PATENTS. 



649 



in which both the applicants are German. The 

 treaty has been made for ten years, and if, 

 upon its termination, neither party should 

 have signified its wish of non-renewal, it is to 

 remain operative for another twelvemonth. 



Colonization. Dr. Bernhurd Forster, who 

 emigrated to Paraguay some years ago, invites 

 German emigration to a tract of land secured 

 by him, containing about 580 square kilome- 

 tres. The settlement is named New Germa- 

 nia. Under the title of New Bordeaux, a 

 French colony is about to be founded between 

 the rivers Paraguay and Bermejo, in the re- 

 gion known us the Chaco Alto Peruano. The 

 following is one of the clauses of the contract 

 that has to be signed in France before the 

 emigrant receives his passage: "I bind my- 

 self, on arriving at my destination, to labor 

 and cultivate the ground that shall be given to 

 me by deed, although it will not pass defini- 

 tively into my posession until I shall have re- 

 turned to the Government of Paraguay, from 

 my crops, the cost of my passage [$56 in sil- 

 ver], and the seeds, instruments, cattle, etc., 

 that may be advanced to me." The Govern- 

 ment of Par.-igiiay, at the same time, binds 

 itself to furnish a house, tools, seeds, etc., and 

 provisions for at least eight months. The 

 amount so advanced will bear no interest, and 

 the colonists will pay no taxes. Only in the 

 event of their possessions being menaced will 

 they be called upon to assist in their defense. 



PATENTS. Statistics. The following statistics 

 show the extent of the business of the United 

 States Patent-Office for the year 1887: 



Total receipts (net) $1,144.509 60 



Total expenditures 994,472 22 



Receipts over expenditures $150,037 88 



Amount in treasury to credit of office January 



1,188S ! $3,257,49091 



Expenditures for salaries 689,124 35 



The following is a summary of the business 

 of the Patent-Office: Number of applications 

 for patents for inventions, 34,420; number of 

 applications for patents for designs, 1,041 ; 

 number of applications for reissues of patents, 

 152; total number of applications relating to 

 patents, 35,618. Number of caveats filed, 

 2,622 ; number of applications for registration 

 of trade-marks, 1,282; number of applications 

 for registration of labels, 686 ; number of dis- 

 claimers filed, 9 ; number of appeals on the 

 merits, 941 ; total, 5,540; total number of appli- 

 cations requiring investigation and action, 41,- 

 153. Number of patents issued, including de- 

 signs, 21,378 ; number of patents reissued, 99; 

 number of trade-marks registered, 1,133 ; num- 

 ber of labels registered, 380; total, 22,990. 

 Number of patents expired during the year, 

 12,157; number of patents withheld for non- 

 payment of final fee, 3,044 ; number of patents 

 issued to foreigners, 1,466; number of patents 

 issued to citizens of the United States, 19,912. 



Among the States, Connecticut leads the list 

 in inventiveness with one patent to every 790 



inhabitants ; the District of Columbia comes 

 next with one to 845 inhabitants ; Massachu- 

 setts is next with one to 950 inhabitants, and 

 Mississippi brings up the rear with one patent 

 to every 25,146 inhabitants. Of foreign coun- 

 tries, England took out 500 patents ; Germany, 

 291 ; France, 122, while Corea, Finland, Ja- 

 pan, Luxemburg, the Argentine Republic, New- 

 foundland, Syria, Victoria, and the West Indies 

 are credited with but one apiece. 



Annnai Report. The Commissioner of Patents 

 issued his annual report under the dnte of Jan. 

 31, 1888; it appears in the "Official Gazette" 

 of Feb. 7. It is of rather greater length than 

 usual, and embodies many sugge:-tions for 

 amendments of the statutes. It is interesting 

 to note that he states that he needs no ad- 

 ditional force to do the work ; he only appeals 

 for more room and better office facilities. 



The International Union for the Protection of In- 

 dustrial Property. The Senate of the United 

 States on March 2, 1887, agreed that this coun- 

 try should become a member of the Industrial 

 Union. Later, on June 11, 1887, the convention 

 was proclaimed by the President. The idea of 

 the Union is analogous to that of the Postal 

 Union: to secure a uniformity of patent prac- 

 tice among nations, and to do away with in- 

 terfering clauses and statutes. It includes nine- 

 teen articles, affecting inventions and trade- 

 marks. It so happens that the present statutes 

 of the United States are such as to prevent any, 

 except the most trivial effect, from following 

 upon the adoption of the treaty. The subject 

 will be found discussed at length in " History of 

 the International Union for the Protection of 

 Industrial Property," by Patent-Office Exam- 

 iner F. A. Seeley, published under the direction 

 of the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, 

 Government Printing-Office, 1887. Eeference 

 may also be made to the "Official Gazette," 

 xl, 447; xli, 355, which publish the treaty and 

 comments thereon. 



The Commissionership. The office of Patent 

 Commissioner becoming vacant by the resigna- 

 tion of the Hon. Martin V. Montgomery, the 

 President in April, 1887, appointed to the po- 

 sition the Hon. Benton J. Hall, of Iowa. The 

 new incumbent was born at Mount Vernon, 

 Ohio, in 1835, and graduated at Miami Uni- 

 versity in 1855. He commenced the practice 

 of law in the office of his father, Mr. J. C. Hall, 

 of Burlington, Iowa, in his day regarded as 

 one of the best lawyers of the State. Mr. Hall 

 is the second commissioner from that State. 

 Mr. Montgomery, his predecessor in office, was 

 appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme 

 Court of the District of Columbia to succeed 

 Justice MacArthur, who retired. This court 

 has jurisdiction over patents on appeal from 

 the Commissioner's decisions. 



Litigation. Various important decisions have 

 been reached in the Federal courts. The Gov- 

 ernment has met with two reverses in a suit 

 brought by the Attorney-General of the United 

 States to annul the Bell telephone patent of 



