following recommendations applicable to proposals at present time in the hands of Parliament: (1) That the social lawsuit entered by a minority for defects in respect of management must be discarded. (2) That the individual lawsuit for infractions of the law or statutes duplicates the social action for the same facts; and that this duplication of actions would have the most serious inconvenien(3) That the principle of the social lawsuit by a minority for violation of the law or statutes might be introduced into legislation. ces. Chamber of Commerce Suggestion. Bearing on this whole matter, an organ representative of the chambers of commerce in the country recently urged that in any study and proposals for changes in Belgian law governing limited liability companies, the system applying to use of chartered and incorporated accounts in England be given consideration. This source, after discussing the origin and methods of working of the public accounting profession in England, points out that in considering activities of commercial organizations in general, there are many advantages which arise from having certain responsibilities devolve upon those who may reasonably be considered to be in the best position to render independent and professional judgment; and indicates that in England a generally high moral tone is engendered through utilising of the members of this profession. The inference from this appeal is that with the public accounting profession in Belgium placed on a level comparable to that in England, and then utilising them along same lines as in the latter country, not only would more effective supervision of companies be attained, but the whole moral level of business activity as it pertains to the problems at hand would be raised. Greater Stress on Social Responsibilities. The whole movement of emphasizing increased social responsibility has been given considerable stress over the past several years in Belgium. While the government which championed the cause of reform in this whole field has recently fallen in the country, the momentum which has been gained sees likely to find further expression in the form of legal action applying to commercial organizations employing public funds. It appears probable, then, that any action which may be taken covering companies of limited liability will look away from any spirit of autocracy in handling the interests of shareholders to that of instilling or requiring on part of management greater consciousness of public trust. BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE ANALYSIS OF FUNCTIONS AND SERVICES I Introductory In order that readers of COMPARATIVE LAW SERIES may enjoy an intimate acquaintance with the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, its multiple services, and the anatomy of its administration, available space in subsequent numbers will be used for a discussion of these. If you have a commercial inquiry not covered in these notes, you may consult with your nearest District Office, or write to the Bureau or to the Division of Commercial Laws. Experienced hands will place your inquiry in the best channel for prompt consideration. The Bureau today represents a long series of consolidations of pre-existing offices, easily traceable to the early days of the Republic. To any reader who is interested this statutory history can be provided on request. The last union took place in 1912, when the amalgamated offices were provided with an organic Act of Congress which defines the function of the Bureau to be to FOSTER, PROMOTE and DEVELOP our industry and commerce at home and abroad. This can best be done by keeping the statistics of trade and providing information and service. Plainly, the success of the Bureau's efforts to perform its stated function is affected by the extent of the information and service which it distributes. For this reason your inquiries, within the scope of the Bureau's function, are readily welcomed. Moreover, the word FOSTER in the Bureau's Charter clearly implies something more than routine answering of inquiries. YOU CAN HELP YOUR BUREAU TO CARRY ON ITS NATIONALLY IMPORTANT WORK BY PERFECTING YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF ITS OPERATION, SCOPE AND UTILITY. Comparative Law Series - January 1938 - 7 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY PROTECTION IN DENMARK by Assistant Trade Commissioner Faul H. Pearson, Copenhagen Certain changes in Danish regulations governing the protection of industrial property rights are found in a number of laws enacted in April 7, 1936 and effective on October 1 of the same year. These acts were intended to bring Danish legislation on the subject in conformity with the measures passed at the Hague in 1925 and in London in 1934 revising the International Convention of March 20, 1883. Danish legislation on the subject now provides that any national of each of the countries of the Union who has properly filed an application for a patent, for the registration of a pattern, trade-mark or collective mark, has priority with regard to filing a similar application in Denmark. The priority period is twelve months for patents and six months for patterns, trade-marks and collective marks. Furthermore, within six months after being on show at a national or international exhibition held with the approval of the Minister of Trade in Denmark, the inventor, pattern owner of mark owner may on application be granted a patent or have a pattern or trade-mark registered, regardless of whether the invention, pattern or mark became known through such exhibition or not. Some of the other provisions of these acts have been mentioned in an article in the Danish Foreign Office Journal reading as follows: THE PATENTS ACT Patents are granted on new inventions capable of being used in industry or of being manufactured industrially. Apart from inventions which are not