11—10

1948 NEW ZEALAND

PATENTS, DESIGNS, AND TRADE-MARKS FIFTY-NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly pursuant to Section 128 of the Patents, Designs, and Trade-marks Act, 1921-22

REPORT

I have the honour, in accordance with section 128, to submit my report on the administration of the Act during the year 1947. The number of applications for the grant of letters patent and for the registration of designs and trade-marks received during the year was 4,660, and for the third year in succession greatly exceeded the average pre-war figures. Many applicants from other countries took advantage of the extension of time to the 31st December, 1947, granted by virtue of the International Agreement signed at Neuchatel, Switzerland, early in the year to file belated Convention applications, some of which dated back to 1938. The fees collected amounted to £21,919, again establishing a record. The surplus of receipts over expenditure was £8,265. PATENTS The 2,753 applications filed during the year covered practically every class of invention, though telegraphy and telephony, with 461, far exceeded any other class. Next in order were : organic chemistry, 171 ; electric lamps and furnaces, 148 ; electric accessories, 124 ; buildings, 101 ; washing, cleaning, and brushes, 93 ; amusements, 82 ; medicine and surgery, 81 ; domestic heating, cooking apparatus, 77 ; and packing, compressing, and stoppering, 70. Applications from Great Britain totalled 870, followed by New Zealand, 812 ; United States of America, 689 ; and Australia, 175. The remaining 207 originated from 18 other countries.