taining not more than one pint each and more than one-half pint, 3 dollars per dozen; containing one-half pint each or less, 1 dol. 50 c. per dozen; in bottles or other vessels containing more than one quart each, in addition to 6 dollars per dozen bottles on the quantities in excess of one quart, at the rate of 1 dol. 90 c. per gallon.

II. It is reciprocally agreed on the part of Italy, in consideration of the provisions of the foregoing Article, that during the term of this Additional Agreement the duty to be assessed and collected on mowers and tedders, included in item No. 240, paragraph "f," of the Customs Tariff of Italy, products of the industry of the United States imported into Italy, shall not exceed the rate of 4 lire per 100 kilog.

III. When official notification of His Majesty's ratification shall have been given to the Government of the United States, the President of the United States shall publish his proclamation, giving full effect to the provisions contained in Article I of this Agreement. From and after the date of such proclamation this Agreement shall be in full force and effect, and shall continue in force until the expiration of one year from the time when either of the Contracting Parties shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the same.

In witness whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have signed this Agreement, in duplicate, in the English and Italian texts, and have affixed hereunto our respective seals. Done at Washington, this 2nd day of March, 1909.

(L.S.) ROBERT BACON.

(L.S.) E. MAYOR DES PLANCHES.

ACT of the Australian Commonwealth to amend "The

[No. 17.]

Patents Act, 1903."*

[Assented to December 13, 1909.]

Be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows :

:

1.-(1.) This Act may be cited as "The Patents Act, 1909." (2.) "The Patents Act, 1903,' as amended by "The Patents Act, 1906," is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

as

(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited "The Patents Act, 1903-1909."

2. Section 3 of the Principal Act is amended

(a.) By omitting the words and figure "Division 6.-Patents for Improvements to Inventions"; and

* Vol. XCVII, page 578.

+ Vol. XCIX, page 657.

(b.) By inserting after the words and figure "Division 5Extensions of Patents" the following words and figures:"Division 6.-Patents of Addition.

"Division 6A.-Restoration of Lapsed Patents."

3. After section 4 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted::

"4A.-(1.) On and after a date to be fixed by Proclamation, this Act shall apply to the Territory of Papua as if that territory were part of the Commonwealth, and no application for a patent under any Patent law (other than this Act) applying to that territory shall be receivable except pursuant to some right previously acquired.

"(2.) For the purposes of the application of this Act to the Territory of Papua, any reference in this Act to the Commonwealth or to Australia shall be deemed to include a reference to the Territory of Papua.

"(3.) Nothing in this section shall affect

"(a.) Any application for a patent lodged at the Patent Office prior to the date fixed by Proclamation under this section, or any patent granted on any application, so lodged, or

"(b.) Any application for a patent lodged or made in Papua prior to the said date, or any patent granted on any application so lodged or made."

4. After section 14 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted :

"14A.-(1.) Any sum ordered by the Commissioners to be paid as costs may, in default of payment, be recovered in any Federal or State Court of competent jurisdiction as a debt due by the person against whom the order is made to the person in whose favour the order is made.

"(2.) This section shall apply to orders made before the commencement of this section as well as to orders made after its commencement."

5. Section 51 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting the word "certificates" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "certifies."

6. Section 55 of the Principal Act is repealed.

7. After section 63 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted::

"63A.-(1.) Where the same applicant has put in two or more provisional specifications for inventions which are cognate or modifications one of the other, and has obtained thereby concurrent provisional protection for the same, and the Commissioner is of opinion that the whole of such inventions are such as to constitute a single invention and may properly be included in one patent, he may accept. one complete specification in respect of the whole of such applications and grant a single patent thereon.

"(2.) Such patent shall bear the date of the earliest of such applications, but in considering the validity of the same and for the purpose of the provisions of this Act with respect to opposi

tions to the grant of patents, the Court or the Commissioner, as the case may be, shall have regard to the respective dates of the provisional specifications relating to the several matters claimed or included therein."

8. Section 71 of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the words "with the written consent of the mortgagor."

9. Section 74 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a.) By omitting the words "specification has" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "request and the nature of the proposed amendment have"; and

(b.) By omitting the words "its first advertisement" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "the first advertisement thereof.'

10. Division 6 of Part IV of the Principal Act is repealed, and the following Division substituted in lieu thereof :

"Division 6.-Patents of Addition.

"85.-(1.) Where a patent for an invention has been applied for or granted, and the applicant or the patentee, as the case may be, applies for a further patent in respect of any improvement in or modification of the invention, he may, if he thinks fit, in his application for the further patent, request that the term limited in that patent for the duration thereof be the same as that of the original patent or so much of that term as is unexpired.

"(2.) Where an application containing such a request is made, a patent (hereinafter referred to as a patent of addition) may be granted for such term as aforesaid.

'(3.) A patent of addition shall remain in force so long as the patent for the original invention remains in force, but no longer, and in respect of a patent of addition no fee shall be payable for renewal.

