24 THECUBAREVIEW 



THE PATENT LAWS OF CUBA 



DATES FROM 183:? AND KS78 — HOW PATENTS CAN BE OBTAINED — 



TRADEMARK PROTECTION 



Tlic patent law in force is the royal cedula, June 30, 1833, which during Spanish 

 control applied also to Porto Rico and the Philippines. 



Another general patent law, that of July 30, 1878, is believed to have lapsed when 

 Spain's sovereignty ended, hue some authorities claim it is still effective as supplementary 

 or explanatory of the law of 183:;. 



Patents can be obtained on machine, apparatus, instrument, process or method, either 

 mechanical or chemical, whi-'h may be new in whole or in part and not practiced in the 

 same manner and form. The procedure for obtaining a patent is as follows : 



The application is presented to the Department of Agriculture. Commerce and Labor, 

 accompanied by a sealed package, containing, in duplicate, the designs, drawings, etc., 

 and a detailed description of the patent solicited. This sealed package is opened by a 

 committee of ftmctionaries of the department, at which opening the applicant may be 

 present. The application is then examined by the Economic Society of Friends of the 

 Country, which reports upon the desiral)ility of issuing a patent and as to whether the 

 object for which it is sought comes within the provisions of the law. Upon favorable 

 report by the society and by the proper bureaus in the department, a patent is granted 

 for a term of 17 years. A fee of $2.") must be paid on the granting of the patent to the 

 applicant and a certitkate is issued to the patentee, describing the patent, with the terms 

 and specifications. 



Some examination is also made as to the novelty and utility of the patent and as 

 to its infringement of patents already granted or registered. The records of the Patent 

 Office are secret: no one is at liberty to examine the specifications of patents already 

 granted or tiled, the intention being, apparently, to protect patentees from infringement. 



In the case of an American patent, the procedure indicated for the filing of an Amer- 

 ican trademark is practically paralleled. The same fee is required, namely, $35. It is 

 better to file the .American patent than to take out a Cuban national patent in case the 

 invention has already been patented in the United States. It has not been determined, 

 as far as known, as to the period during which the Cuban registration of the American 

 patent is valid, which had. say, ten years to run at the time of filing. 



When a patent is granted in Cuba a time is set by the Patent Office within which 

 period the ]Kitent must be put into ojicration in the Republic. This putting into operation 

 f)f tile patent must be made evident to the department and certified to by some delegate 

 of the same. — Report of V . S. Charge d' Affaires F. M. Dcaring, at Ilarana. 



Trademark Protection 



It seems tbat in Cuba there are no common-law trademarks as thev arc known in 

 the United States. To acquire property in a trademark in the island it must be registered 

 with the Department of Commerce and Labor. An American manufacturer to secure 

 proper filing under the laws of Cuba, says U. S. Charge d'Affaires F. JNI. Dearing, at 

 Havana, sjiould send his representative a power of attorney, authenticated by a Cuban 

 consular officer, together with a copy of the trademark issued by the U. S. Patent Office, 

 legalized by the Cuban legation at Washington. He should send also fourteen ordinary 

 proofs as printed by the U. S. Patent Office, an application, in Spanish, requesting deposit 

 of the trademark, signed by the attorney in fact, and filed with the Cuban Department 

 of Connnerce and Labor, together with the power of attorney, the authenticated copy of 

 the trademark, six of the proofs already described with certified translations into Span- 

 ish. In dne course of time a certificate is issued accrediting the registration. The 

 trademark now has all the protection and advantage of a Cuban trademark. Exclusive 

 right to use it is granted, and criminal and court remedies are provided for any infringe- 

 ment. The government fee for filing is $12. .50. 



In both the case of the foreign and Cuban trademark, the application for registration 

 IS refused, if the Patent Office records shew the mark alreadv recorded. The law cover- 

 ing the subject is the royal decree of August 21, 18.34, during' Spain's supremacy over the 

 island, and has been but slightly changed since. 



The I'.ritish vice-consul at Havana gives practicallv the same advice, because un- 

 scrupulous persons have registered as their own, marks of well-known British manufac- 

 turers' doing business in the island, and have then been in a position to restrain the real 

 owners of the marks from selling goods in Cuba under those marks. 



