November i, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



35 



appeals, to which cases might be carried at once from any 

 court of first instance, thus shortening the procedure 

 for arriving at a definite pronouncement in any particular 

 action. This suggestion, all the details of which have 

 not been set down here, appears to us to have merit, and 

 we doubt not that it will be heard from further. 



.A.t the same time a further suggestion might well have 

 a hearing. It is for the creation of a board of experts in 

 connection with patent cases. It is our impression that 

 in France such a board exists, which is called upon to 

 take cognizance of all cases of patent litigation before 

 a final decision is reached, whereas in the Bar Association 

 committee's recommendation it is provided that the patent 

 court of appeals shall be organized from the judges for 

 the time being sitting in the United States circuit courts. 



There comes to mind the pertinent suggestion in an 

 English contemporary, that whereas even an eminent 

 barrister may decline a retainer in a patent infringement 

 case, on the ground that he is not familiar with patent 

 law, he would not decline to render a decision in the 

 same case should he chance to be elevated to the bench 

 before the case was finally disposed of. It has occurred 

 to ourselves — and without any reflection upon our very 

 learned judges — that the outcome of a oatent suit is about 

 as uncertain as the result of a horse race, and it appears 

 only reasonable that a court of experts should be able to 

 render more satis factor}- opinions in the class of cases 

 under consideration than often result from the haphazard 

 judicial system now in vogue in most countries. 



Rubber wu.l be far fro.m the least important and interesting 

 feature of the many automobile shows, the season for which is 

 just beginning. By the way, the question might be asked why, 

 when the streets are constantly crowded with automobiles, people 

 still go to exhibition halls to see them. At least one advantage 

 of the "show" is that the cars there are not likely to run over 

 people. 



Italy's cre.\t rubber factory, described on another page, not 

 only supplies a large home demand for goods, but devotes an 

 important share of its capacity to export trade. This is true of 

 not a few other rubber factories in Europe, so great is the con- 

 sumption of rubber goods in countries which as yet have no 

 factories in this branch. While .American exports of rubber 

 goods continue to increase, it can hardly be said that this coun- 

 try has its share of outside trade, besides which the imports of 

 such goods also continues to increase. 



It must be .\dmitted th.\t rubber culture has passed the 

 experimental stage when one studies the results attained by Mr. 

 Rutherford, of London, of w'hom a sketch appears on another 

 page, and considers that, while he has accomplished more than 

 some of his plantation neighbors, the difference is a matter of 

 quantity only and not of quality. 



The Royal Automobile Club of England, in carrying out 

 such a comprehensive series of trials of commercial motor cars 

 as that which ended during the month, has placed a proper 

 estimate upon this class of vehicles. Such cars are becoming a 

 real necessity in modern life as compared with pleasure vehicles 

 of any type, and while the R. A. C. trials involved no study of 

 tire conditions, we take it that those rubber manufacturers are 



wisest who give the most serious attention to planning the best 

 possible tires for commercial vehicles. 



And still the laying of ocean cables goes on — two new 

 ones to connect New York with countries to the southward 

 within the past few weeks. While both were financed by Ameri- 

 can capitalists, it does not seem that any American manufacturer 

 was able to profit in any way from these enterprises. 



The return of the bicycle to some degree of popularity 

 serves to emphasize the truism that whenever rubber has been 

 put to any practical use, that use of it never ceases. It did seem 

 for awhile as if the bicycle tire formed an exception to the rule. 



HIGH ESTIMATE OF PATENT VALUES. 



THE annual report (1907) of the board of directors to the 

 shareholders of the Westinghouse Electric and Manu- 

 facturing Co., signed by George Westinghouse, president, con- 

 tains the following paragraphs in relation to the patents owned 

 by the company or in which they are interested : 



"Your company is the possessor of a large number of patents 

 and of licenses under a still greater number by virtue of an 

 agreement with the General Electric Co., made March 31, 1896. 

 It may be said that these patents and licenses are the very 

 foundation of the business of both companies. Their cost cannot 

 be computed, because in addition to the large sums paid in cash, 

 the development of the apparatus and systems covered by them 

 have involved manufacturing, engineering, and legal expenses 

 which have been constantly charged to current operations. 



"The active patents of the two companies to-day, by purchase 

 and as the result of development in their factories, greatly exceed 

 the number covered by the patent agreement of 1896, and their 

 value is even greater in proportion because of the enormous 

 increase of the business protected. 



'■.\lmost every detail of the entire product of both companies 

 is dependent upon the use of some one or more of the many 

 thousand patents jointly owned, the right use of which should 

 be worth an average of at least 10 per cent, on the value of the 

 apparatus manufactured and sold under their protection. If this 

 right of use be computed at only 3 per cent., a figure neither 

 company could atTord to accept from other manufacturers, the 

 aggregate annual work of these patents would be $3,000,000 on 

 the present output of the two companies, which, if capitalized 

 on a 10 per cent, basis would make a gross value of $30,000,000 

 for all of the patents of both companies. 



"The large sums expended in the acquirements of patents, in 

 their upkeep, and in the development of apparatus covered by 

 new patents, coupled with the fact that the value of the new 

 patents constantly being acquired exceeds the value of those 

 expiring, constitutes the equivalent of an important annual 

 depreciation." 



NOT ADMITTED AS SCRAP. 



AN importation of old telegraph cable at New York was 

 claimed to be free of duty as old copper fit only for manu- 

 facturing, or as junk. The samples and evidence showed that 

 the cables had been imported in lengths of more than 2,000 feet 

 and consisted of about 12 small copper wires grouped around 

 one large copper wire, and all covered with an insulating material 

 somewhat like gutta-percha. They were said to be the condemned 

 parts of a submarine cable and meant to be cut up, the covering 

 of the wire to be sold as scrap gutta-percha and the wire as 

 scrap copper. The United States general appraisers held that, 

 whatever the purpose of the importer, the merchantable character 

 of the article was clearly shown by the evidence, and its classifi- 

 cation by the collector of the port as a manufacture of copper 

 wire was affirmed. 



