Office of the Historian

Chargé Sleeper to the Secretary of State.

American Legation,
Habana, February 1, 1906.
No. 1453.]

Sir: Referring to legation dispatch No. 1321, of September 1 last, and department’s reply No. 556, of October 30, 1905, and for the information of such American firms as have trade-marks registered in Cuba and desire their protection in all countries adhering to the convention of Berne, I beg to transmit to the department translation of a ruling issued by the department of agriculture, industry, and commerce defining the steps necessary to be taken to secure protection of trade-marks in those countries subscribing to that convention.

The ruling reaffirms the Madrid arrangement of April 14, 1891, which effected the adherence of the Spanish Government to the Berne convention.

I have, etc.,

Jacob Sleeper.

[Inclosure—Translation.]

Department of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce.

Ruling.—For the enforcement of the Madrid arrangement of April 14, 1891, relative to the international registration of trade-marks:

I.
Any private or legal person in lawful possession of a trade-mark duly registered in his name in the proper office of the department of agriculture, industry, and commerce may, as provided for in the arrangement of April 14, 1891, concerning the international registration of trade-marks, promulgated in the Official Gazette of December 27, 1904, obtain protection for such trade-mark in the subscribing States and in any State that may in future subscribe to the said arrangement by the compliance with the formalities called for in this ruling.
II.
Parties concerned shall make written application, over their own signature or that of a properly authorized person, to the secretary of agriculture, industry, and commerce, in which shall be detailed the name and surname of the applicant, his nationality, the place where he has his establishment, the number and date of his certificate of registration in Cuba, of the mark or marks for [Page 497] which international registration is sought, and the product or article that each mark is for.
III.
Said application must be accompanied by:
(a)
An engraving or typographical cut of each mark, so that it may be printed in black in the official periodical of the international office. These cuts must exactly reproduce the mark just as it was when granted and in such manner that all details will be visible. It should not be less than 15 millimeters nor more than 10 centimeters in either length or breadth. The exact thickness of the cut should be 24 millimeters, the same as the height of printing type.
(b)
Three sample typographical reproductions on white paper of the cut demanded in the preceding paragraph.
(c)
When it is urged that the distinguishing feature of a mark is its color, the applicant shall be obliged to so declare, accompanying his application with a description in which the color is mentioned, and inclosing 42 samples of the said mark in color.
(d)
A postal money order or check for 100 francs in the case of a single mark and of 50 francs additional for each additional mark whose registration, is sought at the same time by the same owner, the order or check to be in favor of the “International Bureau of Industrial Property, Berne.”
(e)
An authorized power of attorney when the application is made by proxy.
(f)
The official receipt showing that the government tax of $5 official money, provided for by Article VIII of the arrangement of April 14, above mentioned, has been paid in the collector’s office of the proper fiscal zone.
IV.
Requests for registration sent to the international office will be placed in the respective files of the archives of national marks, and in turn, the international registration having been effected, given the number of such registration.
V.
Trespass on trade-mark property and any alteration trade-marks may suffer shall be communicated officially by those in charge of the national files to the official in charge of international marks and by him in turn to the international office at Berne, as provided for and according to the said arrangement and this ruling.
VI.
The department of agriculture, industry, and commerce shall immediately transmit to interested parties all news received by the international office relating to their marks, and will also inform them of the refusal of any of the subscribing nations to protect their marks.
VII.
Six months before the expiration of the term of protection in this Republic the secretary of agriculture, industry, and commerce will advise the owners of internationally registered Cuban marks that in order to continue the international registration in force, as provided by Article VI of the arrangement of April 14, 1891, they must take steps to again register their national marks.
VIII.
The terms of the foregoing article in no wise affect the dispositions of Articles VI and VII of the said arrangement so far as they concern the duration of the international registration, which shall remain in force during the entire time that the national registration of the mark is effective.
IX.
To renew the international registration at the expiration of its twenty-year term, the same formalities must be observed as if a mark were being so registered for the first time, excepting the cut, which it will be unnecessary to furnish.
X.
In order to give publicity to international marks an album of internationally registered marks may be consulted by the public in the department of agriculture, industry, and commerce during office hours.

T. Estrada Palma.

Gabriel Casuso,
Secretary of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce.

Habana, October 28, 1905.

Which, by order of the secretary, shall be published in the Official Gazette, so that it may be generally known, and shall be enforced from the tenth day after its publication.

Francisco I. de Vildosola,
Assistant Secretary.

Habana, January 15, 1906.