Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/454

 44U FEDERAL REPORTER. The effect of this legislation was to allow an inventer to take eut a patent in a foreign country for his invention, and subsequently to- obtain a patent for it hexe, provided he filed his specification and drawings on his application here within six months after the taking out of his foreign patent. By section 6 of the aot of March 3, 1839, (5 St. at Large, 354,) it was provided as follows: " No person shall be debarred from receiving a patent for any invention or discovei-y, as provided in the act approved on the fourth day of July, 1836, to which this is addition;iJ, by reason of tiie same liaving been p3,tented in a foreign country more tlian six months prior to liia application: provided, that the same shall not have been introdnced into public and common use in the United States prior to the application for such patent: and provided, also, that in all such cases every such patent shnll be limited to the tern: of 14 years from the date or publication of such foreign letters patent." The effect of this provision was to allow an inventor to take eut a. patent heie for an invention which he had previously patented in a foreign country, no matter how long previously, but the duration of the patent granted here was limited to the term of 14 years from the date or publication of such foreign patent. Then came the act of March 2, 1861, (13 St. at Large, 246,) the sixteenth section of which provided as follows : "Ail patents hereafter granted shall remain in force for the term of 17 years from the date of issue ; and all extensions of such patents is hereby prohib- ited." Section 17 of the same act repealed all acts and parts of acts theretofore passed which were inconsistent with the provisions of that act. Under this state of legislation the original patent, and the re-is- sued patent in this case, were granted. The view urged for the plaintiffs is that by section 16 of the act of 1861 all patents thereafter granted were to remain in force for 17 years from the date of issue; that the provision of section 6 of the act of 1839 was inconsistent with this new provision, and was there- fore repealed; and that, consequently, the plaintiffs' patent does not expire until June 28, 1881. By section 22 of the act of July 8, 1870, (16 St. at Large, 201,) now section 4884 of the E^vised Statutes, every patent is to be granted for the term of 17 years. It cannot be antedated. By section 25 of the same act, now section 4887 of the Revised Statutes, it is pro- vided as follows: " No person shall be debarred from receiving a patent for his invention or discovery, nor shall any patent be declared invalid, by reason of its having been first patented, or caused to be patented, in a foreign country; provided