Chargé Coolidge to
the Secretary of State.
American Legation,
Peking,
China, May 19,
1905.
No. 1888.]
Sir: Referring to department instruction No.
886 of March 2, 1905,a I
have the honor to inclose a copy of a memorandum which I communicated
informally to the foreign office, with regard to the position of the
American Government as to the rights of real and original owners of
trade-marks.
I have the honor, etc.,
John Gardner Coolidge,
Chargé d’Affaires.
[Inclosure.]
[Memorandum left at foreign
office, May 9,
1905.]
Articles of the old regulations, specifying that trade-marks of a
certain character are to be refused registration, provides in
Section III as follows:
“A trade-mark identical with one already registered belonging to
another person, or identical with one in public use in China more
than two years before the present application shall have been made,
or trade-marks similar to either of the above, if used upon the same
sort of goods as they.”
Perhaps among those which have been in public use in China for more
than two years, and for which registration may be requested, there
might be some which originally were imitations; and if the original
owner of such mark used upon the same class of goods as the
imitation should also apply for registration, after investigation of
the facts in the case, he should be allowed to register the mark,
and the application for the registration of the imitation
[Page 247]
ought to be rejected; or,
if it shall have been already registered, such registration ought to
be canceled.
The American Government holds that some such provision as the
foregoing ought to be incorporated in the revised regulations.
