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fraudulent bankruptcies and liability arising therefrom will apply to directors, managers, or administators, as the case may be.

The bankruptcy of companies operating railroads, waterworks, lighting plants, irrigation and navigation canals, or similar objects of national, provincial, or municipal interest, will not suspend the operation or development of such services. However, the part of the works under construction will be suspended if it does not affect that part in operation. Enterprises operating under government or municipal concessions will be advised, when their bankruptcy is declared, to appoint a person, whether a creditor or not, to represent them in the proceedings. The property of such enterprise will be taken by the receiver or liquidator on the basis of the inventories existing in their dependencies-their directors, administrators, or managers being responsible for the truth of the contents of the same; thereafter their operations will be continued by the receiver or liquidator, to whose orders all the staff engaged thereon will be subject.

When companies which have issued bonds or debentures secured by a floating guarantee become bankrupt, the debenture trustee will act as liquidator. If the bonds or debentures were secured by a specific charge, a special proceeding (concurso) for the liquidation of the property subject to the guarantee will be instituted with the intervention of the liquidator of the estate in bankruptcy. If the bonds or debentures were issued without security, the holders thereof must hold a meeting within the time fixed for the convocation of the creditor's meetings in composition (this time may be extended 30 days) in order to determine the manner in which they will take part in the solution of the bankruptcy or preliminary proceedings. Each one of the groups into which the opinion of the meeting is divided with regard to the admission or rejection of a composition will appoint its representative by majority of capital; at the general meeting of creditors this representative will be entitled to one personal vote and the one corresponding to the capital of the persons he represents. His authority will be evidenced by a certified copy of the minutes of that meeting and the certificate of deposit of the obligations in the Banco de la Nación or in the official bank of the jurisdiction, if the obligations were issued to bearer. (Arts. 193–200.)

PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO SMALL BANKRUPTCIES

When the liabilities of an estate do not exceed 5,000 pesos, the procedure prescribed for a composition must be followed before the merchants (whether registered or not) and registered nonmerchants can be thrown into bankruptcy; the composition in these cases must be approved by a majority of votes of creditors present representing a majority of computable capital. No offer of less than 30 percent nor period of time over 1 year will be admitted in these proceedings. Should bankruptcy be declared, the liquidation is made by the receiver who acted during the reporting stage of the proceedings.

In small bankruptcies all the publications required by the law will be made during 3 days in two newspapers, one of which must be the one in which legal notices are published at the place where the court. is situated.

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If at any stage of the proceedings it is determined that the liabilities exceed 5,000 pesos, the provisions governing bankruptcy will apply; these provisions, as well as those of the composition, will also apply in all matters not provided for or modified by this section. (Arts. 201-206.)

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

The disposition of the Bankruptcy Law no. 4156 and sections 4 and 5 of article 26 of the Code of Commerce, as well as the provisions of the Debenture Law no. 8875, insofar as they are contrary to the new bankruptcy law, are repealed. Pending actions or those instituted before this law went into effect will be prosecuted in accordance with the procedure previously in force. (Arts. 207, 208.)

LAW OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

By James L. Brown, Division of Commercial Laws

It would seem that after the great amount of publicity which has been given, and also as the result of bitter experiences in the past, it would hardly be necessary again to call the attention of American business to the necessity of protection of trade-marks, inventions, and commodities of commerce in foreign countries.

The flagrant cases of misappropriation or infringement of American products, trade-marks, and labels which are constantly occurring in some foreign countries necessitates a reconsideration or at least a reminder of the advisability of constant vigilance in the protection of industrial property, in order to hold an existing or potential market.

Legislation has been passed in various foreign countries designated to afford effective protection for goods imported into those countries, but very often this legislation falls short of protecting property in the absence of definite action on the part of the exporter.

Argentina, although essentially an agricultural country, has not been found wanting in providing protection of this sort. Limited though it may be, there is a fair amount of safeguard for the protection of articles of commerce.

Early in its history, after the establishment of the Republic, provision was made in the constitution which was adopted on September 25, 1860, for the protection of certain commercial and industrial rights, where, in article 17, we find the following: every author and inventor is the exclusive owner of his work, invention, or discovery, throughout the term granted him by law."

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Statutes have been passed from time to time providing for the protection of inventions, new industrial processes, trade-marks, labels, and trade names. Amended laws have sought to afford greater protection than that provided in earlier statutes, until now there is a fair amount of legislation on the statute books to safeguard industrial property shipped into Argentina from foreign countries. The penal and civil codes of Argentina contain provisions which afford definite relief in matters of unfair competition, and in addition to this the patent and trade-mark laws offer some relief in this particular matter.

With regard to protection under the various international conventions, it must be pointed out that Argentina has not ratified any of those conventions of which the United States is a member.

