Trade
BOARD OF, in the United States a body of men selected from among the business men of a city, and appointed to represent and act for the whole busi- The Registration of Trade Marks.- At common law a trade mark could be acquired only by actual user; it must have been "so applied in the market as to indicate to purchasers that the goods to which it was attached were the manufacture of a particular firm." By the English Trade-marks Registration Act, 1875, a Register of Trade Marks was established at the Office of the Commissioner of Patents (now the Patent Office), and it was provided that the registration of a trade mark should thenceforth be equivalent to public user. This provision is in substance repeated in the Patents Acts, 1883-1888, by which the TRADE MARK registration of trade marks is now regulated. The registration of a person as proprietor of a trade mark is primâ facie, and after five years is conclusive evidence of his right to the exclusive use of the said mark (subject to the provisions of the acts); and no person can institute proceedings for infringement unless the mark alleged to be infringed has been registered, or-in the case of marks in use prior to the Act of 1875-has been declared by the certificate of the comptroller-general to be non-registrable. Under the provisions of the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property an applicant for registration of a trade mark in any one of the contracting States may obtain protection in any of the other contracting States by application there within three or, in the case of countries beyond the seas, four months from the date of the first application. The subsequent application is antedated to the date of the first, and is consequently not defeated as otherwise it might have been by prior user in the protected interval. In the United States there is a good deal of difference between the laws of the various States on this subject.
Registration in the United States.- The following are the regulations for registration for foreign countries: Owners of trade marks used in commerce with foreign nations or with Indian tribes, if such owners be domiciled in the United States or located in any foreign country or tribe which by treaty, convention, or law affords similar privileges to citizens of the United States, may obtain registration of their trade marks by filing in the Patent Office a statement specifying name, domicile, location, and citizenship of the party applying, the class of merchandise, and the particular description of goods comprised in said class to which the trade mark has been appropriated, a description of the trade mark itself, a drawing illustrating it, which drawing must be of a standard size, and a statement of the mode in which the trade mark is applied or affixed to the goods, and of the length of time during which the trade mark has been used. This statement must be signed signed by the owner of the trade mark and must be accompanied by a written declaration, verified by the person or by a member of the firm or by an officer of the company applying, to the effect that such party has at the time a right to the use of the trade mark sought to be registered and that no other person, firm, or corporation has the right to such use.
The fee for examining and registering a trade mark is $25, which includes the TRADES UNION certificate. This fee should accompany the application. The certificate of registration is issued in the name of the United States of America, under the seal of the Department of the Interior, and signed by the Commissioner of Patents.
It remains in force for 30 years from its date, except in a case where the trade mark is claimed for and applied to an article not manufactured in this country, but receives protection under the laws of a foreign country for a shorter period.
In that case it ceases to have any force in this country at the time the trade mark ceases to be protected in the foreign country.
At any time during the six months previous to the expiration of the 30 years the mark may be re-registered for the same term. The right to the use of a trade mark is assignable by an instrument in writing, which instrument may be recorded in the Patent Office, but said instrument will not be recorded prior to the filing of an application, and it must identify the application by serial number and date of filing, or, where the mark has been registered, by the certificate number and the date thereof. Consult Elfretti's "Patents, Copyrights, and Trade Marks." See COPYRIGHT: PAT- ENT.
TRADE SCHOOLS. See TECHNICAL EDUCATION, TRADE