(Ten florins equal one pound.) The fees paid for patents, which subsequently have been annulled on public grounds, are to be repaid in proportion to the unexpired term.

17. DOCUMENTS REQUIRED, AND WHERE TO BE LEFT.-A petition of the inventor or his proxy; power of attorney, (in the latter case;) the Government fees or receipt for the same; a specification, sealed, and in German, or the language of the respective State of the empire; drawings, models, or patterns; statement whether the invention is to be kept secret or not, and, if the former, for how long. In the case of importations, the original letters patent or an authenticated copy of the same. Deposited at the offices of the governors of provinces or of the authorities of districts. Specifications may be amended.

18. WORKING AND PROLONGATION.-To be worked within one year, and not to be interrupted for two years. The longest term extended by special grant of the Emperor.

19. ASSIGNMENTS.-Registered at the Ministry of Commerce and Trades, and published in the Vienna Gazette, monthly.

20. OTHER LEGAL PROVISIONS.-The following cases are to be considered as infringements: 1. Imitating the object of a patent; 2. Importing counterfeit articles; 3. Selling such counterfeit articles. Infringements of patents with specifications kept secret not punishable in the first instance. Fines, which are to be paid into the poor-box, from fifty shillings to one hundred pounds. Imprisonment at the rate of one day for ten shillings.

21. SPECIFICATIONS, INSPECTION, and Copies of.-In the

record office of patents, at the Ministry of Commerce and Trades, Vienna. Copies to be had of specifications which are not to be kept secret or which belong to an extinct patent.

22. LIST OF PATENTS DELIVERED.-Monthly and annual synoptical tables of privileges granted, prolonged, assigned, and become void. (Vienna Gazette, monthly, and Commissioners of Patents' Journal, [vide infra, § 71.])

23. SPECIFICATIONS PUBLISHED.-In various technical periodicals and official publications kept at the Public Free Library of the Patent Office.

24. PROCEEDINGS TO OBTAIN A PATENT.-Petitions for patent may be addressed by the applicant or his agent to the governors of provinces or to the different authorities of districts. They must contain the Christian and surname, profession, and residence of the applicant; and, if not resident in the empire, the name, profession, and residence of a proxy domiciled there. If the process is intended to be worked by a firm bearing a different name, that name must also be stated. The comprehensive title of the invention must be given, and the number of years for which the patent is demanded, which must not exceed fifteen, except by special grant of the Emperor. Foreign patents are limited in duration to that of the original. Applicant must also state whether he desires that the invention shall be kept secret or not. The tax may be paid to a public treasurer, and his receipt must be given in with the application. If made by an agent, a power of attorney must be put in; and if there be a foreign patent, the original or an authenticated copy must be produced. The description of the invention must be under a sealed cover, indorsed with

the title of the invention, and the address of applicant or his agent.

Specifications must be written in German or in the language of the province where the application is made, and must contain such a clear, unambiguous, and complete detail of the invention as to enable any competent man to manufacture the article.

Should the authority to whom an application is made think the invention unfit to be patented, he is to inform the petitioner thereof, requiring him to withdraw it, and give a receipt for the sealed specification. An appeal is allowed to the Minister of Commerce and Trades. A defective specification may be amended.

No examination of the novelty or merit of the invention is made, the patent being delivered at the mere risk and expense of the applicant.

The privilege of a patent extends to the whole of the Austrian dominions; that is to say, to Austria proper, Bohemia, Austrian Italy, the Polish provinces, Istria, Salzburg, Styria, Silicia, Moravia, and the Tyrol.

Form of Petition for a Patent.

[Insert address of the authorities of the respective district or province.

I [or we, as the case may be, Christian and surname, profession, and domicil] beg to state that have made a new discovery, [invention, improvement,] consisting essentially in [insert the comprehensive title.]

The complete specification, drawn up according to the

provisions of section twelve of the patent law of subjoined in the appendix.

is

[Insert whether the specification is to be kept secret, and state the exact number of the drawings, models, patterns, &c.,

if any.]

For this discovery [invention, improvement], announced and duly specified, which

petitioner believe, to the best of

the undersigned

knowledge, to be

patentable and new, according to the provisions of the said patent law, and legal for obtaining an exclusive privilege at own risk and responsibility, solicit such a privilege for the stated discovery, [invention, improvement,] in the manner as represented in the annexed sealed specification, under the legal clauses and conditions, for the term of years, for which purpose pay the entire patent tax of florins, due according to section eleven of the said patent law, and request the delivery of an official certificate for securing prior claims.

[Address and date.]

[Signature.]

Where not the money, but the receipt of a public pay office is tendered with the application for patent, such receipt must contain the name of petitioner, the title of the invention, the number of years for which the tax has been paid, and the amount in words at length. Any deficiency or defect in this document must be remedied before the petition can be received.

The tax being paid, and the petition being found worded and directed according to prescription, the parties being present, an official memorandum is to be inscribed on the cover of the sealed specification, stating the day and hour when the petition was delivered and the amount of tax paid, and the applicant or his agent

must also sign it. Of this formality an official certificate is to be delivered to the applicant.

These formalities being fulfilled, the petition is to be forwarded within three days to the governor of the respective province, unless the delivery took place in the chief town of the province, whence, if found correct, all the documents are to be forwarded to the Minister of Commerce and Trades, with a report from the governors.

The petition having been found correct, or its defects having been corrected, and the article having been deemed patentable, letters patent are then issued, the minister having the power to impose on the working of the patent such conditions or restrictions as may be considered necessary.

III. The Grand Duchy of Baden, and Petty States of Germany.

25. No special patent legislation.

25. No SPECIAL PATENT LEGISLATION.-The Minister of the Interior, however, grants privileges for inventions, after an examination as to novelty and utility by competent commissioners. The Government fees amount to 40 or 50 florins, (12 fls. £1.) The term for which patents are granted is five and ten years. (Annual lists of patents published in the Commissioners of Patents' Journal, vide infra, § 71.)

In the following States there is no special legislation, but the respective Governments grant privileges to inventors for the exclusive use or working of their inventions: