In case of the absence of the inventor, the person applying for the patent must be duly authorised by power of attorney.

No prolongation of the term originally granted can be obtained. For improvements in a patented invention a new patent must be applied for.

SAN SALVADOR (CENTRAL AMERICA).

The constitution gives power to the executive to grant privileges to the authors of useful inventions, but no special law exists for regulating the grant of such privileges. It is customary, however, for the executive in the exercise of its prerogative to follow the practice of civilised governments. This State is also a party to the International Convention.

SPAIN,

INCLUDING THE SPANISH COLONIES OF CUBA, PORTO RICO, AND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

A greatly improved law with respect to patents for inventions came into operation on August 1, 1878, and Spain is a party to the International Convention.

Under the new law many facilities are afforded for the introduction into Spain of numerous inventions which the restrictions and cost of obtaining patents under the old law precluded. A most valuable feature of the new law is, that one patent includes not only Spain, but the colonies of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands, for each of which a separate and most costly patent has hitherto been requisite. To render the patent valid in the Spanish colonies it must be placed with the Minister of Ultramar at Madrid.

The rights of foreigners are the same as those of natives, as regards obtainment of patents.

Two classes of patents are granted, one to inventors, and another to those who, without being inventors, introduce or import a new industry into Spain or the colonies.

Patents for invention are granted for twenty, ten, or five years; those for introductions for five years.

The proprietorship of a patent is hereditary, and can be

sold or negotiated, just as any other property, according to the existing laws in Spain.

Patents are granted to one or more individuals, or to a society or company.

Patents of invention are granted to all who solicit them, without previous examination as to the novelty or usefulness of the invention.

Foreigners must apply for patents in Spain before their inventions are published and made known elsewhere, so that the invention may be considered as new in Spain; in such case the patent will be granted for twenty years. But if a foreigner allows two years to pass from the time in which his patent was published, or made known in another country, before soliciting the same patent in Spain, he then incurs the risk of any one proving before the Spanish courts that his invention was published when he applied for the patent in Spain, in which case the patent will be granted for ten years only.

The annual taxes are 10 pesetas (10 francs) for the first year; 20 pesetas (20 francs) the second year; 30 pesetas (30 francs) the third year, and so on successively, each year 10 pesetas (10 francs) more than the previous year.

The following documents are needed on application for a patent:

1st. A power of attorney in Spanish, indicating the name and residence of the person in whose name the patent is to be granted.

2nd. A complete specification, explaining the invention and the points claimed. The patent will be granted on the point or points specified in the claims. The references to weights or measures in the specifications must be made in accordance with the French Metrical System.

3rd. The drawings must be on tracing cloth, in black ink, without colours or colouring, on the French Metrical Scale, and in duplicate.

If, on examining the documents and papers in the Art Conservatorio, it should be found that they are incomplete, or not presented according to this law, two months will be allowed to the applicant to correct the error if the inventor resides in Europe; four months if he resides in America;

and eight months if he resides in Asia. No secrecy will be observed, as formerly, with regard to the patents granted. The specifications and drawings will be open to the public in the Art Conservatorio.

Certificates of Addition are granted. During the whole term of a patent, the owner, his heirs, or the person representing his rights, can obtain protection for improvements on or additions to his original patent. The Certificates of Addition will be granted and considered as parts of the original patents. They are solicited in the same manner as the patents, and terminate when it terminates. Instead of soliciting a Certificate of Addition, a new patent, independent of the principal one, can be obtained for improvements.

The sale, cession, or negotiation of patents can be made before a notary in any country. If the cession is made in Spain, a special power must be sent for it. If the cession is made before a foreign notary, out of Spain, the document or contract must be made directly in Spanish, or must be officially translated in the Spanish Legation or Consulate.

All documents sent to the Patent Office department must be legalised in the Spanish Legations or Consulates of the places from whence they come. In the contracts of sale or cession, a certificate from the Art Conservatorio of Spain must be transcribed to prove that the annual taxes on the patent are paid up to the date of the contract, and that the patent is in full force, and that the patentee has not disposed of his interest. The sale or cession of the patents, with all the requisite formalities, must be registered in the GobiernoCivil at Madrid.

Two years are allowed for the official working of the patent in Spain, but this term can be prorogued by a special law passed in the Cortes to that effect.

Patents will be declared void when their owner ceases to pay the annual charges, or when he has not proved officially that he has worked the patent within the two years.

Patents may be annulled at the instance of a third person and by the sentence of a Spanish court in case it is proved the invention was not new when applied for, or because the

specification does not sufficiently describe the manner in which the invention is to be worked.

The infringement of a patent is punishable with a fine. All articles wrongfully manufactured under the patent infringed are to be delivered to the rightful owner of the patent, and the patentee has a right, besides, to claim damages. If the infringer is not able to pay the fine, he will be imprisoned for a proportionate length of time.

Counterfeiters of patents will be also punished according to the Spanish Criminal Code.

Governors of the Spanish colonies can no longer grant patents. All patents must be applied for in the Ministry of Fomento, at Madrid, and will be granted for Spain and all her colonies in one patent.

SWEDEN.

By a royal ordinance, bearing date August 19, 1856, the following regulations concerning patents are made :

Patents are granted-1st, for new inventions, whether they consist in machinery or in some art; 2nd, for improvements on old inventions. They are not granted for medicines, nor for bare principles.

Patents are not granted for a shorter term than three years, nor for a longer term than fifteen years, and the length of time will depend upon the value and importance of the invention. The inventor only can obtain a patent.

Any one who has obtained a patent in a foreign country can obtain one in this kingdom; but the term will never extend beyond the duration of the patent in the foreign country.

A full description of the invention, accompanied when necessary by drawings, must be lodged along with the petition at the Chamber of Commerce.

The patentee is required to furnish, before the expiration of two years, to the Chamber of Commerce, proof that he is in full exercise of the patent-which period may be reduced to one year, or may be, in consequence of a petition to that effect, extended to four years, this being regulated by the

value and importance of the patent in question; and also to furnish annually, during the entire period in which the patent right remains in force, proofs that he continues to exercise the invention.

Patents may be assigned when certain formalities have been complied with.

If a patent has been granted for an invention of the same nature as one previously patented or exercised by some other person residing in the kingdom; or if the holder of a patent has given in an inexact description of the means employed for the working of such invention, so that the real nature of the invention cannot be properly understood; or if the holder has given himself out to be the inventor without being so; or if a patented invention contains anything injurious to the public safety or health, or anything having an immoral tendency, the patent will be declared void.

The specification must be published in the Official Gazette within two months from the grant of the patent.

SWITZERLAND.

Patents are not procurable in the Swiss Confederation, excepting in the Canton of Tessin, where the local government has power to grant, on payment of a sum varying from 21. to 201., an exclusive privilege within its territory.

It is, however, anticipated that a law of patents will shortly be passed for the whole confederation, as Switzerland is a party to the International Convention.

TURKEY.

The Ottoman Government grant patents to natives or foreigners for five, ten, or fifteen years, subject to an annual tax of two Turkish pounds, but the Turkish patent will expire with the termination of any earlier foreign patent. Pharmaceutical compounds or medicines and financial combinations are not patentable, and the inventions must not have been published in Turkey or abroad. The applicant for a patent must supply a petition, a description and drawings, or