The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-01-27
AUSTRIAN PATENT LAWS.
An Answer to Mr.. Hotchkiss on
the Interests of Inventors at
the Vienna Exhibition.
WHAT AUSTRIAN OFFICIALS THINK.
Liberal Safeguards to the Owners Of Valuable
Patenls.-Light Fees and Full Protection.


VIENNA, Dec. 2s, 1872,
To THE EDITOR or THE HERALD
SIR have read In your paper OF Novem-
Der 20, Mr.. II. h. Hochkiss' letter. the perusal OF
which has caused me much pain when l saw
suchan honorable and influential organ of public
opinion as yours permitting statements to be
made which represent the state of the Austrian
Patent laws In an utterly unjust light
by frequent intercourse / have had with our
Patent ONCE have obtained pretty good insight
into the practice adopted there, and can assure
you sir that it Is very liberal and equitable one
wherefore suppose that Mr.. Hotchklss' account
must be in great measure founded upon misun-
Outstanding or erroneous information.
The Austrian Patent ONCE ought not at all to be
imagined as being arranged upon grand scale,
like, for instance, the Patent once OF the United
States. One of the sections of the. Minis
try of Commerce, comprising one Councillor
and two secretaries, together with o recorder and
a copyist, is charged with the whole management
OF the patent business Under such conditions It is
easily understood that the Parent ONCE, fully &C.
cupled as IT Is with the current business, cannot
even think OF controlling the working OF patents,
and, according to the literal text OF the law only
one instance OF working the patented article within
the past year IL required and second instance OF
working the same within the two years following
Is SUFFICIENT to preserve the patent for the space OF
fully three years from invaidity for default OF work
ing it,
AS regards the government fees their amount
call only, UHcn, ne Cullcu more COHSluerNDle WHEN
the patentee will claim the longest legal term Of
professionalism is, fifteen years. In such case, Of
course, the amount of nearly three hundred and
sixty dollars Is to be paid. But for the
first five years OF protection the total amount of
premiums taken together Is only about dlty-one
dollars, and the applicant is at liberty to pay only
year to year until the end OF the fifth year, making
thus only slight expense of about ten dollars
year. From the sixth till the tenth year each pre-
MUM Is twenty dollars, and with the eleventh year
only begins the premium of forty dollars per an
mum.
Let me now pass to the special law concerning
the protection certificates for objects introduced to
the Vienna Universal Exhibition, which law APP
pears altogether insufficient to Mr. HOtchkss, and
Is condemned by him accordingly l am Ignorant
OF the grounds upon which Mr.. Hotchkss has
founded his uniavOrable Judgment, for his asser-
ton that the law in question does not confer 70
the inventor more rights than those given him by
the regular Patent law cannot indeed he taken
In earnest On urging the aforementioned special
law the question was to procure for the exhibitor,
free OF expense and by means OF proceeding as
plain as possible, the legal protection OF patent;
to obtain that a written application stamp duty
free, with the description OF the invention annexed
thereto, IS AL that IS needed Upon TINS appllca-
ton certificate, having the legal force OF patent
till the 3lst December, 1873.
Fit is Mr.. Hotchkiss' opinion that the protec-
tion should be more stringent than that contained
III the old law, 1t would have been very desirable
had he expressed in plain terms what kind OF
strngency and additional protection he meant.
The real essence OF protection lies In the pro-
hibition for everybody to counterfeit the protected
invention, and the prohibition viii always be the
same whether the penalty for infringement be
more or less rigorous.
The specification Of the invention presented by
the exhibitor will be kept under lock and Key,
according to the provisions of the special law in
all when the exhibitor asks for secrecy in his
application.
Now II, in spite Of these precautions, foreign
visitors to the Exhibition should be enabled, simply
by the contemplation OF the object exhibited, to
counterfeit the same IN their own country, think
this risk inventors Will be exposed TO under all
! circumstances and which he cannot avoid II only
single sample OF the object OF mis- invention be
! executed and brought into circulation
| trust to your Kindness sir, to bring these re-
marks as soon as possible to knowledge OF your
readers, and am very anxious to see this explana-
ton attain its purposes that Is, to dspel the unia-
vorable impression which Mr.. Hotchkiss' commu-
ncations may have produced, i am, sir your
Obedcnt servant Baron OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.