No. 532.
Mr. Bell
to Mr. Bayard.
Legation of
the United States,
The Hague,
Netherlands, June 16, 1887.
(Received July 2.)
No. 249.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of
the Department’s No. 93 of the 13th ultimo, covering a copy of a letter
addressed to the Department by John H. Flagg, esq., attorney for the Devoe
Manufacturing Company of New York, in relation to the alleged action of
Messr. Engelhard & Co., of Java, in fraudulently filing the Devoe
Company’s trade-mark for registration in the Dutch East Indies.
In accordance with your instruction, I at once brought the subject to the
attention of His Majesty’s Government in a note addressed to his excellency
the minister of foreign affairs, a copy of which is herewith inclosed and
marked No. 1.
In this connection I beg to inclose herewith, as of possible interest to the
Department, a clipping from the London Times of June 8 in relation to
British trade-marks in the Netherlands Indies.
I have also to report that the journals of Batavia of the 14th May, recently
received here, represent that the j udicial authorities of Batavia have
denied the application of Engelhard & Co. to file for registration the
trade-marks used by the Devoe Manufacturing: Company.
[Page 902]
This decision is represented to have been prompted by the consideration that
the marks or brand used by the Devoe Company can not be recognized as a
trade-mark.
It is also represented that for the same reason the Devoe Manufacturing
Company will be denied the right to register the brand as a trademark.
I have as yet no official information upon the subject.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 249.]
Mr. Bell to Mr.
Karnebeek.
Legation of the United States,
The Hague, Netherlands, May 31, 1887.
Sir: I have the honor to apprise your
excellency that I have been instructed by the Government of the United
States to bring the following facts to the attention of His Majesty’s
Government, and to request that the necessary steps may be taken for the
protection of the rights of the Devoe Manufacturing Company.
The Devoe Manufacturing Company is a corporation existing under the laws
of the! State of New York, whose business is the refining and packing of
petroleum wholly for export. That for many years it has exported
annually a very large proportion of all the refined oil of every
description consumed in the Dutch East Indies. That during the entire
period covered by the exportation s the Devoe Company has had its own
exclusive trade-mark or brand legally authorized in the United
States.
Owing to the high grade of oil known under the brand used by the Devoe
Company, it has become well known to consumers, and is in greater demand
than any other brand known to the trade. It appears that in February
last that the firm of Engle-hard & Co., of Java, filed the Devoe
Company’s trade-mark for registration in the colonies without the
knowledge, consent, or authority of the Devoe Company,
It is represented that Englehard & Co. claim that their action was
authorized by a recent law of the Netherlands Government (Staatsblad,
109), which appears to have been officially promulgated in the colonies
June 8, 1885, and which Englehard & Go. assert gives them the right
to register the trade-mark of any other person as their own, even
without the authority of such person, and notwithstanding his protest
against such action.
The motive of the said Englehard & Co. in thus seizing upon and
attempting to register the trade-mark of the Devoe Company clearly
appears to be for the purpose and with the sole object of depriving the
lawfulowners thereof of the right to its use, and to exclude from
importation into the colonies the brand of oil covered thereby, the said
Englehard & Co. being interested in another brand of oil, which they
desire to promote by this bold proceeding.
Should the effort of Englehard & Co. prove successful, the business
of the Devoe Company, which has taken years to establish, will be
irreparably ruined, as any agent of that company who attempted to sell
its brand of oil is liable to fine and imprisonment.
Such a result is so manifestly repugnant to the commercial interests of
the two countries that it is believed that the construction given to the
new statute by Englehard &, Co. was never contemplated by the
law-making power of His Majesty’s Government. If Englehard & Co. are
permitted to seize upon and appropriate to their own use, to the
exclusion of the legitimate owner, a well-established trade-mark, the
trade will have no protection against fraud, and will be placed entirely
at the mercy of a monopoly, which will deprive the lawful owners of the
valuable benefits, advantage, and commercial facilities which rightfully
belong to them. I venture, therefore, to request that His Majesty’s
Government will take such steps as may avert the impending injury to the
commerce of the two countries.
I seize, etc.,
(Inclosure 2 in No. 249.)
British trade-marks in the Netherlands
Indies.
Her Majesty’s consul at Batavia reports that in certain instances
unauthorized persons have registered and used in the Netherlands Indies
trade-marks the property of British firms. To prevent these proceedings
Her Majesty’s consul recommends British
[Page 903]
owners to empower their agents in the Netherlands
Indies to register on their behalf such trade-marks as they wish
protected, and to protest against the registration, if it has already
been effected, by others. The documents necessary are as follows:
- (a)
- Power of attorney in favor of the owner’s agents, authorizing
them to register their trade-marks and to protest against others
registering it. Power of attorney must first be legalized by a
Dutch consular official in the United Kingdom, and afterward by
the foreign and colonial ministers at The Hague.
- (b)
- Certificate proving the ownership of the trade-mark, and that
it is duly registered in England.;
- (c)
- Three copies of any trade-mark the owner may wish to have
registered, with particulars of the class of goods on which same
is used. Protests against registration have to be lodged within
a year of the original registration.
