Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

month from the applications' priority date, after which such applications would generally be processed by the Patent Office like other national applications and subject to the same requirements of patentability.

In addition to certain other clarifying provisions, the Act amends 35 U.S.C. 6 to authorize the allocation of funds from Patent Office appropriations to the Department of State for payment of the share of the United States to the working capital fund established under the Treaty.

For the text of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and annexed Regulations, see S. Ex. S, 92d Cong., 2d Sess. For additional explanatory material on P.L. 94-131, see S. Rept. 94–215 and H. Rept. 94-592, 94th Cong., 1st Sess.

Trademarks

On September 3, 1975, President Ford transmitted to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification the Trademark Registration Treaty, signed at Vienna on June 12, 1973, together with the Regulations under the Treaty. In his transmittal message he stressed the U.S. initiative in formulating the Treaty and the continuing need for a uniform international registration procedure for establishing and protecting trademarks. He stated that draft implementing legislation would be submitted to Congress for amending the Trademark Act of 1946 to accord with the Treaty obligations. The following is an excerpt from his transmittal message:

The Trademark Registration Treaty will establish an international trademark filing arrangement, through which persons and companies residing in one of the member states can more easily register trademarks (including service marks, and collective and certification marks) and maintain these property rights in all of the member states.

Separate actions in approximately 150 jurisdictions (i.e. states, possessions, territories, etc.) are now required of United States companies in order to extend the protection of a trademark throughout the world. The complexity and high cost of establishing and protecting trademarks in international markets through the diverse national laws and procedures is a serious problem for international business concerns.

This Treaty would alleviate these problems by establishing a uniform international registration procedure through which national trademark registration effects in the member countries may be secured, maintained and renewed on a central international register of marks. With a few exceptions, the effects of international registration are subject to the substantive legal requirements of the participating states.

One of the exceptions is that for the first three years after the

filing date of the application for registration, no member state may refuse trademark protection on grounds that the mark has not been used during that period. Because of this provision, and others of lesser importance, it is necessary, in order to implement the Treaty, that our national trademark law ("Trademark Act of 1946, As Amended") be further amended. Opinion among interested persons and associations is divided as to the desirability of making the required amendments. So that this important legislative question may be considered in connection with the question of ratification, proposed implementing legislation will be forwarded to the Congress in the near future. Since the Treaty is not self-executing, the instrument of ratification will not be deposited until the necessary implementing legislation has been enacted.

It is important that a treaty such as this one have the broadest possible membership. Since this Treaty was initiated by the United States, the interest of many countries is contingent on positive United States action. I recommend, therefore, that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Treaty submitted herewith and give its advice and consent to ratification.

For the full text of the President's message, the report of the Dept. of State on the Treaty, and the text of the Treaty and Regulations, see S. Ex. H, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. See also the 1973 Digest, pp. 396–397.

§ 8 Fuels and Energy

International Cooperation

International Energy Program

On March 20, 1975, the United States and the other 17 members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed in principle on a cooperative program to accelerate the development of new energy supplies. A common minimum safeguard price for imported oil was a key element of the program.

The IEA cooperative program as agreed in principle had three major elements: encouraging and safeguarding investment in conventional nuclear and fossil (oil, coal, gas) energy sources by not allowing imported oil to be sold within IEA countries below a common minimum price; promoting joint development of synthetic fuel and other forms of energy that involve large capital and development costs; and cooperating in joint research and development projects in the more exotic forms of energy, such as coal liquefaction and solar energy.

The basic purpose for U.S. support of the IEA cooperative program was described in a Special Report of the Department of State as threefold:

-To reduce dependence on unreliable sources of oil by increasing the supply of energy under our control.

-To bring down the present exorbitant price of imported oil by increasing supply from non-OPEC sources.

-To assure that the United States is not at a competitive disadvantage when the world price of oil breaks.

See Dept. of State Special Report, No. 16, Apr. 1975, Dept. of State Pub. 8812, Economic Foreign Policy Series 8.

On December 22, 1975, President Ford signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (P.L. 94-163; 89 Stat. 871). Title II, Part B of the Act (42 U.S.C. 6271-6275) provides authorities with respect to the International Energy Program (IEP) under the agreement of November 18, 1974. See the 1974 Digest, pp. 560–564.

Sections 201-203 of the Act allow the President to prescribe and implement energy conservation and rationing contingency plans, subject to the approval of Congress. Section 251 of the Act authorizes the President to require, by rule, that persons engaged in producing, transporting, refining, distributing, or storing petroleum products take such action as he determines necessary for implementation of U.S. obligations under Chapters III and IV of the IEP "insofar as such obligations relate to the international allocation of petroleum products." Any such rule must be transmitted to Congress in advance with a finding that it is required to fulfill U.S. obligations under the IEP. It may not be put into effect or remain in effect after the expiration of 12 months of its transmittal to Congress.

