their respective patent laws and regulations; and the same course is necessary if he wishes to obtain protection for his invention in the United Kingdom. The statute embodying the patent-laws of this State is the "Patents Act 1899."

PATENT-HOW OBTAINED.

The applicant should deposit £5 at the Treasury and lodge the receipt for this sum at the Patents' Office, with a petition to the Governor, and a complete specification and drawing of the invention, each in duplicate.

After examination and approval, the Governor may, with the advice of the Executive Council, grant Letters Patent.

The invention should be most carefully and accurately described in the drawing and specification, as any slip or errormay render the protection ineffective; in preparing such document the applicant should therefore (unless he himself possesses special knowledge) procure the assistance of a skilled draftsman; and he should, before applying, procure a copy of the Patents Regulations from the Government Printer and acquaint himself with their provisions.

PROVISIONAL PROTECTION-HOW OBTAINED.

To obtain provisional protection for twelve months the applicant should deposit £2 at the Treasury and lodge the receipt with specification and drawing at the Patents Office. He may then, at any time within twelve months, convert the provisional certificate thus obtained into Letters Patent by depositing the balance of £3 at the Treasury and lodging the receipt at the Patents Office, with a petition, accompanied by a duplicate specification, etc., and staung that his invention is the subject of provisional protection.

PATENTS HOW ASSIGNED AND REVOKED.

The grantee of Letters Patent may assign them to another person by an instrument under seal (i.e., a deed), registered in the Patent Office within fourteen days after the execution thereof.

If the assignment is made in another State, or in another part of the world, the time within which the deed must be registered is thirty and ninety days respectively. A power of attorney should be inserted in the deed of assignment enabling the assignee to sue in the name of the assignor in case of infringement of the patent right, etc.; and the assignor should be required to covenant that the patent is valid, and that he will not do or omit to do any act by which the Letters Patent may become invalidated.

On due cause being shown on petition to the Supreme Court in Equity, the grant of a patent may be revoked.

INFRINGEMENT OF PATENT-RIGHT, REMEDIES

FOR.

The proprietor of the patent may:—

1. Bring an action at law for damages.

2. Bring such action and claim an injunction against further infringement, in addition to damages.

3. Proceed in equity for an injunction.

An injunction should be applied for, as, in this case, the defendant can be compelled to account for any profits he may have made by the wrongful use or sale.

Pawnbrokers.

A pawnbroker is one who advances money upon the security of any article taken by him as a pawn, pledge, or security-in consideration of interest, or for, or in expectation of, gain or reward.

PAWNBROKERS' LICENSES.

Persons trading as pawnbrokers without first obtaining a license are liable to not exceeding £20 penalty, or to imprisonment in default for a term proportionate to the penalty; and unlicensed persons keeping up the word "licensed," or any person lending his license to another to enable him to trade as a pawnbroker under the colour thereof, are liable to penalties of £10 and £25 respectively; in default, imprisonment as before.

SALES BY PAWNBROKERS.

Any pawnbroker selling an article pawned before the expiry of three months, or of any longer term agreed upon, is liable to a maximum penalty of £20, and to pay damages to the party injured, or to imprisonment in default; and all forfeited pledges for any sum above 5s. must be sold by auction.

Purchases of pledges by a pawnbroker or his agent re unlawful and invalid as against the owner.

FAILING TO GIVE DUPLICATE TICKET.

Any pawnbroker omitting to give the pawner a proper duplicate of his entry describing the article, and stating the amount advanced, and the interest (i.e., a duplicate pawn ticket)

is liable to £10 penalty, or to imprisonment, etc.; and the holder of the duplicate is (except in case of theft of the duplicate or of the article pawned) to be deemed the owner of the article and entitled to redeem it.

ACCOUNT SALE AND INSPECTION OF SAME.

Upon the sale or other disposal of an article pawned the pawnbroker is to enter in a book an account sale, showing when and for what amount such article was sold; and if the amount realised is more than sufficient to cover principal, interest, and sale charges, the surplus shall, if claimed within 12 months after the sale, be paid on demand to the pawner, his agent, assigns, or executors.

Refusing to allow inspection of such entry or not producing the book containing it, on due production of the duplicate ticket, is punishable with fine not exceeding £10, and imprisonment in default.

ILLEGAL PLEDGES.

Receiving pledges from persons apparently intoxicated or apparently under 14 years of age: penalty not exceeding £10; knowingly pledging the property of another without his consent and with fraudulent intent is a misdemeanour: punishment fine, or imprisonment not exceeding two years.

Principal and Agent.

AGENT, HOW CONSTITUTED, ETC.

