The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1853-01-06
In CONGRESS OF THE u. STATES
TUESDAY, JANUARY a. 1858.
lIS CONTINUATION
a A ~


Mr., CASS There is a ue bl-the second believe
upon the private ealendar-whch desre The Senate 10
take up and consider now 1t has been before lis for
some time and should be acted soon as possible
II o' iof the relief OF Messrs Moore and Hasca.
patent case move thai the prior orders be postponed
bill
The question being then taken. the motion was agreed
TO- and The SENATE then proceeded TO consider in
mee OF the whole. House bill No. l93--beng "An
act for the relief Of Hiram Moore and John Hascall =
which read
The bill grants to Hiram Moore and John Hascall and
to their heirs. assigns. and legal representatives. for the
term OF fourteen years from the 27h June 1885, the full
and exclusive right and liberty OF making, constructing.
using and vending to others to be used, the
provemens Tor cutting thseshing, or cleaning grain,
which were invented by the sad Moore and Hascali, or
either q them, and embraced 10 The model, drawings,
specifications connected with letters patent granted TO
them on the 2slh June 1886, for machine commonly
known as Moore and Hascalls harvesting machine, .
tosether with the improvements invented by them, or
either OF hem pefiecting said machine or any part
thereof from the date OF their original paen, the day
from which the same is hereby renewed and extended,
upon certain conditions specified 10 the bill.
The. pending. question was the following amendment,
moved by Mr. JAMES;
Prorded, That any additional claim to said letters pa
tent Of 1885, made and presented the Patent Office for
paen'ablo improvement or add',ion and shall by this
in the same manner be open be contested the ground
OF priority OF invention or other legal gtound.
Mr. BADGER. / should be very sorry 10 see this
amendment made to the BILL unless some important OBJ
ject was to be accomplished by it, and should be very
reluctant to see IT, Tor the obvious resson that any amend
men', IN all probability irrespective of lis merits, be
fatal TO the bill There now in the House of Repre-
senatves 273 bills most OF them private bills passed by
the Senate and sent to The other House during The present
Congress- which are lying upon The Speakers table, and
have never been touched And that there
Is nothing in this amendment which would be accom-
pshed at all except the expression OF what Is the clear
and undOubled law OF the without It's being ex-
pressed. The provso is " that any additional claim 10
said letters patent OF 1886, made and presented the
Patent Office for letters patent under the provisions of
this act, shall be Tor a paentable Improvement"
Surely that is the law now. Under ordinary circum.
stances, II would be matter OF very slight importance
whether the amendment should be adopted not. But
state Of business in the two houses fad that there are
in the House 273 bills, by the Senate TO the
House in the course OF thus Congress, resting upon the
Speakers table, and which have not been touched
Now here is the proviso that when the Commissioner of
Patents issues patent for further additional improve
mens, the additions shall be patenlabe matters. look
upon it just perfectly unnecessary and useless, and
accomplishing nothing. the express provision tha the
patent should be in the form pres bed by law and have
the seal OF the United States attached 10 it, The bill is
to authorize the issue OF patent for additional improve
mens. What improvements Paentable improve
mens, OF course Why put the provlso, therefore, TO say
that the improvements shall be pa,en!abe. But inde
pendeny Of lis being useless object to that part of the
poviso, because think may be mschievous because
oeraes this proposition: that Congress direc The
extension OF patent, or patent including improve
mens. and stop there, that private law overvurns the
anything. whether it Is pa,eniabe or not.
The amendment proceeds; 80 And shall by this acl in
the same manner be open TO be contested upon the
ground Of the priority of invention or other legal ground"
That is evidently and plainly proviso that
pshes nothing OF course. the patents that issued
by this government under our general patent law.
vey nothing in the world but prma facie rights. The
general law provides that they subject 10 be contested
on the ground OF priority OF Improvement priority of
use. Wherefore, then, put that proviso here What OBJ
ect does il accomplish Does il do anything bat put The
a n be
II the bill b passed with this proviso, II is just what he
bill would be passed wi,hon The poviso Why, there
fore. should the bill be encumbered with provision
which. in any event, is absolutely unnecessary Then.
again, ! do not like the proviso which sanctions the
proposition that when Congress passes bill extending
palen that patent open TO all the objections
trolling ii under the law, priority of discovery, as
would have been the oriA ina patent Nothing, to a
legal mind. lpresnme, can be more perfectly clear, than
that without this proviso this bill precisely what i,
would be with it, hope therefore as i is meri,orous
for the extension OF PATENT the Senate will put
proviso 10 il which will leopard the OF the bill
when the bill without that poyiso is just what the bill
MIR. SEWARD / regret that this bill has come up
this morning under the circumstances in which this ques-
submitted by The chairman of the Committee Patents.
the gentleman from Rhode Island. Mr. JAMEs] and
therefore presume that it submitted upon consuta
on, and oy hs authority 2, me e. Committee @ on Patents
Mr.. CASS. With the permission OF The senator, will
state that il submitted by the honorable senator
IRON Rhode Island before be was upon thdt committee
| certainly before he chairman OF that committee.
Mr.. SEWARD The honorable senator is probably y
better informed upon that subject than am. But was
requested by the honorable senator from Georgia, Mr.
| DAWSON, j who is also upon the Committee Patents
to ask il this bill should up his absence that ii
m ght be delayed postponed Looking around the
Senate for the Committee on Patents-this being bill
which has excited great deal of interest, and which il
undoubtedly OF great interest TO the parties soliciting ls
passage, and which we must all see has very consider
able bearing upon the interests OF citizens OF the United
Saies-I find that the chairman OF the committee alb
sent. The honorable senator from Georgia, [Mr. DAw.
son, a member OF the Committee on Patents, is absent
The honorable senator from Connecticut, Mr. SMITH
also member of the Committee Patents, is absent
do not see any member present whom recognise
being upon that committee, except the senator
siding the body, Mr.. NokRIs.1 have therefore
suggested this matter the instance of the senator from
Georgia, who is absent, and who desired me 10
ask that this bill should lie over until his return He
went home to spend the holidays and has not ye, re-
turned
Now in regard 10 the amendment il is, think, true
a. the honorable senator from North Carolina says that
the bill tself contains exactly all that the bill with The
amendment would contain under the circumstances
sume according The decision Of the courts that anything
that should be patented under the direction OF this law
would be open to investigation without the amendment as
much i, would be with the amendment But this bill has
feature which is pecaliar In looking around for the
of eolcitude which led the from Rhode
Island 10 offer this amendment discover in this bill
what seems TO be probably the ground upon which he
offered it, II is this; This is not the simple case OF the
renewal OF patent The bills which we have been ac-
cusiomed to renewals extensions OF
extensions rather than renewals patent was granted
to Hiram Moore and John Hasca, the 9th of June,
sixteen years ago, for ihreshing machine This bill
proposes extend thai patent; and far IL is in con
iormy with our past legislation But as understand