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80TH CONGRESS 

2DSESSION 

REF ID :A411&476 . ..... 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

M:AHCH 5, 1948 

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Mr. LEWIS (by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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·A' BILL 

To extend the jurisdiction of district courts to patent suits against 

the United States and to other suits against the United 

States where the amount claimed exceeds $10,000, and for 

other purposes. 

1 · Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 t.ives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 That paragraph 20 of section 2'.i of the Judicial Code, as 

4 amended (U. S. C., 1940 edition, title 28, sec. 41 ( 20) ) , 

5 is amended to read as follows:. · 

6 · "Twentieth. Concurrent with the Court of Claims, and 

7 without limitation with respect to amount claimed, of. all 

8 claims against the United States for compensation arising 

9 under the Act of October 6~ ,1917, as amended (U'. S. C., 
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1 1940 ~dition, title 35, sec. 42), the Act of June 25, 1910, 

2 as ·a.mended (U. S. C., · 1940 edition, title 35, sec. 68), 

3 or the Act of October 31, 1942, as amended (U. S. C., 

4 1940 edition, Supp. V, title 35, sec. 90), and of all 9ther 

5 cJa.ims founded upon the Constitution of· the United States 

6 or any law of Congress, or upon any regulation of an 

7 executive department, or upon any contract, express or 

8 . implied, with the Government of the United States, .or for 

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9 damages, liquidated or unliquidated, in cases not sounding 

10 · in tort, in respect to which claims the party would be 

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entitled to redress against the United States, either in a 

court of law, equity, or admiralty, if the United States were 

13 suable, and of all set-offs, counterclaims, claims for damages, 

14 whether liquidated, or unliquidated, or oth'er demands what15 soever on the part of the Governm~nt of the United States 

16 against. any cJa.imant against the Government i.n said court; 

17 and of any suit or proceeding commenced after the passage 

18 of the Revenue Act of 1921, for the recovery of any internal19 revenue tax alleged to ha,ve been erroneously or illegal.ls 

20 assessed or collected, or of. any penalty claimed to have 

21 been collec~ed without authority, or any sum alleged to 

22 have been excessive or in any manner vi1rongfully collected . . . 

2:3 under the internal-revenue laws. Nothing in this paragraph 

24 shall be construed as givi:i;ig to either the. district courts 

25 or the · Court of Claims jurisdiction to hear and determine 

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1 claims growing out of t~e Civil vVar, and commonly kno,vn 

2 as .'war claims', or to: hear and determine other clairhs 

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3 which had been rejected or reported on adversely prior :to 

4 March 3, 1887, by any court, department, or cori1mission 

5 authorized to hear and determine the same, o~· to hear m\:d 

6 determine claims for pensions; or as giving to the distri1ct 

7 courts jurisdiction of c~ses brought to recover fees, salary, 

8 or compensation for official services of officers of the United 

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9 States or brought ·for such purpose by persons claiming. as 

10 such officers or as assignees or legal representatives thereof; 

11 but no suit pending on June 27, 1898, shall abate or be 

12 affected by this provision. No suit against the Governme~t 

13 of the United States shall be allowed under this paragra1jh 

14 unle-ss the same shall have been brought within six years 

l5 after the right accrued for which the claim is made. The 

16 claims of married women; first accrued during marriage, of . 

17 persons under the age of twenty-one years, first accrued 

18 during minority, and of idiots, lunatics, insane· persons, aiid 

19 persons beyond the seas at the time the claim accrued, 

20 entitled to the claim, shall not be barred if the su~t be 

21 brought within three years a.fter the disability has ceased; 

22 but. no other disability thah those enumerated shall prevent 

23 any claim from being barred, nor shall any of·. the sai;cl 

24 disabilities operate cumulatively. All suits brought and tried· 
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1 under the provisions of this paragraph _shall be tried by the 

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2 court without a jury.". 

3 SEC. 2. The district courts of the United States, in ·suits 

4 against the United States for compensation a.rising under the 

5 11-ct of October 6, 1917, as amended (U. S. 0., 1940 edition, 

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6 title 35, sec. 42), the Act of June 25, 1910, as amended 

7 (U. S. 0., 1940 edition, title 35, sec. 68), or the Act 0f 

8 October 31, 1942, as amended (U. S': C., 1940 edition, 

9 Supp. V, title 35, sec. 90), shall have the pO\ver conferred 

10 upon the Court of Claims by section 164 of the J uclicial Code 

'11 ' .. (U. S. G., 1940. edition, title 28, sec. 272) to call upon the 

12 executive branch of the Government for information and 

. 13 papers. 

