674 



PATENTS. 



payable in installments between 1888 and 1891, 

 both inclusive. The sale of Paraguay tea lauds 

 produced $73,938, of which $18,900 cash ; the 

 Government also collected $19,465 from rent- 

 ing tea-lands which it owns. The Government 

 granted in 1888 to a Netherland society exten- 

 sive concessions for the creation of tobacco- 

 plantations. 



Colonies. The Government possesses two 

 colonies, San Bernardino and Villa Hayes. The 

 first-named extends along the shore of Lake 

 Ipacarai near the Aregua Railroad depot, and 

 comprises 25 square leagues of exuberantly fer- 

 tile land. The number of colonists was 384 in 

 1886, 69 new comers having arrived in that 

 year. The second is in the Chaco, on the banks 

 of the river, five miles from the capital, and the 

 number of families composing the colony in 

 1886 was 31, only a dozen settlers having joined 

 it during the year. Government agricultural 

 lands are worth $2 to $4 the " cuadra " ; pri- 

 vate lands, $10 to $12. 



German-Paraguayan Treaty. The treaty of 

 commerce and navigation, signed between Ger- 

 many and Paraguay on July 21, 1887, was rati- 

 fied and exchanged on May 18, 1888. 



PATENTS. General Statistics. The statement 

 of the work of the United States Patent-Office 

 for the year ending Dec. 31, 1888, will be found 

 in the following summary : 



Applications for patents for inventions 84,713 



Applications for patents for designs U71 



Applications for reissues of patents 113 



Total number of applications relating to patents. . 85,797 



Caveats filed 2.251 



Applications for registration of trade-marks 1,314 



Applications for registration of labels 729 



Disclaimers filed 



Appeals on the merits 1,252 



Total 5,554 



Total number of applications requiring investi- 

 gation and action 41,351 



Patents issued, including designs 20,420 



Patents reissued 86 



Trade-marks registered 1,059 



Labels registered 327 



Total... 21,892 



Patents expired during the year 11,687 



Patents withheld for non-payment of final fee 2,881 



In inventiveness the State of Connecticut 

 led the list with one patent for every 820 in- 

 habitants ; the District of Columbia came next, 

 with one for every 830 inhabitants; and Mas- 

 sachusetts was third with one for every 944 

 inhabitants. North Carolina was least invent- 

 ive, only one inhabitant out of 25,450 securing 

 a patent. In total patents issued New York 

 was first with 3,634, which, however, only rep- 

 resented one to 1,398 inhabitants, giving her 

 the eighth place in inventiveness. Among for- 

 eign countries England as usual has the best rec- 

 ord, 523 American patents being issued to her 

 citizens ; Germany is next with 355 patents ; and 

 France is third with 131 patents; Brazil, the 

 Canary Islands, China, Newfoundland, Queens- 

 land, Turkey, and Wales have one patent apiece. 



The year 1888 in number of patents issued ranks 

 fifth; it is surpassed in numbers by the years 

 1885 (24,233 patents), 1886 (22,508 patents), 

 1883 (22,383 patents), and 1887 (21,477 pat- 

 ents). The immense increase in business is 

 shown by an examination of the records of past 

 years. In 1837 only 436 patents were issued, 

 and in 1855 for the first time the number ex- 

 ceeded two thousand (2,012 patents). 



Commissioner's Report. This document, dated 

 Jan. 31, 1889, is published in the " Official Ga- 

 zette " of the United States Patent-Office of Feb. 

 12, 1889. In addition to the usual interesting 

 statistical tables, it contains various recommend- 

 ations for legislation, among other changes sug- 

 gesting the repeal of section 4887 of the patent 

 laws. This is the section limiting the dura- 

 tion of an American patent to the shortest 

 term of a foreign patent granted for the same 

 invention to the same inventor. In the decision 

 of the United States Supreme Court in "Bate 

 TS. Hammond " noted below, some limitation 

 of the scope of this statute was laid down. 



Proposed Legislation. One most important 

 modification in the operation of the patent laws 

 has been the subject of much agitation among 

 those interested in patents, and involves the 

 establishment of a new court, to be termed the 

 Court of Patent Appeals. The fact is un- 

 doubted that the docket of the United States 

 Supreme Court is overloaded with matter, 

 much of which is appealed patent suits, in 

 which the action is carried up from the United 

 States circuit courts. The Supreme Court of 

 the District of Columbia is the recipient of 

 appeals from the Commissioner of Patents. The 

 new body is to take the place of both these 

 courts to a certain extent. It is to have juris- 

 diction over appellate cases coming from the 

 circuit courts, the Supreme Court of the Dis- 

 trict, and the Commissioner of Patents. It is 

 not proposed to make it of last resort. If a 

 sufficient amount is involved cases can be car- 

 ried up from it to the United States Supreme 

 Court. 



Litigation. An important decision was ren- 

 dered by Judge Kekewich, of London, in the 

 English suit brought to annul the Ganlard and 

 Gibbs patent on transformers ; it declared the 

 patent to be invalid. He so decided, conclud- 

 ing that the invention was not a fitting sub- 

 ject for a patent, as well as that the parties 

 named were not the first inventors. The " trans- 

 former" as essential to the newly developed 

 system of alternate current lighting has within 

 the last year acquired much importance. At- 

 tention is called to a corresponding American 

 decision (Westinghouse vs. Sun Electrical Com- 

 pany, see below). In England also Justice Kay 

 declared the Edison " carbon filament," patent 

 4,576 of 1879, invalid, this being one of the 

 basic patents on incandescent electric lamps. 



One of the great patent suits reached an 

 accounting during the last part of the year. It 

 was brought by the Webster Loom Company 

 against the Higgins Carpet Company. It re- 