"(4.) The grant of a patent of addition shall be conclusive evidence that the invention is a proper subject for a patent of addition, and the validity of the patent shall not be questioned on the ground that the invention ought to have been the subject of an independent patent."

11. After Division 6 of Part IV of the Principal Act the following Division is inserted :

“Division 6 A.—Restoration of Lapsed Patents.

"85A.-(1.) Where any patent has become void owing to the failure of the patentee to pay any prescribed fee within the prescribed time, the patentee may apply to the Commissioner in the prescribed manner for an order for the restoration of the patent.

"(2.) Every such application shall contain a statement of the circumstances which have led to the omission of the payment of the prescribed fee.

"(3.) If it appears from such statement that the omission was unintentional and that no undue delay has occurred in the making of the application, the Commissioner shall advertise the application in the prescribed manner, and within such time as is prescribed any person (hereinafter referred to as the opponent) may give notice of opposition at the Patent Office.

"(4.) Where such notice is given the Commissioner shall notify the applicant thereof.

"(5.) After the expiration of the prescribed period the Commissioner shall hear the case and issue an order either restoring the patent or dismissing the application:

"Provided that in every order under this section restoring a patent, such provisions as are prescribed shall be inserted for the protection of persons who may have availed themselves of the subject-matter of the patent after the patent had been announced as void in the official journal of the Patent Office.

"(6.) Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Commissioner may, in the time and in the manner prescribed, appeal to the High Court or the Supreme Court.

"(7.) The High Court or the Supreme Court may hear the applicant and any opponent who in its opinion is entitled to be heard in opposition to the application and may determine whether the patent ought to be restored or the application dismissed."

12. Sub-section (9) of section 86 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following sub-section substituted in lieu thereof :

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(9.) Where a patent has been revoked on the ground of fraud, or where a patent fraudently obtained has been surrendered and revoked, the Commissioner may, on the application of the actual inventor or any of the other persons mentioned in subsection (3) of section 32 of this Act, made in accordance with the provisions of this Act, grant to him a patent in lieu of and bearing the same date as the patent so revoked:

"Provided that no action shall be brought for any infringement of the patent so granted committed before the actual date when the patent was granted."

13. After section 86 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted ::

"86A.-(1.) A patentee may at any time, by giving notice in the prescribed manner to the Commissioner, offer to surrender his patent, and the Commissioner may, if after giving notice of the offer and hearing all parties who desire to be heard he thinks fit, accept the offer, and thereupon make an order for the revocation of the patent.

"(2.) Where an action for infringement or a proceeding for the revocation of the patent is pending in any Court, the Commissioner shall not accept the offer for the surrender or make an order for the revocation of the patent, except by leave of the Court, or by consent of the parties to the action or proceeding." 14. Section 87 of the Principal Act is amended

(a.) By omitting sub-section (5); and

(b.) By omitting sub-section (6), and inserting in lieu thereof the following sub-section :

"(6.) For the purposes of this section the reasonable requirements of the public shall not be deemed to have been satisfied— "(a.) If, by reason of the default of the patentee—

66

(i.) To manufacture to an adequate extent and supply on reasonable terms, the patented article, or any parts thereof which are necessary for its efficient working, or,

'(ii.) To carry on the patented process to an adequate extent, or

"(iii.) To grant licences on reasonable terms,

"any existing trade or industry, or the establishment of any new trade or industry, in Australia is unfairly prejudiced, or the demand for the patented article or the article produced by the patented process is not reasonably met; or

"(b.) If any trade or industry in Australia is unfairly prejudiced by the conditions attached by the patentee, before or after the commencement of this sub-section, to the purchase, hire, or use of the patented article, or to the using or working of the patented process."

15. After section 87 of the Principal Act the following sections are inserted :

"87A.-(1.) At any time not less than four years after the date of a patent, and not less than two years after the commencement of this section, any person may apply to the High Court or the Supreme Court for an order declaring that the patented article or process is not manufactured or carried on to an adequate extent in the Commonwealth.

(2.) If, on the hearing of the application, the Court is satisfied that the patented article or process is manufactured or carried on exclusively or mainly outside the Commonwealth, then, subject to the provisions of this section, and unless the patentee proves that the article or process is manufactured or carried on to an adequate extent in the Commonwealth, or gives satisfactory reasons why the article or process is not so manufactured or carried on, it shall make the order applied for, to take effect, either

66

66

(a.) Forthwith; or

(b.) At the expiration of such reasonable time as is specified in the order, unless in the meantime it is shown to the satisfaction of the Court that the patented article or process is manufactured or carried on to an adequate extent in the Commonwealth :

"Provided that no such order shall be made which is at variance with any treaty, convention, arrangement, or engagement with any foreign country or part of the King's Dominions.

"(3.) If, within the time specified in the order, the patented article or process is not manufactured or carried on to an adequate extent in the Commonwealth, but the patentee gives