An agent may be constituted either by express appointment, with or without writing, or by implication in law, arising from the circumstances in which the parties are placed.

The appointment, however, must in writing in some cases arising under the Statute of Frauds, previously noticed; and, in every case where the agent is to execute deeds, he must himself be authorised by a deed-which is then called a "power of attorney."

An infant may be an agent though he cannot, generally speaking, contract; but a person not otherwise capable of contracting cannot appoint an agent. An instance of an agency created by implication is afforded in cases where a husband allows his wife to obtain her usual household supplies from a tradesman; the husband by his conduct becoming liable to pay for the goods as supplied to his agent; and further, if he wishes to revoke such an agency, he must notify the particular persons with whom she has been accustomed to deal, for a general notice will only be effective in respect of the public in general.

AGENT MAY BE GENERAL OR SPECIAL.

A general agent is one who is empowered to act generally in the affairs of another, or at any rate to act generally in some of such other person's affairs; a special agent is one whose authority is limited to the performance of some particular matter or thing.

For instance, A. entrusts B. with the sale of some stud sheep, B. is then a special agent; but suppose that A. sends B. consignments of fat sheep from time to time, the latter is then a general agent.

The principal is bound by the acts of his general agent if such acts are within the ordinary limits of his employment, even though the authority of such agent has been curtailed in the particular instance by private communications received from his employer; but the authority of a special agent is strictly limited by the directions he has received.

RIGHTS, ETC., OF PRINCIPAL AND AGENT.

The principal must pay the agent the commission agreed upon, or as is customary in the particular case; and must also indemnify him in respect of acts lawfully done and liabilities duly incurred in the performance of his business. The agent, on the other hand, is bound to account for what monies, etc., he receives on account of his employer, and must use reasonable diligence in carrying out his duties; and he is not allowed to make any profit out of the transaction beyond the stipulated or customary commission. An agent is, in the absence of express authority, unable to appoint a person to act in his place -except in cases where such authority is necessarily implied, e.g., from the nature of the business, or in cases of emergency.

LIABILITY OF AGENT.

Where the agent contracts, in the capacity of an agent, for a principal whom he names, and within the limits of his authority, his connection with the contract is usually at an end as soon as it is completed. If he contracts for a principal whom he does not name he will be liable, unless he expressly contracts as an agent; and the same holds good if he contracts on behalf of an infant or other person wanting in contractual capacity— whether he contracts as agent or not.

An agent, further, cannot bind a foreign principal by his contract, in virtue of the custom of merchants; so that, for instance, if A. in Sydney buy goods on commission for B. in Fiji, A. will be personally liable to pay for them.

LIABILITY OF PRINCIPAL.

A contract duly made by an agent is considered in law to be the contract of the principal, and, in such case, the principal

alone can sue or be sued upon it; and, where a contract is made by an agent, as agent, but in the absence of authority, it may, generally speaking, be ratified by the principal whom he had in contemplation at the time. Should the agent commit a fraud in the course of his employment, both he and his principal are liable.

AGENT'S AUTHORITY, HOW DETERMINED.

The authority of the agent may be determined in any one of the following ways, viz.: by revocation by the principal, subject to the rights of third parties and of the agent himself; by the agents' renunciation, by death of the principal; by his bankruptcy, usually; by fulfilment of the commission; by expiration of the time limited for the duration of the agency; or by mutual agreement

AGENTS, CLASSES OF.

An auctioneer is an agent to sell land or goods at a public auction; he is at first agent only for the seller, but, on the sale, becomes agent for the buyer also; he has a lien on the goods for his charges, and may sue a purchaser in his own name.

A factor is an agent to whom goods are consigned for sale; he may sell them in his own name and effectually discharge purchasers; and he has a general lien on the goods for his balance of account-if any.

A broker, strictly speaking, is an agent who has not usually the possession of the goods, but acts in the formation of a contract between the seller and the buyer.

A commission agent is one who merely buys or sells goods on the best terms receiving nothing beyond his commission for his labour.

A del credere agent is one who, for an increased commission, guarantees to his principal the payment of all debts becoming due to the latter through his agency.

POWER OF ATTORNEY.

but

Know all men by these presents that I, A. B., of intending shortly to leave and be absent from the State of New South Wales, hereby appoint C. D., of, and E. F., of and each of them, my attorneys or attorney for me and in my name and for my use and account, to apply for, demand, recover, and receive of and from every person or persons whomsoever chargeable therewith all and every sum or sums of money, debts, claims and interest which shall or may belong to or be or become due or payable to me, and also for me and in my name, and for my use and account, to take possession of all such messuages, lands or tenements as I am