Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/378

 356 PATENTS 1m claims in any degree. lie may cut out anything, but he can insert nothing, except matter which is of the nature of correction or explanation. The term for which a patent is originally granted is fourteen years, but the crown has been empowered by parliament and through the intervention of the judicial committee of the privy council, before which the pro ceedings take place, to extend the time of a patent from its expiration for any additional time not longer than fourteen years. But an extension will only be granted on the patentee showing that the invention is meritorious, and that he has not been adequately rewarded in spite of his best efforts directed to that end. What is adequate re ward depends on the special circumstances of each case. The crown has hitherto had a right to the free use of a patented invention, but this right has been abolished by the new Act. Patent privileges, like most other rights, can be made the subject of sale. Partial interests can also be carved out of them by means of licences, instruments which empower other persons to exercise the invention, either universally and for the full time of the patent (when they are tantamount to an assignment of the patentee s entire rights), or for a limited time, or within a limited district. By an exclusive licence is meant one that restrains the patentee from granting other licences to any one else. By means of a licence a patentee may derive benefit from his patent without entering into trade and without running the risks of a partnership. One of the regulations of the recent Act is that a patentee can be compelled by the Board of Trade to grant licences to persons who are able to show that the patent is not being worked in the United Kingdom, or that the reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the invention cannot be supplied, or that any person is pre vented from working or using to the best advantage an invention of which he is possessed. A patentee s remedy for an infringement of his rights is by civil suit, there being no criminal proceedings in such a case. In prosecuting such suit he subjects those rights to a searching examination, for the alleged infringer is at liberty to show that the invention is not new, that the patentee is not the true and first inventor, &c., as well as to prove that the alleged infringement is not really an infringement. But it may here be remarked that a patentee is not bound down (unless he chooses so to be) to the precise mode of carrying the invention into effect described in the specification. If the principle is new, it is not to be expected that he can describe every mode of working it ; he will sufficiently secure the principle by giving some illustrations of it ; and no person will be per mitted to adopt some mode of carrying the same principle into effect on the ground that such mode has not been described by the patentee. On the other hand, when the principle is not new, a patentee can only secure the par ticular method which he has invented, and other persons may safely use other methods of effecting the same object. Instances of this occur every day ; and it is well known that scores of patents have been taken out for screw- propellers, steam-hammers, water-meters, &c., each of which is limited to the particular construction described, and cannot be extended further. Again, where the inven tion patented consists of a combination of parts, some old and some new, the whole constituting a new machine or a new process, it is not open to the world to copy the new part and reject the rest. A man is not permitted to allege that the patent is for a combination, and that, the identical combination not having been used, there has been no in fringement. If he has borrowed the substance of the invention, it will be held that he has infringed the patent. A patent may be revoked by a court of law on any one taking proceedings for that purpose, and showing good ground for a revocation, such as want of novelty or utility in the invention, the fact of the patentee not being the in ventor, insufficiency of the specification, fraud, or the like. Patents are not now extended to the colonies, and such of the English colonies as possess a legislature are gradually acquiring patent laws for themselves (see infra). The new Act enables the crown to make arrangements with foreign states for the mutual protection of inventions, under which a person who has applied for protection for any invention in a foreign state will be entitled to apply for a patent in England within a limited time in priority to other applicants (see p. 358). The patent business of the United Kingdom is transacted at the Patent Office in London under the superintendence of the comptroller, an officer appointed by the Board of Trade, under whose direction he performs his duties. At this office is kept a register of all patents issued, of assign ments of patents, licences granted under them, Arc. An illustrated journal of patent inventions is published at the same office, where printed copies of all specifications can also be obtained. The proceedings taken with a view to obtain a patent commence with an application drawn up in a special form and accompanied by a description of the invention and a declaration as to its originality. Any person, whether a British subject or not, may apply for a patent. The actual inventor must always be a party to the application, but he may join other persons with him self, and the patent Avhen issued will be granted to them all jointly. The fees payable to Government on patents have been considerably reduced by the new Act, and they may now be paid by convenient annual instalments. During the ten years ending with 1882 the average annual number of patents issued was 3506. There has been a large increase under the new law, the number of patents applied for in the first three months of 1884 being 5748. Patents are frequently obtained through the intervention of persons termed patent agents, who devote themselves to this branch of business. United States. Under an Act passed in 1874 a patent must in all cases be applied for in the name of the original inventor, although he may contemporaneously execute an assignment of the invention, and the patent will thereupon be issued to the assignee. Every application is referred to an official examiner. The patent will be refused if any part of the invention is wanting in novelty, or if the application is not in proper form. The applicant may, however, make a re-application, and if the inventor is dis satisfied with the report of the examiner he can appeal. Patents are issued for the term of seventeen years, but expire with any earlier foreign patents for the same inven tion. A foreign inventor may obtain a patent if his inven tion has not been in public use or on sale in the United States for more than two years prior to his application. Patent Laws in India and the Eritisk Colonies. Prior to 1852 British letters patent extended to all Her Mnjesty s colonies, but the Patent Act of 1852 restricted the rights granted to Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. Soon after the date of this Act the legislatures of the colonies began to pass Acts of their own for the protection of inven tions, and at the present time most English colonies have patent laws. As a rule, the application in the colony must be made by petition accompanied with a specification and drawings of similar nature to those used in the British application ; and in most cases the application must be made by the inventor himself or by his assignee, or by some person holding his power of attorney. The patents are in all cases assignable and the deeds of assignment must be registered in the respective colonies. The patents are usually granted for a term of fourteen years, and the inventions must not have been publicly used in the colony prior to the date