for PVC pipe, floor coverings, and many other items. Ethylene-oxide-derived ethylene glycol used in making polyesters is riding a near-capacity production situation in polyester fibers. Besides benefiting from some increase in antifreeze demand from increased auto production, ethylene oxide demand also is increasing for other glycols, amines, and surfactants, which in turn depend on uses such as making polyurethanes. Ethylbenzene-based styrene also will benefit from increased automobile production. One tire maker points out that use of styrene-butadiene rubber in tires for small cars falls off only slightly if compared to tires for large cars.
Polystyrene and other polymers containing styrene also appear to be getting back to former growth rates. For the near term, then, ethylene production will post rapid gains. After production volumes of ethylene and its derivatives get back to prerecession levels, the future growth pattern again could depend on the usual factors of available capacity, development of new uses for derivatives, and cost relative to other materials. Overlaying these conventional factors will be the specter of future hydrocarbon cost and availability. By that time, the wrenching 35% production drop in early 1975 may look like simply a unique break in a continuing growth history. D
International Japan acts to revamp patent, trademark laws Both changes in the patent law are required for Japan to conform to the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which Japan has signed but not yet ratified. The treaty, drafted in 1970 but not yet in force, will permit an inventor to file a single, international application that counts as his filing in PCT nations of his choice. The single application then is subjected to a priority search and, if desired, to a preliminary patentability examination. When the results issue —generally within 18 months of filing—each country will process the application separately, by its own regulations. The Trademark Registration Treaty, drafted in 1973 but not yet signed by Japan, goes further toward internationalizing applications. A single filing with a central bureau will lead to registration of a trademark in each member nation the applicant selects unless that nation refuses registration under its own trademark laws within 15 months. In practice, this means that TRT nations must keep the average processing time for trademark applications within 15 months or less. Reaching the 15-month goal is the aim of Japan's revisions, which include changes in Patent Office standards for trademark examination as well as changes in the trademark law (C&EN, March 3, page 13). The leading fact about current Japanese trademark Japan's Patent Office: patents for chem- practice is sheer volume of applications icals, higher fees among key moves —around five times that of the U.S. Three to five years typically elapse between filing and registration of an unopposed mark, and the backlog of applications has swollen to half a million. Speculative filing is behind much of this flood. In Japan, as in many industrial nations, the first to file a trademark is considered its rightful owner. (In the U.S., the first to use a mark commercially has priority.) Japanese law assumes that the owner intends to use his mark commercially, but policing is weak. Thus, anyone may file a
Chemical and pharmaceutical products will become patentable in Japan at the beginning of 1976. Composition of matter claims have been added to the existing options of process and use claims for these products and foodstuffs as part of a package of revisions in Japan's industrial property laws. Preparing for Japanese adherence to two new multilateral pacts—the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Trademark Registration Treaty—the national Diet also has approved the filing of multipleclaim patents and has tightened requirements for active commercial use of registered trademarks. For good measure, administrative fees have been raised all around, tripling the rate for filing a trademark and doubling those for trademark registration, patent filing, and patent maintenance. The new fee schedule already is in effect. The multiple-claims provision for patents, like that for composition of matter patents, comes into force Jan. 1. Japanese practice, unlike that in the U.S. and West Europe, until now has regarded a single claim as defining a single invention. Thus, a Japanese patent application is limited to one claim, except in strictly defined cases where other claims are very closely related to the main claim. (Such a filing is regarded as several inventions in one application.)
trademark in business lines of his or her choice, hoping to profit -from later sale of registered marks to firms that actually market products in those categories. In addition, notes the Patent Office's industrial property council, Japanese examiners tend to take a markedly narrower view of similarity than is true in the U.S. or Europe. Registration of new marks that are confusingly similar to existing marks in the same category of products is more than possible. The upshot is that about 70% of Japan's registered trademarks aren't in use. Many of these are held for speculation by "brokers." A sizable number are filed by companies as defensive marks, to guard marks in active use by pre-empting the registration of all closely similar marks. From Jan. 1, trademark applicants must declare their line of business when filing. Further, the burden of proof in challenges of nonuse will shift from challenger to trademark owner, a move expected to put some life into what has been a dead-letter provision of the law. From mid-1978, finally, applicants for trademark renewal must give evidence for commercial use within the preceding three years. Meanwhile, the Patent Office is making an attempt to broaden the criteria of similarity used by its trademark examiners, starting with a revised guidebook of precedents that emphasizes more liberal rulings. The aim is to reduce gradually the need for corporate filing of defensive marks—now about one third of all marks that are registered but unused in Japan. Michael K. McAbee, C&EN Tokyo
Japan urged to boost exports of plants A new official push for plant exports is shaping up in Japan. The Trade Conference, an advisory body to the Prime Minister, has singled out the winning of plant contracts as a means to spark a turnaround in Japan's shrinking foreign trade. Following an industry-byindustry survey of foreign trade prospects in fiscal 1975 (which began April 1), the conference's coordination committee has urged the government to improve the competitive edge of Japan's plant and equipment vendors by: • Providing risk coverage for the cost of feasibility studies of major projects. • Easing the availability and terms of loans from the Japan Export/Import Bank for plant sales abroad. • Widening coverage of plant export insurance. • Assuring protection of plant yendors against cost escalation after foreign orders are placed. • Helping Japanese contractors to develop adequate after-sales services and local staff training programs for plants sold abroad.
