H.—lo,

tion of the specification or of issue of the patent. The period of priority rights is, therefore, not included in the actual term of the patent; such rights come into question only when some dispute arises as to the novelty or as to the priority of the invention. This difference in practice has been discussed at Conferences of the International Union. At the Conference held at Washington in 1911 a proposal was submitted by France that the duration of a patent granted upon an application claiming priority of date under the Convention should date from the date of the application for the patent in the country where protection was sought, and not from the date of application in the country of origin. In Committee, the French proposal was in substance carried, Great Britain alone voting against it. The British opposition being maintained in the full Conference, the French proposal was not adopted, but the British delegates made a declaration that they would submit to His Majesty's Government proposals with a view to giving satisfaction to the Conference on this point. His Majesty's Government, on consideration of the question, came to the conclusion that if the term of British patents were extended the complaint referred to in the delegates' report would be substantially met. Consequently the normal term for British patents was extended from fourteen to sixteen years by the Patents and Designs Act, 1919." The Committee examined a number of different systems, and arrived at the conclusion that no change was desirable in the existing patent practice in the United Kingdom as to the dating and sealing of patents. It was, however, pointed out that if it should be considered expedient to make a change in the British practice it was advisable that such change should be limited to an alteration in the term of the patent so that the fixed portion of the term of the patent in respect of any application would commence from the date of filing the complete specification. The effect of such recommendation, considered in terms of the New Zealand Act, would be that any application made under section 15 or section 144 would commence not, as at present, from the filing of the application in New Zealand or in the Convention country respectively, but from the filing of the complete specification in New Zealand. The period between the date of the application in the country of origin and the date of the application in New Zealand would thus be added to the monopoly period in the case of an application under section 144 of the New Zealand Act. The Committee expressed the view, however, that such a change should not be made unless the agreement of the other Convention countries could be obtained to the abolition in such countries of third-party rights and rights of personal possession arising after the date of application in the country of origin, and possibly also to concessions in respect of other matters unsuccessfully brought forward by the British delegates at the Washington and Hague Conferences of the International Union. In all the circumstances, lam of opinion that the conclusions of the Committee must be endorsed, and I cannot, therefore, at present recommend any alteration of the law relating to the dating of applications for patents in New Zealand. Patents. The number of applications received in respect of patents during the year 1927 was 2,052, as against 2,137 in the preceding year. The number of provisional specifications lodged with applications was 1,147 (1,153),* and in 905 (984) cases a complete specification accompanied the application. During the year the number of cases in which a complete specification was left in respect of an application for which a provisional specification had been previously filed was 301 (322). The number of applications up to the 31st December, 1927, totalled 59,806, and the number of patents in force on that date was 7,856, made up as follows : Patents sealed and third-year fees paid from the 31st December, 1924, to the 31st December, 1927, 3,355 and 1,934 respectively ; sixth-year fees paid from the 31st December, 1917, to the 31st December, 1927, 2,470 ; seventh-year fees paid from the 31st December, 1918, to the 31st December, 1927, 97. The receipts from various sources on account of patents was £9,061 3s. 3d., as against £9,137 16s. lOd. for the previous year. The number of lapsed patents restored to the register was 6 (8), and 2 (1) patents were sealed after the prescribed time. The fees paid under these two heads amounted to £178 10s. 6d. (£2Ol 10s.). The provisions under the amending Act enabling patents to be endorsed " Licenses of Right " was availed of in 5 (13) cases. There has been a fairly large increase in the number of inventions recorded in the classes relating to electricity and magnetism, 153 (123) ; fibre-dressing, 36 (24) ; kauri-gum, 16 (6) ; and tools, 73 (63). Increases also took place in the classes relating to dairying, 51 (46), and furniture, 67 (58) ; while there has been a decline in the number of inventions recorded in connection with milking machinery, 42 (62), vehicles, 232 (274), and internal-combustion engines, 50 (73). A large number of applications continue to be received in respect of telephony and telegraphy, chiefly in connection with wireless systems, though inventions relating to these systems show a slight falling off compared with the previous year, 142 (176). Applications in other classes of invention show but little variation. Designs. The number of applications for registration of designs lodged during 1927 was 145. This number is 59 less than in 1926, and also less than in any year since 1921, when there were 141 applications. The total number of applications up to the 31st December, 1927, was 2,531, and the number of registrations in force on that date was 883, of which 34 had been extended for the second term and 5 had been extended for the third term. The number of applications received from persons resident in New Zealand was 93 (104) ; 38 (66) were from Great Britain, 7 (24) from Australia, 4 (9) from the United States of America, while 3 (0) were received from France.

* The figures in parentheses are for 1926.

2