THE PROTECTION OF SCIENCE BY 



PATENT 



By An Authority on Patent Law 



In The Times of February 13, 191 3, a letter from Sir Ronald 

 Ross appeared concerning the Patents Act and Medical 

 Research. In the course of the letter it was shown how the 

 present Patents Act excluded certain scientific workers from the 

 benefit of the protection which is given to other inventors, and 

 the opinion was expressed that the time had arrived for reform 

 in the British method of dealing with science. 



The subject of The Times letter deserves more than the 

 passing reference to which the columns of a great newspaper 

 necessarily confined it, while its importance to workers in the 

 higher branches of science is so great that detailed examination 

 of the complaint against existing conditions is desirable, while 

 a discussion of the means which may be proposed for removing 

 the disabilities under which scientists labour may assist in the 

 removal of the disabilities in question. 



There is scarcely a department of life but has been influenced 

 by the researches of the scientist, researches which do not 

 necessarily result in manufactures. His operations touch us on 

 every hand, while his labour is fraught with momentous con- 

 sequences. In the realm of electricity, such matters as telegraphy, 

 telephony, and the transmission of power are directly referable 

 to his discoveries, while in the chemical industry, the develop- 

 ment of dyes, the production of alkali, and the formation of 

 sulphuric acid are immediately attributable to his foresight. 

 And what is to be said concerning discoveries of bacteria 

 whereby soil may be enriched, and concerning astronomical 

 investigation, which enables navigation to be more safely 

 pursued ? What of the discoveries of Pasteur and his followers 

 as bearing on the preservation of food ? And what of medical 

 investigations which resulted in vaccination and those which, 

 eliminating yellow fever and other ailments, have secured the 

 cutting of the Panama Canal ? 



Yet however highly meritorious or beneficial to the State or 

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