Evening star., 1919-03-09

made Safe 1or rrief-
German Scheme ci,andise of stand
ard u. S. A. brands.
Clrcumvented. One of the biggest
after-war export-trade tasks has been
merciaf plots. During the war threat
ened trade mark piracy on An exten-
sive scale cast it's shadow over the
future of American. and especially
pan American, business. The wartime
U-boat menace was but an incident
that was impending and which has
been happily averted.
Advertising has been the fife blood
OF American trade, and to give adver-
tising a definite ground on which to
develop new business the manufac-
tured goods must have a distinctive
brand. The best known articles on the
markets today carry such brands or
trade marks. The American manufac-
| turers have spent millions of dollars
in making these distinctive trade
| marks attractive and in bringing
ing public If such trade marks are
appropriated by another. that pirate
or hishwayman gets all the advant ge
of the carefully planned advertising
| campaign on which the original man
ufacturer has spent SO much thought,
trained endeavor and money With
American goods seeking world mar
kets as never before, and especially
the South American markets, pre-
paredness' was imperative. America
is prepared to help the manufacturers
and exporters get the best return for
their advertising campaigns by pro-
tecting American trade marks.
X X
Germany has not been the only Of
fender against trade mark rights in
foreign markets. nor
Not the Only have the South Amer
ar ican markets been the
o1ender. only scenes of such
piracy. but they furnish a striking IL
lustration OF the evil and how it is
being cured.
No other activity of the division of
foreign tariffs of the bureau of for
eign and domestic commerce is pro-
ductive OF more good will than that
done in connection with trade mark
priority Notifications have been
sent out when evidences Of attempts
to appropriate American trade marks
were discovered abroad. particularly
in Latin America, and many letters
ciation Of this service. Trade mark
attorneys who have come to Wash
ington for conferences with the gov
ernment departments as a result of
notices sent to their clients have been
surprised at the extent of the trade
mark Information available
German attempts to register Amer
ican trade marks in foreign countries.
Particularly in South America, were
qusnt intervals during the war. The
procedure in cases OF this kind has
been the same as In any attempts to
appropriate trade marks belonging to
American concerns--that is, the Amer
lean firms are notified that marks be-
longing to them have been offered
for registration and they are advised
as to what they may do to maintain
their rights. Regulations governing
the registration Of trade marks vary
in different countries. In the United
States the person who first uses q
mark is considered the owner, even
IL he does not register it promptly
In many South American countries
the man who first registers the mark
is the owner. 1t is easy to see how
serious 1t would be to have a con-
siderable number Of American marks
pass into German hands In these mar
kets. Some marks have been def
nitely lost, but others have been
registered upon proof of fraud in the
first registration. The bureau is con-
tinuing policy OF watchfu1ness. but
the increasing vigilance Of American
manufacturers is necessary.
The most forward protective meas
ure has been the establishment
of an interna-
Trade Mark BureAu tiona1 bureau