Section 252 sets out the requirements for the development or carrying out of voluntary agreements and plans of action to implement the allocation and information provisions of the IEP and for the availability of immunity from the antitrust laws with respect to the development or carrying out of such voluntary agreements and plans of action.

Section 253 provides for establishment of advisory committees to achieve the purposes of the IEP with respect to international allocation of petroleum products and its information system. Section 254 provides for the transmission of information and data from the Administrator of the FEA, through the Secretary of State, to the International Energy Agency established by the IEP agreement.

The Act contains a caveat in Section 255 that Title II "shall not be construed in any way as advice and consent, ratification, endorsement, or other form of congressional approval of the specific terms of such program."

On the basis of the specific authority provided in the Act for U.S. compliance with the IEP, the United States, on January 9, 1976, gave its notification that, having complied with its constitutional procedures, it consented to be bound by the IEP agreement. With the U.S. notification, the requirement of six notifications by states holding at least 60 percent of the combined voting weights under the agreement was met, thus bringing the agreement into force under Article 67 on January 19, 1976. Under Article 68 the agreement had been applied provisionally by signatory states from November 19, 1974, "to the extent possible not inconsistent with their legislation." The time for deposit of notifications of consent to be bound had been extended to March 31, 1976, by decision of the Governing Board of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Financial Support Fund

On January 16, 1975, at the conclusion of a ministerial meeting of the "Group of Ten," including the Ministers and Central Bank Governors of ten countries participating in the General Arrangement to Borrow, the Group issued a communiqué announcing that it had reached agreement to establish a $25 billion solidarity fund to meet the economic problems created by the increase in the price of oil. The United States had proposed the establishment of such a fund among the industrial countries at meetings of the Deputies of the "Group of Ten" and the Working Party Three of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris in November 1974. A similar proposal was made by the Secretary General of the OECD.

For the full text of the communiqué and a Dept. announcement concerning it, see Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. LXXII, No. 1859, Feb. 10, 1975, pp. 193–194. For a discussion of the U.S. proposal for establishment of a solidarity fund, see the 1974 Digest, pp. 564–566.

On April 9, 1975, the United States and 22 other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) signed the "Agreement Establishing a Financial Support Fund of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development." It was subsequently signed by Turkey on May 30, 1975. The Agreement was, by its terms, subject to ratification, acceptance, or approval by the OECD countries. The $25 billion Fund established by the Agreement would be available for a twoyear period to provide short to medium term financing to participating members of the OECD which might be faced with extraordinary financing needs.

The proposal for a Financial Support Fund had originated in suggestions put forward independently by the United States and

the Secretary General of the OECD as part of a comprehensive response to the economic and financial problems posed by severe increases in oil prices. The Fund was intended to constitute an arrangement under which all participants would agree to join in assisting one of their members if an extreme need developed. Its object was to serve as an insurance mechanism or financial "safety net" that would backstop and strengthen other sources of financing, rather than to supplant other financing sources or to provide financing on generous terms.

The text of the Agreement follows:

AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING A FINANCIAL SUPPORT FUND OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND

DEVELOPMENT

THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, THE REPUB LIC OF AUSTRIA, THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM, CANADA, THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK, FINLAND, THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC, THE REPUBLIC OF ICELAND, IRELAND, THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC, JAPAN, THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG, THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY, THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC, SPAIN, THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN, THE SWISS CONFEDERATION, THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY, THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

CONVINCED of the need to:

-avoid unilateral measures which would restrict international trade or other current account transactions, or which would artificially stimulate visible and current invisible exports, and

-follow appropriate domestic and international economic policies, including adequate balance-of-payments policies and cooperative policies to promote increased production and conservation of energy;

RECOGNIZING the central role played by the International Monetary Fund in providing balance-of-payments financing;

CONSIDERING that, in view of current economic conditions, it is desirable to supplement, in exceptional cases, other sources of credit to which Contracting Parties encountering serious economic difficulties have had recourse;

CONSIDERING, therefore, that it is necessary to establish, for a limited period, a Financial Support Fund of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development;

CONSIDERING that an essential feature of this Agreement is that the risks on loans by the Financial Support Fund shall be shared equitably among all Contracting Parties;

CONSIDERING the willingness of the Bank for International Settlements to assist the operations of the Financial Support Fund;

CONSIDERING the Decision, adopted by the Council of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on April 7, 1975, approving the text of the present Agreement and recommending it to its Member countries for signature;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

Article I

THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FUND OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR
ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Section 1. The Fund

The Financial Support Fund of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (hereinafter called the "Fund") is hereby established. The functions of the Fund shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and within the framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (hereinafter called the "OECD"). Member countries of the OECD which become members of the Fund are hereinafter called "members".

« ÎnapoiContinuă »