PATENTS

The necessity of obtaining a patent on an invention of process need hardly be called to the attention of exporters of such products. Even though there may be little likelihood of a misappropriation or infringement of the invention in that country to which the goods

are shipped, an exporter in another country may duplicate the products and ship these into the foreign market in which the American firm is selling its goods.

The exclusive right of exploitation of new discoveries or inventions that is, new industrial products, new means and new application of known means for obtaining an industrial result or product-is provided for in the patent law (no. 111) of October 11, 1864, as amended.

Under this law there are three kinds of patents: (1) Patents of invention, (2) patents of addition or improvement, and (3) precautionary patents.

Patents of invention will be granted for 5, 10, and 15 years, according to the merit of the invention and the will of the applicant. Foreign patents may be revalidated in Argentina either by the inventor or his assignee for a term not exceeding 10 years, but in no case shall it exceed the term granted to the original patent, with which it will lapse.

Whoever may improve a patented discovery or invention shall have the right to apply for a certificate of addition. A patent of addition expires with the original patent unless granted after more than onehalf of the term has expired or if the improvement shall have diminished, by at least half, the costs of production, the time, or the risks to persons or things, or it shall have other analogous results, in which case the Commissioner of Patents will decide the term for which it may be granted.

A precautionary patent may be otained on a partially developed invention or improvement. The term of this type of patent is 1 year and may be renewed whenever it expires.

NOVELTY

In order to obtain the grant of a patent in Argentina, the application must be made before the invention has been used in that country, or before such publicity has been given it in books, pamphlets, or periodicals, either in Argentina or abroad, which would enable a person to put the invention into practice.

It has been reported that the Argentine Patent Office holds that the publicity given to an invention in the United States Patent Office Gazette is no bar to the obtaining of a patent in that country, provided the applicant is the same person who obtained the American patent. Where there exists a patent for the same invention in another country a patent for an invention will only be granted by the Argentine Patent Office if the invention has not been worked in Argentina. In such a case the patent may be granted at any time during the term of a patent in the foreign country.

WORKING

The provisions of the Argentine law with regard to the working or manufacturing of an invention for which a patent has been obtained require that the invention shall be worked within 2 years after the date of the patent grant, and such working or manufacturing must not be discontinued for a period of 2 years at any time thereafter, except by force majeure. When it is impossible to perform the work within the prescribed time, an extension of time can be

usually secured upon presenting a proper petition therefor to the Commissioner of Patents, who has discretionary powers in such matters. The practice of "Nominal exploitation" has been resorted to in cases where it is impossible to work the patent during the first 2 years. Nominal exploitation is accomplished by advertising in two papers that the patent is for sale or that rights to exploit it will be granted. These notices are then sent to the Commissioner of Patents as proof of exploitation and a certificate is obtained showing that such proofs have been presented.

If the patent has been granted for a process, such process must be utilized in a manufacturing establishment in Argentina. A record is kept in the Argentine Patent Office of the use thereof.

The importation into Argentina of the patented product may serve as a compliance with the requirements of user in the law. This, however, does not include a patented process.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

An application for the grant of a patent must be made upon stamped paper of 25 centavos. There must also be forwarded in duplicate specifications of the patent written in the Spanish language, together with necessary drawings and models for its comprehension. Drawings must be furnished in duplicate, one set on bristol board and another on tracing linen 33 centimeters in height and 22 centimeters in width, around which there must be left a margin of 112 centimeters from the edge of the paper. If there exists at the time of application a foreign patent, a copy of such patent must also be forwarded. The application should be sent to the patent office at Buenos Aires.

FEES-MARKING

The fee charged for obtaining the grant of a new patent is 80, 200, or 300 pesos, in accordance with whether the term is 5, 10, or 15 years. The charge for the revalidation of a foreign patent is proportional to the term for which such revalidation is granted, calculated on the above schedule of fees.

One-half of the fee must be paid on application for the patent and the other half in the following annuities, the first being due 1 year after the grant of letters patent.

On a 5-year patent, 3 of 10 pesos each, and 1 of 11 pesos 33 centavos;

On a 10-year patent, 7 of 10 pesos each, and 2 of 16 pesos 66 centavos each; On a 15-year patent, 10 of 10 pesos each, and 4 of 21 pesos 21 centavos each. There is no specific requirement in the law regarding the marking of patented articles, but goods shipped into Argentina must be marked according to the provisions of the law on the marking of merchandise, as stated hereinafter.

ASSIGNMENT

In order that an assignment or transfer of a patent may be effective, it will be necessary to forward to the patent office in Buenos Aires the letters patent, the assignment written in Spanish, signed by the assignor, acknowledged before a notary public, and duly legalized by an Argentine consul in the United States. To this there must be attached a statement from such notary that the signature is that of

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