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If the examiner reports adversely to the complete specification the Commissioner may either — (1) Accept the application and specification on condition that a reference to such prior specifications as he thinks fit be made thereon by way of notice to the public; or (2) Refuse to accept the application and specification. An appeal from the Commissioner's decision lies to the High Court or the Supreme Court. In the Transvaal provision is made for examination as to interference between concurrent applications. , Caveats. In Canada any intending applicant who has not perfected his invention, and is in fear of being despoiled of his idea, may file in the Patent Office a description of his invention so far, with or without plans at his own will; and the Commissioner, on payment of the prescribed fee, is required to cause the document, which is called a caveat, to be preserved in secrecy, with the exception of delivering copies of the same whenever required by the said applicant or by any judicial tribunal; but the secrecy of the document is to cease when the applicant obtains a patent for the invention. If the application be made by any other person for a patent for any invention with which such caveat may in any respect interfere, the Commissioner is required to give notice by mail of such application to the person who has filed the caveat, and such last-mentioned person must within three months from the date of mailing such notice, if he wishes to avail himself of his caveat, file his petition and take the other steps necessary on an application for a patent; and if in the opinion of the Commissioner the applications are conflicting, they will be referred to arbitration. Unless the person filing a caveat makes application within one year from the filing thereof for a patent the Commissioner is relieved from the obligation of giving notice, and the caveat then remains as a simple matter of proof as to novelty or priority of invention if required. The above provisions relating to " Caveats " have been taken from the Patent Law of the United States, but the Commissioners appointed in 1898 to revise the statutes relating to patents, trade , and other marks, and trade and commercial names, on page 23 of their report say that they are clearly of opinion that the statute providing for the filing of caveats should be repealed. The reasons which have led them to this conclusion are set out in the following passage on page 22 of their Report, viz. : —" The very general opinion of those most familiar with patent " practice as expressed to us, is that the caveat is practically of no use to inventors. " Many attorneys of long experience in patent matters have assured us that they " always advise their clients not to file caveats. The preparation of a caveat, if it " be prepared with care and skill, involves considerable expense, hardly less than the " preparation of an application. The filing of a caveat necessarily implies the " subsequent filing of an application, with the result that the inventor is put to prac- " tically a double expense without practical advantage. " If foreigners are permitted to file caveats, as it would seem must be done if " our citizens are permitted to do so, the result will be the introduction of a class of " evidence which has always been considered open to very serious objection, and has " never been permitted to be introduced in any proceeding before the Patent Office, " or before the courts in patent matters —namely, evidence of acts performed in a " foreign country. If foreigners are permitted to establish conception of an inven- " tion in a foreign country by filing a caveat —and a caveat has practically no other " effect than that of establishing conception of the invention described therein on " the date on which it was filed —it would seem to be necessary to permit evidence " to be introduced of the reduction of the invention to practice, as by construction of " a machine, in the foreign country." Applications for Patents. In the United Kingdom, every application for a patent much be accompanied by either a provisional or complete specification. A provisional specification must describe the nature of the invention, and a complete specification must not only particularly describe the nature of the invention but also the manner in which the same is to be performed. Where the applicant does not leave a complete specification with his application he must leave a complete specification within seven months 20703 • F 2