14 SEC. 3. The Act of February 28, 1927, entitled "An Act 

'15 to amend section 129 of the J ucliQial Code, allowing an. appeal 

16 in a patent suit from a decree which is final except for the. 

17 order of accounting" (U. S. C., 1940 edition, title 28, sec. 

·1s. · 227 a) is amended by inserting at the end thereof the follow19 i1.ig: "This Act shaU. apply to suits in the district c01i.rts of 

· 20 t)le. United States for compensation under the Act of October 

21 6, 1917, as amended (U. S. 0., 1940 edition, title 35, sec. 

22 42)_, the Act of Jmrn 25, 1910, as amended (U.S. O_., 1940 

23 edition, title 35, sec. 68), or the Act of October 31, 1942, as· 

24 amended (U·. S'. 0., 1940 edition, Supp. V, title 35, sec. -

25 90)." .. 

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1 SEC. 4. Section 5 of the Act of Ma:rch. 3, 188:7, entitled 

2 "An Act to -provide for the bringing of suits against the 

3 Government of the United States" (U~ S. 0., 1940 edition, 

4 title 28, sec. 762) is amended to read as follows: 

5 "SEC. 5 .. The plaintiff in any suit broug~t : under the 

6 provisions of section 2 of this Act shall file a petition, dt-lly 

7 verified with 'the clerk of the respective court having jui~s8 diction of the case, and in the court where the plain'tiff 

9 resides, or in the district where one of the plaintiffs resides 

10 _where_ there are two or more plaintiffs residing in differe11t 

11 districts. Such petition . shall set fgrth the full name ahd 

12 rosidence of the plaintiff, -the nature of his claim, and :a, 

13 ·succinct statement of the facts upon which the claim ;;i~ 

14 based, the 'money or any other thing cla.imed, or the damag'es 

15 sought to be recovered and prayi11g the court for a jfldgm~~t 

_ 16 or 'deci·ee upon the facts and law." ..• 

17 SEc. 5. Section 13 (b) of the Contract Settlemerit .Abt 

18 of 1944 (U. S. C., 1940 edition~ Supp.- V, ti'tle· 41, s~~. 

19 113 ( b) .) is amended t_o read as follows: -

20 "(b) Whenever any war COl~tractor is aggrieved''oy tlte 

21 findings_of a contracting.agency on his claim or part therebf 

22 or by its failure to make such flndillgs -iii accordance wi·th. 

23 subsection (a) of this section, he may, at his' electio·n--- f:-;~ 

H~R.5740-2 
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REF· ID:'A41.76 

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" (1 ) appeal to the Appeal Board m accorda'.nce 

2 with subsection ( d) of this section; or 

3 " ( 2) bring suit for such claim or such part thereof. 

4 If the suit is against the United States, it ·Shall be brought 

f) in the Court of· Claims or in a United States district 

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court, which courts concurrently shall have jurisdictioi1 

regardl~ss of the amount of the c1a;im, and shall be tried 

by the court without a jury. If the contracting agency 

9 is the Rec.onstruction Finance Corporation, or any cor10 pora.tion organized pursuant to the Reconstruction. 

11 Finance Corporation Act ( 4 7 Stat. 5), as amended, or 

12 'any. corporation owned or controlled by the United 

13 States, the suit shall be brought against such corpo1;ation 

· 14 in any court of competent jurisdiction in accordance 

15 w~th existing law.". 

16 SEO. 6. The third and fourth sentences· of the first sec17 · tion of the Act of October 31, 1942, entitled "An Act to 

18 authori~e the President of the United · States to requisition 

19 property required for the. defense of the Unit.eel States", as 

20 amended (U~. S. C;, 1940 .edition, Supp. V, title 50 App., 

21 · sec. 721) , are amended to. read as follows: ''If, upon any. ' 

22 such requisition of property, the person entitled to receive . 

23 the [!mount so determined by the President as. the faiT ~ll-1d 

24 just compensation for the property is unwilling to accept the 

25 same as full and complete compensation for such property 
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1 he shall be· paid 50 per centum of such amount and shall 

2 be entitled to sue the United States in the Court of Claims 

3· or in any district court of the United States for an additional 

4 amoun_t which, when added to the amount so paid to him, 

5. he considers to be fair and just compensation for such prop6 erty. Such courts concurrently shall have jurisdiction. of 

7 such actions regardless of the amounts of the claims. Any 

8 such action may be commenced at any time after the 

9 requisition of the property and 'vithin six years thereafter 

10 ·and shall be tried by the court without a jury. Such courts 

· 11 shall also have power to determine in an appropriate'. pro12 cceding ·any questions that may arise with respect to the 

13 amoun~ of the fair value_ to be paid upon the return! of ~ny 

14 property under section · 2 of this Act, . regardless of the 

15 amount in controversy in any such proceeding.". 

