of the ten charter members. The licensed companies 

 agreed to pay a royalty of 1 Va percent of the retail list price 

 on all cars sold. This later was cut to 1 percent, and 

 finally to four-fifths of 1 percent. Each automobile built 

 by a licensed manufacturer carried a patent plate (fig. 26). 



The association published annual illustrated handbooks 

 containing the specifications of the various makes of cars 

 produced by the manufacturers who were members. At 

 its height the association numbered 87 percent of the 

 manufacturers in this country, these members producing 

 over 90 percent of the gasoline automobiles built. The 

 best-known independent was Henry Ford, who refused to 

 join. 



On October 21, 1903, suit was filed against Ford, and 

 the court sustained the patent, holding that three of the 

 claims were valid and infringed. Ford put up a bond and 

 appealed. The issue, popularly known as the Selden 

 Patent Suit, was decided finally in the Court of Appeals in 

 January 1911, when the claims of the patent were held to 

 be valid if limited to the use of the Brayton type of engine, 

 and hence not to have been infringed because the Brayton 

 engine was not being used then by anyone. Shortly there- 

 after the association was dissolved. 



In addition to its licensing activities, the association had 

 carried on research and standardization work under its 

 mechanical branch. About a year prior to the final court 

 decision, the mechanical branch had been discontinued, 

 and all its records, apparatus, and engineering library had 

 been turned over to the Society of Automotive Engineers. 



£~ 



mm 



, ^ym e " 







v MS 



Figure 26. — Patent plate of the type affixed to automobiles manufactured 

 under the Selden license. Notice the serial number in the lower left corner. 



37 



