The patent will continue valid so long as the previous foreign patent remains in force on payment of a duty of 17. for the first year, 21. for the second year, 31. for the third, and so on, increasing 11. yearly. All assignments must be registered in the Government Office. The patent will become void if the invention is not carried into operation within three years from the grant, or if the working is thereafter interrupted for more than a year, if the annuities are not duly paid, if the patentee residing out of the country has no representative in Brazil, and upon the expiration of an earlier foreign patent for the same invention.

Legal proceedings can be taken for infringements, and the patentee can recover damages.

Under this law patents are obtained in Brazil without difficulty.

CHILI.

Article 152 of the Chilian Constitution, dated May 1833, accords to every author or inventor the exclusive proprietorship of his discovery or invention for a limited period to be fixed by law.

The conditions under which such privileges are granted, and the duration of the same, are regulated by a law passed in 1840, supplemented by other laws decreed and promulgated in August 1851, and on August 16th, 1856.

The inventor of a new invention or discovery may submit the same to the Home Minister, who will refer the application to Commissioners for examination, and if their report be favourable, the Minister will grant a patent.

The term of a patent cannot exceed ten years. The patentee has to pay a sum of 107. into the Treasury. The specification, &c., is kept secret until the expiration of the

term.

Patents are also granted under similar conditions for the introduction into Chili of foreign arts and industries, but in this case the term does not exceed eight years.

Patents may be extended when the importance of the invention justifies it, but application must be made therefor six months before the expiration of the first term.

A period exclusive of the term of the patent is allowed for the erection of machinery, &c., for working the patent, but should the inventor fail to carry out the same within that period, or discontinue the working for more than a year, or produce articles inferior to the original sample, the patent becomes void.

Patents may be assigned. Infringers of a patented article are liable to a fine and to the forfeiture of the article produced, and the establishment and implements used in its manufac ture. Any person not being the true inventor fraudulently obtaining a patent is liable to fine or imprisonment.

COLOMBIA.

The power to grant patents in Colombia is limited and defined by the law of May 13, 1867.

A patent may be obtained for any invention or improvement of mechanical apparatus, combination of materials or process, and for the making and sale of any manufacture or industrial product, but not for the importation of foreign productions whether natural or manufactured.

The duration of a patent cannot exceed twenty nor be less than five years, and in the case of an invention previously patented abroad, such duration is subject to the earlier expiration of the prior foreign patent.

The inventor is required to present a petition to the executive power setting forth the nature of his invention or improvement, and stating the number of years for which a patent is desired; and if the decision be favourable, he must furnish within forty days a full description of the invention, accompanied by drawings or models if necessary. A patent will then be issued without any previous examination as to the novelty or utility of the invention.

A patent is refused when the invention endangers public salubrity or security, or encroaches upon proprietary rights already acquired, and a grant may be subsequently revoked if it is found to violate existing rights. A patent also becomes void if during a whole year the invention is not worked, unless it be from unavoidable circumstances.

A fee of from 17. to 27. for every year of the duration of the patent has to be paid in full at the time of the grant. A sum of 27. is required to be paid into the Treasury on presenting the petition, which sum is either computed as part payment or forfeited according as the patent is granted or refused.

An injunction may be obtained for infringement.

DENMARK.

Inventors, whether natives or foreigners, as well as the first importer, may obtain patents.

All inventions or improvements are patentable.

The patent dates from the day of the signature of the King to the patent.

Patents of invention and of importation are granted. Improvements can only be protected by new patents of invention.

The term of patents of invention is fixed by the Government, and cannot exceed fifteen years; that of patents of foreigners is five years.

A uniform tax of 34 kroner=60 francs is required for each application for a patent. Over and above these sums are stamp duties, the same to be paid in advance.

Prolongations are not usually granted beyond the term. fixed by Government for the duration of the patent.

A slight examination of the invention is made before granting the patent.

Patents are not published, and information respecting them cannot be obtained without the intervention of the Ministry of the Interior, to whom a demand, with the special motives for the same, must be presented.

The working of the invention must be proceeded with during the first year of the patent, and continued without interruption during the whole term.

The patent does not prevent the introduction of similar products into the country, provided they have been manufactured abroad.

Assignments of patents are not authorised; they may,

however, be accomplished by the joint demand of the proprietor and of the assignee, for a new patent in the name of the latter.

The petition to the King should indicate the object of the invention.

The agent or attorney must be furnished with a power of attorney.

The patent becomes void if the invention is not new, or if it has not been worked within the given time.

FINLAND.

See under Russia.

FRANCE.

As the country nearest our own shores, and with which our intercourse is so close, it is desirable all inventors should be well informed on the subject of the French laws.

It is highly important inventors should bear in mind that prior to the International Convention, to which France is a party, French patents must have been applied for prior to the filing the complete specification in England. (See Lister's Patent, Newton's London Journal, August 1, 1859.)

Letters patent for inventions (brevets d'invention) are principally regulated in France by a law bearing date July 5, 1844, the material parts of which are as follow:

Every new discovery or invention in any branch of industry confers upon its author, under the conditions and for the time hereafter mentioned, the exclusive right of working the same for his own benefit. Such right is constituted by the documents issued by Government denominated brevets d'invention.

The following cannot be patented :-(1) Pharmaceutical compounds, or medicines of any kind, these being governed by special laws and regulations, principally by a decree of August 18, 1810; (2) schemes and projects of credit and finance.

The duration of patents is fifteen years; the payment in respect of a patent for fifteen years, is 1,500 francs. This

sum is to be paid by yearly instalments of 100 francs, and the patent will expire if default is made in payment of any one instalment. The duties may all be paid up in advance when desired.

Foreigners may obtain patents in France; and persons who have patented their inventions abroad may obtain patents for them in France. In such a case the French patent will expire when the foreign patent expires.

Persons desirous of obtaining a patent apply by petition. to the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, and give a description of the discovery, invention, or application forming the subject of the proposed patent, accompanied, when needful, by drawings.

The petition must be in the French language, and restricted to a single principal object, with the necessary details and its proposed applications. It must mention the duration which the applicant desires for the patent. It must also give a title, comprehending a summary and precise designation of the subject of the invention.

No documents will be received except on production of a receipt proving payment of a sum of 100 francs (47.), on account of the tax on the patent.

The patents which have been applied for in due form, are delivered out without previous examination, at the risk and peril of the applicants, and without Government guarantee, either as to the reality, the novelty, or the merit of the invention, or as to the fidelity or accuracy of the description.

The patentee, or the person entitled to the patent, has the right, during the currency of the patent, to make alterations, additions, or improvements in the invention, and the proceedings are similar to those required to be taken in applying for an original patent. The petition is subjected to a tax of twenty francs only. The certificates of addition obtained by any one person entitled under the patent accrue to the benefit of all.

A patentee who, in respect of an alteration, addition, or improvement, desires to take out a principal patent in place of a certificate of addition expiring with the original patent, must pay the tax levied on original patents.