H.— 10

2

With regard to trade-marks, the United States of America leads with 17,649 registered marks, as against 19,246 in 1926. Then follow —Germany, 17,000 (16,000); France, 15,515 (15,139); Japan, 8,040 (11,023) ; Great Britain, 7,543 (7,774) ; Czecho-Slovakia, 4,870 (4,634) ; Austria, 4,259 (4,260) ; Spain, 3,739 (3,627) ; Switzerland, 2,675 (2,732) ; Belgium, 2,380 (2,188) ; Netherlands, 2,236 (2,182) ; Australia, 2,177 (1,973) ; Canada, 2,133 (1,902) ; Brazil, 1,995 (1,249) ; Poland, 1,727 (3,411) ; Sweden, 1,436 (1,208); Denmark, 1,325 (1,186) ; Italy, 1,280 (1,590) ; Norway, 1,161 (1,033) ; Lettonia, 1,132 (684) ; Hungary, 1,131 (1,532) ; Mexico, 1,130 (1,057) ; Portugal, 852 (1,045) ; New Zealand, 765 (599) ; Greece, 688 (595) ; Finland, 666 (656) ; Bulgaria, 480 (422) ; Esthonia, 421 (341); Serbia, 414 (459) ; Turkey, 365 (697) ; Tunis, 270 (201) ; Ceylon, 255 (151) ; Danzig, 250 (209) ; Morocco, 240 (179) ; Syria, 204 (215) ; Luxemburg, 132 (233) ; Trinidad and Tobago, 130 (89). The following table has been compiled from the figures given above, and shows the position occupied by various countries in regard to the total number of letters patent issued and designs and trade-marks registered : —■ Switzerland .. 225,973 Spain .. .. 9,188 Portugal .. .. 1,254 Germany .. .. 109,846 Italy .. .. 6,870 Bulgaria .. .. 687 France .. .. 78,581 Australia .. .. 5,381 Esthonia .. .. 556 United States of 62,093 Denmark .. .. 4,316 Morocco .. .. 486 America Hungary .. .. 4,201 Turkey .. .. 480 Great Britain .. 46,176 Poland .. ... 3,727 Danzig .. .. 447 Japan .. .. 17,102 Sweden .. .. 3,706 Tunis .. .. 411 Czecho-Slovakia .. .15,942 Norway .. .. 2,851 Syria .. .. 322 Austria .. .. 13,496 New Zealand .. 2,087 Ceylon .. .. 316 Belgium .. .. 13,117 Lettonia .. .. 1,766 Trinidad and Tobago.. 155 Canada .. .. 12,088 Serbia .. .. 1,288 It will be noted that out of thirty-eight countries who are members of the Union, New Zealand occupies the twenty-first place on the list in respect of letters patent; in regard to registration of designs she occupies the eighteenth place out of twenty-nine countries ; with reference to trade-mark registrations New Zealand is twenty-third out of thirty-six countries ; and in respect of the total number of applications she occupies a position next to Sweden and Norway. Patents. During the year 2,070 applications for patents were received, as compared with 2,052 in 1927. Of this number, 1,032 (1,147)* were lodged with provisional specifications, and in 1,038 (905) cases the application was accompanied by a complete specification. There were also lodged 308 (301) complete specifications in respect of applications for which a provisional specification had already been filed. The total number of applications received up to the 31st December, 1928, was 6.1,885, and the number of patents in force as at that date was 7,718, made up as follows : Patents sealed and third-year fees paid from the 31st December, 1925, to the 31st December, 1928, 3,369 and 1,870 respectively; sixth-year fees paid from the 31st December, 1918, to the 31st December, 1928, 2,478 ; and one seventh-year fee. Patent fees received during the year amounted to £9,615 Bs. 9d., being an increase of £554 ss. 6d. over the corresponding amount for 1927, and the highest amount received in any one year, with the exception of 1922, when the patent receipts totalled £9,819 18s. 6d. The restoration of lapsed patents to the register was effected in 6 (6) cases, and 2 (2) patents were sealed after the prescribed time. The fees from these two sources amounted to £125 10s. (£l7B 10s. 6d.). Under the provisions of the Amendment Act of 1924, 3 (5) patents were endorsed " Licenses of Right," and in 1. (0) case an application for patent was accepted after the prescribed time. The Supreme Court was applied to in three cases to extend the term of letters patent under section 20 of the Act. In two of these proceedings an extension of seven years was granted, while the remaining case was withdrawn. It will be noticed that there has been a considerable increase in the number of inventions recorded in the class relating to telephony and telegraphy (including phonographs), chiefly in connection with wireless systems, picture-transmission, talking motion pictures, &c. Increases have also taken place in the classes relating to cultivating, 40 (36) ; boxes, cans, and casks, 89 (71) ; harvesting, 24 (15) ; indicating, &c., 74 (65) ; wearing-apparel, 44 (39) ; and budding-construction, 115 (106). There has been a further decline in the number of applications received in connection with milking machinery, 33 (42), and a slight fall in the number relating to dairying, 43 (51), while not much change is involved in other directions. Designs. Applications for registration of designs for the year under review numbered 163, being a slight increase over the number for the previous year (145). The number of applications received from persons resident in New Zealand was 107 (93) ; 33 (38) applications Were received from Great Britain, 12 (7) from Australia, 3 (0) from Canada, 5 (4) from the United States of America, 2 (3) from France, while 1 (0) was received from Switzerland. It will be noted that the majority of applications were lodged by residents in the Dominion, little advantage being taken of design-registration by applicants living in foreign countries or in other parts of the Empire.

* The figures in parentheses are for 1927.