Nullification.-A patent or any part thereof can be declared null by the High Court at the suit of any interested party (the latter giving, if required, security for costs) if it be proved :

(1) That the invention or a specified part of it is not useful.

(2) That it was not new within the meaning of the Act at the date of application.

(3) That the applicant was not the true inventor, or his legal representative or assignee.

(4) That the applicant knowingly or fradulently included in his application something not new or not his invention, or a fraudulent misstatement.

(5) That the applicant has not sufficiently described the invention from fraudulent motives or to the injury of the public.

(6) As regards a part of the invention, that it is wholly distinct from the other parts, and of no utility.

A patent can be annulled if the Governor-General declare that the privilege or the mode in which it is exercised is mischievous to the State, or generally prejudicial to the public, or that the conditions upon which it was granted have not been fulfilled by the applicant.

In a suit for infringement, it is no defence that the specification contains anything old, useless, or fraudulent, or that the patentee is not the first inventor, unless the infringer proves that he himself is the actual inventor, or his licensee or assignee.

Nor is it any defence to prove that it is not new, unless the infringer proves that he himself, or some one through whom he claims, actually worked the invention in India or the British Isles, before the application for a patent in India or in the British Isles.

Compulsory Licenses.-The provisions of the compulsory license clause of the British Act are

enacted in India; the Governor-General in Council having the power in India possessed by the Board of Trade in England.

Average costs: Patent.

Taxes including agency before the end
of each year from 4th to 8th inclusive
Before the end of each subsequent year
Enlargement of time for paying taxes:-
I month

2 months.

3 months

£18

£5 each. £10

Registering a trade mark

IRELAND AND THE ISLE OF MAN. These are covered by the British Patent.

ITALY.

(Population, 33,000,000.)

Kinds and Duration of Patents.-Patents of invention are granted for any term up to fifteen years, and if for shorter term can be extended on paying renewal fee and proportional taxes. Patents

of importation for an invention patented and known abroad, but not yet at work in the realm, are granted to expire with the prior foreign patent for the same invention having the longest term, but their maximum duration is fifteen years.

Certificates of addition, that is, patents for additions or improvements on the original invention, are granted as in France and Belgium, free of annual tax, but expiring with the original patent. During the first six months, none but the proprietor of the patent can apply for certificates of improvements on his patent; and during this period he can also enter disclaimers, or, as it is technically described, "obtain certificates of reduction."

What can be Patented. An invention patentable in Great Britain or the United States is patentable in Italy, except that medicines are unpatentable. Only a single invention can be included in one patent.

Who can Patent. The inventor or his assigns, and practically any person, firm, or company, if the original inventor does not object.

Novelty. A patent is void if the invention have been fully published or worked in the realm prior to protection by application for the patent, or by rights under the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (see page 194), with this exception-if the patent be applied for as a patent of importation to expire with a given (later expiring) foreign patent for the same invention, then the prior publication abroad in Government publications will not invalidate the patent.

Procedure. There is practically no examination, but all patents are granted if in order.

Rights conferred by Patent are similar to those in Great Britain, but there is no compulsory license clause.

Priority. Protection dates from the application, the term of the patent from the last day of March, June, September, or December next following the date of application.

Renewals.-Applications can be made for a less number of years than fifteen, and the patent thus obtained can, at any time before the expiration of its term, be renewed for a further period not exceeding fifteen years from the date of the original patent. As every prolongation costs about £6, in addition to the difference between the first cost of a patent for the original and for the extended term, prolongation should be applied for as seldom as possible. The usual plan is to secure a patent for at least six years,

and at the expiration of that period, have it prolonged for the full term of the fifteen years allowable. A patent cannot be prolonged without the original document being produced.

Working. A certificate must be obtained that the patent has been worked within the realm within one year of grant, in the case of patents granted for less than six years, and within the space of two years in the case of patents of longer duration, or three years in the case of patents obtained under the rules of the Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, and the working must not be intermitted for any similar period, otherwise the patent may be declared void.

Disclaimers. During the first six months of the duration of a patent the proprietor can enter disclaimers of anything old or useless in the specification.

66

Taxes.-There are two kinds of taxes on patents— the "proportional tax," varying with the duration required, paid on applying for the patent or prolongation, and included in the cost of same, and an annual tax," gradually increasing in amount payable on the last day of March, June, September, or December next ensuing after the anniversary of the date of application for the patent.

About two thousand patents are now granted yearly, and the number obtained annually is rapidly increasing.

Average costs: Patent :

Renewals equal £6 + the difference in cost between the two terms and the annual tax, thus :Renewing a one year's patent for five more is £6 (18-15) + £2 10s. = II IOS,

Annual taxes, including agent's fee-first

two

years, each £2 10s.; next three, £3 10s.; and so on, increasing I every three years. Certificate of addition

Certificate of reduction (disclaimer)

Registering a trade mark .

£8

JAMAICA.

WITH TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.

(Population, 790,000.)

Patents are granted for fourteen years, but limited by the duration of any prior foreign patent for the same invention, to the true and first inventor, or his assigns, of an invention not hitherto known or used in the islands. There is no rigid examination. A patent obtained by fraud, and the consequent publication of the invention, does not invalidate a patent afterwards obtained by the true and first inventor. Disclaimers can be made, and patents of addition, to expire with the original patent, can be obtained by the original patentee, to form a part of the original patent. The penalty for infringing is three times the actual damage as estimated by the jury of the court, and costs and injunction.

Kind, and Duration of Patents.-Patents of invention are granted for fifteen years from date of registration. Patents of addition are granted to the owner of the original patent, to expire with the latter,