1883.

CONVENTION FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL

PROPERTY.

Concluded at Paris March 20, 1883; adhesion advised by the Senate March 2, 1887; ratified by the President March 29, 1887; accession announced to Swiss Confederation May 30, 1887; proclaimed June 11, 1887. (Treaties and Conventions, 1889, p. 1168.)

(The text is reprinted from the proclamation of the President, the original Convention being in the French language.)

His Majesty the King of the Belgians; His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil; His Majesty the King of Spain; The President of the French Republic; The President of the Republic of Guatemala; His Majesty the King of Italy; His Majesty the King of the Netherlands; His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves; the President of the Republic of Salvador; His Majesty the King of Servia; the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation;

Equally animated by the desire to assure, by common accord, a complete and efficacious protection to the industry and commerce of the subjects of their respective states and to contribute to the safeguard of the rights of inventors, and to the loyalty of commercial transactions, have resolved to conclude a Convention to that effect, and have named as their Plenipotentiaries the following:

His Majesty the King of the Belgians: Baron Beyens, Grand Officer of His Royal Order of Léopold, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, etc., His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Paris;

His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil: Mr. Jules Constant, Count de Villeneuve, Member of the Council of His Majesty, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of the Belgians, Commander of the Order of Christ, Officer of His Order of the Rose, Knight of the Legion of Honor, etc.;

His Majesty the King of Spain: His Excellency the Duke de Fernan Nuñez, de Montellano, and Del Arco, Count de Cervellon, Marquis of Almonacir, Grandee of Spain of the 1 Class, Knight of the distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece, Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, Knight of Calatrava, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, etc., Senator of the Kingdom, His Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Paris;1

1 Including Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines.

The President of the French Republic: Mr. Paul Challemel Lacour, Senator, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Hérisson, Deputy, Minister of Commerce; Mr. Charles Jagerschmidt, Minister Plenipotentiary of 1st Class, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;1

The President of the Republic of Guatemala: Mr. Crisanto Medina, Officer of the Legion of Honor, etc., His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Paris;

His Majesty the King of Italy: Mr. Constantin Ressman, Commander of His Orders of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, and of the Crown of Italy, Commander of the Legion of Honor, etc., Counsellor of the Embassy of Italy at Paris;

His Majesty the King of the Netherlands: Baron de Zuylen de Nyevelt, Commander of His Order of the Lion of the Netherlands, Grand Cross of His Grand Ducal Order of the Oaken Crown and of the Golden Lion of Nassau, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, etc., His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Paris;

His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves: Mr. José da Silva Mendes Leal, Counsellor of State, Peer of the Kingdom, Minister and Honorary Secretary of State, Grand Cross of the Order of St. James, Knight of the Order of the Tower and of the Sword of Portugal, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, etc., His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Paris; Mr. Fernand de Azevedo, Officer of the Legion of Honor, etc., First Secretary of the Legation of Portugal at Paris;2

The President of the Republic of Salvador: Mr. Torres Caïcedo, Corresponding Member of the Institute of France, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, etc., His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Paris;3

His Majesty the King of Servia: Mr Sima M. Marinovitch, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of Servia, Knight of the Royal Order of Takovo, etc.;

And the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation: Mr. Charles Edward Lardy, its Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Paris; Mr. J. Weibel, Engineer at Geneva, President of the Swiss Section of the permanent Commission for the protection of Industrial Property.

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:

ARTICLE I.

The Governments of Belgium, of Brazil, of Spain, of France, of Guatemala, of Italy, of the Netherlands, of Portugal, of Salvador, of Servia and of Switzerland, have constituted themselves into a state of Union for the protection of Industrial Property.

ARTICLE II.

The subjects or citizens of each of the contracting States shall enjoy, in all the other States of the Union, so far as concerns patents for

Including Martinique, Guadeloupe and dependencies, Reunion and dependency (Saint Mary of Madagascar), Cochin-China, St. Pierre, Miquelon, Guiana, Senegal and dependencies (Rivières du Sud, Grand Bassam, Assimie, Porto Novo and Kotonou), the Congo and of the Gaboon, Mayotte, Nossi-Bé, the French Establishments in India (Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Karikal, Mahé, Yanaon), New Caledonia, the French Establishments in Oceanica (Tahiti and dependencies), Obock and Diégo-Suarez.

2 Including the Azores and Madeira.

3 Salvador withdrew August 17, 1887.

It shall comprise, in addition to the vault, which shall be devoted to the safe-keeping of the prototypes, rooms for mounting the comparators and balances; a laboratory, a library, a room for the archives, work-rooms for the employés, and lodgings for the watchmen and attendants.

ARTICLE 2.

It shall be the duty of the international committee to acquire and fit up the aforesaid building and to set in operation the work for which it was designed.

In case of the committee's inability to obtain a suitable building, one shall be built under its directions and in accordance with its plans.

