Experimental Regulations, The following Regulations for the Registration of Trade Marks to be operated experimentally have been proposed by the Chinese Government. The British Government is willing that they be put in temporary operation after making a few unimportant changes; the Japanese Government raises no objection to them; and the American Government has so far expressed no decision 1.—Any one, no matter whether Chinese or foreigner, who desires to use a trade mark, must first register the same according to these Regulations, special design, inscription, and emblem, either all three employed in combination, or any one or two of them, constitute the essential characteristics of! a trade mark.
2.—The Board of Commerce will estaplish a Bureau of Registration to attend especially to matters of registration, and the Customs at Tientsin and Shanghai will serve temporarily as Branch Offices for reesiving applications, to the greater convenience of those who apply, who may present their petitions at the place nearest to the 3.—Applicants for, registration may send their applications either to the Bureau of Registration or to a Branch Office to be forwarded to the Bureau.
4.—Every application must be accompanied by a statement, which must contain a description of the trade mark in (a) it must give a general description of the trade mark (b) tell to what class it belongs, and (c), state on what particular kind of goods it jis to be used.
If the application be forwarded through a Branch Office, duplicates must be made both of the application and the statement, 5.—The Bureau of Registration, havin g received an application, and having found nothing in it contrary to the roquirements, shall file the same for throe months and if within that time no person shall have petitioned against the registration, the said trade mark shall.be registered.
6.—If applications be made for the registration of two trade marks which are similar to one another and which are to be used upon thei same sort of goods, registration must be granted to the one first making application. If both applications be presented at the same time on the same day, permission to register must be given to both.
Incase of a trade mark already istered in' foreign country, if apion for its registration in China be made within four months from the date of its registration abroad, the date of such registration abroad may be recognised.
8.—Trade marks of the character specified below shall be refused registra-on (i) Those which destroy respect for rank, do injury to the customs of the country, and deceive the people.* (li) Those which imitate the impressions of seals especially reserved for the use of the Government (such as the Imperial seal and the oblong lead of the various yamens), or which imitate the designs of the Imperial flag, the military banners or decorations for Atrade mark identical with or imilar to one already registered belonging to another person, or which shall have been already in public use in China more than two years before the present application shall have been made, and to be used upon the same sort of goods.
(iv) Those which do not show something motive to be recognised.
—Tho term during which any merchant, Chinese or foreigner, may be allowed exclusive uso of a trade mark shall be twenty years, beginning with the date of registration by the Bureau. But trade marks already registered in another country and for whose registration hero plication shall have been made according to the Regulations shall be allowed a term of exclusive uso corresponding to that provided for in the registration (But in no case shall such term extend beyond twenty yea:
10.—If after the expiration of the term of exclusive uso it should be desired to extend such term, and application for a renewal of registration be made within six months before the expiration of the form of exclusive use, such application for renewal may be allowed.
11.—Should the owner of a trade mark already registered desire to sell to some one else the right to its exclusive use, or should ho find it necessary to share its use with others, he must at once make application at the Bureau of Registration for registration of the change.
12.—If any trade mark already regis-tored shall be found to violate the provisions of (i), (li), and (iv) of Regulation 8 the Bureau of Registration may cancel the registration of such trade mark.
For instance such as use official emblems, or employ pictures which Chinese may regard as improper.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.