The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-15
BUSINESS WAYS
Of JAPANESE
CONTINUED from Page one.l

AAsS AGAAAt3NID4. ana QEl1EeT2A
short lecture on the subject. Whai
effect did 1T have3 The buyer said;
They bowed down to the floor, suck.
ed their breath in through their teeth
and went right on in the same old
way. costly lesson will have TO be
| taught them before they will ever i'm
prove their methods
An importer of peanuts in Portland
Oregon, was approached by japanese
salesman, who suggested that inasmuch
as his countrymen were branching out
/ in business, there was no longer any
| necessity for doing business through a
third party, as had been the custom
prior to that time. Why not deal di-
rect? The American felt like eneour-
aging the japanese commercial enter
prise, and a contract was made The
Portland man soon had reason to re-
greet his action. In explanation he
says: 1.-THE price of peanuts went up
and my man refused to deliver at the
contract price. / got stung for $500
No more direct deals with the Japan
csc for me-
The imitation of standard brands of
manufactured goods has caused much
complaint. For instance, a certain
Japanese firm put out a lot of thread
which was an imitation of both the
Coates and Clark brands. To the eye
this fraudulent stuff appeared exactly
like the original article, but later the
customer would discover that there
was only one-third of the usual amount
of thread, the size being maintained
by making the body of the spool
IL. L. G,f- 4
wood at the price of thread. A cheap
substitute for American kerosene was
also put out in tins similar to those
used by the Standard Oil Company.
The perpetrators of these frauds had
a double purpose in view-namely, to
make large profit from the sale of
inferior stuff, and to dissatisfy the
public with brands it was accustomed
to using, so that the way would be
made easier for articles of native
manufacture.
Great interest has centered in the
case resulting from the infringement of
the trademark of Messrs. James Blu
chairman & Co, the British manufac-
turers of BLACK and White" whisky.
This firm has had an enormous trade
in the East for years, and had its
trademark properly registered at the
patent office in Toxic. A japanese
dealer initiated the label and put a
substitute on the market. There was
only a slight variation in the trade
mark. The Buchanan firm is, by war
rant of appointment, distillers to King
Edward and the Prince of Wales. This
fact is set forth on the trademark
label The japanese imitators used the
same label, except that they substitu-
ted meaningless initials for the letters
which represent His Majesty" ana
sfHis Royal Highness." Thus the
original label reads: by warrants of
appointment distilIers to Fl. NJ. the
King, and H. r. II. the Prince Of
Wales" The spurious label reads: 'By
warrants of appointment distillers to
S. ". the King and S. n. S. the Prince
of Wales" The theft was so apparent
that denial was absurd, yet three diff
ferent courts refused to admit the
claim of infringement Finally the ex-
pressions of indignation became so gen.
eraI that a cancellation of the native
trademark was secured at the patent
office on the ground of general similar
ity. An infringement upon the trade
mark of Lea & PerTins' cause has also
been revoked in the same manner.
In this connection 1t may be explain
ed that the Japanese patent office does
not recognize proprietary rights in
trademark, but does accept the prior
ity right. This makes it imperative for
foreign manufacturers who intend to
intrduce their goods in this country To
register their trademarks in Toxic be-
fore someone else gets ahead of them.
Two cases in point are those Of the
Congo Roofing Company and the NJ. A.
Seed Dry Plate Company. Both of these
concerns failed to register their trade
marks and placed their accounts with
Japanese agents. Later when they at
TO take steps for protection,
they found that the willy natives had
already entered their trademarks in
their own names. These firms are now
endeavoring to recover their rights and
their only recourse viii be to buy out
the tricky agents. American manu-
facturers who wish to protect them
selves from japanese infringement in
both the Japanese and Chinese mar
kets should suffer no delay in register
ing their trademarks at the patent Of
flee in Toxic. They should take the
further precaution of having the regis
tration attended to by some patent at
torney other than a native.
The japanese patent office refuses TO
allow a common name to be registered
as trademark. Among the applica-
tions refused on this ground are such
names as "gramophone,' kodak"
scarborundum." linotype" feather
bone" and ''aerograph." The argument
s advanced that these names are so
we'll known that they are even in the
dictionary, and therefore no proprietary
lights to them can be recognized If |
he inventors OF these words had regis |
cred them in Toxic promptly, this OBJ
ecti0n could not have been urged. and |
he owners of new name trademarks |
will have no trouble in the future II |
hey take time by the forelock. An
,ther stipulation Of the patent office Ia
hat no common firm name can be reg
stored as trademark. However, the
application of this ruling seems to de-
END largely on the personal knowledge
f the clerk The name wheeler &
Wilson, was rejected, while Windsor
vr~a= .11ar+ad The last :