16 SEC. 7. The Act of October 6, 1917, entitled "An Act 

17 to prevent the publication of inventions by the grant .of 

18 patents that might be detrimental to the public safety or 

19 convey useful information to the enemy, to stinmlate .inI ' 

.20 vention, and provide adequate protection to ovmers of patents, I 

21 and for other piirposes", as a.mended (U.S. C., 1940 edition, 

22 title 35, sec. 42), is amended to read as follows: 

23 "That whenever the publication or disclosure of an in24 vention by the granting of a patent might, in the opinion 

25 of the Commissioner of Patents, be detrimental to the public 
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REF ID:A4l.76 

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·1 safety- or defense he may order that the invention .1be kept 

2 secret and vvithhold the grant of a paten~ for such period 

3 or periods as in his opii1ion the national interest requires: 

4 Prnvided, That the invention disclosed in· the application for 

5 said patent may be held abandoned upon it being established 

6 before or by the Commissioner that in violation of said order 

7 said invention has been published or disclo.sed or that an 

8 application for a patent therefor has been filed in a foreign 

9 .country by the inventor or his assigns or legal representatives, 

10 without the consent· or approval of . the Commissioner of 

11 Patents-. 

12 - "When an applicant whose patent is withheld as herein 

13 provided and who faithfully obeys the order of the Com14 missioner of Patents above referred to shall tender his inven15 tion to the Government of the United States for its use, 

16 he shall, if and when he ultimately receives a patent, have _ 

J.;7 the right to sue for" compensation in the Court of Claims, 

18 or in the district courts of the United States insofar as such 

19 courts may have concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of 

20 Claims, such right to compensation to begin from the date 

21 of the use of the invention by the Government: Provided, 

·22 That the Secretary of War or the Secretary of the Navy 

23 or the chief officer -of any established defense agency of the 

24 United States, as the case may be, is authorized to enter 

25 into an agreement with the said applicant in full settlement 
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l and' comproniise for the Clainiage;.'accn'.l.i.ng:toi~hillwbyh·easdil 

2 .. of the order \Of secrecy; and: for ;the· ~use: of• tpe ·,in,~entidn 

·3 . by the-~GO\renunent." .. ·' . ' ' I 

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4 SEO. 8. The: A;ct of Jmie ·25;'.191'0; entitle.d1~"A.wAct 

5 to pi·ovide additional protectio11· fo1; o"mers of paten:ts·:of tlie 

6 United States, and· for. other ·_.pUl'.poses'~,· as 'am·e:nded 

7 (U.·S. 0., -1940:edition, title 3·5~·sec.:6R),:is amen;ded fo 

8 read as. follows : 

9 "That whenever an invention described in and covered 

lO by a patent of the United States shall be used or manull factured by or fo1; the United States without license of the 

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owner thereof. or la-wful right to use or manufacture the 

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same, such owner's remedy shall be hy suit against the 

14 United ·states in the Court of Claims, or in the district 

15 courts of the United States insofar as such courts may have 

16 concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Claims, for the 

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recovery of9his reasonable and entire compensation for such 

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use and manufacturn. The Court of Clain1s or· the district 

19 courts shall not entertain a suit .or a.ward compensation under 

20 the provisions of this A~t where the claim· for compensation 

21 .is based on the use or manufact,ure by or for the ·United 

22 States of any article owned, leased, used by, or in the pos23 sessio~1: of the United States prior to June 25, 1910. In 

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any such suit the United States may avail itself of any and 

25 all defenses, general or special, that might he pleaded by , 
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1 a defendant in an action for infringement, as set forth in 

2 title sixty of the Revised Statutes, or- oth~rwise. The bene3 fits of the provisions of this Act shall not inure to ariy 

4 patentee who, when he makes such claim, is in the employP ment or service _of the Government of the United States, 

.6,' or the assignee of any such patentee. This Act shall not 

7 apply to any device discovered or invented by such employee 

8 during the time of -his employment or service.". 

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SOTH CONGRESS H R 5 740 2D SESSION e ca . . . 

A BILL. 

To extend the·jurisdiction of district courts to 

patent suits against the United States n,nd to 

other suits against the United States where 

the amount claimed exceeds $10,000, and for 

other purposes. · 

By Mr. LEWIS 

MARCH 5, 1948 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary_