Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
December,  1910.  J 
Pharmacy,  a  Profession. 
565 
at  wholesale  without  license,  to  the  detriment  of  the  public  health. 
This  is  one  of  the  abuses  for  the  pharmacologic  profession  to 
remedy,  and  the  way  has 'been  pointed  out  by  the  U.  S.  Supreme 
Court  in  the  previously  mentioned  decision  in  the  Syrup  of  Figs 
case.  Manufacturing  houses  should  be  licensed  as  are  individual 
pharmacists  and  physicians. 
COPYRIGHT,  PATENTS,  AND  TRADEMARKS. 
Contrary  to  common  opinion,  names  of  medicines  cannot  be  copy- 
righted, as  they  cannot  be  privately  owned  by  any  one.  This  state- 
ment can  be  verified  by  addressing  the  Librarian  of  Congress.  It 
is  an  axiom  of  law  that  the  name  of  an  article  of  commerce  cannot 
be  a  trademark,  for  it  cannot  at  the  same  time  perform  the  functions 
of  an  appellative  to  distinguish  an  article  from  other  articles  of 
commerce  and  a  trademark  to  distinguish  a  brand  from  other  brands 
of  the  same  article. 
I  cannot  here  repeat  all  that  I  said  on  this  subject  in  my  lecture, 
but  I  would  refer  you  to  the  following  authorities :  the  chapter  on 
"  Copyright  "  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica ;  Browne  on  "  Trade- 
marks " ;  Kerley's  "  The  Law  of  Trademarks  " ;  "  Report  of  the 
Commissioners  Appointed  to  Revise  the  Patent  and  Trademark 
Laws  under  Act  of  Congress  Approved  June  4,  1888,"  known  as 
"  Senate  Document  No.  20." 
The  medical  profession  is  standing  between  two  opinions  regard- 
ing patents  on  materia  medica.  One  side  takes  the  position  assumed 
by  Lord  Camden  in  his  celebrated  speech  on  the  subject  of  copy- 
right, when  he  said :  "  Glory  is  the  reward  of  science,  and  those 
who  deserve  it  scorn  all  meaner  views." 
Those  who  believe  in  the  patenting  of  materia  medica  products 
agree  with  the  statement  of  Terrill  in  his  "  Treatise  on  Patent 
Laws."  According  to  this  authority,  "  The  theory  upon  which  the 
laws  rest  is  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  community  that  persons 
should  be  induced  to  devote  their  time,  energies,  and  resources  to 
original  investigation  for  the  furtherance  of  science,  the  arts,  and 
manufactures.  This  was  recognized  from  the  earliest  periods  which 
can  pretend  to  be  described  as  civilized.  It  is  to  the  advantage  of 
the  whole  community  that  authors  and  inventors  should  be  rewarded, 
and  no  measure  of  reward  can  be  conceived  more  just  or  equitable, 
and  bearing  a  closer  relation  to  the  benefit  conferred  by  the  par- 
