said, that there should be such an assimilation of methods, times, and modes as would facilitate the understanding in each part of the Empire of the patent laws of the other portions, so that the steps taken and information supplied may be of the same nature, thus saving the inventor the expense of facing half-a-dozen or a dozen sorts of procedure in order to register his patents in different parts of the Empire. We quite recognise that it is only in that practical direction, step by step, and not by any overriding legislation requirements, that we can attain the object of this resolution. It resolves itself into the practical question how far our patent systems can be assimilated as to be easily mutually comprehensible and available.

Thirteenth Day. 8 May 1907.

CIIMMKKCIAI. TItKATV Question. Resolution XII., p. viii.

Uniformity of Patent Laws.