IS to.] 



THE CIVIL EXGINEER ANP ARCrHTECT'S JOUUNAL. 



277 



ffener.il in cases of opposed patents, should be required to bo 

 lodged, under seal, with every petition on its first presentation 

 at the Home Office. It is not proposed that this outline descrip- 

 tion or specification should supersede the specification now required 

 to be enrolled in chancery, nor that it should be required to enter 

 into the details of the invention; but that it should be considered 

 binding as to the principles of it. 



WUh these provisos we are of opinion th;it a patent when 

 p-anted might take its d.ate from the day on which the petition is 

 presented; instead of, as at present, from the day on which the 

 patent is sealed. 



We would further suggest for consideration, whether, after the 

 report of the attorney or solicitor-general recommending the grant 

 of the patent, a Queen's Bill, carrying the recommendation into 

 eifect, might not be prepared at the Home Office, and submitted by 

 the secretary of state for her Majesty's signature. We see no 

 reason why it should be engrossed on parchment; we think, on the 

 contrary, it would be far more convenient if it were pi ipared after 

 the manner of an ordinary sign mainial warrant. 



We are of opinion that the Queen's Bill,. when duly signed, 

 should be passed at oiu'e to the lord privy seal, withcuit the inter- 

 vention of the Signet Office; that the Privy Seal should be affixed 

 to that instrument upon the authority of an instruction to that 

 effect from the secretary of state; and that the two transcripts 

 prepared in the Patent Bill Office, which now form the Signet and 

 Privy Seal Bills, should be dispensed with. 



V\ e, at the same time, recommend that the public seal days, in 

 tlie Privy Seal Office should be extended to two days in the week. 



If the proceedings in the Patent Bill Office and in the Signet 

 Office be entirely dispensed with, the fees now payable at those 

 offices must of course cease to be levied. It becomes, therefore, 

 necessary to revise the charges to whiidi letters patent are liable in 

 passing through their several stages previously to their arrival at 

 the (ireat Seal. 



In the case of patents for inventions, the confining the opposi- 

 tion before the attorney and solicitin-gcneral to oiu; stage only, 

 will probably render necessary a more rigid investigation at that 

 stage than is required under the present system, and will throw 

 increased responsibility upon the rejiorts of those officers. W'e 

 consider that, under these circumstances, the attorney ami solicitor- 

 general would have a fair claim to a higher fee for the single hearing 

 and report than is allowed them at present. We recommend, 

 therefore, that one fee of 10 guineas should be allowed to the at- 

 torney or solicitor-general for the hearing and rei)ort together 

 (including the fees to their clerks), instead of the separate fees 

 they now receive, amounting to 3/. is. for the hearing, and il. U. 

 for the rejjort. 



We further recommend that, in lieu of requiring successive pay- 

 ments of fees and stamp duties at the several pul)lic offices, a 

 stamp should be affixed to the Queen's Bill in the department 

 in which it is prepared. In the case of patents of ap|)(iintment to 

 office, the amount of this stamp might be a small per centage on 

 the salary of the office. In the case of patents for inventions, wo 

 would recommend a stamp of uniform value, witliout reference to 

 the nundjer of names included in the grant. Shouhl it be de- 

 termined to extend the power of gr.inting ])atents under the (ireat 

 Seal of the United Kingdom to Ireland and Scotland, we are dis- 

 posed to reconnnend that, for a j)atent extending over the United 

 Kingdom, the Channel Islands, and the colonies, a stamp of fifty 

 pounds should be re({uired. 



But, if it should be thought inexpedient to debar inventors from 

 taking out patents for England alone, in that case we reconnnend 

 that a stamp of thirty ])ounds should be imposed on patents for 

 England, with the C'hainiel Islands and colonies; with an addition 

 of twenty pounds for Scotland and Ireland, or of ten poumis for 

 either Scotland or Ireland separately. We are inclined to believe 

 that such an arrangement would afford satisfaction to patentees, 

 and would, at the same time, compensate the revenue for the loss 

 which it would sustain by the adoption of the courso we have 

 recommended. We do not feel ourselves authorised to nuike any 

 suggestions in regard to the proceedings before the lord chaticellor. 

 We have, however, had our attention called to the subject of the 

 specifications and their mode of enrolment, which is intended to be 

 for the information of the public. 



It is of great importance to a pai-ty applying to take out a 

 patent for an invention, to ascertain what patents in relation to 

 the same object have been previously taken out; otherwise, after 

 he has incurred considerable expense in perfecting his inventitni 

 and obtaining a grant, some previous patent may be discovered 

 which may vitiate his patent by destroying its originality. For 

 this, and other reasons, it would seem very desirable that specifica- 



tions should be made more available to the public than they are at 

 present. 



