406 



NATURE 



[January 25, rejig 



The new section J4 makes provision, under safe- 

 guards, for patents, at any time alter sealing-, to 

 be indorsed, at the request Of the patentee, with 

 lb. words "licences of right." After a patent has 

 been so endorsed, all persons become entitled as 

 of right to the grant of a licence to work the 

 invention covered by the patent. Provisions are 

 included in this section for the fixing of the terms 

 Ol the licence, in default of express agreement 

 between the patentee and the licensee; for the 

 prevention of the importation into the I'nited 

 Kingdom by the licensee, in certain cases, of goods 

 that would be an infringement of the patent; and 

 for dealing with eases of infringement by un- 

 licensed persons. 



The new section 2- makes provision for ensuring 

 that patented inventions shall be worked on a com- 

 mercial scale within the United Kingdom, and 

 empowers the Comptroller, in a proper case, either 

 to endorse a patent with the words "licences of 

 right," regardless of the wishes of the patentee, 

 s^as to bring it within the operation of the new 

 section 24; or to grant a licence on such terms as 

 he may deem expedient, or even to revoke a 

 patent. 



The new section 38 A provides that articles in- 

 tended for food or for medicinal or surgical pur- 

 poses, or capable of being used for the production 

 of food or medicine or of surgical appliances, shall 

 not be patentable, although the processes for 

 making foods, drugs, and medicines remain 

 patentable as heretofore. 



The proposed new sections 58 and 84 call tor 

 no special remarks here. 



Among the other modifications introduced by 

 the Bill there are, inter alia, new provisions 

 {a) for the settlement of differences and disputes 

 in relation to the grant and sealing of patents 

 (cl. 5); (/') for increasing the original term of the 

 patent from fourteen to fifteen years (cl. 6) ; 

 (c) for amending section i8of the principal Act so 

 as to allow of an extension of the term of a patent 

 on grounds attributable to circumstances con- 

 nected with war (cl. 7); {J) for the grant of relief 

 in infringement actions where the court finds any- 

 one or more claims are valid (cl. 8) ; (c) for depriv- 

 ing a plaintiff in an infringement action of relief 

 by way of an account of profits (cl. 9) ; (/) tor 

 the exclusion of evidence in the courts in relation 

 to an assignment of a patent unless the same has 

 been recorded on the register of patents (cl. 15). 



The 191 7 Bill was introduced in the House of 

 Commons in the spring of last year by the Presi- 

 dent "f the Hoard of Trade, but was not proceeded 

 with. 



In February ol last year the Institution of Elec- 

 trical Engineers appointed a committee (a) to con- 

 sider the provisions of the 1917 Bill, and (b) to 

 report on the question of Patent Law Amendment 

 generally. The report of this committee, which 

 was composed of wall-known members of the 

 legal and engineering professions, and sat under 

 the chairmanship of Mr. W. M. Mordey, has, with 

 slight modifications, been recently published by the 

 Institution of Mechanical Engineers. In an intro- 

 NO. 2569, VOL. I02] 



ductory note thereto it is explained that many ol 

 the technical and scientific societies, either repre- 

 sentative of, or closely connected with, the great 

 industries ol the country, set up committees to 

 examine the 1917 Bill; later, on the invita- 

 tion of the president of the Institution of Mechani- 

 cal Engineers, a conference, attended by repre- 

 sentatives of twenty-six institutions and societies, 

 was summoned, and held several meetings for the 

 purpose ol securing, if possible, united action in 

 relation to the Bill in question. The Institution of 

 Electrical Engineers placed the report of its com- 

 mittee at the disposal of this conference, the mem- 

 bers of which, having approved the principles 

 contained therein, adopted it as the basis of a 

 memorandum on Patent Law Amendment and 

 arranged, in connection therewith, for a deputation 

 to wait on tlu- Hoard of Trade. The deputation 

 was received, on October 10, 1918, by the 

 Rt. Hon. (1. J. Wardle, M.P., then Parliamentary 

 Si 1 retar) to the Hoard, in the unavoidable absence 

 of the President, Sir Albert Stanley. 



The Parliament in which the 1917 Bill was 

 introduced having been dissolved, it is extremely 

 improbable that this Bill will ever be revived in 

 its present form; however, the criticisms on this 

 Hill and the suggestions contained in the report 

 of the committee referred to above continue to be 

 of importance, in view of the legislation in relation 

 to the amendment of the Patent Law which may be 

 proposed in the future. 



The committee, in an introductory statement in 

 the report, sets out the main principles and con- 

 signations by which it has been guided in carry- 

 ing out its task. It points out that, in the interests 

 of industrial enterprise, a twofold duty rests 

 on the State in relation to invention, viz. : (a) to 

 provide encouragement to the inventor, and 

 (b) to provide also an incentive to capitalists to 

 assist in the commercial development of inventions. 

 It expresses the opinion that during the past 

 quarter of a century the effect of legislation in this 

 country has been to act as a deterrent rather than 

 as a stimulant to invention, and urges that "everv 

 effort should be made to reduce, if not remove, 

 the number of weapons available to people here 

 and abroad, especially the latter, for attacking 

 patentees who own real inventions." 



The committee points out that the amendments 

 proposed to section 18 of the Act (extension of 

 term of patent) in clause 7 of the Bill to meet 

 war conditions have the effect of leaving matters 

 practically in statu quo ; the new provisions will 

 continue to limit extensions of the term to inven- 

 tions of special merit. It is of opinion that "the 

 Bill perpetuates the evils of the present procedure, 

 which are such that the number of petitions for 

 extension presented annually is under ten." The 

 committee feels that the situation created by war 

 would best be met by a separate Patents Mora- 

 torium Act, wherein provision should be made for 

 the automatic prolongation of patents for a period 

 equal to the duration of the war. 



The committee does not view- with favour the 

 new sections proposed in substitution for sections 



I 



