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1909. NEW ZEALAND.

PATENTS, DESIGNS, AND TRADE MARKS: TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE REGISTRAR.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly pursuant to Section 120 of " The Patents, Designs, and Trade Marls Act, 1908."

In pursuance of section 120 of " The Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Act, 1908," I have the honour to submit my report on the operations of the Patent Office for the year .1908. The business of the office has been well maintained in respect of applications from residents of New Zealand, but fewer applications were received from those of other places, and the total number in 1908 is rather less than in the preceding year. The following table shows the number of applications received from places within and outside New Zealand for the last two years : — Year. New Zealand. Foreign. Total. 1907 .. .. .. .. .. 1,325 1,034 2,359 1908 .. .. .. .. .. 1,384 907 2,291 Increase .. .. .. .. 59 Decrease .. .. .. .. .. 127 68 The amount paid in fees was £5,470 6s. Id., £445 18s. sd. less than in 1907, in which year the revenue reached the highest point yet recorded. The expenditure, £2,822 3s. sd. in 1908 as compared with £2,602 4s. 10d. in 1907, shows a slight increase, due chiefly to extra work in affording facilities to those requiring information or availing themselves of the benefit of the Act, and various small items, particulars of which are given in Table A. It will be noticed, on reference to this table, that £1,206 Is. 6d., or 42 per cent, of the total expenditure, was in respect of work done by the Government Printing Office. The receipts from the commencement of the Act on the Ist January, 1890, to the end of the year 1908 exceed the expenditure during the same period by £44,451 19s. 9d. In New Zealand the expenditure for last year absorbed 51-6 per cent, of the revenue ; in the United Kingdom, 60-4 per cent. ; in the United States, 90-3 per cent. ; and, while such comparisons are possibly not of much value, it may be of interest to mention that during last year there was one official to 393 applications in New Zealand, one to 104 in the United Kingdom, and one to 82 in the United States. PATENTS. A greater number of applications was received from residents of New Zealand in 1908 than in the previous year. There was a falling-off in the applications from other places, and the total— i.e., 1,527 —is short of that for 1907 by ninety-one. The fees under this head amounted to £4,505 os. 9d., £342 less than in 1907. The fewer cases in which complete specifications were lodged and issue fees paid chiefly account for the difference, the amount received from other fees in 1908 being about the same as that collected in the preceding year. The number of applications with provisional specifications was the same as the number in 1907, 941 (941), the figures in parentheses throughout this report being the preceding year's total. The applications with complete specifications were about a hundred less, 586 (677), and the complete specifications lodged after provisional specifications were 46 short of the previous year's total —257 (303). The total number of specifications in 1908 was 1,784, as compared with 1,921 in 1907. The following table shows the proportion of applications accepted and to which exception was taken on the various grounds stated to the total number received :—

I—fl. 10.

Aooepted 'ithout Alteration. Accepted on Alteration. Not accepted, Without being questioned. After being questioned After being questioned. On Ground of On Ground Want of of Novelty. ; Informality. On Ground On Ground of Want of of Novelty. Informality. On Ground of Want of Novelty. On Ground of Informa ity. 65-4 12-2 3-8 31 5-3 12-2 3-8 31 8-2* 2-0* I I * These figu :ases the applicat igent has been he; ires show the position in the month in which the table was compili tions are still pending, and may be accepted with or without amenc ard in the matter. )d—i.e., May, 1909—but in some [ment after the applicant or his