Aug. 30.
'Tue article which we published on Thursday dealing with the inadequacy of penalties available at' the Mixed Court for infringement. of trademarks has naturally attracted wide attention. In that article it was pointed out that whereas a wretched coolie, who yields to a sudden temptation to' teal five dollars, goes to prison' for a month, a man who has devoted long time and thought to' counterfeiting a trademark, thereby robbing both _manufacturer and public, gets off with a $100 fine, which is probably far less than his illicit profit in a single day. In ancient times: counterfeiters of trademarks were executed or had their right hands cut off. We would not, certainly, advocate such savage penalties as these. But if the Trademark Bureau is to give. the protection it professes, it must certainly see to it that the courts are armed with terrors for infringement greater than a mere fine.
The writer of the article makes no mistake when he prescribes: imprisonment as the only cute for: the votaries of a popular pastime may possibly find their infringers of trademarks, as the ind, actions and character of person who sets out to rob other of their rights and property, in this insidious way are base and bad. The infringer is no respector of persons, in that he takes advantage of both the maker of branded goods and the public, who, in these days of easy shopping facilities, place every re-Bianco in retailers of proprietai brands, to provide the, enuine article. Every manufacturer of commodities that are worth imirating finds himself sooner Inter confronted with the problem of deception or mistaken identity. No sooner has a manufacturer perfected his goods and created a demand for them, than some pirate begins to scheme how he: may participate in what does not: belong to him, and the consumers. suffer accordingly. The public most be protected at all costs. against "ese trade parasites and the la ought to be dealt out with. 'a strong arm to all persons who. for the sake of personal gain, plots to rob others. A special injustice from the manufacturers point of view, is that the infringer usually disposes of his inferior goods at lower prices, consequently spoiling the market for both the makers of the genuine article find the respectable shopkeepers who are willing to supply the public with the correct goods.
'A trade name or mark is the only thing a manufacturer has to rely upon, apart from the high quality of his goods, and the good will of the consumer, to ensure for himself and his, work people: a safe and regular business. It is therefore not unreasonable to ask that the law shall deal with fraud in this respect with proper: severity.
'A member of the American Bar has said that, "While agreeing that infringers are known the world over as trademark pirates, their conduct is only comparable with the variety of dishonesty exemplified by the humble individual who steals door-mats, or picks pockets."
"To call the modern infringer a pirate is to pay him a compliment he does not deserve: he is no such hardy ruffian: he is a sneak thief, a confidence man just as dishonest, doubt, as a real man thief, but less This expression of opinion no Aoubt fits the American pirate. But we feal fairly confident that if this lawyer had had-as much experience of the Chinese pirate as some people in Shanghai have had, he might be much more eloquent and would certainly far more severe. For the Chinese forger is the most cunning infringer of trademarks in the world. The country he operates in, and the ramified methods of conducting—business between shroffs, dealers and commission agents who buy and sell to outports and interfer towns, are all in his favour in successful piracy of trademarks and he takes every advantage of the fact. The remoly appears to lie in owners of trademarks in Shanghai banding together in order to bring such influences to bear as will provide the courts with adequate penalty jes for infringement of trade marks, something that the guilty will really fear, To fine infringers in China for piracy of trademarks, is like trying to tickle an elephant's ribs with an ostrich feather, PeKING, Aug. 24—General Hu Ching-yi, Commandant of the Ist arrived in Peking will have an audi-
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