294 



NATURE 



[March 9, 1922 



stances of the case the respective rights of the Govern- 

 ment and of the inventor, and decide any reward to 

 which he may be entitled ; that where the rights in an 

 invention capable of commercial exploitation belong 

 to the Government, it should be exploited commercially 

 for the benefit of the Government ; and that the 

 system of dealing with these matters should be uniform 

 for all Government departments. 



The mechanism for dealing with these matters is 

 next sketched, and from the preceding argument it 

 clearly has to take the form of a central organisation 

 for all Departments of State, Accordingly it is 

 recommended to set up an Inter-Departmental Patents 

 Board having two main functions, one on the lines 

 of the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors, for 

 the purpose of dealing with awards, deciding as to the 

 extent of the assistance due to the inventor's position in 

 a Department, and determining the share of the Govern- 

 ment in commercial profits, and the other to arrange 

 for the exploitation of patents to the best advantage. 

 The Board itself would fulfil the former function by 

 acting as an Awards Committee, but for the latter, 

 which deals with commercial matters, it would estab- 

 lish an independent Exploitation Committee with its 

 secretary as intermediary. 



In order to secure the full confidence of the inventor, 

 it is recommended that the Inter-Departmental Patents 

 Board should be a neutral and impartial body, on 

 which are to be found neither representatives of the 

 Departments concerned nor of the technical workers, 

 but that it should have a permanent chairman of sound 

 legal training and experience, and members character- 

 ised by their knowledge of the application of research 

 and invention to industry. As this aspect of the work 

 of the Board is judicial, it is deemed well to keep 

 separate from the commercial aspect, which would be 

 delegated to a committee of a different type — ^the 

 Exploitation Committee — composed of nominees of 

 the Departments, of the Treasury, and of business 

 men with suitable experience and willing to assist in 

 the exploitation of patents. 



The Report proceeds to consider more closely the 

 proposed mode of working of the Inter-Departmental 

 Patents Board, this Board sitting as an Awards Com- 

 mittee, and of the Exploitation Committee. The Inter- 

 Departmental Patents Board would have a permanent 

 Chairman, and a small staff, under the Chairman's 

 direction, would co-ordinate the work of the two 

 Committees. Its cost would be borne by the Treasury, 

 part of whose functions it would have delegated to it ; 

 its awards, however, would not be subject to revision 

 by the Treasury on the ground of amount, but only 

 on questions of principle. An inventor would, in the 

 first place, be deemed to hold in trust on behalf of the 

 NO. 2732, VOL. 109] 



Government all rights relating to his invention, but 

 would be entitled to obtain from the Board a decision 

 defining his rights, and he would undertake to assign 

 his patent if called upon to do so, or the Board might 

 decide to leave the completion of the patent to the 

 inventor for his sole benefit. All non-secret patents 

 in which the State has an owning interest would be 

 assigned, not as at present to a Secretary of State, or 

 to a Departmental Trust, but to a single organisation. 

 The Board would also consider the case of the Govern- 

 ment servant who was not specially engaged on research 

 or development work, but who produced an invention. 



The Awards Committee would consider the rights of 

 the inventor in the light of the principles enunciated 

 above. Except only in respect to awards would this 

 Committee or the Board itself deal with secret patents 

 for which the inventor has no possibility of securing 

 commercial rights and the use of which is limited. De- 

 cisions as to maintaining their secrecy must remain in 

 the hands of the respective Departments, who, if they 

 desired, could consult in private with the Board. To 

 avoid an undue burden being thrown upon the Inter- 

 Departmental Board, it is provided that the Depart- 

 mental Awards Committee of any Department should 

 act as a committee of the Main Board and have power 

 to deal with minor cases, forwarding to the Main Board 

 only such cases as appear important as involving 

 principles, or as being hkely to result in an award 

 exceeding loooZ. 



Indications are given in the Report as to the mode 

 of treatment by the Awards Committee of inventions 

 which are a result of work by a team of part-time 

 workers, and by workers aided by grants given for the 

 sole purpose of increasing the bounds of knowledge. 



The work of the Exploitation Committee is a matter 

 of peculiar difficulty, seeing that this Committee would 

 have to advise as to the advantage of completing 

 protection by patents and exploiting them commer- 

 cially when patented, and arrange with their business 

 agents for placing them in the most favourable manner. 

 It is hoped from experience during the War that men 

 engaged in industry and commerce would still be 

 willing to place their services at the disposal of the 

 State for the achievement of these national aims. It 

 would be the duty of this Committee to secure profits 

 from the useful application of the patents under its 

 charge, whether from their sale or from licences for 

 their use. It would have the power of making a final 

 decision, as this is vital in order that business dealings 

 may be brought to an issue quickly and satisfactorily, 

 and would employ sales agents paid on commission. 

 If demonstrations on the semi-industrial scale, or works 

 trials on the large scale, appeared desirable, this Com- 

 mittee would be empowered to carry them out. The 



