Advances  in  Pharmacy. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
*-     March,  1918. 
drawn,  and  ought  to  be  of  service  in  reforming  the  patent  and  trade- 
mark laws,  from  the  shortcomings  of  which  the  English  pharmacist 
suffers  in  a  like  degree  with  his  American  brethren.  As  American 
pharmacists  have  been  clamoring  for  years  for  patent-law  reform 
and  an  amelioration  of  its  hardships,  sympathy  and  ardent  hope  for 
success  will  be  felt  for  those  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  who  are 
thus  striving  for  better  things.  The  Patents  and  Designs  Bill  has 
twenty-one  clauses,  and  if  honestly  administered  should  be  largely 
instrumental  in  "  preventing  the  abuse  of  monopoly  rights." 
American  pharmacists  will  find  the  following  clause  of  interest 
and  significant  of  conditions  in  our  own  country : 
"  In  the  case  of  inventions  relating  to  articles  or  substances  prepared  or 
produced  by  chemical  processes,  or  intended  for  food  or  for  medicinal  or 
surgical  purposes,  the  specification  shall  not  include  claims  for  the  product, 
substance,  or  article  itself,  but  only  for  the  special  methods  or  processes  of 
manufacture;  and  in  the  case  of  any  patent  for  an  invention  intended  for  or 
capable  of  being  used  for  the  production  of  food  or  medicine  or  surgical 
appliances,  the  Comptroller  shall,  unless  he  sees  good  reason  to  the  contrary, 
grant  to  any  person  applying  for  the  same,  a  license  limited  to  the  use  of 
the  patented  method  or  process  for  the  purposes  of  the  preparation  or  pro- 
duction of  food,  medicine,  or  surgical  appliances,  but  not  otherwise;  and 
with  a  view  to  making  the  food,  medicine,  or  surgical  appliance  available 
for  the  public  at  the  lowest  possible  price,  the  Comptroller,  in  settling  the 
terms  of  such  a  license,  shall  fix  the  royalty  or  other  consideration  payable 
at  such  an  amount  as  will  secure  to  the  patentee  the  minimum  profit  con- 
sistent with  his  deriving  a  reasonable  advantage  from  his  patent  rights. 
"Any  decision  of  the  Comptroller  under  this  section  shall  be  subject 
to  appeal  to  the  court." 
This  clause  should  prevent  extortionate  prices  for  chemicals  by 
those  holding  patent  rights  or  registration  of  a  trade-mark  for  an 
article  manufactured  from  an  expired  patent. 
There  is  every  prospect  that  the  scarcity  of  veronal  and  novo- 
caine  will,  in  the  near  future,  be  relieved.  Three  American  firms  have 
been  granted  licenses  to  manufacture  and  sell  these  important  drugs. 
This  right  to  manufacture  products  hitherto  controlled  by  enemy 
aliens  under  American  patents  is  granted  by  the  Federal  Trade 
Commission.  One  firm  has  been  licensed  to  make  and  sell  veronal 
under  a  non-exclusive  name,  and  this  name  to  be  the  word  "  barbital " 
It  has  also  been  decided  that  this  new  name  together  with  the  scien- 
tific name,  diethylbarbituric  acid,  must  be  printed  on  all  packages 
containing  the  drug.  It  has  also  been  granted  that  the  name  veronal 
may  be  used  on  the  package  to  aid  in  distinguishing  the  drug.  One 
