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Washington Conference
There is also the Patents Co-Operation Treaty,
signed by 22 countries in Washington in June 1970
which provides for the grant of patents in a number of
countries on the basis of one common application, one
search and one examination. It is to be noted :
(1) That a patent only has strength when its validity
can reasonably be assured at the moment of grant which
presupposes an effective examination as to novelty.
(2) It may be possible to use computer systems in the
future, but as yet no computer has been invented which
can memorise a whole dictionary of grammar and tech-
nical terms in various languages. Thus the harmon-
isation of administrative procedures, which can only be
achieved when there is unanimity as to the law itself,
and this must depend on well-settled trading conditions
between Britain and France.
Although the Community published the
Haertel
Committee Draft
in 1962 with a view to eventually
establishing a single European international patent,
little progress has been made since. The question of
trade-marks does not appear to be so important inter-
nationally as that of patents, as trade-marks are not full
monopolies, and protection for them may be received
from time to time by the proprietor; this protection
remains valid as long as the mark continues to be used.
Marks which are protected by law do not inhibit trade
and the exchange of goods, and there is thus no urgency
about setting up a European Trade-Mark Registry.
However, the position under Section 28 of the English
Trade-Marks Act, 1958, deserves mention. Under
this section, a person other than the proprietor of a
trade-mark shall only be registered as a "registered
User" and the use which is permitted by such a trade-
mark is named "Permitted Use". This is deemed to be
an expensive and cumbersome procedure. This permitted
use is deemed to be use by the proprietor—in other
words the benefit of the goodwill acquired by the trade-
mark in consequence upon the licensee's use reverts to
the proprietor. A special construction was given to this
section by Lloyd Jacob J. in the Bostitch case (1963)
where it was held that a licence of a registered trade-
mark, the terms of which were never put to the Regis-
trar for his approval under Section 28, nevertheless did
not invalidate the mark, since the proprietor had exer-
cised effective control over the use of the mark. The
Bostitch case has since been followed by the Court of
Appeal in the GEC case, and will shortly reach the
House of Lords.
In regard to designs and models, the agreed period of
fifteen years copyright in all articles industrially repro-
duced whose features of shape and configuration are
original and would simply be determined by visuql
comparison, as set out in the (English) Designs Copy-
right Act, 1968, would seem to be the most appropriate.
Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments
The problems discussed on Saturday morning, May
1st, in Greenwich were those arising from British adher-
ence to the European Community Convention on Juris-
diction, Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judg-
ments signed in Brussels on 27th September 1968.
The French rapporteur was Maitre P. F. Ryziger,
Advocate to the Conseil d'Etat. He reminded his audi-
ence that Article 220 of the Treaty of Rome hopes to
ensure that the protection of persons and of rights in
each State of the Community will be equivalent to
those accorded to their own nationals as well as leading
to the abolition of double taxation, the mutual recog-
nition of firms, and finally the simplification of the
formalities governing the reciprocal recognition and
enforcements of judgments of foreign tribunals.
Granting of Exequatur
Since 1964, in order to grant an "Exequatur", the
French Judge must be satisfied of the following facts :
(1) If the execution of a foreign judgment is brought
before him, he must be satisfied that that judgment can
still be executed in the country from whence it has
emanated.
(2) That the Court which has rendered the decision
is as competent from an international as from a terri-
torial point of view.
(3) That the law applied by the foreign Judge would
be the same as that applied in French private inter-
national law.
(4) That the defendant should have had notice of
the writ and should have adequate time to prepare his
defence.
Under the German system, an Exequatur can only be
grnted under strict conditions of reciprocity as between
the judgments of the two countries concerned. This
means that in the foreign country, judgments should not
be construed in a more liberal way than in the German
Courts, and the foreign Judge should not verify the
internal competence of the German Courts. In Holland,
execution upon foreign judgments as such cannot be
levied, but Dutch Judges have availed of the notions of
good faith and of equity to give compulsory force to
foreign judgments. In Luxembourg, Belgium and Italy
the situation is broadly the same as that in France.
Brussels Convention
The Brussels Convention of 1968, first elaborated in
1964, has not yet been ratified by any State. Generally
this Convention applies to civil and commercial mat-
ters, but such matters as matters relating to the State
and to the capacity of persons, bankruptcies, matters
relating to social security and arbitration are excluded.
As regards the competence of the Courts, a distinc-
tion must be made between (i) general competence, (ii)
special competence, and (iii) exclusive competence. The
general competence is that resulting from an agreed
formula as to the competence of the Courts within the
State; here the persons domiciled in the territory of the
contracting State will recognise the Courts of that State
regardless of their nationality.
The special competence of Courts determines the
territorial competence of Courts internally in relation
to certain optional matters—particularly some torts and
contracts of insurance.
The exclusive competence of Courts specifically ex-
cludes general competence, particularly in :
(1) litigation concerning real property;
(2) litigation concerning liquidation of companies;
(3) the validity of matters affecting registration on pub-
lic registers;
(4) the validity of trade-marks and patents and
(5) the executions of the judgments of the Court of the
contracting State.
Recognition of Judgments
The "Recognition" of a judgment means that that
judgment will produce all the usual effects, if it has
not to be brought into force as a result of a compulsory
execution. Recognition of a foreign judgment can be
refused in France under the following circumstances :
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