ARTICLE 3.

The French Government shall, at the request of the international committee, take the necessary measures to cause the bureau to be recognized as an establishment of public utility.

ARTICLE 4.

The international committee shall cause the necessary instruments to be constructed, such as comparators for the standards of line and end measures, apparatus for the determination of absolute dilatations, balances for weighing in air and in vacuo, comparators for geodetic measuring-bars, &c.

ARTICLE 5.

The entire expense incurred in the purchase or construction of the building, and in the purchase and placing of the instruments and apparatus, shall not exceed 400,000 francs.

ARTICLE 6.

The estimate of annual expenditures is as follows:

A. For the first period-during the construction and comparison of the new prototypes

45,000

(b) Compensation to men of science and artists who, by direction of the committee, may be employed to perform special duties, keeping of the building in proper order, purchase and repair of apparatus, fuel, light, and office-expenses

24,000

(c) Compensation of the secretary of the international committee of weights and measures.

6,000

Total ...

75,000

The annual budget of the bureau may be modified by the international committee as necessity may require at the suggestion of the director, but it shall in no case exceed the sum of 100,000 francs.

The contracting governments shall be notified of any modifications that the committee may think proper to make within these limits, in the annual budget fixed by the present regulations.

The committee may authorize the director, at his request, to make transfers from one subdivision of the allotted budget to another. B. For the period subsequent to the distribution of the prototypes: (a) Salary of the director.

66

one adjunct.

Pay of a door-keeper, (mechanic)
Wages of an office-boy.

(b) Office-expenses

(c) Compensation of secretary, international committee_

Total

15,000 fr.

6,000

3,000

1,500

25,500

18,500

6,000

50,000

ARTICLE 7.

The general conference mentioned in article 3 of this convention shall be at Paris, upon the summons of the international committee, at least once every six years.

It shall be its duty to discuss and initiate measures necessary for the dissemination and improvement of the metrical system, and to pass upon such new fundamental metrological determinations as may have been made during the time when it was not in session. It shall receive the report of the international committee concerning the work that has been accomplished, and shall replace one-half of the international committee by secret ballot.

The voting in the general conference shall be by states; each state shall be entitled to one vote.

Each of the members of the international committee shall be entitled to a seat at the meetings of the conference. They may at the same time be delegates of their governments.

ARTICLE 8.

The international committee mentioned in article 3 of the convention shall be composed of fourteen members, who shall belong to different states.

It shall consist, at first, of the twelve members of the former permanent committee of the international commission of 1872, and of the two delegates who, at the time of the appointment of that permanent committee, received the largest number of votes next to the members who were elected.

At the time of the renewal of one-half of the international committee, the retiring members shall be, first, those who, in cases of vacancy, may have been elected provisionally during the interval occurring between two sessions of the conference. The others shall be designated by lot.

The retiring members shall be re-eligible.

ARTICLE 9.

The international committee shall direct the work connected with the verification of the new prototypes, and, in general, all the metrological labors, as the high contracting parties may decide to have performed at the common expense. It shall, moreover, exercise supervision over the safe-keeping of the international prototype.

ARTICLE 10.

The international committee shall choose its chairman and secretary by secret ballot. The governments of the high contracting parties

shall be notified of the result of such elections.

The chairman and secretary of the committee, and the director of the bureau, must belong to different countries.

After having been formed, the committee shall hold no new elections and make no new appointments until three months after notice thereof shall have been given to all the members by the bureau of the committee.

ARTICLE 11.

Until the new prototypes shall have been finished and distributed, the committee shall meet at least once a year. After that time its meetings shall be held at least biennially.

ARTICLE 12.

Questions upon which a vote is taken in the committee shall be decided by a majority of the votes cast. In case of a tie, the vote of the chairman shall decide. No resolution shall be considered to have been duly adopted unless the number of members present be at least equal to a majority of the members composing the committee.

This condition being fulfilled, absent members shall have the right to authorize members who are present to vote for them, and the members thus authorized shall furnish proper evidence of their authorization. The same shall be the case in elections by secret ballot.

ARTICLE 13.

During the interval occurring between two sessions, the committee shall have the right to discuss questions by correspondence.

In such cases, in order that its resolutions may be considered to have been adopted in due form, it shall be necessary for all the members of the committee to have been called upon to express their opinions.

ARTICLE 14.

The international committee for weights and measures shall provisionally fill such vacancies as may occur in it; these elections shall take place by correspondence, each of the members being called upon to take part therein.

ARTICLE 15.

The international committee shall prepare detailed regulations for the organization and the labors of the bureau, and shall fix the amounts to be paid for the performance of the extraordinary duties provided for in article 6 of this convention.

Such amounts shall be applied to the improvement of the scientific apparatus of the bureau.

ARTICLE 16.

All communications from the international committee to the governments of the high contracting parties shall take place through the diplomatic representatives of such countries at Paris.