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TRADE MABE 457 TRADES UNION registration of trade marks is now regu- lated. The registration of a person as proprietor of a trade mark is prima facie, and after five years is conclusive evi- dence of his right to the exclusive use of the said mark (subject to the provisions of the acts) ; and no person can institute proceedings for infringement unless the mark alleged to be infringed has been registered, or — in the case of marks in use prior to the Act of 1875 — has been declared by the certificate of the comp- troller-general to be non-registrable. Under the provisions of the Interna- tional Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property an applicant for registration of a trade mark in any one of the contracting States may obtain pro- tection in any of the other contracting States by application there within three or, in the case of countries beyond the seas, four months from the date of the first application. The subsequent appli- cation is antedated to the date of the first, and is consequently not defeated as otherwise it might have been by prior user in the protected interval. In the United States there is a good deal of dif- ference between the laws of the various States on this subject. Registration in the United States. — The following are the regulations for registration for foreign countries: Own- ers of trade marks used in commerce with foreign nations or with Indian tribes, if such owners be domiciled in the United States or located in any for- eign country or tribe which by treaty, convention, or law affords similar privi- leges to citizens of the United States, may obtain registration of their trade marks by filing in the Patent Office a statement specifying name, domicile, lo- cation, and citizenship of the party ap- plying, the class of merchandise, and the particular description of goods comprised in said class to which the trade mark has been appropriated, a description of the trade mark itself, a drawing illus- trating it, which drawing must be of a standard size, and a statement of the mode in which the trade mark is applied or affixed to the goods, and of the length of time during which the trade mark has been used. This statement must be signed by the owner of the trade mark and must be accompanied by a written declaration, verified by the person or by a member of the firm or by an officer of the company applying, to the effect that such party has at the time a right to the use of the trade mark sought to be regis- tered and that no other person, firm, or corporation has the right to such use. The fee for examining and registering a trade mark is $25, which includes the certificate. This fee should accompany the application. The certificate of regis- tration is issued in the name of the United States of America, under the seal of the Department of the Interior, and signed by the Commissioner of Patents, It remains in force for 30 years from its date, except in a case where the trade mark is claimed for and applied to an article not manufactured in this country, but receives protection under the laws of a foreign country for a shorter period. In that case it ceases to have any force in this country at the time the trade mark ceases to be protected in the for- eign country. At any time during the six months previous to the expiration of the 30 years the mark may be re-registered for the same term. The right to the use of a trade mark is assignable by an instru- ment in writing, which instrument may be recorded in the Patent Office, but said instrument will not be recorded prior to the filing of an application, and it must identify the application by serial num- ber and date of filing, or, where the mark has been registered, by the certificate number and the date thereof. Consult Elfretti's "Patents, Copyrights, and Trade Marks." See Copyright: Pat- ent. TRADE SCHOOLS. See Technical Education. TRADES UNION, or TRADE UNION, an organized body of workmen in any trade, manufacture, or industrial occupation associated together for the promotion of their common interests, such as wages and hours of labor. Previous to 1824 combinations of workmen were illegal in England, as they still are in most European conti- nental countries. The Trade Union Act (1871) provided for the registration of trade societies, and accorded a certain measure of protection for their funds; but this Act was accomvanied and prac- tically nullified by the Criminal Law Amendment Act. An agitation took place which resulted in the passing of Mr. Mundella's Trade Union Act Amend- ment Act, in 1876. By this Act every legal grievance of which the unions com- plained was redressed, and now nearly every trade society in the kingdom is duly registered and stands in much the same position as any other trade corpora- tion. In the early days of trades un- ions, one of their most important func- tions was that of organizing strikes; but of late years there has been a reluc- tance to resort to such extreme meas- ures. In 1860 a Board of Arbitration was established at the request of the lace