It has already been stated that specifications have been hitherto 

 enndled in three different ollices, searches in «ll of which nuist 

 frequently be m.ide before a party seeking to obtain a jiatent for a 

 new invention can satisfy himself tliat no similar patent h;is at any 

 time previously been granted; and, from the aliscuce of indices or 

 proper classificati<m, these searches nnist always he attended with 

 great rnicertainty, ami often with groat expense. The difficulties 

 of such a search are eidunu:ed by the specifications being copied on 

 rolls in an engrossing han<l. 



We are of opinicni that these sjiecifications slunild be entered in 

 book-form in a connnon hand, and that proper indices should be 

 made of them. They would then become very.valuable references 

 for the public. 



Another point to which we have had our attention very much 

 directed is the necessity of a patent going through three distinct 

 ;ind separate processes in order to be made availalile for the three 

 kingdoms. By the 2ith article of the Act for tlie Union of the 

 two kingdoms of England and Scotlaml, 5 and (i Anne, c. H, it is 

 enacted, "Tliat a seal in Scotland alter tbe Unicoi be always kept 

 and made use of in all things relating to private rights or grants, 

 which have usually passed tlie tireat Seal of Scotland, ami which 

 only concern offices, grants, commissions, and private rights within 

 that kingdom." 



By article H, sec. 3, of the Act of Union with Ireland, .S9 and 10 

 Geo! III., c. 67, it is enacted, "That the (ireat Seal of Ireland 

 may, if his Majesty shall so think fit, after the Union, be used in 

 like manner as belore the Union, except where it is otlierwise |m-o- 

 vided by the foregoing articles, within that part of the United 

 Kingdom called Ireland." 



These enactments preclude the lord chancidlor, tlnmgli keeper 

 of tlie Great Seal of the United Kingdom of (Jreat liritain and 

 Ireland, from granting a patent which can extend to Scotland or 

 Ireland. An inventor, thcrcl'ore, in oiiler to secure to himself the 

 full benefit of his invention, must, in many cases, take out a, jiatent 

 under each of the three Great Seals of England, Ireland, and 

 Scotlaml ; thereby, in addition to the increased trouble and delay, 

 very considerably raising the expenses of his patent. 



The fees and other charges incurred in taking out a patent for 

 England, tbe Channel Islands, and the colonies amount, mi an 

 average, to about 1.50/. B'lt in order to secure a iiatent for tbe three 

 kingdoms, a patentee must incur an expenditure of probably three 

 times that amount. 



The f(dlowing is the course pursued with regard to patents in 

 Ireland and Scotlaml : — 



In Ireland. — 1st. Petition to the Queen or to the lord lieute- 

 nant of Ireland. If to the Queen, it is referred to tbe lord lieu- 

 tenant. In eitlier case the jietition is referred by tlie hu-d licu- 

 ten.int to the attorney-general for Ireland for report.^ — '^nd. On 

 the receipt of the attorney-general's re))ort ;i draft of a Queen's 

 letter is |M-cpared and forwarded to the Ilome-ollice in London. — 

 3r(l The Queen's letter, which contains the authority for the grant, 

 is signed by her Majesty, cmintersigned by the secretary of state, 

 entered at tlie Signet t)ffice, and sealed with the Signet, and re- 

 turned to the lord lieutenant. — Itb. On the receijit of the Queen's 

 letter, a warrant is prepared for the lord lieutenant's signature, 

 directed to tbe attorney or solicitcn- general, authorising him to 

 draw up a liant containing a grant from tlie Queen to tho_ parties 

 applying. — 5th. The fiant is submitted for his excellency's signa- 

 ture, and the Privy Seal is affixed. — Gth. It is forwarded to the 

 clerk of the crown, who prepares the necessary document thereon, 

 to be passed under the Great Seal of Ireland. 



Caveats against grants of patents may be lodged with the .attor- 

 ney or solicitor general for Ireland; hut previously to a hearing, 

 the oiqiosing party is required to lodge 50/. to cover the expenses 

 of tbe in(|uiry. 



In Scolland. — 1st. Petition to the Queen, which is left at the 

 Ilome-oflice in Londmi. — 2nd. Reference of petition to lord advo- 

 cate of Scotland for rep(n-t. — .'ird. Report of lord advocate. — Ith 

 Queen's warrant, prepared at the Home Olhce, directing prepara- 

 tion of the patent.— ."ith. 'I'he p.itent is prepared in the office of 

 the directcn- of Chancei-y, and carried at once to the office of the 

 keeper of the Great Seal, to have the seal affixed. 



Tbe same pi-oceedings in regard to oiiposition take place before 

 the lord advocate as before the attorney or solicitor general at the 

 first stage in England. 



It appears that previously to the passing of the Acts of Union, 

 patents extemling over the three kingdoms were sometimes passed 

 under the Great Seal of England alone, and we see no real practi- 