Plant exports totaled roughly $3 billion last year, or only about 5% of Japan's total exports. But in a time of balance of payments deterioration it's a good business to promote. Engineering design and equipment fabrication are high value-added activities, and plant sales abroad thus offer a high return in foreign exchange. Japanese sales of large-scale plants such as petrochemical units and fertilizer plants, further, are mainly made in countries that lack the means for adequate selfsupply. This means minimal friction with trading partners over fears of a renewed Japanese export drive. Overseas sales of Japanese chemical plants slumped badly last year. On a contract basis, says the Japan Machinery Export Association, they fell to about $509 million in fiscal 1974 from $739 million the previous year. Contracts for textile and synthetic fiber plants also flagged, showing a 2% drop in total value, to $140 million. But the soaring inflation in materials and equipment costs that blunted Japanese plant vendors' competitiveness last year now appears to be under control. The overall price index for producer goods in Japan, which rose more than one third in the early months of last year, has held virtually steady since last September. But domestic plans for plant investment aren't promising. The Ministry of International Trade & Industry now forecasts a rise in capital outlays of 13.9% for fiscal 1975, now entering its second half. In real terms, however, this means almost no change from fiscal 1974 spending. Japan's foreign trade, meanwhile, continues to contract. Monthly exports in May dropped below the year earlier figure—the first shrinkage in more than a decade—and in July, the latest month for which figures are available, remained 7.3% below those of July 1974. Monthly imports have shown a year-to-year contraction since February, and by July were 12% under the July 1974 figure. The official view in Tokyo in January was that Japan's export/import trade in fiscal 1975 would reach $129 billion, with the balance some $5 billion in Japan's favor. The Trade Conference now has revised this forecast to $125 billion total trade with a $1 billion deficit for Japan, and it foresees growing instability of trade in primary products. To avoid this, the conference urges immediate import-stimulating measures, such as easing of Japanese import restrictions and offering import financing assistance for primary products of developing nations. But a concerted drive to stabilize trade relations in materials by boosting imports will have to be matched by a turnaround in exports as well. Offering high return at relatively small risk of trading friction, plant exports stand well in line for government favors. Michael K. McAbee, C&EN Tokyo
CHECKOFF NEW PLANTS • Brazil—Acrylonitrile plant using the Sohio one-step process will be built in Salvador by Fisiba Petroquimica. Capacity will be 60,000 metric tons. To be completed in 1977, plant will be owned equally by three companies—Petroquisa, the state-owned petrochemical firm; acrylic fiber maker Fisiba S.A.; and Rhodia S.A., a petrochemical and fiber company. • Indonesia—1000 metric-ton-aday ammonia plant and 1725 metric-ton-a-day urea unit will be new additions to agricultural chemical complex in Palembang, South Sumatra, to be built by P. T. Pupuk Sriwidjaja (Pusri). Cost is estimated at more than $150 million. Kellogg Overseas Corp., an affiliate of M. W. Kellogg, is the contractor. • Mexico—150,000 metric-ton-peryear styrene plant will be built by Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) at Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz. To start up by late 1977, facility will use Monsanto's alkylation process for ethylbenzene. Engineering will be provided by C-E Lummus.
Here are a few of the reactions of this versatile, bifunctional compound...
EVANS TWOGLYCOUC A ACID ^ H f
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• Norway—Norsk Hydro plans a 300,000 metric-ton-per-year vinyl chloride plant at Rafnes, one of several new plants to be built by the Norwegian firm at this site. Completion is slated for first-half 1977. Contractor is Badger Ltd. • U.K.—$24 million butadiene extraction plant will be built by Imperial Chemical Industries in Wilton. Joint venture of ICI and BP Chemicals International, the unit will have a capacity of 90,000 tons and will be completed in late 1977. Lummus Nederland B.V. has received the contract.
WITH METAL SALTS: 2COOM
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WITH KETONES: 2 HSC
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MERGERS • France—Agreement signed by SmithKline Corp. to acquire controlling interest in Laboratories Gremy-Longuet, Paris, which makes ethical pharmaceuticals, an over-the-counter antiseptic product, and dietary food products. Terms haven't been announced. • The Netherlands—Purchase made of the shares of Dutch specialty chemicals maker Nyma N.V., Nijmegen, by Boston-based Sobin Chemicals. Purchase price is about $4.5 million.
WITH ORGANIC HALIDES: NaSCH 2 COONa-{-RCI-> RSCH 2 COONa+NaCI
WITH OLEFINS: ^CH2COOH4-RCH=CH2->RCH2CH2SCH2COOI
DATA SHEETS AND SAMPLES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
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90 Tokeneke Road Darien, Connecticut 06820 Phone: 203-655-8741 Cable: ËVANSCHEM TWX 710-457-3356 Sept. 1, 1975 C&EN
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