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Examination for Novelty. In the United Kingdom, when a complete specification has been deposited on an application, the examiner must ascertain " whether the invention claimed has " been wholly or in part claimed or described in any specification (other than a " provisional specification not followed by a complete specification) published before "the date of the application and deposited pursuant to any application for a " patent made in the United Kingdom within fifty years next before the date of the " application." If the invention has been wholly or in part claimed or described in any such specification, and the applicant does not remove the objection by amending the specification to the satisfaction of the Comptroller, the Comptroller, after hearing the applicant, must determine whether a reference to any and, if so, what prior specifications ought to be made in the specification by way of notice to the public, and if he is satisfied that the invention claimed has been wholly and specifically claimed in any specification to which the official investigation has extended, he may, in lieu of requiring such references to be made, refuse to grant a patent. An appeal lies from the decision of the Comptroller to the Law Officer. This official investigation as to prior patenting has now been extended to specifications deposited pursuant to prior applications, but published after the date of the applications in respect of which the investigation is made. In these cases the applicants are afforded facilities for amending their specifications, so as to avoid any anticipating specifications that may be brought to light by the extended investigation; and in the event of their failing to make the necessary amendments, Che Comptroller may, subject to an appeal to the Law Officer, determine what references, if any, to other specifications ought to be made in the specification by way of notice to the public. In Canada, on every application for a patent, a thorough and reliable examination is required by law to be made by competent examiners employed in the Patent Office for that purpose. The Commissioner may object to grant a patent in any of the following cases : — (a) When he is of opinion that the alleged invention is not patentable in law; (b) When it appears to him that the invention is already in the possession of the public, with the consent or allowance of the inventor; (c) When it appears to him that there is no novelty in the invention; (d) When it appears to him that the invention has been described in a book or other printed publication before the date of the application, or is otherwise in the possession of the public; (c) When it appears to him that the invention has already been patented in Canada, unless the Commissioner has doubts as to whether the patentee or the applicant is the first inventor; (/) When it appears to him that the invention has already been patented in a foreign country, and the year has not expired within which the foreign patentee may apply for a patent in Canada, unless the Commissioner has doubts as to whether the foreign patentee or the applicant is the first inventor. Whenever the Commissioner objects to grant a patent in any of the above cases, he must notify to the applicant the ground or reason therefor with sufficient detail to enable him to answer the objection if he can. An appeal lies from the Commissioner's decision to the Governor in Council. In New Zealand the Eegistrar of Patents may refuse to grant a patent for any alleged invention which he knows is not new, after giving the applicant an opportunity of being heard personally or by his agent. Provision is made for examination as to interference between concurrent applications. In Australia the examiner must: — (a) Ascertain and report whether to the best of his knowledge the invention is already patented in the Commonwealth or in any State or is already the subject of any prior application for a patent in the Commonwealth or in any State; (b) Report whether to the best of his knowledge the invention is or is not novel.