ON PATENT LEGISLATION, 223 



gtatited. If the examiners reported that the application was in respect 

 of matters which could not properly be made the subject of a patent, and 

 if the applicant still persisted, a patent would still bo granted, but the 

 objections of the examiners would be endorsed upon the specification. 



Duration of Pafeut. — The duration of Letters Patent would be iu- 

 . creased to seventeen years — the duration being as now contingent upon 

 the payment of fees at or before the expiration of each period. 



Fees. — The fees would be half the present amounts, namely : — 



£ g. 

 Fee for Provisional Protection . . . < . 



Fee for Grant 



Fee at expiration of fourth year .... 

 Fee at expiration of eighth year .... 



Existing System. — Under the present law there is practically no ex- 

 amination whatever. Applications for patents are referred to one of the 

 two law officers, who reports whether a warrant may be issued for the 

 granting of Letters Patent. The only point upon which the law officer 

 decides is whether the invention is proper subject-matter for a patent, i.e. 

 whether it comes within the definition of the Statute of Monopolies 

 (21 Jac. I., cap. 3) of being ' a new manufacture within this realm.' The 

 complete specification, upon which the patent is really granted, is never 

 examined at all by anybody. 



Suhject-matter. — The following is the definition of ' subject-matter ' 

 adopted in the Bill : — 



(a) Any manufacture or any product not being a natural product ; 



(b) Any machine or any means of producing any manufacture product 

 or result ; 



(c) Any process or method of producing any manufacture product or 

 result ; 



(d) Any part of a machine means process or method of producing 

 any manufacture product or result. 



At present the ancient definition of the Statute of Monopolies is in 

 force, but, as a matter of fact, the question of subject-matter depends 

 wholly on the decisions of the Courts. 



Opposition. — Under the proposed Bill, opposition to the granting of 

 Letters Patent would be limited to persons who could state that the 

 applicant had obtained the invention from them by means of fraud. Under 

 the present law any person can oppose, the general ground of opposition 

 being that the person opposing already has a patent for the same or nearly 

 the same invention. 



Amendment. — The Bill provides that the inventor should be entitled to 

 amend his specification after it had been first filed. Under the pi'esent 

 system this power is very restricted. 



Prolongation. — It is proposed to continue the system of prolonging 

 patents in special cases, the Bill being framed in such a manner as to give 

 greater facility for this than now exists. Under the present system, pro- 

 longations are granted by the Privy Council, and are considered a matter 

 of special favour, whereas the effect of the new Bill would, it is hoped, 

 be to givfe them as a right to any inventor who could show just cause for 

 having his privilege prolonged, on the ground of his not having had 

 sufficient reward, or the time having been insufficient to enable him to 

 bring his invention into action, or similar grounds. The period for which 

 a patent could be prolonged would be diminished by the three years which 

 the Bill would add to its original term. 