new, patents cannot be granted on inventions devoid of any real importance or the use of which would contravene laws, public morals or public order; nor on inventions of medicines, foodstuffs or refreshments and stimulants, and methods for the manufacturing of foodstuffs. Applications for patents, which must be drawn up in Danish, must be filed on forms provided for the purpose. Should the applicant not be a resident in Denmark the application must be accompanied by a declaration that he has appointed an attorney domiciled in Denmark to represent him in all matters connected with the patent. The application must be accompanied by a fee of 50 crowns and sent to the Patent Commission, which, after examining the novelty and "patent ability" of the invention and also the formal correctness of the application, decides whether the patent can be granted or not. Letters patent are granted for a period of seventeen years reckoned from the date of filing the application in this country. Changes to an invention already patented may be covered by a supplementary patent which expires together with the original patent. A fee of 35 crowns is charged for each patent granted, to defray the cost of issue and the printing of the specification. Should a specification with drawings fill more than three printed pages there is a further fee of 15 crowns per printed page. An annual fee is also payable except in the first year of the patent. There is no additional fee for supplementary patents. The annual fees are as follows: These annual fees must be paid before the beginning of the year to which they apply. Should payment not be made as described, the Act allows for payment being made within a certain fixed period with an additional charge. Should the fee be unpaid at the expiration of this period, the patent lapses as from the beginning of that patent year, but can be revalidated if it be shown that circumstances over which the patentee had no control prevented the payment of the fee in due time; in that case the application, accompanied by a fee of 100 crowns and the unpaid fees, must be sent in immediately after the patentee has become aware of the omission, and in any case not later than twelve months after the lapse of the patent is published in the Danish Patent Gazette (Patenttidende). Within three years after the patent has been granted the patentee must make arrangements to ensure that the invention is used within Denmark itself to an extent compatible with the market demand; should he desire to have this period extended he must send to the Patent Commission an application stating his reasons. The Commission may prolong the period for a maximum of three years at a time if no claim is received for a user's license after the Patent Commission has published a notification in the Patent Gazette. Should a claim be made for a user's license in accordance with the published notification, the Commission decides whether and to what extent and on what germs the license shall be granted (compulsory license). The decision of the Patent Commission is appellable to the courts (the Maritime and Commercial Court of Copenhagen as the first instance). Infringements of patent rights involve liability for damages. Should the infringement be wilful the person responsible may be fined, and if the offence is repeated the penalty is a fine or imprisonment not exceeding six months. THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS ACT Under this Act patterns for the exterior appearance and form of industrial products may be protected. No application can be registered if in the opinion of the registration authorities the pattern is in conflict with the law, public morals or public order, or if the application does not cover a pattern within the meaning of the Act. Otherwise the application will be registered without any previous examination regarding the novelty or peculiarity of the pattern or regarding the correctness of the applicant's statements as to who designed the pattern. Applications for registration of patterns must be drawn up in Danish on forms provided for the purpose and filed with the Directorate of Patents and Trade-Marks. If the application is made by a person not domiciled in Denmark it must be filed by a person of Danish domicile with power to represent the applicant in all matters connected with the registration. The application for registration may be for one or several periods of three years. Afterwards the registration may be prolonged for one or more three-year periods at a time. The total period cannot, however, exceed fifteen years from the application. One application may cover from one to fifty patterns. On filing the application the applicant must pay a fee of 2 crowns for the first three-year period for every pattern included in the application, but not exceeding 5 crowns. Should registration be desired for a longer period, the fee for the 4th to 6th year is 3 crowns for each pattern but not exceeding 10 crowns, for the 7th to 9th year 4 crowns but not exceeding 20 crowns, for the 10th to 12th year 5 crowns but not exceeding 35 crowns, and for the 13th to 15th year 6 crowns but not exceeding 60 crowns. Without the consent of the person who has obtained protection for his pattern no person may for purpose of gain: (1) Use the pattern or a copy of it as a pattern in the manufacture, prepara- Any person contravening these regulations is liable for damages for all loss thereby caused, in accordance with the ordinary rules of compensation. Wilful contravention will make such person liable to a fine and, should the offence be repeated, a fine or imprisonment not exceeding six months. No penalties or damages can be claimed if the infringement is not complained of within one year. Any person claiming that the registration of a pattern cannot give protection for the said pattern for reasons stated in the Act, or because the |