"PROTECTION oF TRADEMARKS, PATENTS, Corraicurs axp Froe "Nawes This brie? but inclusive treatise on the legal status, past and present of Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights without doubt prove of considerable value not only to legal pra but to all those to whom these] forms of property are of importance, that is to business men in China general.
It is, indeed, not so much a legal! Textbook as 'a discussion on the situation in China with regard to the protection of these forms of property. On such a nebulous sub-Ject it would be difficult to attain the matter-of-fact statements neces-to the Textbook, but such legal iples as exist Mr. Allman sets ith precision, while for the fal reader the value of the book will be considerably increased by he full text of the various laws which it contains.
To a commercial community, the' measure of protection afforded to Trademarks and the like forms of! property must always be of the!
reatest concern, and Mr. Allman's book has the double use of showing fon the one hand what exactly is the measure of protection row, existing in China, and on the other! wand of drawing attention to and emphasizing the all-apparent inadequacy of it. As the author so rightly says in his preface: "All Consular and Diplomatic officers in. China can testify that there is great confusion and obscurity about the protection of industrial and intellectual property in China." venture to think that such witness not only, or chiefly, confined to' Consvlar and Diplomatic circles. A country where a law of Patent and a law of Copyright are for all practical purposes. non-existent, and where the law of Tradem: thing of yesterday cannot in any way be said to provide satisfactory protection to merchants and manufacturers.
To the general as well as the legal reader that section of Mr.
Allmen's book which deals with Trademarks will probably prove the most interesting and useful.
With regard to the protection of foreign-owned Trademarks previous to the issue of the recent Trademark jaw, Mr, Allman gives a short and clear account of the system of provisional registration with the Maritime Customs at Shanghai and tein, pointing out the nature' and limitations of this system.
To the two official translations of the Trademark law, Mr. Allman has added a third.' He does not! appear to differ in any important respect from the renderings of the two previous translations, although with regard to the two important articles 3 and 4 of the law, we prefer his wording.
The advice regarding the procedure of Registration under the new Law is bot! full and accurate and will be found invaluable to those intending or engaged in registering their Trademarks.
Upon the value and usefulness of such registration to Trademark owners, Mr. Allman, while pointing out the difficulties and anomalies of the resent situation, refrains from giving advice; for to do so would be outside the province of his book; nevertheless it is the question' which must concerns foreign Trademark owners at present.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.